Monograph by Jens Kreinath
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Kreinath, Jens. 2006. Semiose des Rituals: Eine Kritik ritualtheoretischer Begriffsbildung. Dissertation, Heidelberg, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Institut für Ethnologie, Jun 24, 2006
Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit sind die Begriffsbildungsprozesse in der gegenwärtigen Ritualt... more Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit sind die Begriffsbildungsprozesse in der gegenwärtigen Ritualtheorie. Diese werden mit Hilfe des von Charles Sanders Peirce eingeführten Konzepts der Semiose analysiert. Unter der Maßgabe, dass die Semiose als handlungstheoretisches Konzept gefasst werden kann, wird der Versuch unternommen, vor allem neuere ritualtheoretische Ansätze und Konzepte unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Praxis des wissenschaftlichen Diskurses zu analysieren. Dabei wird argumentiert, dass es möglich ist, die unterschiedlichen Formen der ritualtheoretischen Begriffsbildung einer metatheoretischen Kritik zu unterziehen, ohne dass für eine derartige Kritik eine eigene empirische Ritualforschung oder ein eigener ritualtheoretischer Ansatz notwendig ist. Das Argument wird in fünf Kapiteln entwickelt. Im ersten Kapitel wird in das Problem der Ritualtheorie eingeführt. Dabei wird von der Frage ausgegangen, ob wir eine Theorie des Rituals brauchen und welche Art von Theorieverständnis benötigt wird, um eine metatheoretische Kritik zu artikulieren. Es wird versucht, Ritualtheorie in ein Verhältnis zur Praxis der Ritualforschung zu setzen und diese als eine Form der diskursiven Praxis zu begreifen. Ausgegangen wird von der semiotischen Annahme, dass nicht nur Rituale, sondern auch Ritualtheorien Zeichenprozesse sind. Um zeigen zu können, dass Ritualtheorien in einem wissenschaftlichen Diskurszusammenhang stehen, werden unterschiedliche Weisen herausgearbeitet, wie Ritualtheorien konzeptionalisiert werden. Im Weiteren wird auf die Bestimmung des Forschungsgegenstandes und die Rahmung des diskursiven Feldes eingegangen sowie zwischen disziplinär bedingten Theorien des Rituals und theoretischen Ansätzen zum Ritual unterschieden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird ein Theorieverständnis entwickelt, welches an der Praxis der Theoriebildung orientiert ist und Ritualtheorien unter dem Gesichtspunkt ihrer Begriffsbildung und der Dynamik des wissenschaftlichen Diskurses versteht. Abschließend wird auf die Unterscheidung zwischen Semiologie und Semiotik eingegangen, die zum Ausgangspunkt für den theoretischen wie metatheoretischen Rahmen dieser Arbeit genommen wird. Im zweiten Kapitel werden die metatheoretischen Parameter entwickelt, die für eine Kritik der ritualtheoretischen Begriffsbildung notwendig sind. Dabei wird mittels der Unterscheidung zwischen Methodologie, logischem Design und theoretischem Diskurs eine analytische Matrix entworfen, um die theoretischen Ansätze wie die analytischen Konzepte in der Erforschung von Ritualen metatheoretisch analysieren und vergleichen zu können. Auf dieser Grundlage wird zwischen dem Design theoretischer Ansätze und der Pragmatik im Gebrauch von analytischen Konzepten sowie zwischen der Indexikalität empirischer Daten und der Dynamik des diskursiven Feldes unterschieden. Das dritte Kapitel behandelt solche theoretischen Anätze zur Semiotik von Ritualen, die als paradigmatisch anzusehen sind. Die hier diskutierten Ansätze werden nach Maßgabe ihrer Zeichenbegriffe in vier thematischen Einheiten behandelt. In der ersten Einheit wird Edmund Leach eingegangen, der unter strukturalistischen Voraussetzungen vom Paradigma sprachlicher Zeichen ausgeht. In der zweiten Einheit werden Clifford Geertz und Victor W. Turner unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Performanz und der kontextuellen Bedeutung ritueller Symbole behandelt. In