Transcript Myths • Stories whose truth seems self-evident because they do such a good job at integrating personal experiences with a wider set of assumptions.

Myths
• Stories whose truth seems self-evident
because they do such a good job at
integrating personal experiences with a
wider set of assumptions about the way
society and the world in general should
operate.
Cosmology
• A set of principles and beliefs about the
nature of life and death, the creation of the
universe, the origin of society, the
relationship of individuals and groups to
one another, the relation of humankind to
nature. A system of beliefs that deals with
fundamental questions in the religious and
social order.
Religion
• A social process which helps to order and
give coherence to society and which
provides its members with meaning, unity,
peace of mind and the degree of control
over events they believe is possible.
Ritual
• A patterned act or set of acts, a repetitive,
stylized social practice composed of a
sequence of symbolic activities which
follows a culturally defined structure, and
which is closely connected to specific
ideas such as myths.
• By yourself, think about examples of ritual.
You can use class materials such as the
films we have seen, and also examples
from your textbook. Explain how your
example is a ritual given the definition
provided. Hand in your notes.
Rites de Passage
• Rites which accompany every change of
place, state, social position and age.
Van Gennep
Three stages:
• Separation
• Liminality
• Reaggregation
Separation
• A pre-liminal stage exemplified by
ceremonies such as purification rites, the
removal of hair, or scarification, tattoos,
and cutting.
• Function = to separate individuals from
their previous social role.
Liminality
• The individual undergoing the rite is
symbolically situated “outside society.”
Liminality
• A threshold, a state betwixt and between,
the ambiguous state of being between
states of being.
Reaggregation
• The individual is reintegrated into society
in a new status or altered state.
Liminality
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A moment of ritual transformation.
A moment when the normal rules and the
social hierarchy of society are negated.
A moment when communitas is created.
A period of special and dangerous
power, which can be constrained and
channeled to protect and maintain the
current social order, or harnessed for
social change.
Communitas
• A generalized social bond. Society in
communitas is an unstructured group of
relatively undifferentiated individuals, a
communion of equal individuals who
submit together to the general authority of
the ritual elders.
Components of liminality
• Communication of sacra
Symbol
• The smallest unit of specific structure in
ritual.
Dominant Symbols
• Recurrent symbols characterized by
pronounced multivocality, expressing the
shared values on which social life
depends.
• How can we interpret “Frosh Week” as a
rite of passage using Turner’s article and
lecture materials? Work in groups of 4 and
hand in discussion notes.