THE ANTHROPOLOGY

OF FORM AND MEANING

Senior Editor
J. David Sapir (University ofVirginia)
Associate Editors
Ellen B. Basso (University of Arizona)
J. Christopher Crocker (University ofVirginia)
Hildred Geertz (Princeton University)
Peter A. Metcalf (University of Virginia)
Renata A. Rosaldo (Stanford University)
ON TH EDGE
OF TH BUSH
Athropolo a Exeriene
Victor yrner
Edith L. B. Trnr Editor
Te University of Arizona Press
Tucson, Arizona
About the Author
Victor Turner (1920 -1983) is recognized worldwide for his work as
an anthropologist and comparative symbologist. His research of ritual
and symbolism took him initially to Africa, where he studied
amongst the Ndembu, and then to India, Israel, Mexico, Ireland, and
Japan as well. In 1963, he left a post at the University of Manchester to
come to the United States, where he joined the faculty of Cornell
University. During the next years he published 1:I::sjS,+!:|s,
1:D+s(A|:|:,and 1:P||i:::ss In 1977, he moved to the
University of Virginia where until his death he was William R. Kenan
Professor of Anthropology and Religion. In these last half dozen
years, his interest shifted increasingly from ritual to theatre (where his
formal studies had begun), from social processes to cultural perfor
mances, -and from the "liminal" phase of tribal ritual to the "lirnoid"
of complex, post-industrial society. His most recent book, I:+P||
:1::.1:H+S:|:s:ss(i|,,was published in 1982.
About the Editor
Edith 1. . Turner, anthropologist, author, and poet, edited this vol
ume of her late husband's essays from the perspective of a co-feld
worker. From the time of their frst research venture to Northern
Rhodesia, she worked alongside Victor Turner, pursuing her own
special interest in the women of the various cultures in which they
lived. Since 1983, she has been director of Comparative Symbology,
Inc., and a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Virginia since
1984. In late 1985, she returned to Africa to do further research.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS
Copyright 1985
The Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved
This book was set in 10/12 Compugraphic 8400 Bembo.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Turner, Victor Witter.
On the edge of the bush.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Symbolism-Addresses, essays, lectures.
2. Rites and ceremonies-Addresses, essays, lectures.
3. Ethnology-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. 'Jrncr,
Edith L.B., 1921 - . II. Tit!
_
.
GN452.5.T86 1985 306

ISBN 0-8165-0949-2
=

1Ioaic|,Bcajomia,ha,oaJRsc
> l
Contents
ProIoguc.FromthcMdcmbutoBroadvay
PARI ONE
rOccssua1nays|s
. AspcctsofSaoraRituaIandShamanism.AnApproachtothc
1
OataofRituaI 19
2. RituaIAspcctsofConictControIinAfricanMicropoIitics 43
3. Mukana, Boys'Circumcision.TcPoIitics
ofaMon-PoIiticaIRituaI 53
4. AnAnthropoIogicaIApproachtothc!ccIandicSaga 71
5. Thc!ccIandicFamIySagaasaGcnrcof Mcaning-Assignmcnt 95
6. ConictinSociaIAnthropoIogicaIand
PsychoanaIyticaIThcory.LmbandainRiodc)anciro 1 19/
7.

Proccss,Systcm,andSymboI:AMcv
AntI

ropoIogicaISynthcsis 151
Vlll CONTENTS
PAkT TWO
cr|Ormanccand1xQcrcncc
8. ThcAnthropoIogyofPcrformancc
9. pcricnccandPcrformancc:Tovards
aMcvProccssuaI
AnthropoIogy
O. !magcsofAnti-TcmporaIity:AnssayinthcAnthropoIogy
ofpcricncc
PAkT THkEE
hc1ran
. Body, Brain,andCuIturc
2.ThcMcvMcurosocioIogy
piIoguc.ArcThcrcLnivcrsaIsofPcrformanccinMyth,RituaI,
andOrama:
BibIiography
!ndc
PAkT IOUk
Hc|crcnccAatcra
77
2O5
227 ,
249
275 r
29
3O5
319
Prolo
g
ue:
From te Ndembu to Broadway
hcnVictorTurncrdicdin 983
hcvasinthcfuIIsvingofaproductivcIifc. CurdayshadbccomcsofuII
|or both of us that aIthough it vas my roIc to coIIcct his papcrs for
pubIication,!hadnotbccnabIctovorkonthcmforsomctimc.Movvc
dL abIc to prcscnt thc hrst oftvo voIumcs ofscIcctcd cssays, choscnto
rcprcscnt thc dcvcIopmcnt ofhis idcas on proccss thcory. Thc hrst si
chaptcrs arcbascd on cthnography: it vas fromhcIdvorkthatVicdrcv
thcory, fromthcgrassrootsthathcrcspcctcdsomuch.
