Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195176452
- eISBN:
- 9780199785308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176452.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Since its inception in 1987, The Journal of Ritual Studies, has published many seminal articles on the definition, recognition, and interpretation of ritual practices. The journal's approach has been ...
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Since its inception in 1987, The Journal of Ritual Studies, has published many seminal articles on the definition, recognition, and interpretation of ritual practices. The journal's approach has been interdisciplinary from the start, enriching the scope of contributions and broadening the base of conversations about theory. Its corpus of contributions can be a useful resource for teaching ritual, and this chapter demonstrates how this potential can be realized, using five articles from recent issues analyzed at a graduate or upper-level undergraduate level. The five articles chosen for this task all consider current themes in religious studies, ritual studies, and anthropological studies: the local and the global; ritual and invention; performance and performativity; embodiment and communication; and ritual and human consciousness.Less
Since its inception in 1987, The Journal of Ritual Studies, has published many seminal articles on the definition, recognition, and interpretation of ritual practices. The journal's approach has been interdisciplinary from the start, enriching the scope of contributions and broadening the base of conversations about theory. Its corpus of contributions can be a useful resource for teaching ritual, and this chapter demonstrates how this potential can be realized, using five articles from recent issues analyzed at a graduate or upper-level undergraduate level. The five articles chosen for this task all consider current themes in religious studies, ritual studies, and anthropological studies: the local and the global; ritual and invention; performance and performativity; embodiment and communication; and ritual and human consciousness.
Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195304671
- eISBN:
- 9780199866861
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304671.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Theory in Practice contains nine articles by prominent scholars about a variety of topics including Zen rituals kinhin and zazen, and covers rituals from the early Chan ...
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Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Theory in Practice contains nine articles by prominent scholars about a variety of topics including Zen rituals kinhin and zazen, and covers rituals from the early Chan period to modern Japan. Each chapter attempts to describe how ritual in Zen, covering key developments that occurred in the Linji/Rinzai and Caodong/Sōtō schools in China and Japan, molds the lives and characters of practitioners, shaping them in accordance with the ideal of Zen awakening.When books on Zen Buddhism began to appear in Western languages just over a half century ago, there was no interest in the role of ritual in Zen. Indeed, what attracted interest among Western readers was the Zen rejection of ritual. The famous “Beat Zen” writers were delighted by the Zen emphasis on spontaneity as opposed to planned, repetitious action, and wrote inspirationally about the demythologized, anti‐ritualized spirit of Zen. Quotes from the great Zen masters supported this understanding of Zen and led to the excitement that surrounded the opening of “Zen centers” throughout the West.Once Western practitioners in these centers began seriously to practice Zen, however, they discovered that zazen—Zen meditation—is a ritualized practice surrounded by supporting practices that have been ritualized for centuries in East Asia. Although initially in tension with the anti‐ritual image of ancient Zen masters, interest in Zen ritual has increased along with the realization that ritual is fundamental to the spirit of Zen. Later Zen practitioners would connect the idea of “no‐mind,” or the open and awakened state of mind in which ingrained habits of thinking have given way to more receptive, direct forms of experience. This provides a perspective from which ritual could gain enormous respect as a vehicle rather than obstacle to spiritual awakening, and this volume seeks to emphasize the significance of ritual in Zen.Less
Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Theory in Practice contains nine articles by prominent scholars about a variety of topics including Zen rituals kinhin and zazen, and covers rituals from the early Chan period to modern Japan. Each chapter attempts to describe how ritual in Zen, covering key developments that occurred in the Linji/Rinzai and Caodong/Sōtō schools in China and Japan, molds the lives and characters of practitioners, shaping them in accordance with the ideal of Zen awakening.
When books on Zen Buddhism began to appear in Western languages just over a half century ago, there was no interest in the role of ritual in Zen. Indeed, what attracted interest among Western readers was the Zen rejection of ritual. The famous “Beat Zen” writers were delighted by the Zen emphasis on spontaneity as opposed to planned, repetitious action, and wrote inspirationally about the demythologized, anti‐ritualized spirit of Zen. Quotes from the great Zen masters supported this understanding of Zen and led to the excitement that surrounded the opening of “Zen centers” throughout the West.
Once Western practitioners in these centers began seriously to practice Zen, however, they discovered that zazen—Zen meditation—is a ritualized practice surrounded by supporting practices that have been ritualized for centuries in East Asia. Although initially in tension with the anti‐ritual image of ancient Zen masters, interest in Zen ritual has increased along with the realization that ritual is fundamental to the spirit of Zen. Later Zen practitioners would connect the idea of “no‐mind,” or the open and awakened state of mind in which ingrained habits of thinking have given way to more receptive, direct forms of experience. This provides a perspective from which ritual could gain enormous respect as a vehicle rather than obstacle to spiritual awakening, and this volume seeks to emphasize the significance of ritual in Zen.
