Celebrating patron saints as an element of the Sicilian character: the foreign travelers point of view – This article will look at descriptions of some patronal festivals in Sicily drawn from the works of the most important foreign travelers and will try to show how such celebrations represent a fundamental aspect of Sicilianity.

This paper invites not to reflect on festivals as a celebration or a transgression but to observe them as «a play with» meaning and communication. The author considers the folklore as a genuine laboratory of observation of everyday life. He illustrates his analysis with the examples of the Binche Carnival (Belgium) and of Labour Day (1st of May) and gives an interpretation with G. Bateson’s concept of «play», as the English anthropologist had used to describe the play of animals at fighting. This leads the author to strongly insist on the small details of behaviours always imprinted with a “not” characteristic of ritual contexts.

The daily Czas ( Time) daily is an important source of the social and cultural history of Cracow in the period of Galician autonomy, including the White Carnival events at the turn of 1899 and 1900. This article discusses the Carnival's most spectacular events — the End of the Century festivities, the special Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations as well as the White Carnival dance parties. The analysis of selected issues of Czas with relevant content is focused on the editorial choice of topics as well as the manner of their presentation.