“Wine is the Blood of the Earth”: Popular Drinking Culture Through Proverbs

Abstract

Research on proverbs, like any other human artifact, belongs to the field of socio-cultural studies. In addition and more specifically, to the extent to which proverbs are looked upon as expressions of values, rights and obligations, they pertain to the domain of legal anthropology. A major aim of this paper is to reconstruct the normative system, i.e. the set of orally established and orally transmitted rules, traditionally regulating Italian drinking practices. The theme has been considered, in part, within the broader issue of continuity of some norms from a more ancient past.