David F. Armstrong and Sherman E. Wilcox
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195163483
- eISBN:
- 9780199867523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195163483.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This concluding chapter presents a summary of the main argument of the book, which is that signed languages are in an important sense not unique, that they are merely manifestations of the human ...
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This concluding chapter presents a summary of the main argument of the book, which is that signed languages are in an important sense not unique, that they are merely manifestations of the human language ability, unfamiliar only because language scientists of the time were not familiar with deaf people and their natural languages. It has been proposed that transformation of gesture into language lies at the heart of the origin of language, that just as grammaticization-as-ritualization accounts for the change from lexical to grammatical, it also accounts for the transformation of gesture into language. Ritualization is implicated in the phylogenetic evolution of language from nonlinguistic behaviours, with visible gestures playing a key role.Less
This concluding chapter presents a summary of the main argument of the book, which is that signed languages are in an important sense not unique, that they are merely manifestations of the human language ability, unfamiliar only because language scientists of the time were not familiar with deaf people and their natural languages. It has been proposed that transformation of gesture into language lies at the heart of the origin of language, that just as grammaticization-as-ritualization accounts for the change from lexical to grammatical, it also accounts for the transformation of gesture into language. Ritualization is implicated in the phylogenetic evolution of language from nonlinguistic behaviours, with visible gestures playing a key role.
Andrew Mein
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291397
- eISBN:
- 9780191700620
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291397.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Whereas much recent work on the ethics of the Hebrew Bible addresses the theological task of using the Bible as a moral resource for today, this book aims to set Ezekiel's ethics firmly in the social ...
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Whereas much recent work on the ethics of the Hebrew Bible addresses the theological task of using the Bible as a moral resource for today, this book aims to set Ezekiel's ethics firmly in the social and historical context of the Babylonian Exile. The two ‘moral worlds’ of Jerusalem and Babylonia provide the key. Ezekiel explains the disaster in terms familiar to his audience's past experience as members of Judah's political elite. He also provides ethical strategies for coping with the more limited possibilities of life in Babylonia, which include the ritualization of ethics, an increasing emphasis on the domestic and personal sphere of action, and a shift towards human passivity in the face of restoration. Thus, the prophet's moral concerns and priorities are substantially shaped by the social experience of deportation and resettlement. They also represent a creative response to the crisis, providing significant impetus for social cohesion and the maintenance of a distinctively Jewish community.Less
Whereas much recent work on the ethics of the Hebrew Bible addresses the theological task of using the Bible as a moral resource for today, this book aims to set Ezekiel's ethics firmly in the social and historical context of the Babylonian Exile. The two ‘moral worlds’ of Jerusalem and Babylonia provide the key. Ezekiel explains the disaster in terms familiar to his audience's past experience as members of Judah's political elite. He also provides ethical strategies for coping with the more limited possibilities of life in Babylonia, which include the ritualization of ethics, an increasing emphasis on the domestic and personal sphere of action, and a shift towards human passivity in the face of restoration. Thus, the prophet's moral concerns and priorities are substantially shaped by the social experience of deportation and resettlement. They also represent a creative response to the crisis, providing significant impetus for social cohesion and the maintenance of a distinctively Jewish community.
Elaine Craddock
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ...