Arieh Bruce Saposnik
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331219
- eISBN:
- 9780199868100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331219.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter explores competing definitions of “native” Hebrew identity claimed by two distinct social groups: a native generation that had been raised in the Zionist colonies and neighborhoods of ...
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This chapter explores competing definitions of “native” Hebrew identity claimed by two distinct social groups: a native generation that had been raised in the Zionist colonies and neighborhoods of the “first Aliya” and a group of immigrants who began arriving in 1903 and 1904, inaugurating what would become known as the “second Aliya.” Received initially with a mixed response from veteran Zionists, the *Labor‐Zionist immigrants among this new wave emerged as both partners and rivals in nationalizing the Yishuv. This rivalry contributed to the growth of a wide range of cultural activities, including the appearance of new celebrations, such as Passover fair in Rehovot, a symbol of Hebrew nativity; new rituals, such as pilgrimages to the graves of the Maccabees; and even the construction of “the first Hebrew city” of Tel Aviv. Many of those that would persist were, in the final analysis, syntheses of the cultural efforts of competing groups.Less
This chapter explores competing definitions of “native” Hebrew identity claimed by two distinct social groups: a native generation that had been raised in the Zionist colonies and neighborhoods of the “first Aliya” and a group of immigrants who began arriving in 1903 and 1904, inaugurating what would become known as the “second Aliya.” Received initially with a mixed response from veteran Zionists, the *Labor‐Zionist immigrants among this new wave emerged as both partners and rivals in nationalizing the Yishuv. This rivalry contributed to the growth of a wide range of cultural activities, including the appearance of new celebrations, such as Passover fair in Rehovot, a symbol of Hebrew nativity; new rituals, such as pilgrimages to the graves of the Maccabees; and even the construction of “the first Hebrew city” of Tel Aviv. Many of those that would persist were, in the final analysis, syntheses of the cultural efforts of competing groups.
Arieh Bruce Saposnik
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331219
- eISBN:
- 9780199868100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331219.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Beginning with the Young Turk revolution in 1908, this chapter examines the changing conceptions of East and West as they were manifested in Yishuv culture. Zionism's call for a Jewish return to “the ...
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Beginning with the Young Turk revolution in 1908, this chapter examines the changing conceptions of East and West as they were manifested in Yishuv culture. Zionism's call for a Jewish return to “the East” was rooted in part in a broader European fascination with “the Orient.” This interest in the East coincided in time and in much of its imagery with a conceptual division of Europe itself into its “western” and “eastern” parts. The Jews were deeply implicated in these twin conceptualizations of the Orient and of Europe's own “Orient” at home, particularly with the notion that Jews constituted a semi‐Asiatic, foreign element in Europe. Competing images of Occident and Orient—resonating with a wide range of racial, social, political, and cultural overtones—would become not only central elements in efforts to create a new Hebrew language, art, and music but also defining aspects of the Yishuv's institutions, rituals, and national liturgy.Less
Beginning with the Young Turk revolution in 1908, this chapter examines the changing conceptions of East and West as they were manifested in Yishuv culture. Zionism's call for a Jewish return to “the East” was rooted in part in a broader European fascination with “the Orient.” This interest in the East coincided in time and in much of its imagery with a conceptual division of Europe itself into its “western” and “eastern” parts. The Jews were deeply implicated in these twin conceptualizations of the Orient and of Europe's own “Orient” at home, particularly with the notion that Jews constituted a semi‐Asiatic, foreign element in Europe. Competing images of Occident and Orient—resonating with a wide range of racial, social, political, and cultural overtones—would become not only central elements in efforts to create a new Hebrew language, art, and music but also defining aspects of the Yishuv's institutions, rituals, and national liturgy.
Jacob P. Dalton
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231176002
- eISBN:
- 9780231541176
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231176002.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The Gathering of Intentions reads a single Tibetan Buddhist ritual system through the movements of Tibetan history, revealing the social and material dimensions of an ostensibly timeless tradition. ...
