Ritual

Performing Schengen: myths, rituals and the making of European territoriality beyond Europe

by Ruben Zaiotti

Review of International Studies April 2011 Vol. 37 No.2 : pp 537-556

Myth-making has historically been an essential component of the modern state's quest for territorial control and... more Myth-making has historically been an essential component of the modern state's quest for territorial control and legitimacy. As a sui generis post-national political entity in search for identity and recognition, the European Union (EU) seems to mimicking its more established national counterpart. By formulating and reproducing a narrative that hails Europe's border control regime (‘Schengen’) as a success story of European integration and by deploying evocative imagery at Europe's common borders, the EU is in fact trying to establish itself as an integral part of the European political landscape. This article argues that what we are witnessing today in Europe is indeed the emergence of the ‘myth of Schengen’; however, the regime's mythopoiesis goes beyond the EU's official narrative and symbolic representations. To capture the full range of actors, locations and activities involved in the establishment and reproduction of this post-national myth, it is necessary to shift the attention to the performative dimension of this process. To support this argument, the article relies on the insights of anthropological and sociological works that have emphasised the role of rituality and performativity in constituting social structures and identities. These insights are then applied to examine the rituals and performances characterising four cases of ‘unofficial’ Schengen myth-making beyond Europe: a hotel in Beijing, street kids in Kinshasa, a British music band, and a group of Eastern European artists.

Is Baptism a Male Birthing Ritual? By Michele Stopera Freyhauf

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Quite a number of years ago I had a conversation with one of my professors, a feminist theologian, who posed the... more Quite a number of years ago I had a conversation with one of my professors, a feminist theologian, who posed the question “Why do I need a man to purify my baby with the waters of baptism?  Is there something wrong or impure about the blood and water from a mother’s womb – my womb?”  Before you jump and shout the words Sacrament or removal of original sin, this question bears merit in exploring, especially in today’s world where women are taking a serious beating religiously, politically, and socially.  In today’s world, violations and rants are causing women to stand up and say STOP!  This is MY Body.  This outcry was provoked by chants of ethical slurs against women– Slut! Prostitute! Whore!  The cry got even louder when the issue of religion and government was raised in the fight of healthcare coverage of contraception. The cry got even louder with the enactment of the laws in Virginia and Texas (and many other states to follow suit) that forces women to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds in early stage abortions.  The mandatory insertion of a wand into a woman’s vagina (mandated by the government, mind you), is a violation and has women crying RAPE!

“‘Personal’ Rituals: The Office of Ceremonies and Papal Weddings, 1483-1521”

by Jennifer Mara DeSilva

Published in Marriage in Premodern Europe: Italy and Beyond, ed. Jacqueline Murray (Toronto: Centre for Reformation & Renaissance Studies, 2012), pp. 47-71.

In the early modern period getting married was a mix of legal, religious, and social acts that altogether proclaimed... more In the early modern period getting married was a mix of legal, religious, and social acts that altogether proclaimed the union of two people, two families, and two sets of possessions. Although the Church had formally established marriage as a sacrament in 1439, through the sixteenth century the act of marrying retained this tripartite identity, even in papal Rome. From 1484 to 1521 there were eight weddings held at the Vatican Palace of variously the pope’s children or nieces/nephews. These unions had significant political importance, but also held an unusual place in the papal court’s ritual life. Within an environment that was predominantly male, celibate, and focused almost exclusively on liturgical ceremonies, the legal and lay social rituals of these weddings strike an illicit chord. This paper will examine the papal Master of Ceremonies’ (Johann Burchard and Paris de’ Grassi) reactions to these weddings over five pontificates.

The Naming of Our Mother-Lines by Cynthia Garrity-Bond

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I am Cynthia, daughter of Pauline, daughter of Ellen, daughter of Mary. I first spoke this litany of names at a... more I am Cynthia, daughter of Pauline, daughter of Ellen, daughter of Mary. I first spoke this litany of names at a retreat given by Carol Christ.  As we entered the chapel, each woman was given a rose to place in the center of the circle after she recited her own mother line.  Simple but incredibly powerful, a beautiful reminder of our matriarchal inheritance.

The reflection of this ritual is all the more rich because today is my birthday. Especially since my mother’s death in 1990, March 9 is a day of reflection on our complicated mother-daughter relationship with all its highs and lows that marked our lives.  But what I really miss from her are the stories told around the kitchen table, starting with the uniqueness of each of our births.  With each one, the hope and expectation of both parents was for a daughter.  Not until the fourth birth did their plea to St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes (and our family’s most depended on saint), bring forth their highly anticipated girl.