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This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ardent devotion to Shiva conflicted with her ritual duties as a wife. Her husband became frightened by Shiva's response to her devotions and released her from marriage; she immediately made a devotional pilgrimage to the Himalayas, where Shiva granted her her wish to be given demon form and to be the eternal witness to his fierce dance in the cremation ground at Tiruvalankatu. There, she composed 143 verses, which represent the earliest Tamil poetry to Shiva. Karaikkal Ammaiyar's own life shows a shift in emphasis from the performance of wifely domestic rituals, normally the primary ritual domain of married women, to the understanding of her entire life as a ritual offering to Shiva.Less
This chapter focuses on Karaikkal Ammaiyar, also know as Punitavati, one of the Tamil nayanmar, or Shaivite saints. Before Punitavati became Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she was married to a merchant, but her ardent devotion to Shiva conflicted with her ritual duties as a wife. Her husband became frightened by Shiva's response to her devotions and released her from marriage; she immediately made a devotional pilgrimage to the Himalayas, where Shiva granted her her wish to be given demon form and to be the eternal witness to his fierce dance in the cremation ground at Tiruvalankatu. There, she composed 143 verses, which represent the earliest Tamil poetry to Shiva. Karaikkal Ammaiyar's own life shows a shift in emphasis from the performance of wifely domestic rituals, normally the primary ritual domain of married women, to the understanding of her entire life as a ritual offering to Shiva.
David F. Armstrong and Sherman E. Wilcox
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195163483
- eISBN:
- 9780199867523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195163483.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter presents evidence from several signed languages for the emergence of grammar from the words (signs) of these languages. It details how signed words develop out of non-words — out of ...
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This chapter presents evidence from several signed languages for the emergence of grammar from the words (signs) of these languages. It details how signed words develop out of non-words — out of gesture by the same fundamental processes. This is the advantage that the study of signed languages uniquely offers — one can observe as new languages actually emerge, as, for example, in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). The emergence of language is linked to a process long studied in the evolution of animal behaviour — the process of ritualization.Less
This chapter presents evidence from several signed languages for the emergence of grammar from the words (signs) of these languages. It details how signed words develop out of non-words — out of gesture by the same fundamental processes. This is the advantage that the study of signed languages uniquely offers — one can observe as new languages actually emerge, as, for example, in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). The emergence of language is linked to a process long studied in the evolution of animal behaviour — the process of ritualization.
Pang Yang Huei
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888208302
- eISBN:
- 9789888455652
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208302.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
In Strait Rituals: China, Taiwan, and the United States and in the Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954-1958, this book argues that the Taiwan Strait Crises could be understood as an evolution towards tacit ...
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In Strait Rituals: China, Taiwan, and the United States and in the Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954-1958, this book argues that the Taiwan Strait Crises could be understood as an evolution towards tacit accommodation. Exploiting new materials from mainland China, Taiwan and the United States, a reevaluation of the international relations of all three parties via a simultaneous presentation of their disparate perspectives is made. At the heart of its argument, this book proposes that conflict resolution had become ritualized progressively as the protagonists implicitly constructed a framework of understanding. An uneasy peace was thus a product of a ritualization of discourses and maneuvers, embodied in verbal signaling and symbolic gestures. These exacting understandings laid the groundwork for a substantive change in the nature of Sino-American relations - from hostile nuclear confrontation in 1954 to tacit accommodation in 1958. In particular, this book highlights relevant aspects of “culture” to better understand the intricacies of the Sino-US-ROC relations. This aspect complements existing scholarship on realism, strategy, economics, ideology and domestic aspects of the Taiwan Strait crises. Strait Rituals will show the significance of “ritualization” in explaining the transition of “tacit communication” to “tacit accommodation.” It will demonstrate how both parties engaged in ritualized actions that facilitated the process of conflict resolution. Strait Rituals will establish how the US and China achieved a limited but shared understanding of the modus operandi of the other party through their ritualized actions in terms of their use of public symbols, identity issues, cultural images and official discourses on one hand, and military posturing, diplomatic canvassing for international support, and negotiations on the other hand.Less
In Strait Rituals: China, Taiwan, and the United States and in the Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954-1958, this book argues that the Taiwan Strait Crises could be understood as an evolution towards tacit accommodation. Exploiting new materials from mainland China, Taiwan and the United States, a reevaluation of the international relations of all three parties via a simultaneous presentation of their disparate perspectives is made. At the heart of its argument, this book proposes that conflict resolution had become ritualized progressively as the protagonists implicitly constructed a framework of understanding. An uneasy peace was thus a product of a ritualization of discourses and maneuvers, embodied in verbal signaling and symbolic gestures. These exacting understandings laid the groundwork for a substantive change in the nature of Sino-American relations - from hostile nuclear confrontation in 1954 to tacit accommodation in 1958. In particular, this book highlights relevant aspects of “culture” to better understand the intricacies of the Sino-US-ROC relations. This aspect complements existing scholarship on realism, strategy, economics, ideology and domestic aspects of the Taiwan Strait crises. Strait Rituals will show the significance of “ritualization” in explaining the transition of “tacit communication” to “tacit accommodation.” It will demonstrate how both parties engaged in ritualized actions that facilitated the process of conflict resolution. Strait Rituals will establish how the US and China achieved a limited but shared understanding of the modus operandi of the other party through their ritualized actions in terms of their use of public symbols, identity issues, cultural images and official discourses on one hand, and military posturing, diplomatic canvassing for international support, and negotiations on the other hand.