der dritten Einheit wird auf die Form und Sequentialität ritueller Handlungen eingegangen, wie diese von Maurice Bloch und Frits Staal nach Maßgabe unterschiedlicher Theorien der Syntax zum Thema gemacht worden sind. Die letzte Einheit behandelt das Konzept der indexikalischen Zeichen und der Wirksamkeit der rituellen Kommunikation; hier werden Roy A. Rappaport und Stanley J. Tambiah diskutiert. Das Ergebnis der Analyse dieser unterschiedlichen Ansätze zur Ritualsemiotik ist, dass der sprachwissenschaftliche Zeichenbegriff trotz aller Kritik, die er hier erfährt, als der maßgebliche Ausgangspunkt anzusehen ist. Im vierten Kapitel werden die analytischen Konzepte der gegenwärtigen ritualwissenschaftlicher Theoriebildung thematisiert. In fünf Einheiten kommen die ritualtheoretischen Ansätze weniger innerhalb eines übergreifenden thematischen Rahmens zum Tragen, als vielmehr unter dem Gesichtpunkt unterschiedlicher begrifflicher Konfigurationen. In der ersten Einheit werden die Konzepte der Virtualität und Rahmung behandelt, wie sie von Don Handelman und Bruce Kapferer entwickelt worden sind. Danach werden die Begriffe der Verkörperung und Teilnahme diskutiert, wie sie von Catherine Bell und Edward L. Schieffelin in den neueren ritualtheoretischen Diskurs eingebracht worden sind. Die dritte Einheit thematisiert die Konzepte der Mimesis und Autopoiesis ritueller Praxis, die im praxistheoretischen Ansatz von Gunter Gebauer und Christoph Wulf eingeführt worden sind, und erweitert diese unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Reflexivität. Die vierte Einheit thematisiert das ritualtheoretische Konzept der Relationalität von Michael Houseman und Carlo Severi und geht auf das Konzept der Komplexität ritueller Performanzen von Burkhard Gladigow ein. In der fünften Einheit werden die Ergebnisse der vorherigen Analyse der unterschiedlichen ritualtheoretischen Begriffe unter dem Gesichtspunkt des von Alfred Gell entwickelten Konzepts der Indexes of Agency zusammengetragen und unter dem Begriff der fraktalen Dynamik weitergeführt. Im fünften Kapitel geht es um das Verschieben des theoretischen Rahmens und Fokus. Dabei wird wieder eine metatheoretische Perspektive eingenommen und auf die Möglichkeit der Kritik der ritualwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung reflektiert. Abschließend wird für einen Perspektivenwechsel von der Theorie der rituellen Praxis zur Praxis der Ritualtheorie als einer Praxis ritualtheoretischer Begriffsbildung plädiert.
Edited Volumes by Jens Kreinath
Kreinath, Jens, ed. 2011. The Anthropology of Islam Reader. London and New York: Routledge – Taylor & Francis Group, Nov 9, 2011
The Anthropology of Islam Reader brings together a rich variety of ethnographic work, offering an... more The Anthropology of Islam Reader brings together a rich variety of ethnographic work, offering an insight into various forms of Islam as practiced in different geographic, social, and cultural contexts. Topics explored include Ramadan and the Hajj, the Feast of Sacrifice, and the representation of Islam.
Kreinath, Jens, Jan Snoek, and Michael Stausberg, eds. 2006. Theorizing Rituals: Vol I: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts. Vol. 114-1, Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religion. Leiden and Boston: Brill, Oct 27, 2006
Volume one of Theorizing Rituals assembles 34 leading scholars from various countries and discipl... more Volume one of Theorizing Rituals assembles 34 leading scholars from various countries and disciplines working within this field. The authors review main methodological and meta-theoretical problems (part I) followed by some of the classical issues (part II). Further chapters discuss main approaches to theorizing rituals (part III) and explore some key analytical concepts for theorizing rituals (part IV). The volume is provided with extensive indices.
