SLFK 214, February 26, 2004
Last lecture - focus on that very special quality of the limens or portal which Turner calls communitas
Emphasis on the nice and pleasurable aspects of same
There are three types
Normative - which is our focus
Ideological, which is permanent liminality in a way
Existential - spontaneous, not planned and consciously sought like the 2 types above
Normative is the communitas of ritual (and you know that there are 2 basic time ritual types)
Ideological is also important to you
Even if you don't chose it, the power of such a person is important to understand
So you can draw on it, should you need to
Or avoid it, should that be what is called for
If you are in a prominent position, you will be expected to humble self and kiss babies and little old ladies, help out sick children
Proof of grandeur requires encompassing opposites and extremes
As we worked on communitas and its pleasures, did nay-saying all along
Pysanky are great, but you wouldn't want to do it every day
Halloween is lots of fun, but you wouldn't want to trick-or-treat every night
Turner says about communitas groups collapsing if they get too big
Or becoming structured, with levels of status, something the groups set out to oppose
And you wouldn't want the whole world to be into communitas because nothing would get done or you would end up with anarchy
Communitas may be very pleasurable, but it is also very dangerous
We know what happened at Jonestown, with the Heaven's Gate group, at Waco
What can happen at raves or in mosh pits
Or at happenings of the past
Not all peace and love
People did get hurt, emotionally and physically
Accidents at weddings in Russia and Ukraine
Ivan Kupalo "sacrifices"
In US - traffic deaths, esp. during holidays such as New Years
If sports has certain ritual characteristics
For audience: get drunk, eat fatty foods
Scream and yell, including yelling unseemly things at other team (and own team), referee
Communal - lots of people in one place
Olympics has the intent of creating communitas among nations
Get together and be equal
At sporting events also possible accidents, stampedes
Accidents at soccer matches in Europe
Because of danger, attempts to control, even abolish ritual
Control of drinking at New Years, other holidays
What happened to Easters
What happened to Halloween
The terrorist fears of late
And terrorist fears affect ALL RITUALS because large numbers of people gathered in one place
They are having a good time, guard is down
Earlier - fear of ordinary adults, your neighbors and their poisoning kids, putting pins in candy and razor blades in apples
Halloween is essentially gone from our neighborhood
Ritual is both rigid and permits breaking of rules, license
The more license there is in ritual practice, the more it needs to be structured and contained
The more rigidity there is in everyday social life, the more licentious and rule-breaking a ritual it needs for balance
Rigid society: ritual must start at a certain time, like midnight, or dusk (for Christmas in Russia and Ukraine)
Ends with Epiphany
But a great deal of interesting behavior permitted during this period
Soviet attempts to control ritual
Feel that ritual is important in creating a new Soviet citizen
Ritual encapsulates cultural norms, if by inversion
Feel need for communitas to cement unity of new Soviet state
Countries with new status, like people in new status, need ritual
And Communism is based precisely on community and equality and all those communitas traits listed by Turner
Lenin sounds great if you only read it; if you did not live with the reality of its implementation
Also, feel need for ritual to relieve tension of all sorts of problems
Rigidity of Soviet control
Deprivation of Revolution, then Civil War
Then World War II
But fear of the spontaneity and uncontrolled nature of ritual
Have schools for ritual and official ritual workers who stage these elaborate and choreographed spectacles that don't much feel like rituals at all
Battle over ritual now - to assert/establish new post-Soviet identity
Villagers want to do own thing - a lot of it has to do with crops
Politicians (and sometimes scholars) want to reintroduce old stuff
Lots of time they insist on contrast to Soviet
But villagers have already adopted lots of Soviet stuff and it has become meaningful, don't want to give up
The plastic bottle and acrylic thread battle
Villagers want to use plastic instead of terracotta
Acrylic instead of cotton - get brighter colors that way
Scholars hate it and some politicians do to
Establishing new national festivals, sort of like Soviet era
These tend not to be well attended, except by intellectuals
Incredible inroads of American rites, esp. the secular or semi-secular ones like Valentine's Day and Halloween
Parallel to inroads of Barbie and other Western pop culture items
Ritual in post-Soviet states versus ritual in West, like US
Jean Z on her birthday in Ukraine
So why is US stuff so bland?
Many reasons - structure and anti-structure
1) If all of society is pretty egalitarian, no need for status reversal
Consider Bill Gates and his dress
2) If there are few restrictions on behavior, little need for a period when restrictions are lifted
3) The danger stuff already done
Easters was considered dangerous, too many student fatalities
Times Square this past New Year's debate
Various people urged non-attendance
A kind of mini-danger is being offensive, as on your questionnaire
Dressing up at Halloween and offending the homeless
Valentine's but not every kid gets one - has to be all or nothing
4) US strives for communitas of a different sort
Calendary ritual tends to have religious component and this is a no-no
So you cannot celebrate the holiday of one religion in the schools - must do all or none and choice is usually the latter
Introduction of various completely secular events to provide some ritual, though most of it is pretty tame
Dogwood Festival
Cherry Blossom Festival
Please note that both draw on spring rites
4th of July - historical, like Soviet rites
TJ Birthday, Presidents' Day - not much ritual character
Except fireworks for TJ
Mother's Day, Father's Day, now Grandparent's Day
Individual initiative and card companies
Thanksgiving
Semi-religious
Ground Hog's day < Candlemas
Halloween < All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day
Interesting mix of structure and anti-structure
Most of these rituals are rather bland
The egalitarian approach to ritual expressed in the rituals themselves
They kind-of blend
Items from one ritual transposed to others
Christmas tree > Easter tree
Christmas lights > Halloween lights