Christopher B. Balme
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184447
- eISBN:
- 9780191674266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184447.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter examines different ritualization strategies incorporated in syncretic theatres. One method of ritualizing the theatre is to adopt existing ritual forms and adapt them so as to alter the ...
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This chapter examines different ritualization strategies incorporated in syncretic theatres. One method of ritualizing the theatre is to adopt existing ritual forms and adapt them so as to alter the entire performance frame. The relationship between theatre and ritual in post-colonial societies is uniquely manifested in the Maori theatre, which attempted to ritualize the overall frame of the entire theatrical performance. This chapter also explains how indigenous ritual forms can be incorporated into a Western liminal dramaturgical frame through the analysis of the ritual dramas of Wole Soyinka. It also examines the phenomenon of possession in terms of both its dramaturgical functions and its performance aesthetics. Possession is a striking feature of African-American religious celebration and is particularly important in West African and in Caribbean syncretic cults such as voodoo, kumina, shango, and pocomania.Less
This chapter examines different ritualization strategies incorporated in syncretic theatres. One method of ritualizing the theatre is to adopt existing ritual forms and adapt them so as to alter the entire performance frame. The relationship between theatre and ritual in post-colonial societies is uniquely manifested in the Maori theatre, which attempted to ritualize the overall frame of the entire theatrical performance. This chapter also explains how indigenous ritual forms can be incorporated into a Western liminal dramaturgical frame through the analysis of the ritual dramas of Wole Soyinka. It also examines the phenomenon of possession in terms of both its dramaturgical functions and its performance aesthetics. Possession is a striking feature of African-American religious celebration and is particularly important in West African and in Caribbean syncretic cults such as voodoo, kumina, shango, and pocomania.
Michael Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226491820
- eISBN:
- 9780226492018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226492018.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
In How Lifeworlds Work, Michael Jackson seeks to reinvigorate the study of kinship and ritual by theorizing a society as a force field in which affective as well as cognitive elements are in tension, ...
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In How Lifeworlds Work, Michael Jackson seeks to reinvigorate the study of kinship and ritual by theorizing a society as a force field in which affective as well as cognitive elements are in tension, and constant adjustments are effected between subjective imperatives and shared needs. Drawing on forty years of ethnographic fieldwork in West Africa and elsewhere, Jackson draws on cybernetics, affect theory, and pragmatism to explore the subtle strategies and micropolitics of face-to-face relationships in both ritual and mundane settings, and the ways that individual passions subvert or serve the common weal.Less
In How Lifeworlds Work, Michael Jackson seeks to reinvigorate the study of kinship and ritual by theorizing a society as a force field in which affective as well as cognitive elements are in tension, and constant adjustments are effected between subjective imperatives and shared needs. Drawing on forty years of ethnographic fieldwork in West Africa and elsewhere, Jackson draws on cybernetics, affect theory, and pragmatism to explore the subtle strategies and micropolitics of face-to-face relationships in both ritual and mundane settings, and the ways that individual passions subvert or serve the common weal.
