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I always wonder what they mean by "ritual", it always seems to be a throwaway word for modern or ancient cultures that just have different beliefs or traditions

by ftyers 4y ago

I always wonder what they mean by "ritual", it always seems to be a throwaway word for modern or ancient cultures that just have different beliefs or traditions. But it's rarely used when talking about the author's (or anthropologist's) own culture.

kelseyfrog 4y ago
The Nacirema have a deep and complex ritualistic culture.
- msla 4y ago
  > The Nacirema have a deep and complex ritualistic culture. In case anyone doesn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema I like this because it's a double-reflection at this point: It's someone trying to Other what they considered to be Normative American Culture, by attempting to see it as if they were an anthropologist observing a "tribe" somewhere... but it was written in 1956, so it focuses exclusively on White America in the late 1950s, which is pretty significantly Other to a lot of people these days due to shifts in culture and technology. Like, "vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress" is... what, exactly? I assume most of us here are Sufficiently Ancient to get that right off, but it isn't lampooning an extant group of people. Similarly, the Listener is no longer as prominent as he was back in the Age Of Anxiety, because the whole of mental health practice has moved on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Anxiety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Anxiety https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2888013/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2888013/
mseepgood 4y ago
It just means "we have no idea what they were thinking".
- sacrosancty 4y ago
  [dead]
yellowapple 4y ago
The archaeological/anthropological sense of "ritual" is more about a behavior being performed consistently and commonly than it is about attempting to describe an belief system underlying behavior (or even if one exists at all). My culture has quite a few rituals; I'm indeed engaging in one (eating a meal and some drinks in a communal space at a long table) right now :)

by ftyers 4y ago

kelseyfrog 4y ago

The Nacirema have a deep and complex ritualistic culture.

msla 4y ago
> The Nacirema have a deep and complex ritualistic culture. In case anyone doesn't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema I like this because it's a double-reflection at this point: It's someone trying to Other what they considered to be Normative American Culture, by attempting to see it as if they were an anthropologist observing a "tribe" somewhere... but it was written in 1956, so it focuses exclusively on White America in the late 1950s, which is pretty significantly Other to a lot of people these days due to shifts in culture and technology. Like, "vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress" is... what, exactly? I assume most of us here are Sufficiently Ancient to get that right off, but it isn't lampooning an extant group of people. Similarly, the Listener is no longer as prominent as he was back in the Age Of Anxiety, because the whole of mental health practice has moved on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Anxiety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Anxiety https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2888013/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2888013/

mseepgood 4y ago

It just means "we have no idea what they were thinking".

sacrosancty 4y ago
[dead]

yellowapple 4y ago

The archaeological/anthropological sense of "ritual" is more about a behavior being performed consistently and commonly than it is about attempting to describe an belief system underlying behavior (or even if one exists at all). My culture has quite a few rituals; I'm indeed engaging in one (eating a meal and some drinks in a communal space at a long table) right now :)