Ashis principaI coIIaboratorin cvcry hcId that Vic cpIorcd, ! rccaII
l Iifc togcthcr at onc IcvcI as a scrics ofstorics about thc cvcnts that
wcrc stcps inhis dcvcIopmcnt. For his rcadcrs itvasascricsofidcas, for
mcitvasaIifc.
!t vas just aftcr WorId War !! in Britain. Vic and ! vcrc Iiving in a
8sycaravan, for a propcr homc vasunobtainabIcduc to thc Gcrman
0ombing. Hovcvcr, vcvcrc dctcrmincdnottobcvithoutbooks, sovc
wouIdvaIkfourmistoRugbyTovntovisitthcpubIicIibrary,vhccIing
d pramcontainingtvoIittIcboys, FrcddicandBobbic.Vichadbccninthc
army in thc IovIy rank ofa conscicntious objcctor, digging up unc-
p|odcd bombs. Hc continuaIIyvorkcd vithIaborcrs and Iikcd thcir typc
2 PROLOGUE
ofintcraction. HccvcnscarchcdthroughbookstohndmorconsuchrcaI
Iifcintcraction. AtthcIibraryhcfoundComin i Ae in Samoa byMargarct
McadandTe Anaman Islanders byA. R. RadcIiEc-Brovn,andhcrcaIizcd
that tribaI Iifc vas cvcn morc dovn to carth, ccrtainIy morc sociaIIy
intcgratcd, than that ofthc British private soIdicr. ! rcmcmbcrVic as hc
rcad Te Andaman Islanders suddcnIy rcsoIving. "!' m going to bc an
anthropoIogist."
Soitvasdccidcd. First,hcvcntbacktoschooIatLnivcrsityCoIIcgc,
London, forhisB.A. inanthropoIogy. AtthistimcVicbcgantorcadKarI
MarandthinkaboutthcdiaIcctic-thccsscnccofproccss.!tsohappcncd
thatMaGIuckman,profcssorofsociaIanthropoIogyatManchcstcrLni-
vcrsity, aIsouscdMarism, cspcciaIIyin Te Economy i the Central Barotse
Plain (94), vhichVicrcadaIoudto mcvhiIc Ivas scvingthcchiIdrcn's
cIothcs. I savthc scnsc ofthis kind ofanthropoIogy and bcgan to Iook
forvardtohcIdvork. !tvasMa, ononcofhisprcambuIationsinscarch
ofgood graduatc studcnts for his ncv dcpartmcnt at Manchcstcr, vho
spottcd Vic and oEcrcd to arrangc a grant vith thc Rhodcs-Livingstonc
!nstitutc, Zambia, forhcIdvorkinanAfricantribc.Vic agrccdgIadIy. Hc
vouIdbc abIc to avoid static formaIismbyvorking out ofManchcstcr.
Hcvas assigncdthc Mambvc tr:bc, a pcopIcin thc midst ofchangc, to
study cconomics, but it so happcncd that Vic ncvcr arrivcd at thc
MambvchomcIand. WhiIchcvas atthc !nstitutchcrcccivcdatcIcgram
fromMa. "SuggcstyouchangctoMdcmbutribcMorthvcstcrnProvincc
much maIaria ycIIov fcvcr pIcnty ofrituaI." Vic consuItcd mc. "Cf
coursc," ! said. !kncv thc sidcofVic that IovcdthcvorId ofsymboIs-
buthovdidMaknov"Wc'IImanagc,"! said, "Wc'IIgctshotsandtakc
quininc." And ! arrangcd an intcrvicv vith a doctor, vho gavc mc thc
drugsandpIcntyofgoodadvicc.
