This collection of essays explores a variety of ritual forms in contemporary American society, from funerals and inaugurations to drinking behavior and debutante coronations.

This volume celebrates the cultural diversity of the United States as it is articulated through ritual performance. It presents the diverse ways in which people choose to validate and perpetuate their cultural identity. The collection of essays invokes the state of critical self-awareness that is increasingly enlisted in multicultural discourse. This volume is an important addition to the literature on ritual in America and will be useful to anthropologists, sociologists, and researchers in social sciences and humanities because it explores all dimensions of ritual experience and provides new visions of American identity expressed through formalized festive events.