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The Gathering of Intentions reads a single Tibetan Buddhist ritual system through the movements of Tibetan history, revealing the social and material dimensions of an ostensibly timeless tradition. By subjecting tantric practice to historical analysis, the book offers new insight into the origins of Tibetan Buddhism, the formation of its canons, the emergence of new lineages and ceremonies, and modern efforts to revitalize the religion by returning to its mythic origins. The ritual system explored in this volume is based on the Gathering of Intentions Sutra, the fundamental “root tantra” of the Anuyoga class of teachings belonging to the Nyingma (“Ancient”) school of Tibetan Buddhism. Proceeding chronologically from the ninth century to the present, each chapter features a Tibetan author negotiating a perceived gap between the original root text—the Gathering of Intentions—and the lived religious or political concerns of his day. These ongoing tensions underscore the significance of Tibet’s elaborate esoteric ritual systems, which have persisted for centuries, evolving in response to historical conditions. Rather than overlook practice in favor of philosophical concerns, this volume prioritizes Tibetan Buddhism’s ritual systems for a richer portrait of the tradition.Less
The Gathering of Intentions reads a single Tibetan Buddhist ritual system through the movements of Tibetan history, revealing the social and material dimensions of an ostensibly timeless tradition. By subjecting tantric practice to historical analysis, the book offers new insight into the origins of Tibetan Buddhism, the formation of its canons, the emergence of new lineages and ceremonies, and modern efforts to revitalize the religion by returning to its mythic origins. The ritual system explored in this volume is based on the Gathering of Intentions Sutra, the fundamental “root tantra” of the Anuyoga class of teachings belonging to the Nyingma (“Ancient”) school of Tibetan Buddhism. Proceeding chronologically from the ninth century to the present, each chapter features a Tibetan author negotiating a perceived gap between the original root text—the Gathering of Intentions—and the lived religious or political concerns of his day. These ongoing tensions underscore the significance of Tibet’s elaborate esoteric ritual systems, which have persisted for centuries, evolving in response to historical conditions. Rather than overlook practice in favor of philosophical concerns, this volume prioritizes Tibetan Buddhism’s ritual systems for a richer portrait of the tradition.
Alexandra Green
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888390885
- eISBN:
- 9789882204850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888390885.001.0001
- Subject:
- Art, Art History
This volume draws upon art historical, anthropological, and religious studies methodologies to delineate the structures and details of late Burmese wall paintings and elucidate the religious, ...
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This volume draws upon art historical, anthropological, and religious studies methodologies to delineate the structures and details of late Burmese wall paintings and elucidate the religious, political, and social concepts driving the creation of this art form. The combination of architecture, paintings, sculpture, and literary traditions created a complete space in which devotees could interact with the Buddha through his biography. Through the standardization of a repertoire of specific forms, codes, and themes, the murals were themselves activating agents, spurring devotees to merit-making, worship, and other ritual practices, partially by establishing normative religious behavior and partly through visual incentives. Much of this was accomplished through the manipulation of space, and the volume contributes to the analysis of visual narratives by examining how the relationships between word and image, layouts, story and scene selection, and narrative themes both demonstrate and confirm social structures and changes, economic activities, and religious practices of seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century Burma. The visual material of the wall painting sites worked together with the sculpture and the architecture to create unified spaces in which devotees could interact with the Buddha. This analysis takes the narrative field beyond the concept that pictures are to be “read” and shows the multifarious and holistic ways in which they can be viewed. To enter temples of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries was to enter a coherent space created by a visually articulated Burmese Buddhist world to which the devotee belonged by performing ritual activities within it.Less
This volume draws upon art historical, anthropological, and religious studies methodologies to delineate the structures and details of late Burmese wall paintings and elucidate the religious, political, and social concepts driving the creation of this art form. The combination of architecture, paintings, sculpture, and literary traditions created a complete space in which devotees could interact with the Buddha through his biography. Through the standardization of a repertoire of specific forms, codes, and themes, the murals were themselves activating agents, spurring devotees to merit-making, worship, and other ritual practices, partially by establishing normative religious behavior and partly through visual incentives. Much of this was accomplished through the manipulation of space, and the volume contributes to the analysis of visual narratives by examining how the relationships between word and image, layouts, story and scene selection, and narrative themes both demonstrate and confirm social structures and changes, economic activities, and religious practices of seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century Burma. The visual material of the wall painting sites worked together with the sculpture and the architecture to create unified spaces in which devotees could interact with the Buddha. This analysis takes the narrative field beyond the concept that pictures are to be “read” and shows the multifarious and holistic ways in which they can be viewed. To enter temples of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries was to enter a coherent space created by a visually articulated Burmese Buddhist world to which the devotee belonged by performing ritual activities within it.
Corinne Ondine Pache
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195339369
- eISBN:
- 9780199867134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339369.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Religions
Chapter 1 takes as its starting point the end of the Theogony, a conclusion that has been troubling to both ancient and modern scholars. At line 963, the poet invokes the Muses and sings about one ...