Kreinath, Jens, Jan Snoek, and Michael Stausberg. 2007. Theorizing Rituals: Vol. II: Annotated Bibliography of Ritual Theory, 1966–2005, Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religion. Leiden and Boston: Brill, Sep 24, 2007
Volume two of Theorizing Rituals mainly consists of an annotated bibliography of more than 400 it... more Volume two of Theorizing Rituals mainly consists of an annotated bibliography of more than 400 items covering those books, edited volumes and essays that are considered most relevant for the field of ritual theory. Instead of proposing yet another theory of ritual, the bibliography is a comprehensive monument documenting four decades of theorizing rituals.
Kreinath, Jens, Constance Hartung, and Annette Deschner, eds. 2004. The Dynamics of Changing Rituals: The Transformation of Religious Rituals within Their Social and Cultural Context. Edited by Donald Wiebe. Vol. 29, Toronto Studies in Religion. New York: Peter Lang, Dec 2, 2003
Most ritual participants claim that their rituals have been the same since time immemorial. Citin... more Most ritual participants claim that their rituals have been the same since time immemorial. Citing recent research in ritual studies, this book illustrates how, on the contrary, rituals are often subject to dynamic changes. When do rituals change? When is the change accidental and when is it on purpose? Are certain kinds of rituals more stable or unstable than others? Which elements of rituals are liable to change and which are relatively stable? Who has the power to change rituals? Who decides to accept a change or not? The Dynamics of Changing Rituals attempts to address these questions within this new field of ritual studies.
Journal Articles by Jens Kreinath
Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 77 (1):45-88, 2025
This article explores the need of reconceptualizing human dignity in light of the sufffering endu... more This article explores the need of reconceptualizing human dignity in light of the sufffering endured by the thousands of residents of Antakya ( formerly Antioch) following the catastrophic earthquakes on February 6, 2023. It examines the impact of the destruction of shared sacred sites on the city’s cultural heritage of interreligious relations among its diverse communities. The theoretical and methodological argument posits that human dignity must be understood in relational terms, namely as a dynamic force to reflect on the human capability to shape and adapt to the dynamic relationships between diffferent religious and ethnic communities and to account for the diffferences that derive from the material foundations of their cultural heritage.
Kreinath, Jens. 2024. "In Search for Human Dignity: The Earthquakes of February 6, 2023, and Their Impact on Interreligious Relations in Antakya, Hatay." Mission Studies 41 (3):442–480, Dec 12, 2024
This article aims at addressing the question of human dignity in the face of the suffering that p... more This article aims at addressing the question of human dignity in the face of the suffering that people of the city of Antakya (formerly Antioch) experienced after the devastating earthquakes on February 6, 2023. The main question the article raises is concerned with the impact the destruction of shared sacred sites has on the heritage of the city and the dynamics of intercultural and interreligious relations among its different communities. The theoretical argument is that human dignity must be conceptualized in relational terms as a dynamic force that captures the human potential to shape relations among different communities.
Erlanger Jahrbuch für Interreligiöse Diskurse: Band 1: Methoden der Darstellung und Analyse interreligiöser Diskurse (1):147–192, Dec 10, 2021
This study explores the concept of interrituality, which emphasizes the significance of non-lingu... more This study explores the concept of interrituality, which emphasizes the significance of non-linguistic forms of interreligious practice in understanding interreligious discourse. Unlike traditional approaches that focus solely on oral and written communication, interrituality examines various interreligious practices as fundamental elements of discourse. By recognizing the mutual dependence of interreligious discourses and practices, this research positions the investigation of interreligious practice within the broader context of interreligious discourse, integrating scientific methods and linguistic representation. This approach offers a novel framework for developing interreligious discourses and significantly contributes to the understanding of interreligious relations.
