Joseph Sciorra Mini-bibliography

Dissertation Topic / Abstract:

NOTE: JS Dissertation
SEARCH STRING: au:(Joseph Sciorra)
DATABASE: Dissertation Abstracts Online
ACCESSION NO.: AAG9628006
TITLE: SPACE INTO PLACE: PUBLIC LIFE, MATERIAL CULTURE, AND THE BUILDING OF COMMUNITY IN NEW YORK CITY
AUTHOR: SCIORRA, JOSEPH UMBERTO
DEGREE: PH.D.
YEAR: 1996
INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA; 0175
ADVISER: Supervisor: ROGER D. ABRAHAMS
SOURCE: DAI, VOL. 57-04A, Page 1782, 00226 Pages
DESCRIPTORS: FOLKLORE; RELIGION, GENERAL; ARCHITECTURE; AMERICAN STUDIES
ABSTRACT: One of the defining features of the post-modern urban experience is the increasing dislocation from the specificity of place and the weakening of local culture. The perceived decline in individual connection and ultimately commitment to place is thought to contribute to a breakdown in a sense of community. Throughout New York City, people's desire to engage others through expressive behavior continues despite impinging societal and economic constraints. On occasion, it is adverse and hostile circumstances that compel city residents to engage in collective expressivity as both response and resistance. Vernacular forms that engender social life are vibrant in local neighborhoods despite the much heralded demise of public space and the American city. A series of five case studies documenting Puerto Rican casitas, Italian American yard shrines, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel grotto in Staten Island, Christmas house displays, and a complex of processions and parades in northern Brooklyn explores the process by which residents of New York City build community through symbolic imagery, material culture, and public display events. These venues and activities provide neighborhood residents with opportunities to reconfirm their involvement in, commitment to, and identification with their immediate area.

Other Published Articles: (chronologically ordered)

Database: Expanded Academic ASAP Sent from SearchBank. Library: Mary Washington College

Full content for this article includes illustration and photograph.Click here for the full text of this article.
Source: Natural History, June 1983 v92 p30(8).
Title: Brooklyn's dancing tower: brought to America by immigrants from an Italian town, the Feast of Saint Paulinus celebrates religious devotion, community ties, and the ideals of manhood. (Nola; 5th-century saint)
Author: I. Sheldon Posen, Joseph Sciorra and Martha Cooper
Subjects: Brooklyn, New York, New York - Fairs, festivals, etc. Nola, Italy - Fairs, festivals, etc. Folk festivals - New York, New York Italian Americans - Fairs, festivals, etc.
People: Paulinus, Saint - History
Locations: Italy; New York (City)
Magazine Collection: 18E4978
Electronic Collection: A2780690 RN: A2780690
Full Text COPYRIGHT American Museum of Natural History 1983

Database: Expanded Academic ASAP Sent from SearchBank. Library: Mary Washington College

Full content for this article includes illustration and photograph.
Source: TDR (Cambridge, Mass.), Winter 1990 v34 n4 p156(13).
Title: "I feel like I'm in my country:" Puerto Rican casitas in New York City.
Author: Joseph Sciorra and Martha Cooper
Subjects: New York, New York - Illustrations, photographs, etc. Puerto Ricans in New York (State) - Homes and haunts
Locations: New York, New York
Magazine Collection: 58G5701 RN: A9344776

Malidittu la linga/Damned Language/With 2 Audio Cassettes
by Vincenzo Ancona, Anna L. Chairetakis (Editor), Joseph Sciorra (Editor), Gaetano Cipolla (Translator).
Published 1990. Click here for more information and Sciorra's own review on Amazon.com.

Search specifications: Author/Editor : Joseph Sciorra
Type: Article
Author: Sciorra, Joseph.
Title: IN MEMORIAM: NEW YORK CITY'S MEMORIAL WALLS.
Citation: Folklife Annual 1990: 144-151.
ISSN: N/A
Entry: 30:2596
America: History and Life
Copyright (c) 1998 ABC-Clio, Inc.

R.I.P. : New York spraycan memorials
by Joseph U. Sciorra, Martha Cooper No publishing information.
Click here to get more info from Amazon.com

R.I.P. : Memorial Wall Art
by Martha Cooper, Joseph Sciorra, Published 1994.
Sciorra is only a co-author here, working with Cooper of Subway Art fame. Click here to get more info from Amazon.com.