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Chapter 1 takes as its starting point the end of the Theogony, a conclusion that has been troubling to both ancient and modern scholars. At line 963, the poet invokes the Muses and sings about one subset of divinities, the goddesses who lie with and have children by mortal men. While many contend that the Theogony proper ends at some point before the catalogue of goddesses, I argue that the end as we have it is genuinely Hesiodic and look at how this interpretation affects the meaning of the Theogony. The conclusion of the Theogony encapsulates an essential truth about the poem and about ancient Greek culture: men acquire names and histories when they become objects of desire for goddesses, and ritual becomes established when Aphrodite chooses Phaethon as her temple keeper. The narrative of the Theogony is thus framed by two different versions of nympholepsy, which in turn recapitulate both the poetic and the cultic manifestations of the phenomenon. From an ancient Greek’s perspective, the catalogue of goddesses—and, more specifically, the goddesses’ interest in mortal men—represents the beginnings of human history.Less
Chapter 1 takes as its starting point the end of the Theogony, a conclusion that has been troubling to both ancient and modern scholars. At line 963, the poet invokes the Muses and sings about one subset of divinities, the goddesses who lie with and have children by mortal men. While many contend that the Theogony proper ends at some point before the catalogue of goddesses, I argue that the end as we have it is genuinely Hesiodic and look at how this interpretation affects the meaning of the Theogony. The conclusion of the Theogony encapsulates an essential truth about the poem and about ancient Greek culture: men acquire names and histories when they become objects of desire for goddesses, and ritual becomes established when Aphrodite chooses Phaethon as her temple keeper. The narrative of the Theogony is thus framed by two different versions of nympholepsy, which in turn recapitulate both the poetic and the cultic manifestations of the phenomenon. From an ancient Greek’s perspective, the catalogue of goddesses—and, more specifically, the goddesses’ interest in mortal men—represents the beginnings of human history.
Michael Peppard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300213997
- eISBN:
- 9780300216516
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300213997.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was ...
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In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was designed for religious rituals, but whose? As a crossroads for travelers, the city of Dura-Europos had buildings honoring gods of Greece, Rome, Persia, and Judea. These archaeologists soon realized, though, that they were looking at the earliest preserved Christian building—a “house church” from about the year 250. The World’s Oldest Church shines a flashlight once again on the murals of the earliest Christian building. Michael Peppard’s research at the nexus of Bible, art, and ritual shows that many familiar interpretations of the church require historical and theological reevaluation. While updating scholarship on all aspects of the building, he advances bold re-identifications of the female figures on the church’s walls. What if the veiled women were going not to a tomb, but to a wedding? What if the woman at a well was not a repentant sinner, but a spotless virgin—the Virgin Mary herself? Contrary to commonly held assumptions about early Christian initiation, Peppard contends that the rituals here did not primarily embody notions of death and resurrection. Rather, the central motifs were victory, healing, incarnation, and especially marriage. He attends to how the presence of ritual in a given space affects our interpretation of its art. In other words, the meaning of what appears on these walls may become clear only when we imagine what happened between them.Less
In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was designed for religious rituals, but whose? As a crossroads for travelers, the city of Dura-Europos had buildings honoring gods of Greece, Rome, Persia, and Judea. These archaeologists soon realized, though, that they were looking at the earliest preserved Christian building—a “house church” from about the year 250. The World’s Oldest Church shines a flashlight once again on the murals of the earliest Christian building. Michael Peppard’s research at the nexus of Bible, art, and ritual shows that many familiar interpretations of the church require historical and theological reevaluation. While updating scholarship on all aspects of the building, he advances bold re-identifications of the female figures on the church’s walls. What if the veiled women were going not to a tomb, but to a wedding? What if the woman at a well was not a repentant sinner, but a spotless virgin—the Virgin Mary herself? Contrary to commonly held assumptions about early Christian initiation, Peppard contends that the rituals here did not primarily embody notions of death and resurrection. Rather, the central motifs were victory, healing, incarnation, and especially marriage. He attends to how the presence of ritual in a given space affects our interpretation of its art. In other words, the meaning of what appears on these walls may become clear only when we imagine what happened between them.
Michael Peppard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300213997
- eISBN:
- 9780300216516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300213997.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter first summarizes the ancient history of Dura-Europos, its inhabitants, and its eventual destruction. It explains how the house-church came to be buried and preserved in the third ...
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This chapter first summarizes the ancient history of Dura-Europos, its inhabitants, and its eventual destruction. It explains how the house-church came to be buried and preserved in the third century. The narrative then turns to twentieth-century excavation and interpretation of the site. Finally, the chapter presents a method for studying the interaction between biblical narrative, visual art, and ritual behavior in the initiatory space of the baptistery. It offers a focused survey of previous scholarly approaches to sites of early Christian initiation in general, and this house-church in particular.Less
This chapter first summarizes the ancient history of Dura-Europos, its inhabitants, and its eventual destruction. It explains how the house-church came to be buried and preserved in the third century. The narrative then turns to twentieth-century excavation and interpretation of the site. Finally, the chapter presents a method for studying the interaction between biblical narrative, visual art, and ritual behavior in the initiatory space of the baptistery. It offers a focused survey of previous scholarly approaches to sites of early Christian initiation in general, and this house-church in particular.
Erhart Graefe
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9789774167249
- eISBN:
- 9781617976780
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774167249.003.0006
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
This chapter discusses the reconstruction work on the fragments of the Stundenritual (Ritual of the Hours of the Day) in the tomb of Karakhamun. Research was carried out in August 2013 and continued ...