Anthropological Theory 20 (2):190-192, Sep 7, 2019
In this Special Section, we offer two different but complementary approaches to
this analytical p... more In this Special Section, we offer two different but complementary approaches to
this analytical problem. Matan Shapiro focuses on the dynamics of ritualized play,
rather than their elementary structures. He elaborates ethnographically upon the
cosmological theory infused in the relationship between ‘open-end’ and ‘closed-end’
social interactions, as they manifest in the celebration of the Catholic Saint
Divino Espırito Santo in the Brazilian state of Maranh~ao. Jens Kreinath explores
the recursive relations of distinct fragments that allow for the sensory reorganization
of framing a playful ritual in emerging assemblages of human and non-human
agents. He thus lends his ethnographic theory of ‘fractal dynamics’ as a multiscalar
mode of analyzing Arab-Alawite forms of venerating the Saint Hızır in the
Hatay Province of southern Turkey. His theory recognizes the shifting of cosmological
spheres in the interactions with the Saint to be a ritualized play of veneration
and submission by devotees. Both ethnographic vignettes elucidate that the
murky distance between affirmative statements and lewd satire makes these two
forms of social action, in their localized emergent features, mutually-inclusive and
amalgamated social events. In both instances, we thus maintain analytically that
contextual iterations of play and ritual scenarios substitute each other in the formation
of localized collective boundaries that undergird both human and nonhuman
ontological spheres.
Introduction to Special Section in Anthropological Theory. Co-authored with Jens Kreinath.
Anthropological Theory 20 (2):221-250, Sep 7, 2019
Paradigmatic shifts in anthropological theory shaped the ways in which play and ritual are concep... more Paradigmatic shifts in anthropological theory shaped the ways in which play and ritual are conceptualized. By demarcating these shifts, the argument is made that an analysis of both play and ritual must start with the possibility of choice as distributed among participants who engage in play and ritual as forms of social practice. Taking the dynamics of framing in play and ritual and the patterns emerging in social interaction as a point of departure, the configuration of ‘fractal dynamics’ is introduced to relate play and rituals as emerging through recursive processes of framing social interaction. Based on ritual of saint veneration among Arab Alawites in southernmost Turkey, it is argued that not only are forms of ritual interaction among devotees at pilgrimage sites playful but also that ritual interactions of devotees with the saint are a form of existential play of chance and disguise. By taking into account the myth and social cosmology that institutes such rituals of veneration and interaction with the saint, it is concluded that these rituals of veneration and interaction with the saint as a non-human agent play with frames of reference. This is done in similar ways like when the saint acts as a trickster or symbolic type and is perceived by devotees as playing with their perception through disguise and simulation. The reconfiguration of play and ritual through ‘fractal dynamics’ does not only explain the changing dynamics of social configurations in religious interactions with non-human agents, but it also helps to account for probability and choice -- and simulation and disguise -- in social situations that border the religious and mundane.
Journal of Ritual Studies 33 (1):1–11, Oct 2, 2019
For centuries, pilgrimage and festival have been central in ritual studies. Most commonly, they w... more For centuries, pilgrimage and festival have been central in ritual studies. Most commonly, they were studied on their own terms, often considered separate. However, the importance of pilgrimage and festival as religious practices for theorizing ritual remains uncontested, even though there has been little attempt to study these forms of religious and secular practice in direct conjunction with one another or within a coherent theoretical framework marrying both. This Special Issue aims to fill this gap by combining the study of pilgrimage and festival while emphasizing those general concepts of analysis that would allow scholars to link different dimensions of pilgrimage and festival.
Journal of Ritual Studies 33 (1):52–73, Oct 2, 2019
This article discusses conceptualizations of the role tombs and trees play in rituals of saint ve... more This article discusses conceptualizations of the role tombs and trees play in rituals of saint veneration among Arab Alawites and Orthodox Christians during the Hıdırellez spring festivals in Hatay, the southernmost region of Turkey. As tomb and tree veneration is known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, the objective is to establish an analytical framework that better accounts for their role in religious practice. It is not by the belief of religious actors that saint veneration rituals are rendered efficacious, but rather by the dynamics of ritual networks the devotees are part of during visits to pilgrimage sites or celebrations of religious festivals. This argument is presented in three steps. After a critical assessment of past research on tomb and tree veneration in the Eastern Mediterranean, Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory is proposed to better analyze the human ritual interactions with tombs and trees. With a refined analytical framework, the efficacy of material objects and non-human beings in saint veneration rituals in Hatay is presented, as mediated through ritual interactions with tombs and trees. Based on the Actor-Network Theory, the Hıdırellez is discussed as a case study to exemplify the spatial and temporal dynamics of ritual interactions with non-human agents. By accounting for those times and places where visible and invisible realms intersect, the Actor-Network Theory helps analyze how devotees aesthetically perceive and experience stones and trees as indexes of the saint’s agency.