PATRICK STEVENSON
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198299707
- eISBN:
- 9780191708053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299707.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various ...
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This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various kinds. This formed the bedrock of ‘public language’ in the GDR — not the language of everyday social intercourse, but the discourse of authority and political orthodoxy which ordinary citizens would inevitably encounter, and in which they would develop at least a passive competence. Section 3.2 considers the functions and importance of the ritualization of speech events involving most members of the population (focusing on May Day and the Jugenweidhe, the secular equivalent of confirmation).Less
This chapter focuses on public language use in the GDR. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 examines the official discourse of the Socialist Unity Party as manifested in statements of various kinds. This formed the bedrock of ‘public language’ in the GDR — not the language of everyday social intercourse, but the discourse of authority and political orthodoxy which ordinary citizens would inevitably encounter, and in which they would develop at least a passive competence. Section 3.2 considers the functions and importance of the ritualization of speech events involving most members of the population (focusing on May Day and the Jugenweidhe, the secular equivalent of confirmation).
Robert Parker
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216116
- eISBN:
- 9780191705847
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216116.003.0017
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter looks at the festivals, rituals, and myths associated with ancient Athens. A central dilemma in the analysis of ritual has been that of giving it an effective definition, and, although ...
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This chapter looks at the festivals, rituals, and myths associated with ancient Athens. A central dilemma in the analysis of ritual has been that of giving it an effective definition, and, although the difficulty is compounded once so-called secular rituals are taken into account, it quickly emerges even within the confines of religious activity. Not all Greek rituals are festivals, obviously; an oath sworn, a vow contracted, a sacrifice performed by an individual is not a festival. But are festivals rituals, and in what sense? Whether one favours the language of ritual or of ritualisation, the difficulty is in fact, in relation to festivals, the same. A central issue is the way in which the festivals defined and prescribed the social roles of those who participated in them. What is clear, though, is that whatever intensity there was in Greek religious experience was a product of ritual, and of festivals above all.Less
This chapter looks at the festivals, rituals, and myths associated with ancient Athens. A central dilemma in the analysis of ritual has been that of giving it an effective definition, and, although the difficulty is compounded once so-called secular rituals are taken into account, it quickly emerges even within the confines of religious activity. Not all Greek rituals are festivals, obviously; an oath sworn, a vow contracted, a sacrifice performed by an individual is not a festival. But are festivals rituals, and in what sense? Whether one favours the language of ritual or of ritualisation, the difficulty is in fact, in relation to festivals, the same. A central issue is the way in which the festivals defined and prescribed the social roles of those who participated in them. What is clear, though, is that whatever intensity there was in Greek religious experience was a product of ritual, and of festivals above all.
John M. Janzen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520072657
- eISBN:
- 9780520910850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520072657.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter moves beyond the behavioral and symbolic features of therapeutic initiation to the conscious, verbal dimension found in the ngoma sessions. A single session is described and analyzed in ...
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This chapter moves beyond the behavioral and symbolic features of therapeutic initiation to the conscious, verbal dimension found in the ngoma sessions. A single session is described and analyzed in depth. It provides the basis for a wider comparison with other examples. The centrality of song to ngoma becomes apparent here. Ngoma brings together the disparate elements of an individual's life threads and weaves them into a meaningful fabric. A sequence of self-presentations (ukunqula) and song-dances (ngoma) is reported. Ritual acts out relationships and meanings so as to heighten emotion and to articulate contradictory sentiments. The character and role of music in ngoma therapeutic ritualization are also dealt. A close look at “doing ngoma” reveals that it is the format and the setting in which highly individualistic perceptions are brought into the mirror of social reflection and subjected to reinforcement, repetition, and reaffirmation.Less
This chapter moves beyond the behavioral and symbolic features of therapeutic initiation to the conscious, verbal dimension found in the ngoma sessions. A single session is described and analyzed in depth. It provides the basis for a wider comparison with other examples. The centrality of song to ngoma becomes apparent here. Ngoma brings together the disparate elements of an individual's life threads and weaves them into a meaningful fabric. A sequence of self-presentations (ukunqula) and song-dances (ngoma) is reported. Ritual acts out relationships and meanings so as to heighten emotion and to articulate contradictory sentiments. The character and role of music in ngoma therapeutic ritualization are also dealt. A close look at “doing ngoma” reveals that it is the format and the setting in which highly individualistic perceptions are brought into the mirror of social reflection and subjected to reinforcement, repetition, and reaffirmation.