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This chapter discusses the reconstruction work on the fragments of the Stundenritual (Ritual of the Hours of the Day) in the tomb of Karakhamun. Research was carried out in August 2013 and continued in May 2014. In 2013, it had been possible to document in digital photographs about 300 fragments put in a sandbox—a time-consuming process because fragments of different sizes, weights, and depths had to be adjusted with a level in both directions and the camera as well. In May 2014, the author made a (successful) test with another method for documenting the fragments: using a scanner. The preliminary reconstructions have progressed, especially for the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Hours. The reconstruction of the Eighth Hour of the Day, for instance, has improved considerably.Less
This chapter discusses the reconstruction work on the fragments of the Stundenritual (Ritual of the Hours of the Day) in the tomb of Karakhamun. Research was carried out in August 2013 and continued in May 2014. In 2013, it had been possible to document in digital photographs about 300 fragments put in a sandbox—a time-consuming process because fragments of different sizes, weights, and depths had to be adjusted with a level in both directions and the camera as well. In May 2014, the author made a (successful) test with another method for documenting the fragments: using a scanner. The preliminary reconstructions have progressed, especially for the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Hours. The reconstruction of the Eighth Hour of the Day, for instance, has improved considerably.
Alexandra Sanmark
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474402293
- eISBN:
- 9781474435260
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474402293.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Until very recently Viking Age and Old Norse assembly (thing) sites were essentially unknown, apart from a few select sites, such as Thingvellir in Iceland. The Vikings are well-known for their ...
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Until very recently Viking Age and Old Norse assembly (thing) sites were essentially unknown, apart from a few select sites, such as Thingvellir in Iceland. The Vikings are well-known for their violence and pillage, but they also had a well-organised system for political decision-making, legal cases and conflict resolution. Using archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of their legal system and assembly sites, showing that this formed an integral part of Norse culture and identity, to the extent that the assembly institution was brought to all Norse settlements.
Assembly sites are analysed through surveys and case studies across Scandinavia, Scotland and the North Atlantic region. Alexandra Sanmark moves the view of assembly sites away from a functional one to an understanding of the symbolic meaning of these highly ritualised sites, and shows how they were constructed to signify power through monuments and natural features. This original and stimulating study is set not only in the context of the Viking and Norse periods, but also in the wider continental histories of place, assembly and the rhetoric of power.Less
Until very recently Viking Age and Old Norse assembly (thing) sites were essentially unknown, apart from a few select sites, such as Thingvellir in Iceland. The Vikings are well-known for their violence and pillage, but they also had a well-organised system for political decision-making, legal cases and conflict resolution. Using archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of their legal system and assembly sites, showing that this formed an integral part of Norse culture and identity, to the extent that the assembly institution was brought to all Norse settlements.
Assembly sites are analysed through surveys and case studies across Scandinavia, Scotland and the North Atlantic region. Alexandra Sanmark moves the view of assembly sites away from a functional one to an understanding of the symbolic meaning of these highly ritualised sites, and shows how they were constructed to signify power through monuments and natural features. This original and stimulating study is set not only in the context of the Viking and Norse periods, but also in the wider continental histories of place, assembly and the rhetoric of power.
Richard Seaford (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410991
- eISBN:
- 9781474426695
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410991.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at ...
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This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at about the same time the birth of 'philosophy', the idea of the universe as an intelligible order in which personal deity is (at most) marginal and the inner self is at the centre of attention. The similarities include a pentadic structure of narrative and cosmology, a basic conception of cosmic order or harmony, a close relationship between universe and inner self, techniques of soteriological inwardness and self-immortalisation, the selflessness of theory, envisaging the inner self as a chariot, the interiorisation of ritual, and ethicised reincarnation. Explanations for the similarites are a shared Indo-European origin, parallel socio-economic development, and influence in one direction or the other.Less
This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at about the same time the birth of 'philosophy', the idea of the universe as an intelligible order in which personal deity is (at most) marginal and the inner self is at the centre of attention. The similarities include a pentadic structure of narrative and cosmology, a basic conception of cosmic order or harmony, a close relationship between universe and inner self, techniques of soteriological inwardness and self-immortalisation, the selflessness of theory, envisaging the inner self as a chariot, the interiorisation of ritual, and ethicised reincarnation. Explanations for the similarites are a shared Indo-European origin, parallel socio-economic development, and influence in one direction or the other.
Margaret Alexiou and Douglas Cairns (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474403795
- eISBN:
- 9781474435130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474403795.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This volume brings together an international team of scholars to explore the shifting shapes and functions of laughter and tears in the history, religion, art and literature of Greek communities from ...