History of Religion 58 (3):277–318, Feb 3, 2019
Different theoretical frameworks have played a major role in interpretations of ethnographic mate... more Different theoretical frameworks have played a major role in interpretations of ethnographic material collected among the Aborigines of Central Australia. This article explores the theoretical frameworks that anthropologists, scholars of religion, and missionaries used to interpret the material that was collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries among the Western Aranda people of the Ntaria/Hermannsburg area of the Upper Finke River in Central Australia. Though the religious backgrounds and convictions of researchers influenced how the Intichiuma ceremonies were interpreted and how notions of the Eucharist were employed or implicated, I argue that the ethnographic material on the Intichiuma ceremonies also reshaped the ways in which early anthropologists of religion defined concepts of sacrifice and ritual, and demarcated the study of magic and religion. As the uses of different research methods and anthropological theories show, the discovery of the Intichiuma ceremonies—however accurate the ethnographic accounts might be—and resulting interpretations that considered them to be a sacrament of communion, had a lasting impact on the formation of theoretical approaches to the study of ritual and religion. This article aims to examine how different frameworks guided the interpretation of ethnographic material in a way that distorted the meaning of the Intichiuma ceremonies as a sacrificial ritual in Central Australia, refracting broader theoretical assumptions about the study of religion and reframing it as a sacrament of communion. The objective is to demonstrate how these frameworks—anthropological, theological, and cosmological—impacted the methods in which ethnographic data were conceptualized within different frames of reference. Special attention is placed on the Intichiuma ceremonies, as their interpretation became a point of contention in the debate encompassing theoretical and methodological foundations in the study of religion.
Society and Religion 9 (1):145–159, Sep 1, 2018
The Alevi cem is a communal ritual that is performed weekly among members of a major religious mi... more The Alevi cem is a communal ritual that is performed weekly among members of a major religious minority in Turkey. Although formerly celebrated exclusively in rural village communities, this ritual became publicly accessible at the end of the 1980s when Alevi cultural associations were opened in the urban centers of Turkey. Since it was made public, the cem has undergone significant changes in the internal dynamics of its performance and in the formal design of its liturgy. By addressing multiple audiences in its urban milieu, the performance of the cem reveals moments of ritual reflexivity. Based on ethnographic research at a cultural association in Istanbul, this article focuses on a cem performance that led to ruptures and mishaps in the presentation of some ritual acts. We analyze the ritual leader’s response to these incidents and the theoretical implications of this account for the study of ritual reflexivity.
Religions 9 (2):45, Feb 1, 2018
This article applies the comparative methodology proposed by Oliver Freiberger to a case study on... more This article applies the comparative methodology proposed by Oliver Freiberger to a case study on Christian-Muslim relations at a shared sacred site in Antakya (formerly Antioch), which belongs to Hatay, the southernmost city of Turkey. Specifically, this case study deals with the veneration of the Muslim saint Habib-i Neccar in the center of the old city of Antakya. Besides discussing some general questions pertaining to the methodical procedure used in the case study, this contribution demonstrates that Freiberger's comparative methodology is useful and that its application leads to new insights. In refining the methodical toolkit for comparative research, this article will attempt to enhance the proposed model by introducing a set of analytical concepts. To further illuminate the findings of the case study, 'mimesis' and 'fractal dynamics' will be introduced as analytical concepts suitable for studying the dynamics of interreligious relations and for enhancing the methodical design for future comparative research.
Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology 1 (2):257–284, Sep 21, 2017
Despite its distinct research agenda and focus on all kinds of relations emerging in religious en... more Despite its distinct research agenda and focus on all kinds of relations emerging in religious encounters, interreligious studies still lack a clear empirical focus on the dynamics of ritual. This article aims to remedy this lacuna by introducing theoretical parameters for analysing ethnographic cases. It argues for a more refined approach to ritual as a major means in forming and transforming social relations and introduces interrituality substantiated by research on shared pilgrimage sites. Aside from the relevance of shared pilgrimage sites for maintaining interreligious relations and the ethnic and religious differences they imply, specific elements and features to rituals play a decisive role in the formation of interreligious relationships through ritual interaction at these sites. Through forms of coordinated and complementary devotion, interreligious relations are differentiated and organized in such a way that members of diverse religious communities interact with one another leading to both similarities and differences in ritual postures, gestures, and movements. This article demonstrates how the concept of interrituality elucidates the dynamics of interreligious relations and connects their different dimensions in ways which other approaches to interreligious studies have not done arguing that visits to shared pilgrimage sites are, in unique ways, coordinated and complemented through rituals of saint veneration.
Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 24 (2):153–185, Oct 12, 2016
The aim of this contribution is to inquire into the aesthetic connection between texts and ritual... more The aim of this contribution is to inquire into the aesthetic connection between texts and rituals and their role in the formation of interreligious relations among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The main focus will be placed on ritual rather than text. The concept of mimesis is introduced to determine the similarities and differences in interreligious relations; this concept is further differentiated into representation, imitation, and simulation, in order to explore the different layers in the exchange processes within an historical and ethnographic perspective. In order to reconstruct the dynamics of interreligious relations for the present and the past, interrituality and intertextuality are interrelated aesthetically. This research approach to the aesthetics of religion is based on ethnographic data on interreligious relations among Jews, Christians, and Muslims collected in Hatay, the southernmost province of Turkey at the Syrian border.
Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia: 2(1), 25-66, Sep 22, 2014
Healing, in conjunction with dream and vision requests at sacred sites, is a well-documented phen... more Healing, in conjunction with dream and vision requests at sacred sites, is a well-documented phenomenon in Turkey and the Middle East, and plays a major role in local Muslim traditions. This article presents an ethnographic account of dreaming and healing traditions, focusing on the worship of Hızır and Şeyh Yusuf el-Hekim commonly practised at pilgrimage sites in Hatay, Turkey. It demonstrates how Muslims and Christians visit these pilgrimage sites for the purpose of both vows and dream-quests. I argue that visits to local pilgrimage sites – including dreaming and healing as key elements of these visits – lead to a virtual encounter with the saint and a ritual transformation of agency for the worshipper. In reference to the work of Bakhtin, I utilize the concept of the chronotope to analyze oral traditions about Muslim saints and the interrelatedness between temporal and spatial dimensions of visits to these pilgrimage sites. I link this approach with Kapferer’s concept of virtuality so as to account for the personal testimonies of those who visited these sites and experienced virtual encounters with Muslim saints through dreaming and healing. In conclusion, I present details from one of my own experiences at a site and discuss how this changed my relationships with my interlocutors.
Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 14 (2):180–184, 2013
This collection of papers is the result of research presented at the 2010 meeting of the American... more This collection of papers is the result of research presented at the 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, Georgia, sponsored by the Comparative Studies of Religion section. The set of papers resulting from the panel, Politics of Faith in Asia: Local and Global Perspectives of Christianity in Asia, presents findings from a diverse array of cultural areas and historical contexts across the Asian continent. All of these are connected by a focus on the intersection of Christianity and the political organisation in Asian societies. Although each paper focuses primarily on the continued encounter of Protestant, Evangelical Christianity and local religions, the definition and scope of the political milieu differ considerably. Moving from local communities in a small Indian town, through the growing global connections of religious groups in the Philippines, to the global and national politics of South Korea, the set addresses a multitude of political levels, be they governmental or the processes of everyday interactions.
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Monograph by Jens Kreinath
Edited Volumes by Jens Kreinath
Journal Articles by Jens Kreinath
this analytical problem. Matan Shapiro focuses on the dynamics of ritualized play,
rather than their elementary structures. He elaborates ethnographically upon the
cosmological theory infused in the relationship between ‘open-end’ and ‘closed-end’
social interactions, as they manifest in the celebration of the Catholic Saint
Divino Espırito Santo in the Brazilian state of Maranh~ao. Jens Kreinath explores
the recursive relations of distinct fragments that allow for the sensory reorganization
of framing a playful ritual in emerging assemblages of human and non-human
agents. He thus lends his ethnographic theory of ‘fractal dynamics’ as a multiscalar
mode of analyzing Arab-Alawite forms of venerating the Saint Hızır in the
Hatay Province of southern Turkey. His theory recognizes the shifting of cosmological
spheres in the interactions with the Saint to be a ritualized play of veneration
and submission by devotees. Both ethnographic vignettes elucidate that the
murky distance between affirmative statements and lewd satire makes these two
forms of social action, in their localized emergent features, mutually-inclusive and
amalgamated social events. In both instances, we thus maintain analytically that
contextual iterations of play and ritual scenarios substitute each other in the formation
of localized collective boundaries that undergird both human and nonhuman
ontological spheres.