Sohcrcvcvcrcin Mukanza ViIIagc, making hutcounts, viIIagc and
gardcnmaps, gcncaIogics,rcscarchingpcrsonaIbudgcts,andmostimpor-
tant, Icarning thc Mdcmbu Ianguagc. This vas thc "out traiI," sung in
poctry byKipIing, vcboththriIIcdtothc cpcricncc. Wc uscd tomuttcr
to cach othcr in AIdcrshot acccnts, vhcncvcr thcrc vas a rituaI in thc
viIIagc. "Thc drums, Carstairs, thc drums| " I vouId rcpIy, bIocking my
cars dramaticaIIy, "By gad, Fothcringay, thc drums| Thcy'rc driving mc
mad| "Thcnvc'dgooutandjointhcm.
Ouring thc ycars ofhcIdvork, Vic's training and background camc
intopIay. HchadbccncposcdtothcvorkofBronisIavMaIinovskiand
RadcIiEc-Brovn, andhad Icarncd thatRadcIiEc-Brovnvas a pionccr in
his timc, forhchadbrokcn avay frompurc cthnography to found atruc
sociaI anthropoIogy. And nov that vc vcrc in thc GcId vc apprcciatcd
cvcn morc Ma's dynamicdiachronic approach, proccssanthropoIogy in
|act. Ma had bcgun to outlinc somc o|thc dctaiIs supporting his thcory,
such ;1s the prcscncc o|cross-cutting tics between dividcd scction1 o|a
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY
sociaI group, and thc countcrvaiIing tcndcncics that corrcctcd othcrvisc
harsh or dysfunctionaI systcms. Vic vas Iooking forjust this. Hc vas
intcrcstcd inthccvcntsofIifc, proccsscshc couIdvatchunroIIing. Thus
vc aimcd in thc hcId for an ctrcmcIy cIosc-up vicv ofproccss, a vicv
informcd by Vic's groving knovIcdgc ofMdcmbu sociaI structurc and
rcguIaritics. Thc striving of thc Mdcmbu-thcir consciousncss, thcir
activity-sccmcd to ramify into innumcrabIc compIcitics at vhatcvcr
|cvcI of aEairs thcy vcrc cngagcd in, vhcthcr it vas disputcs ovcr
matriIincaI dcsccnt and succcssion, probIcms of sIavcry, sociaI changc,
marriagc, chicftainship, orrituaI.Thc organicintcrconncctions ofhuman
|ifc vcrc visibIc in motion, in opcration. Vic did n _ nIy_J__
thcatcr gqr,_Hc Iovcd sitting in thc mcn's hut

h th

aIabashcs, hc
knc

_
atthc"pIays"hcobscrvcdvcrcscrious-andthatvcourscIvcsin
Vcstcrn socicty shouIdbcmorcintimatcIyconccrncdvithourfcIIovs, as
thcMdcmbuvcrc.
