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 ritualFour functions of ritualOrients participants to space & timeConnects participants to divineConnects participants to larger communityIncludes the body as an instrument for religionCremation rituals along the Ganges River, Varanasi, IndiaThree Kinds of RitualsCalendar RitualsDailyWeeklyMonthlyYearlySpecial OccasionThese are rituals that are not regularly performed, and/or rituals that not everyone will perform.Life CycleBirthComing of AgeMarriageDeathArnold van GennepRites of passage“Rites which accompany every change of place, state, social position and age”Three stages of Initiation RitesPrelimary, liminaire, postliminaireSeparation: the initiate is removed from the rest of the communityTransition: (or limen, from Latin for threshold): the initiate leaves the community until the rites are completeRe-Aggregation: the initiate re-joins the communityFrench ethnographer and folklorist, 1873-1957Victor TurnerContextFieldwork in 1950s, Ndembu, Central AfricaWritingTheory established in 1969Borrows from van Gennep, especially transition, “liminaire”Key termsliminality, communitas, dominant & instrumental symbolsScottish Anthropologist, 1920-1983LiminalityLimi n a lit y“Betwixt and between”There is no clear social statusUnclear status makes liminality dangerous to the communityWhy? ExamplesFraternity hazing, basic training, etc.R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. HartmanFull Metal Jacket (1987)CommunitasComm unitasGroup of people who are in the same liminal stateIt is in complete contrast to structured society, as all social distinctions fall away.Communitas involves a “common generic bond”Dominant & Instrumental SymbolsDominant symbolsThe meaning of a symbol stays relatively constant, apart from ritual activityInstrumental SymbolsThe 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…CommunitasDominant and instrumental symbols usedApply to Hindu cremation? Bris? Baptisms?Male rites of passagesSam GillContextStudied Hopi Native AmericansCurrently studying salsa dance for teensKey termDisenchantmentEthnographer & anthropologist at University of Colorado, Boulder, 1943-Faculty Page, UCPersonal PageHopi Rites Reviewing the Hopi ceremonyWhipping – why? Maintain secrecy?Kiva http://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/arch3.htmRevelation of KachinasDisenchantmentDisjunction, shock“Nurtured in a perspective of naïve realism”Examples?Work put into the disenchantmentFor the Hopi, what does the disenchantment hope to accomplish?Apply to Turner; van Gennep?; to four