this analytical problem. Matan Shapiro focuses on the dynamics of ritualized play,
rather than their elementary structures. He elaborates ethnographically upon the
cosmological theory infused in the relationship between ‘open-end’ and ‘closed-end’
social interactions, as they manifest in the celebration of the Catholic Saint
Divino Espırito Santo in the Brazilian state of Maranh~ao. Jens Kreinath explores
the recursive relations of distinct fragments that allow for the sensory reorganization
of framing a playful ritual in emerging assemblages of human and non-human
agents. He thus lends his ethnographic theory of ‘fractal dynamics’ as a multiscalar
mode of analyzing Arab-Alawite forms of venerating the Saint Hızır in the
Hatay Province of southern Turkey. His theory recognizes the shifting of cosmological
spheres in the interactions with the Saint to be a ritualized play of veneration
and submission by devotees. Both ethnographic vignettes elucidate that the
murky distance between affirmative statements and lewd satire makes these two
forms of social action, in their localized emergent features, mutually-inclusive and
amalgamated social events. In both instances, we thus maintain analytically that
contextual iterations of play and ritual scenarios substitute each other in the formation
of localized collective boundaries that undergird both human and nonhuman
ontological spheres.
approach provides a refined conceptual framework that includes the study of non‐human
agents in the analysis of human interaction with the material and non‐material world.
By introducing mimesis as a key concept to the study of ritual, an aesthetic approach
is able to connect previously unrecognized fields of inquiry to the study of ritual.
that is stylized and formalized but not inherently instrumental. By intentionally
following prescribed rules of conduct, ritual is used to indicate a transformation in
the meaning and efficacy of the respective act, behavior, or practice. The concept
“ritual” can therefore be defined as the orderly performance of a complex sequence of
formulaic acts and utterances that are set apart from other forms of everyday activity
through framing and formalization and that consist of a series of choreographed
movements and gestures. These are enacted in conjunction with words and sounds,
the execution of which follows, with various degrees of precision, a set of prescribed
procedures.
9/9/2016 Update contains suggested readings for J. Sorett and S. Promey.
Method and Theory of the Aesthetics of Religion
Alexandra Greiser, “Aesthetics of Religion – What It Is, and What It Is Good For”
Sally Promey, Respondent
Somatic Approaches to the Aesthetics of Religion
Jens Kreinath, “Somatics, Body Knowledge, and the Aesthetics of Religion”
Rebecca Raphael, “Disability, Aesthetics, and Religious Studies Method”
Deborah Green, ““In A Gadda Da Vida” (In the Garden of Eden)”
Sound and the Senses in the Aesthetics of Religion
Annette Wilke, “Sound Matters: the Case of Hindu India and the Sounding of Sacred Texts. An Applied Aesthetics of Religion”
Jason Bivins, “Immersion, Transcription, Assemblage: On Sonic Impermanence and the Study of Religion”
Religious Diversity, Collective Cultural Agency, and the Question of Aesthetics
Birgit Meyer, “Religious Diversity and the Question of Aesthetics”
Josef Sorrett, “The Abiding Powers of AfroProtestantism”
David Morgan - Respondent
Media and Transmission in the Aesthetics of Religion
Jolyon Thomas, “Framing Religious Subjects in an Irreligious Place: Procedural and Ethical Hurdles in Studying the Religion of Japanese Manga and Anime”
David Feltmate, “Should I Laugh Now? The Aesthetics of Humor in Mass Media”
S. Brent Plate - Respondent