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This volume brings together an international team of scholars to explore the shifting shapes and functions of laughter and tears in the history, religion, art and literature of Greek communities from Antiquity to Byzantium and beyond. What makes us laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time? How do these two primal, seemingly discrete and non-verbal modes of expression intersect in the everyday life and ritual of Greek communities, and what range of emotions do they entail? How may they be voiced, shaped and coloured in literature and liturgy, art and music? What happens when laughter and tears slip into each other and back again? What can we learn about human emotions and communicative modes across the ages, genres and cultures of Hellenic civilisation? The book breaks new ground in tracing the emotional, socio-cultural, religious and literary aspects of laughter and tears in a range of different artistic, cultural and historical contexts, across the longue durée of Greek civilisation. It brings students of ancient and Byzantine emotion into dialogue and shows how much is to be gained by collaborating across the disciplinary and chronological boundaries that demarcate the historical study of the Greek world.Less
This volume brings together an international team of scholars to explore the shifting shapes and functions of laughter and tears in the history, religion, art and literature of Greek communities from Antiquity to Byzantium and beyond. What makes us laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time? How do these two primal, seemingly discrete and non-verbal modes of expression intersect in the everyday life and ritual of Greek communities, and what range of emotions do they entail? How may they be voiced, shaped and coloured in literature and liturgy, art and music? What happens when laughter and tears slip into each other and back again? What can we learn about human emotions and communicative modes across the ages, genres and cultures of Hellenic civilisation? The book breaks new ground in tracing the emotional, socio-cultural, religious and literary aspects of laughter and tears in a range of different artistic, cultural and historical contexts, across the longue durée of Greek civilisation. It brings students of ancient and Byzantine emotion into dialogue and shows how much is to be gained by collaborating across the disciplinary and chronological boundaries that demarcate the historical study of the Greek world.
Mira Balberg
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520295926
- eISBN:
- 9780520968660
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295926.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Blood for Thought delves into a relatively unexplored area of classical rabbinic literature: the vast corpus of laws, regulations, and instructions pertaining to sacrificial rituals. The book traces ...
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Blood for Thought delves into a relatively unexplored area of classical rabbinic literature: the vast corpus of laws, regulations, and instructions pertaining to sacrificial rituals. The book traces and analyzes the ways in which the early rabbis interpreted and conceived of biblical sacrifices, and examines sacrifice and worship in the temple as sites through which the rabbis negotiated new and old intellectual, political, and religious ideas and practices. In its focus on legal-ritual texts and in its cultural orientation, this book diverges from the prevalent approach to the cessation of sacrifice in early Judaism. Rather than viewing the rabbinic project as an attempt to transform a sacrificial religion into a non-sacrificial religion, Blood for Thought argues that the rabbis developed anewsacrificial vision. This new sacrificial vision does not seek to “substitute” obsolete sacrificial practices, but rather to rearrange, reframe, and redefine sacrifice as a critically important component of social and religious life. The book argues that through their seemingly technical legal and ritual discussions, the rabbis present remarkably innovative perspectives on sacrifices and radical interpretations of biblical cultic institutions, and that their reinvention of sacrifice gives this practice new meanings within the greater context of the rabbis’ political and religious ideology.Less
Blood for Thought delves into a relatively unexplored area of classical rabbinic literature: the vast corpus of laws, regulations, and instructions pertaining to sacrificial rituals. The book traces and analyzes the ways in which the early rabbis interpreted and conceived of biblical sacrifices, and examines sacrifice and worship in the temple as sites through which the rabbis negotiated new and old intellectual, political, and religious ideas and practices. In its focus on legal-ritual texts and in its cultural orientation, this book diverges from the prevalent approach to the cessation of sacrifice in early Judaism. Rather than viewing the rabbinic project as an attempt to transform a sacrificial religion into a non-sacrificial religion, Blood for Thought argues that the rabbis developed anewsacrificial vision. This new sacrificial vision does not seek to “substitute” obsolete sacrificial practices, but rather to rearrange, reframe, and redefine sacrifice as a critically important component of social and religious life. The book argues that through their seemingly technical legal and ritual discussions, the rabbis present remarkably innovative perspectives on sacrifices and radical interpretations of biblical cultic institutions, and that their reinvention of sacrifice gives this practice new meanings within the greater context of the rabbis’ political and religious ideology.
Heather Maring
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813054469
- eISBN:
- 9780813053202
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813054469.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Signs That Sing argues that Anglo-Saxon poets wrote by drawing from a broad range of verbal resources: oral tradition, ecclesiastical literature, and Christian liturgy. Hybrid oral, written, and ...
