Ritual TheoryFour functions of ritualThree Kinds of RitualsArnold van GennepVictor TurnerLiminalityCommunitasDominant & Instrumental SymbolsVictor Turner’s SignificanceSam GillHopi RitesRitual TheoryTurner, van Gennep, Hopi Rituals, Sam GillFour functions of ritualFour functions of ritualOrients participants to space & timeConnects participants to divineConnects participants to larger communityIncludes the body as an instrument for religionCremation rituals along the Ganges River, Varanasi, IndiaThree Kinds of RitualsCalendar RitualsDailyWeeklyMonthlyYearlySpecial OccasionThese are rituals that are not regularly performed, and/or rituals that not everyone will perform.Life CycleBirthComing of AgeMarriageDeathArnold van GennepRites of passage“Rites which accompany every change of place, state, social position and age”Three stages of Initiation RitesPrelimary, liminaire, postliminaireSeparation: the initiate is removed from the rest of the communityTransition: (or limen, from Latin for threshold): the initiate leaves the community until the rites are completeRe-Aggregation: the initiate re-joins the communityFrench ethnographer and folklorist, 1873-1957Victor TurnerContextFieldwork in 1950s, Ndembu, Central AfricaWritingTheory established in 1969Borrows from van Gennep, especially transition, “liminaire”Key termsliminality, communitas, dominant & instrumental symbolsScottish Anthropologist, 1920-1983LiminalityLimi n a lit y“Betwixt and between”There is no clear social statusUnclear status makes liminality dangerous to the communityWhy? ExamplesFraternity hazing, basic training, etc.R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. HartmanFull Metal Jacket (1987)CommunitasComm unitasGroup of people who are in the same liminal stateIt is in complete contrast to structured society, as all social distinctions fall away.Communitas involves a “common generic bond”Dominant & Instrumental SymbolsDominant symbolsThe meaning of a symbol stays relatively constant, apart from ritual activityInstrumental SymbolsThe meaning of instrumental symbols changes with their contexts.Usually connected to making something happenVictor Turner’s Significance“Social life is a dialectical process that involves successive experience of high and low”Liminal situation are considered dangerous and polluting because…CommunitasDominant and instrumental symbols usedApply to Hindu cremation? Bris? Baptisms?Male rites of passagesSam GillContextStudied Hopi Native AmericansCurrently studying salsa dance for teensKey termDisenchantmentEthnographer & anthropologist at University of Colorado, Boulder, 1943-Faculty Page, UCPersonal PageHopi Rites Reviewing the Hopi ceremonyWhipping – why? Maintain secrecy?Kiva http://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/arch3.htmRevelation of KachinasDisenchantmentDisjunction, shock“Nurtured in a perspective of naïve realism”Examples?Work put into the disenchantmentFor the Hopi, what does the disenchantment hope to accomplish?Apply to Turner; van Gennep?; to four
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