InthcsccondycarofhcIdvork,onccvchadstartcdtofocusonrituaI,
on ritcs ofpassagc, on Mdcmbu avarcncss about thcir ovn rituaIs and
aboutthcspirit vorId, thcthcoryoffunctionaIism,thatthcscrituaIs vcrc
dcsigncd as somc kind ofaII-purposcsociaI gIuc and rccctcd structuraI
pattcrns,bcgantoIookinadcquatc.Wc hadbccnrcadingMcycrFortcsand
hisvorkonthcTaIIcnsi,vhichindccdportraycdadynamcsystcm,butas
|ortcsshovcdit, onccntircIy rcvoIving around sociaI structuraIrcquirc-
mcnts. Cncdaythc sccncisimprintcd onmy mind-vcvcrcvaIking
.cross an oId viIIagc sitc vhcrc Mukanza ViIIagc uscd to bc (for thc
Ndcmbu movc thcirviIIagcs cvcry hvcorsiycars). Mo vcstigc ofvaIIs
l housc timbcrs rcmaincd,justa vidc strctcbofsand vhcrc grcv IittIc
wi|d roundcucumbcrsandmossy ovcrs. VicstartcdtotaIk. HovcouId
thc rituaIvc vcrc studying (it vas Chihamba, in vhich vc vcrc bcing
initiatcd as noviccs) bc an cprcssion ofsociaI structurc !fcprcssion
wcrc aII that vas nccdcd, vhy did such compIc cuIts ofam icton as
|'hihambaspringintocistcnccThcrcvasnocaIIforsuchctraordinary
phcnomcnainthccistingsociaI systcm. SociaIgIuc maybcnccdcd, but
not this cuIturaI marvcI. RadcIiEc-Brovn's thcory vas not cnough. Hc
8|W cuIturcmcrcIy as a dcrivativc ofsociaI structurc. RaIph Linton, thc
^mcrican anthropoIogist (I936), vas right, for hc considcrcd thc sociaI
systcm to bc part ofthc totaI cuIturc. It vas somcthing ncv for Vic to
dicst,anditbccamcforhimashiftincmphasis. HcnccdnotcpIainthc
iidd|ing taIk ofthc dcmgod in Chihamba, andthccuriousvay artihcc
wasmingIcdvithbcIicL cvcnin thcvcrymakingofthccontraptionthat
oprcscntcd thc god, as an cprcssion ofthc sociaI structurc. Hc couId
now ctcndhishcIdintopsychoIogy andrcIigion.HcvouIdstudyrituaI
symho|sinthcirovnright-butofcourschcvouIdnotncgIcctto rccog-
nizc them as factorsin socia| action, "apositivc forcc in an activity hcId"
(I97.20).
4
PROLOGUE
FieIdworkbecameourdeIight. ArrivingatadistantviIIagewewouId
be greeted by the whoIe ouIation, shaking hands and thumbswith us
and cIaing. I wouId hnd the women's kitchens, whiIe Vic sat in the
meeting hutwiththe men. IfyouIistenedyou couId hear thewarmdee
buzzofvoicesoverthebeer caIabashes.TheyIikedVic.Thewomentook
me to visit their girI initiate in her secIusionhut, whiIe our own three
chiIdren Iayed around the cooking hres. n the way home Vic and I
discussed the going-into-secIusion ceremony of the revious week.
What'sinteresting,"saidVic, isthenameofthesotwhereshewasIaid
downunderthemiIktree.'ThePIaceofDeath.'Thenshebecomesa'baby,'
andiscarriedbackwards into hersecIusionhut. She'ssacred, and mustn't
touchtheearth.''Thehut'ssacredtoo.Herwhitebeads~her'chiIdren' ~
areintheroofShemustn'tIooku.''AndsowewouIdgoon,testingout
ideasandIisteningforcIuestoheIinterretation.
WhenwereturnedfromtheheId,weenteredthetheoreticaIenviron-
ment ofthe Manchester SchooI, functionaIism. Max took Vic aside and
warnedhimthathisdissertationhadtobeonthesociaIorganizationofthe
Mdembu(whichaearedasSchism and Continuity in 957) . OntiIyou've
mastered that, you're in no osition to anaIyze rituaI." Max had a very
intensereIationshiwithhisstudents,arewardingbutsometimesuncom-
fortabIe one for those that feIt his tensions. For reference he gathered
aroundhimthosewhochangedhimandushedhimonacourseoftheory
thathewasaboutto adotanyway. That coursewasthefurtherdeveIo-
mentofrocesstheory.ItwasA.L. EsteiniII)who gaveMaxtheidea
ofIawasrocess,henceMax'sbookThe judicial Process (955)~anideafor
whichhewas ready. SociaIrocess was inthe air continuaIIy from Max
himseIf, who was a foIIower of Marx and the diaIectic rather than
