Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book discusses the correspondence between Robert Redfield and F. G. Friedmann, which, lasting from February 1952 until April 1958, played an important role in developing the former's conceptualization of the peasant world. Friedmann, a philosopher-humanist, enjoys a considerable reputation in Italy as a founding father of the ethnography of Italian peasantry, but has remained less known in America. The book includes a new, autobiographical essay by F. G. Friedmann that illuminates both the prehistory of "La Miseria" and the background that motivated his study of peasantry. Reclining on the brown sofa like an ancient philosopher at a symposium, Friedmann would recount episodes from his life, always emphasizing the transcendent moments of lived philosophy and moving humanity. The Symposium represents an organic outgrowth of the personal correspondence between Redfield and Friedmann.