Download or read book The Importances of the Past written by George Allan and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines tradition, the authority of the past, by tracing the process through which emotion and imagination transform everyday experience into an awareness of one's dependence on the work of predecessors. The King Arthur legend serves as a case study, outlining how this authority of tradition creates and sustains meaningful structures of social order.