RadcIi6e-Brown's structuraIism. Most strongIy ofaII, rocess emerged
from Vic's work. Vic by temerament was oosed to formaIism and
structure, whetherBritish or French. Heenjoyedwhat was earthy, what
wasfecund,growing,seminaI.ManyweretheconversationsbetweenBiII
Estein,Max, andVic. MaxwasaSouthAfrican, acoIoniaI,notwedded
totradition,freshwithideas,notseeking aftertherestigeofthedoubIe-
barreIedRadcIi6e-Brown. nenightin 955, whenIwas nursing asick
chiId, Vic and BiII went o6to the Victoria Arms. They both had be.en
struggIingwiththeirdissertations.We hadamassedheasoffacts,hgures,
mas,andgeneaIogies,buttheyweregettingstaIeonus.Wasthistheright
soiItoroduce aIiving account?Nic andBiII d:ank thc: bcc: and f:om
what I can gather cursedaway at the imossibiIity ofgrafting the quan-
titivemethodontoMaIinowski'sIiving ta!c" mcthod. Vicddnotwantto
submt tabIcs o|:cgu!a:tcs IIust:atcd by apt |itt|c storcs. He saw the
Ndembu system fo: whattwas.|u||ofanomaIcs,thcfault lines that btcd
confl ict. On his desk Ivy m:ny field reports of confict, recorded under
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY ]
Max'sinstructions.TheseoccasionsofconicthadtroubIedtheMdembu
bitterIy~Iong,comIex,reeated,reverberatingconicts,notIittIestories.
Thetermextendedcase"wasanunderstatement.AtsomeointaIongthe
deveIoing rocess ofconict, the ideaIs that the Mdembu truIy sought
wereoftenreveaIed.
To exIainVic'searforsociaIIifeasaIay, itwouIdheItogobackto
hischiIdhood. His mother was anactress,andusedtorehearseherIinesin
|ront ofhis high chair. His head was fuII ofIines and verses ofoetry.
ncewhenhismothertookhimtothe dairyformiIk, whereacrowdof
resectabIe GIasgow matrons in coaI scuttIe hats were waiting to be
served, wee Victor suddenIy shriIIed out. For lust of knowing what
shouIdnotbeknown,wetakethegoIdenroadtoSamarkand! "AIIthecoaI
scuttIe hats turned around. Lust? Wha's the wee Iaddie taIkin' aboot?
Lust?"Hismothergothimoutofthererettyquick.
Dramawas in his5Iood. He wasreared on Shakeseare, AeschyIus,
Shaw, FIecker,Ibsen.Ibsen'sIayswereIikeMdembutroubIecases,outof
cachofthemshonesome emerging truth, thatthe courageoIMorawasa
goodinitseIfthattheiousBrandwasossessedbyademon,notGodas
hethought. Vicwasreoccuiedwiththecharacterofhis oIdfriend, the
sorcerer Sandombu, and with the odd ersonaIity ofKamahasanyi, both
marginaIcharacters made suddenIy centraIasthe focus ofconmct. Their
storiesandtherituaIsinvoIvedinthemwerefascinatingtotheMdembu~
these events were their greatroduct.Anewtermwas needed. Vicand
iIIwiththeirbeer mugsbeforethemwrestIedwiththerobIem. SociaI
drama,'' saidVic. fcourse."Returninghomehewroteouthisaerfor
Max'sseminarnext day, introducingthenew concet. Mextmorninghe
madethewearisomejourney southbybus to themid city, thenachange
ofbuses andtwomiIes southintherushhourtothedustyseminarroom.
Vith controIIedexcitementhe read the story ofSandombu. and he ana-
lyzedits stages~breach, crisis, redress, reintegration~the sociaIdramaas
the window into Mdembu sociaI organization and vaIues. Mow you see
theIivingheart.Maxsat,hishandsfoIdedontoofhisbowedbaIdhead.
Vhen it was over he raised his head, his eyes burning. You've got it|
That'sit."
Vic camehomeradiant. Hehadbroughthis dissertation to Iife after
a||. He quickIy hnishedit, and then very raidIy it was ut into ress
production, forMaxrecognizedits vaIue and had no troubIe at aII con-
vncing Manchester Oniversity Press ofthe same. I was conscrited to
drawuthetabIes, to correctthemendIessIy, tout togethersatisfyingIy
cor+IcxgeneaIogies~whiIeaIIthetimebothofusfeItimatienttowrite
the gi:I'sintiation, Chhamba, andotherrituaIrocessesoftheMdembu.