Travis A. Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520270442
- eISBN:
- 9780520951921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520270442.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
The framings discussed in the previous chapters foreground the importance of attending to the details of a specific musical event via its nesting in successive frames—a scene, a blues aesthetic, ...
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The framings discussed in the previous chapters foreground the importance of attending to the details of a specific musical event via its nesting in successive frames—a scene, a blues aesthetic, ritual, space, time, tune, and form. They emphasize, as well, relating that single event to others and noting how each event is constituted by references and responses to others displaced in time and space. Building on those ideas, this chapter focuses on the ways that the work of different actors and institutions shapes musical events in recording studios or clubs. It analyzes three studio recordings and three live performances to illustrate the efficacy of seeing jazz through the lenses of a blues aesthetic and ritualization.Less
The framings discussed in the previous chapters foreground the importance of attending to the details of a specific musical event via its nesting in successive frames—a scene, a blues aesthetic, ritual, space, time, tune, and form. They emphasize, as well, relating that single event to others and noting how each event is constituted by references and responses to others displaced in time and space. Building on those ideas, this chapter focuses on the ways that the work of different actors and institutions shapes musical events in recording studios or clubs. It analyzes three studio recordings and three live performances to illustrate the efficacy of seeing jazz through the lenses of a blues aesthetic and ritualization.
Kristy Nabhan-Warren
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814776469
- eISBN:
- 9780814777466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814776469.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines adult–child interactions with a focus on how researchers can use a child-centered perspective to enter adolescent communities. This study, focused on Latino teen gang members in ...
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This chapter examines adult–child interactions with a focus on how researchers can use a child-centered perspective to enter adolescent communities. This study, focused on Latino teen gang members in Phoenix, emphasizes that to understand young people's religious interpretations scholars must embrace teens' religious creativity, rather than measuring their understandings against an established norm. Cholos and cholas were not the “deviant” or unredeemable youth they were often portrayed as in the media. Gang members in South Phoenix invented religious rituals and symbols that were born out of dispossession and an intense yearning for love and acceptance. Ritualization of violence and desire was a “strategic way of acting.” Religious symbols had taken on new meaning in the barrio across generations—Christ and Mary were alive and walked with the men, women, and children who lived there.Less
This chapter examines adult–child interactions with a focus on how researchers can use a child-centered perspective to enter adolescent communities. This study, focused on Latino teen gang members in Phoenix, emphasizes that to understand young people's religious interpretations scholars must embrace teens' religious creativity, rather than measuring their understandings against an established norm. Cholos and cholas were not the “deviant” or unredeemable youth they were often portrayed as in the media. Gang members in South Phoenix invented religious rituals and symbols that were born out of dispossession and an intense yearning for love and acceptance. Ritualization of violence and desire was a “strategic way of acting.” Religious symbols had taken on new meaning in the barrio across generations—Christ and Mary were alive and walked with the men, women, and children who lived there.
Pang Yang Huei
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888208302
- eISBN:
- 9789888455652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208302.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Finally, Strait Rituals returns to the three main lines of inquiry: Why did the two confrontations erupt in September 1954 and August 1958? How did each crisis unfold, from outbreak to resolution? ...
