HUMA113 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Greek Chorus, Liminality
HUMA113 Lecture Notes Tuesday 8th August 2017
Elements of Ritual and Storytelling
Ritual
- A sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a
sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence.
- Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious
community.
- Rituals are characterised by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance,
sacral symbolism and performance.
o Repetitious
o Exaggerated
o Formal
o Stylised
Rituals are formalised, repetitious and stylised
- Rituals are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present and
include:
o Various worship rites
o Sacraments of organised religions and cults
o Rites of passage of certain societies
o Atonement and purification rites
o Oaths of allegiance
o Dedication ceremonies
o Coronations
o Political augurations
o Marriages
o Funerals
o End of school/graduations
o Club meetings
o Sports events
- The rites of past and present societies have typically involved special gestures and
words, recitation of fixed texts, performance of
o Music, songs or dances
o Processions
o Manipulation of certain objects
o Use of special dresses consumption of special food, drink, or drugs
Elements of Ritual
- Formalism
o How are you going to use your voice and body to do work?
o The use of Lati i a Catholi Mass is a eaple of a restrited ode.
o Ritual utilises a limited and rigidly organised set of expressions which
athropologists all a restrited ode i oppositio to a ore ope
elaorated ode. ‘itual oliges partiipants to use this formal oratorical
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
A sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterised by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism and performance: repetitious, exaggerated, formal, stylised. Itual o(cid:271)liges parti(cid:272)ipants to use this formal oratorical style, which is limited in intonation, syntax, vocabulary, loudness, and fixity of order. Invariance: unison, distinct and repetitive choreography, ritual is also invariant, implying precise choreography a striving for timeless repetition. The key to invariance is bodily discipline, as in monastic prayer and meditation. This bodily discipline is frequently preformed in unison, by groups. Rule governance: you will have rules, you will need to find you have a community within your clan, rituals tend to be governed by rules, a feature somewhat like formalism.
