Understanding Rituals ed by Daniel de Coppet (1992).pdf

Understanding rituals

Rituals are at the core of the social identity of all communities. Yet

each society varies in its view of what is ritual and what is not.

Understanding Rituals explores how ritual can be understood

within the framework of contemporary social anthropology, and

shows that ritual is now one of the most fertile fields of

anthropological research.

The contributors look at ritual as a special kind of performance,

which is both an act and a statement. They discuss the views of

Frazer, Van Gennep, Robertson Smith and Marcel Mauss, and

explore the different aspects of ritual activity in order to question

the validity of current theories. They also analyse specific rituals

taken from a wide range of societies: they link Vedic times to the

present situation in India, a Christianized Moluccan society to its

still current pre-Christian social structure and values, contrast the

different modes of participation in a Nuba village in Sudan, and

describe the confrontation between Punjabi and English

communities in a London suburb.

Understanding Rituals shows how rituals create and maintain—

or transform—a society’s cultural identity and social relations. By

examining these rituals, both in particular and in general, the

contributors enable us to discover the ultimate and contradictory

values to which each society as a whole is attached. The book will

therefore be of great value to all students and teachers of social

anthropology and cultural studies.

Daniel de Coppet is Directeur d’Etudes at the Ecole des Hautes

Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL

ANTHROPOLOGISTS

The European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) was

inaugurated in January 1989, in response to a widely felt need

for a professional association which would represent social

anthropologists in Europe and foster co-operation and

interchange in teaching and research. As Europe transforms itself

in the nineties, the EASA is dedicated to the renewal of the

distinctive European tradition in social anthropology.

Other titles in the series

Conceptualizing Society

Adam Kuper

Revitalizing European Rituals

Jeremy Boissevain

Other Histories

Kirsten Hastrup

Alcohol, Gender and Culture

Dimitra Gefou-Madianou

Understanding rituals

Edited by

Daniel de Coppet

London and New York

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