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Signs That Sing argues that Anglo-Saxon poets wrote by drawing from a broad range of verbal resources: oral tradition, ecclesiastical literature, and Christian liturgy. Hybrid oral, written, and liturgical ways of speaking form a fundamental poetic strategy in Old English verse. In the field of medieval literature, written oral-traditional idioms, such as formulaic systems, themes, typescenes, and story patterns, are commonly recognized as hybrid expressions. Signs That Sing describes two other major types of hybrid poetic expression: ritual signs and idioms that fuse oral and literate modes of interpretation. This book demonstrates how hybrid expressions play meaningful roles in Advent Lyrics (Christ I), “Alms-Giving,” Andreas, The Battle of Maldon, Beowulf, Deor, The Dream of the Rood, Genesis A/B, The Gifts of Men, Soul and Body I and II, Thureth, Widsith, and select riddles. By viewing hybrid expressions as a creative resource for Anglo-Saxon poets, we are in a better position to appreciate the rhetorical complexity of their poems. Ultimately, Signs That Sing presents new ways of reading and interpreting Old English poems, while offering scholars of orality and ritual studies theoretical and practical implications for the study of hybrid texts.Less
Signs That Sing argues that Anglo-Saxon poets wrote by drawing from a broad range of verbal resources: oral tradition, ecclesiastical literature, and Christian liturgy. Hybrid oral, written, and liturgical ways of speaking form a fundamental poetic strategy in Old English verse. In the field of medieval literature, written oral-traditional idioms, such as formulaic systems, themes, typescenes, and story patterns, are commonly recognized as hybrid expressions. Signs That Sing describes two other major types of hybrid poetic expression: ritual signs and idioms that fuse oral and literate modes of interpretation. This book demonstrates how hybrid expressions play meaningful roles in Advent Lyrics (Christ I), “Alms-Giving,” Andreas, The Battle of Maldon, Beowulf, Deor, The Dream of the Rood, Genesis A/B, The Gifts of Men, Soul and Body I and II, Thureth, Widsith, and select riddles. By viewing hybrid expressions as a creative resource for Anglo-Saxon poets, we are in a better position to appreciate the rhetorical complexity of their poems. Ultimately, Signs That Sing presents new ways of reading and interpreting Old English poems, while offering scholars of orality and ritual studies theoretical and practical implications for the study of hybrid texts.
Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637980
- eISBN:
- 9780748670758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637980.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter examines the nature of ancient Greek sacrifice. After reviewing some of the theses defended by scholars about Greek sacrifice, it re-examines particularly: a) the theory that Greek ...
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This chapter examines the nature of ancient Greek sacrifice. After reviewing some of the theses defended by scholars about Greek sacrifice, it re-examines particularly: a) the theory that Greek sacrifice was based on the motif of the “non-violence”, in order to disclaim any “guilt of murder”; and b) the statement that the consent of the victim (by a sign of the head) was a very essential modality of the sacrificial ritual. It then discusses the relations between gods and sacrificial animals, taking as example the association between Zeus and the piglet. Finally, it reconsiders the problem of Greek gods as “receivers” of “human victims”.Less
This chapter examines the nature of ancient Greek sacrifice. After reviewing some of the theses defended by scholars about Greek sacrifice, it re-examines particularly: a) the theory that Greek sacrifice was based on the motif of the “non-violence”, in order to disclaim any “guilt of murder”; and b) the statement that the consent of the victim (by a sign of the head) was a very essential modality of the sacrificial ritual. It then discusses the relations between gods and sacrificial animals, taking as example the association between Zeus and the piglet. Finally, it reconsiders the problem of Greek gods as “receivers” of “human victims”.
Nigel Yates
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269892
- eISBN:
- 9780191683848
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269892.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The divisions that existed within the Church of England over matters of ritual prompted authorities to enact legislation as a means to control ritualism. This chapter examines why it proved to be so ...
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The divisions that existed within the Church of England over matters of ritual prompted authorities to enact legislation as a means to control ritualism. This chapter examines why it proved to be so difficult to control Anglican ritualism, whether through existing or new legislation. It looks at the motives of those who were determined to place limits on ritual innovation, as well as those of the many clergy and laity who were equally determined that such limits must be resisted, and those of the pragmatists who recognized that the judicial process had its limitations in matters of religious belief where opinions were strongly held and defended. It also discusses attempts to determine the legitimacy of doctrinal teaching through appeal to the courts, the impact of public opinion on discussions in Parliament, the establishment of the Royal Commission on Ritual in 1867, and the implementation of the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874.Less
The divisions that existed within the Church of England over matters of ritual prompted authorities to enact legislation as a means to control ritualism. This chapter examines why it proved to be so difficult to control Anglican ritualism, whether through existing or new legislation. It looks at the motives of those who were determined to place limits on ritual innovation, as well as those of the many clergy and laity who were equally determined that such limits must be resisted, and those of the pragmatists who recognized that the judicial process had its limitations in matters of religious belief where opinions were strongly held and defended. It also discusses attempts to determine the legitimacy of doctrinal teaching through appeal to the courts, the impact of public opinion on discussions in Parliament, the establishment of the Royal Commission on Ritual in 1867, and the implementation of the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874.