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Finally, Strait Rituals returns to the three main lines of inquiry: Why did the two confrontations erupt in September 1954 and August 1958? How did each crisis unfold, from outbreak to resolution? What do the two crises reveal about the foreign relations of the PRC, US and ROC in the 1950s? A short thematic approach will be taken to bring all relevant elements together.Less
Finally, Strait Rituals returns to the three main lines of inquiry: Why did the two confrontations erupt in September 1954 and August 1958? How did each crisis unfold, from outbreak to resolution? What do the two crises reveal about the foreign relations of the PRC, US and ROC in the 1950s? A short thematic approach will be taken to bring all relevant elements together.
Stephen Prothero
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520208162
- eISBN:
- 9780520929746
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520208162.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Nonprofit cremation societies yielded to profit businesses, and making the case for cremation took a back seat to building and operating crematories. The business of cremation was becoming business ...
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Nonprofit cremation societies yielded to profit businesses, and making the case for cremation took a back seat to building and operating crematories. The business of cremation was becoming business as the Gilded Age yielded to the Progressive Era. The Cremation Association of North America (CAA) was the brainchild of Dr. Hugo Erichsen. His pro-cremation work bridged the reforming zeal of the cremation reformers of the nineteenth century and the pragmatism of the cremating businessmen of the Progressive Era and beyond. Crematory operators were experimenting with architecture, ritualization, and cremation technology. The cemetery had emerged as the most popular crematory site, and cremation rites had become more private, though no less spiritually charged. The nonprofit cremation societies of the nineteenth century had given way to the crematory businesses of the twentieth, and crusaders after purity had yielded to pursuers of the Almighty Dollar.Less
Nonprofit cremation societies yielded to profit businesses, and making the case for cremation took a back seat to building and operating crematories. The business of cremation was becoming business as the Gilded Age yielded to the Progressive Era. The Cremation Association of North America (CAA) was the brainchild of Dr. Hugo Erichsen. His pro-cremation work bridged the reforming zeal of the cremation reformers of the nineteenth century and the pragmatism of the cremating businessmen of the Progressive Era and beyond. Crematory operators were experimenting with architecture, ritualization, and cremation technology. The cemetery had emerged as the most popular crematory site, and cremation rites had become more private, though no less spiritually charged. The nonprofit cremation societies of the nineteenth century had given way to the crematory businesses of the twentieth, and crusaders after purity had yielded to pursuers of the Almighty Dollar.
Jörg Rüpke
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501704703
- eISBN:
- 9781501706264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501704703.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter explores Propertian oeuvre's imagination of individual magic practices. Propertius presupposes a set of techniques, characterized by their high degree of ritualization, by the use of ...
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This chapter explores Propertian oeuvre's imagination of individual magic practices. Propertius presupposes a set of techniques, characterized by their high degree of ritualization, by the use of instruments or ingredients that do not appear in common or daily praxis. These are termed “magic” and they are clearly distinguished from the realm of the gods and such practices as are termed “sacred.” For Propertius, magic is neither antisocial nor the “religion of the others.” The aims of magical practices might be reached by other techniques of sacralization, but magic is as legitimately open to him as it is to others. However, the ingestion of potions is the most plausible explanation for magic's effects, and this is uncomfortably close to the crime of poisoning. Therefore, one must be wary of admitting responsibility for such magic, or of naming one's contractors. Believing, practicing, remaining silent—these are exactly the conditions that are valid for all imperial practitioners and specialists of magic.Less
This chapter explores Propertian oeuvre's imagination of individual magic practices. Propertius presupposes a set of techniques, characterized by their high degree of ritualization, by the use of instruments or ingredients that do not appear in common or daily praxis. These are termed “magic” and they are clearly distinguished from the realm of the gods and such practices as are termed “sacred.” For Propertius, magic is neither antisocial nor the “religion of the others.” The aims of magical practices might be reached by other techniques of sacralization, but magic is as legitimately open to him as it is to others. However, the ingestion of potions is the most plausible explanation for magic's effects, and this is uncomfortably close to the crime of poisoning. Therefore, one must be wary of admitting responsibility for such magic, or of naming one's contractors. Believing, practicing, remaining silent—these are exactly the conditions that are valid for all imperial practitioners and specialists of magic.