AtIastthctimc camc |o: Vc to rcturtohsrcviousnsghtat the
o|dstc o|Mukanza Vl!agc, ha rcso!vc to study ttuaI symbo|sn thcr
e PROLOGUE
own right, then an aImost untouched shere. Bothofus worked on the
symboIic system untiI we understood it as one understands a Ianguage,
though thiswas aIanguageofthings, ofreIationshis, ofatterns,never
quitetransIatabIeintowords. VicbegantowriteanddeIiveranumberof
aersexIainingtheanaIytictooIsweweredeveIoingfordeaIingwith
symboIs. These incIuded the concet ofthe dominant and instrumentaI
symboI, the condensation of meanings and muItivaIence ofa symboI
(derivedfromEdwardSair, I934),theuni6cationofdisaratesignihcata
withinasymboI,itsoIarizationintoideoIogicaIandorecticoIes(derived
from Freud), and the manifest, Iatent, and hidden senses ofasymboI. In
"Chihamba, theWhiteSirit.ARtuaIDramaoftheMdembu" (hrstub-
Iished in I962) he wrote, '^t one time I emIoyed a method ofanaIysis
essentiaIIy derivedfromDurkheimviaRadcI6e-Brown. I consideredthe
sociaI function of Chihamba with reference to the structuraI form of
Mdembusociety. ButthismethoddidnotenabIemetohandIethe com-
Iexity, asymmetry, and antinomy which characterize reaI sociaI roc-
esses, ofwhich rituaI erformances may be said to constitute hases or
stages. I foundthat rituaI action tended thereby to be reduced to amere
secies ofsociaI action, and the quaIItative distinctions between reIigion
andsecuIarcustomandbehaviorcametobeobIiterated.The rituaIsym-
boI,Ifound,hasitsownformaIrinciIe. ItcouIdbenomorereducedto,
orexIainedby,anyarticuIarcategoryofsecuIarbehaviororberegarded
as the resuItant ofmany kinds of secuIar behavior, than an amino-acid
moIecuIarchaincouIdbeexIainedbytheroertiesoftheatoms inter-
Iinkedbyit.ThesymboI,articuIarIythenucIearsymboI, andaIsotheIot
ofarituaI,hadsomehowtobegrasedintheir secihc essences. Inother
words, the ce_raI aproach to

the roIe rita

!1!Jntitive,
aIthoughtheinitiaIintuitionmay thenbedeveIoedinaIogicaI series of
concets. . . o Chihamba is theIocaI exression ofa universaIhumanrob-
Iem, that ofexressing what cannotbethought of inview ofthought's
subjugation to essences" ( I975a I962 . I86~87). This statement Iooks
forward in a striking way to Vic' s much Iater essay on braIn research,
incIuded in Body, Brain, and CuIture" (. 249) . That which has to be
intuitive" andwhich may then be deveIoedin a IogicaI series ofcon-
cets"cIearIyarisesintheintuitivebutinarticuIaterighthemishereofhe
neocortex. It seems as ifthe sirit hgure in Chihamba is a right brain
manifestation. Hemustnotbenamed,heiswaywardanduroseIy hard
toconcetuaIize.
.
Much ofChihamba struckachordinVic'scharacter. With his theater
backgroundhehadabuIt-inattractontowardsrtuaIjustastheMdembu
had. Hcrc was atrbcwthclearly markcd rtcs o|passagcandhcrcwas
the man who could genuinely understand thcm. It s hard to imagine how
it would have gone if Vic had notdone hi1 feldwork among thcNdembu.
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY ]
When Vc hrst wrote "Chihamba, the WhiteSirit'' thereactionwas
notentireIyositive. ItwasfeItthathewasgettingintounchartedwaters,
dangerousones,hewasbeingtoodaring.EvenMaxwasnervousaboutit.