Jonathan H. Ebel
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300176704
- eISBN:
- 9780300216356
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300176704.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Social History
America’s expectations of its soldiers were lofty coming out of the Second World War. Men in uniform would struggle against global evils, defeat them, and return strengthened by the struggle. If ...
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America’s expectations of its soldiers were lofty coming out of the Second World War. Men in uniform would struggle against global evils, defeat them, and return strengthened by the struggle. If necessary, they would give their lives for the survival of a greater good. These expectations, conveyed powerfully in films of the era, affected Francis Gary Powers, who entered the Air Force in 1950 and became a fighter pilot. This chapter describes Powers’ involvement in one of the most troubling civil religious dramas of the Cold War. Shot down while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, Powers survived, stood trial, and apologized to the Soviets for what he had done. For this, numerous commentators in the U.S. lambasted him. This episode and its aftermath illuminate the power of civil religious rituals, the importance of proper soldierly performances in those rituals, and the consequences American soldiers have faced for improper ritual performances.Less
America’s expectations of its soldiers were lofty coming out of the Second World War. Men in uniform would struggle against global evils, defeat them, and return strengthened by the struggle. If necessary, they would give their lives for the survival of a greater good. These expectations, conveyed powerfully in films of the era, affected Francis Gary Powers, who entered the Air Force in 1950 and became a fighter pilot. This chapter describes Powers’ involvement in one of the most troubling civil religious dramas of the Cold War. Shot down while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, Powers survived, stood trial, and apologized to the Soviets for what he had done. For this, numerous commentators in the U.S. lambasted him. This episode and its aftermath illuminate the power of civil religious rituals, the importance of proper soldierly performances in those rituals, and the consequences American soldiers have faced for improper ritual performances.
Astrid Van Weyenberg
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199595006
- eISBN:
- 9780191731464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199595006.003.0020
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, African History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter discusses Wole Soyinka's The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite, It explores, first of all, how Soyinka draws on Yoruba mythology and cosmology to emphasise the revolutionary ...
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This chapter discusses Wole Soyinka's The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite, It explores, first of all, how Soyinka draws on Yoruba mythology and cosmology to emphasise the revolutionary potential of ritual sacrifice. Then, the focus shifts to the politics that the adaptation performs through its ambiguous relation with the Euripedean pre‐text, a relation that is characterised by a dual emphasis on correspondence and difference. In the final part, the cultural politics at play in Soyinka's refiguration of Dionysus and in his theory of ‘Yoruba tragedy’ is considered in relation to Martin Bernal's Black Athena project. The primary intention is to demonstrate how Soyinka does with ‘tragedy’ what Bernal does with ‘Greece’: challenging its conventional definition and destabilising the Eurocentrism that has traditionally inhibited it.Less
This chapter discusses Wole Soyinka's The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite, It explores, first of all, how Soyinka draws on Yoruba mythology and cosmology to emphasise the revolutionary potential of ritual sacrifice. Then, the focus shifts to the politics that the adaptation performs through its ambiguous relation with the Euripedean pre‐text, a relation that is characterised by a dual emphasis on correspondence and difference. In the final part, the cultural politics at play in Soyinka's refiguration of Dionysus and in his theory of ‘Yoruba tragedy’ is considered in relation to Martin Bernal's Black Athena project. The primary intention is to demonstrate how Soyinka does with ‘tragedy’ what Bernal does with ‘Greece’: challenging its conventional definition and destabilising the Eurocentrism that has traditionally inhibited it.
Andrea Assaf
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042423
- eISBN:
- 9780252051265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042423.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
The author of this poem demonstrates the artistic, living power of empathetic imagination. “Soy Mujer Cuando . . . A Collective Poem” is a poetic excerpt from the theatre work Fronteras ...
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The author of this poem demonstrates the artistic, living power of empathetic imagination. “Soy Mujer Cuando . . . A Collective Poem” is a poetic excerpt from the theatre work Fronteras Desviadas/Deviant Borders. Bilingual in its conception and written in collaboration with the acting company known as Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro, the author composed the poem in a community-based process with women on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border in 2004. Conceptually, Soy Mujer Cuando comprises three parts as a recurrent thread throughout the poem. The first two parts incorporate the multiple voices of women from the community and the ensemble of collaborating artists.Less
The author of this poem demonstrates the artistic, living power of empathetic imagination. “Soy Mujer Cuando . . . A Collective Poem” is a poetic excerpt from the theatre work Fronteras Desviadas/Deviant Borders. Bilingual in its conception and written in collaboration with the acting company known as Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro, the author composed the poem in a community-based process with women on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border in 2004. Conceptually, Soy Mujer Cuando comprises three parts as a recurrent thread throughout the poem. The first two parts incorporate the multiple voices of women from the community and the ensemble of collaborating artists.