Leon J. Weinberger
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774303
- eISBN:
- 9781800340978
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774303.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter provides an overview of Jewish hymnography. Synagogue hymnography, compared to its Christian and Muslim counterparts, is distinctive in both its focus and its volume. There is nothing ...
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This chapter provides an overview of Jewish hymnography. Synagogue hymnography, compared to its Christian and Muslim counterparts, is distinctive in both its focus and its volume. There is nothing comparable in Christianity or Islam to the vast Jewish liturgical corpus. The disparity in output is due both to the difference in focus and to the rabbinic encouragement to be creative in prayer. Lay leaders in the synagogue responded enthusiastically to the rabbinic advice, and urged their cantor-poets to compose additions to the obligatory šemaʻ and ʻamidah, as well as celebrations and observances of life-cycle events. A constant feature of the Jewish experience emerged with the hymnic ritualization of the great events of human life. There is also a difference in the historical experience of the Jews exiled from their national home. Given a life in exile, the synagogue poet would often appeal to God for national restoration. This book studies Jewish hymnography in the eastern Mediterranean and in western and central Europe, demonstrating how its literary history was largely determined by contemporary culture.Less
This chapter provides an overview of Jewish hymnography. Synagogue hymnography, compared to its Christian and Muslim counterparts, is distinctive in both its focus and its volume. There is nothing comparable in Christianity or Islam to the vast Jewish liturgical corpus. The disparity in output is due both to the difference in focus and to the rabbinic encouragement to be creative in prayer. Lay leaders in the synagogue responded enthusiastically to the rabbinic advice, and urged their cantor-poets to compose additions to the obligatory šemaʻ and ʻamidah, as well as celebrations and observances of life-cycle events. A constant feature of the Jewish experience emerged with the hymnic ritualization of the great events of human life. There is also a difference in the historical experience of the Jews exiled from their national home. Given a life in exile, the synagogue poet would often appeal to God for national restoration. This book studies Jewish hymnography in the eastern Mediterranean and in western and central Europe, demonstrating how its literary history was largely determined by contemporary culture.
Gregory Price Grieve
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520291447
- eISBN:
- 9780520965225
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520291447.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores how people use smartphones in popular culture to practice religion, focusing on the app, buddhify. It argues that buddhify is authentically religious because it communicates an ...
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This chapter explores how people use smartphones in popular culture to practice religion, focusing on the app, buddhify. It argues that buddhify is authentically religious because it communicates an experience of mindfulness through a procedural spirituality that poaches from video game play. Like other digital devices, buddhify can best be described through “user experience” and “user interface.” User experience defines a person's emotions and attitudes toward an application. Buddhify is designed to promote “mindfulness,” an active state of open nonjudgmental awareness of one's thoughts and emotions. User interface indicates the junction between a person and digital devices and includes the screen elements, such as menus and commands, that lead users through an application. The app's user interface cultivates an experience of mindfulness through ritualization, a way of performing certain activities that differentiates them from more conventional ones and ties this difference into a group's ultimate reality.Less
This chapter explores how people use smartphones in popular culture to practice religion, focusing on the app, buddhify. It argues that buddhify is authentically religious because it communicates an experience of mindfulness through a procedural spirituality that poaches from video game play. Like other digital devices, buddhify can best be described through “user experience” and “user interface.” User experience defines a person's emotions and attitudes toward an application. Buddhify is designed to promote “mindfulness,” an active state of open nonjudgmental awareness of one's thoughts and emotions. User interface indicates the junction between a person and digital devices and includes the screen elements, such as menus and commands, that lead users through an application. The app's user interface cultivates an experience of mindfulness through ritualization, a way of performing certain activities that differentiates them from more conventional ones and ties this difference into a group's ultimate reality.