Tra nemici e bambini. Note di una ricerca in corso sul comando kalapalo (Alto Xingu, Mato Grosso, Brasile)

by Antonio Guerreiro Júnior

Creando sujetos reales a través de las reformas Borbónicas: la corona, el cabildo y la manipulación de la ceremonia en la “segunda ciudad” del reino

by Frances L. Ramos

Ritual Wealth Deposits in Estonian Middle Iron Age Material

by Ester Oras

De-Ritualization of Javanese Court Dance through Establishment of Teaching Method

by Michi Tomioka

Read a paper in International School for Graduate School of Literature and Sciences, Osaka City University in September 2010

« Vacarme à la synagogue. Pratiques religieuses juives au voisinage des chrétiens », Mélanges en l’honneur de Gérard Nahon, Danièle et Carol IANCU (éds.), Paris, Louvain, Peeters (Collection de la Revue des Études juives), 2012, p.221-242.

by Claude Denjean

Red Ocher Burial Variability: A Test of the Effect of Outsider Influence on the Conservation of Ritual Forms

by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

By Rob Ahlrichs

Published in Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology 4(1): 144-153. (May 2012) Copyright ©2012 by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Christopher Hays (2010) proposed that prehistoric ritual behavior is conservative by nature but can be changed by... more Christopher Hays (2010) proposed that prehistoric ritual behavior is conservative by nature but can be changed by contact with outside groups. This hypothesis is tested using burial data from seven Red Ocher complex sites in Wisconsin. Red Ocher burials are uniquely situated to give an empirical measure of contact with outside groups, due to the inclusion of a relatively large number of non-local raw materials used for the manufacture of burial goods. The hypothesis test consists of comparing the number of different provenances of raw materials to the number of different burial contexts in each of three regions of Red Ocher burials. The resultant distribution of mortuary ritual variability is briefly discussed utilizing a core-periphery framework.

Qoyllur Ritti

by Roxabel Ramón

The Stalin Cult between Center and Periphery: Structures of the Cult Community in the Empire of Socialism, 1949-1956 – the Case of GDR, in: Ennker B., Hein-Kircher H. (ed.), Der Führer im Europa des 20. Jahrhunderts, Marburg: Herder-Institut, 2010, pp.297-321.

by Alexey Tikhomirov

Symbols of Power in Rituals of Violence: The Personality Cult and Iconoclasm on the Soviet Empire’s Periphery (East Germany, 1945–61)

by Alexey Tikhomirov

published in: Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, Volume 13, Number 1, Winter 2012, pp. 47-88.

New Light on Phaistos Disc. The Rediscovery of an ancient Ritual

by Roberta Rio

Aterros e montículos funerários Jê do Sul.

by Jonas Gregorio

The Politics of Pity: Domesticating Loss in a Russian Province

by Serguei Alex. Oushakine (Сергей Ушакин)

in American Anthropologist. Vol. 108, No. 2 (2006): 297-311.

Public Display of Affection: The Making of Marriage in the Venetian Courts before the Council of Trent (1420- 1545). In: The Erotic Cultures of Renaissance Italy, Hg. Matthews- Grieco, S. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2010), 173-197.

by Cecilia Cristellon

Words or Gestures? Marriage Rituals in Renaissance Italy: Continuity and Change, 1400-1600, in: Regional Variations in Matrimonial Law and Custom in Europe, 1150- 1600, Ed. Korpiola, M. (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 275-287.

by Cecilia Cristellon

Co-authored with Silvana Seidel Menchi

Music as Ritual Redemption at the Boston Peace Jubilees

by M Smith-Dalton

Master's Thesis (unpublished)

Abstract

The Boston "National Peace Jubilee and Great Musical Festival" (June 1869) and the... more Abstract

The Boston "National Peace Jubilee and Great Musical Festival" (June 1869) and the "World's Peace Jubilee and International Musical Festival" (June-July 1872) were prime examples of "monster concerts" dotting the artistic landscape of the U.S. in the nineteenth century. Both were organized by Irish-born bandmaster, musician, and impresario Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (1829-1892).
The first was promoted as a "celebration of the restoration of peace in the land" in the wake of the American Civil War (1861-1865). The second was promoted as an agency of international peace after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).
The Jubilees present as cultural rituals celebrating redemptive triumph for “the Union,” under banners of "national and international peace."
Due to the way music is processed in the brain, how it affects the body, and its importance in the formation of memory, potency of Jubilee ritual behavior was magnified and reinforced. Music played a central role in molding audience reception of the Jubilees' perceived "missions."
Mind-body aspects in historical analysis are largely underutilized tools. Through such case studies, methodology utilizing such tools may become broadly applicable to in-depth historical inquiry.

Creative spaces: movement, communication, play / Kūrybinės erdvės: jūdėjimas, komunikacija, žaidimas

by Jekaterina Lavrinec

Jekaterina Lavrinec
"Creative spaces: movement, communication, play", published in:
The History of the Museum. Part I". Vilnius: Modern Art Center, 2012, p.42-47 /
"Kūrybinės erdvės: judėjimas, komunikacija, žaidimai", paskelbta:
Vieno muziejaus istorija. I dalis.Vilnius: Modernaus meno centras, 2012, p. 42-47

Every object designed by an architect becomes covered by citizens' interpretations. By using city space, citizens... more Every object designed by an architect becomes covered by citizens' interpretations. By using city space, citizens broaden the functions foreseen by architects and designers for spaces and urban elements, and develop alternative scenarios for using them giving new meanings to localities and new, unofficial, names to various sites around the city. [..] In their turn, city objects and the organization of city spaces shape the choreography of city users: they influence movement trajectories, rhythm, the dynamics of glances and gestures [..] Seeking to appropriate new public spaces and to revitalize forgotten places, it is sufficient to develop urban ritual - i.e. a periodically recurring and collectively supported that is usually "embedded" in a certain place.