Michael Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226491820
- eISBN:
- 9780226492018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226492018.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
Ritualization is an aspect of everyday human action and speech in all societies, and has its source in the ways that human beings learn to play with transitional objects, words and images in managing ...
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Ritualization is an aspect of everyday human action and speech in all societies, and has its source in the ways that human beings learn to play with transitional objects, words and images in managing contrary and contradictory impulses, imperatives and imaginings in early childhood. This is why I have argued that ritualization has to be approached not simply as a social phenomenon that reorders and reintegrates social relations, but existentially - as an ontologically ‘primitive’ mode of action that plays upon the emotions, manipulates the body and alters consciousness.Less
Ritualization is an aspect of everyday human action and speech in all societies, and has its source in the ways that human beings learn to play with transitional objects, words and images in managing contrary and contradictory impulses, imperatives and imaginings in early childhood. This is why I have argued that ritualization has to be approached not simply as a social phenomenon that reorders and reintegrates social relations, but existentially - as an ontologically ‘primitive’ mode of action that plays upon the emotions, manipulates the body and alters consciousness.
George M. Luer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813049366
- eISBN:
- 9780813050140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049366.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Dynamic Woodland and Mississippian societies flourished across west-peninsular Florida, an integral part of the Southeast. Native people constructed spaces for social, political, and economic ...
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Dynamic Woodland and Mississippian societies flourished across west-peninsular Florida, an integral part of the Southeast. Native people constructed spaces for social, political, and economic agendas, including monumental burial mounds, elevated living surfaces, ramps, walkways, causeways, breakwaters, and canoe canals. At some sites, bilateral arrangements of mounds may reflect social organization and differentiated residence patterns. Native people exploited the environment according to cultural values, consuming or avoiding different kinds of animals as foods, and sometimes engaging in feasting that probably reinforced chiefly and client reciprocal relationships. At burial mounds, a three-stage process of ritualization in mortuary activity is revealed by intentionally broken ceramics. Modern land development has destroyed many of the region’s sites and endangers remaining ones.Less
Dynamic Woodland and Mississippian societies flourished across west-peninsular Florida, an integral part of the Southeast. Native people constructed spaces for social, political, and economic agendas, including monumental burial mounds, elevated living surfaces, ramps, walkways, causeways, breakwaters, and canoe canals. At some sites, bilateral arrangements of mounds may reflect social organization and differentiated residence patterns. Native people exploited the environment according to cultural values, consuming or avoiding different kinds of animals as foods, and sometimes engaging in feasting that probably reinforced chiefly and client reciprocal relationships. At burial mounds, a three-stage process of ritualization in mortuary activity is revealed by intentionally broken ceramics. Modern land development has destroyed many of the region’s sites and endangers remaining ones.
Kathryn Lofton
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226481937
- eISBN:
- 9780226482125
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226482125.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter considers whether celebrity culture has something specific to teach ritual theorists. In American culture, is the celebrity a divine figure, or just another commodity in the marketplace? ...
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This chapter considers whether celebrity culture has something specific to teach ritual theorists. In American culture, is the celebrity a divine figure, or just another commodity in the marketplace? This chapter maps a series of strategies for the study of celebrities within the study of religion and America, focusing on the production of pop star Britney Spears as a religious figure, a religious sacrifice, and a consumer product. The chapter focuses on theories of sacrifice to connect the history of religions to the contemporary celebrity landscape in which starlets serve as repeated sacrificial subjects.Less
This chapter considers whether celebrity culture has something specific to teach ritual theorists. In American culture, is the celebrity a divine figure, or just another commodity in the marketplace? This chapter maps a series of strategies for the study of celebrities within the study of religion and America, focusing on the production of pop star Britney Spears as a religious figure, a religious sacrifice, and a consumer product. The chapter focuses on theories of sacrifice to connect the history of religions to the contemporary celebrity landscape in which starlets serve as repeated sacrificial subjects.