Max was very much the strong head of the deartment, and his seIf
image~and my own ambivaIence about him~was shown by a certain
incident. He had summoned, as was his custom, a number ofgraduate
studentstohIsbackyardforaworkbee. HisbushesneededtrimmIngand
the Iawn aerating with a Iarge siked roIIer. We were in good humor,
kdding around whiIst workng. Max grew tired ofuIIIng the siked
roIIer, so I, the ever racticaI, went u to hm andtook the handIefrom
him, saying Seakhands forme." IhadforgottenwhereIhadheardthat
tag,butwhenIIookedatMaxIremembered,forhisfacehadgonewhite.
fcourse,itwasBrutus'sseechashestabbed]uIiusCaesar.Maxtriedto
jokeit o sayingLook, theywanttomurder me~kiIItheking. It'sthe
edius comIex." Vic, however, was aIvays IoyaI to Max and never
attackedhiminrint.
At about this time, in the middIe ofI963, Vicreceivedan o6er ofa
rofessorshi at CorneII Oniversity, which he acceted. There foIIowed
forVicatimeofchangeonmanyIeveIs, whichcausedhimtoturntoward
the studyofrites ofassage~the most imortant change ofaII. To begin
with,heandIandthechiIdrenwereheIduwithvisatroubIe, beforeour
Iong-awaited new IifeinAmerica. We had soId ourhouse at Manchester
andwerestayingat Hastings ontheEngIish ChanneI. Terewas some-
thingaboutourstayinHastings.We wereinastateofsusense.TheIace
ofourwaitingwas onthe margin ofthe sea, roughIy at the sotwhere
WiIIiam the Conqueror hrst enetrated Britain~which was an event
knowntotheEngIishasachangingointinhistory,whiIeHastingsitseIf
was feIt to be a threshoId, a gateway. For us hoefuIIy it was to be a
gatewayout.Andwhatwasstrange,VicfoundasheworkedattheubIic
IibraryinHastingsthathewasattendedbythesamekindIyIadyIibrarian
who hadheIedhimin I947, whenhewas studying forhisB.A. sixteen
years before. Meeting this woman made us reaIize howeriatetic our
Iiveshadbeenincontrastwithhers,howmarginaIwewere. LastIy, news
oftheassassinationof]ohn!KennedyreachedVicwhiIehewasonatri
backtoManchester,andreachedmeinourrentedhome.TerribIyshocked,
we feIt the wovId wouId never be the same again. And what were we
veading? Mone other than ArnoId van Genne's Rites o Passage ( I96O
[ 9O9)inwhich theimortance oftheIiminaI, marginaI, innerhaseof
rtes ofassage was hrst recognized. ur own immediate redicament
began to resonatewitheverything to dowith assage." TheworId was
|uIIofux.We wereuncertainwhetherourfuturewastobeinEngIandor
America. The ImnaI phascin rtes oIassage struck anechoin ourown
expercncc. We, too, wcrc ncthcr hcrc nor thcn,just as a boy novccn
s PROLOGUE
initiationisneitheraboynoraman.SoitwasthatintheubIicIibraryVic
wrote Betwixt and Between. The LimnaI Period in Rites ofPassage"
( 1967:93-11 1), the6rstofhisexIorationsintoIiminaIity. Hewas abIeto
resent it in America, at the American EthnoIogicaI Society' s AnnuaI
Meetings in March 1964. The IiminaI" is now weII understood, but at
that timehardIy anyone had consideredits nature, excetforvanGenne
himseIfandHenri]unod(1913). MaxGIuckman(1962:3) makesonesoIi-
taryreferencetoIiminaIityinhisarticIeonvanGenne.
Betwixt and Between'' was the recursor to a considerabIe new
deveIoment in the study of rituaI from 1965 to 1974, incIuding the
ubIication of The Ritual Process ( 1969) which cIearIy beIongs to the
domain ofrocess studies. Vic's further exIoration ofIiminaIity in the
historicaI dimensionandhis searchforit inthe modern worId Ied to his
Iater use ofthe word Iiminoid" to reresent Ieisure-time, nonreIigious
genresofartanderformance.
LetusreturntoVic's6rst eriodat CorneII.Theyear 1964 beganan
era ofoIiticaI anthrooIogy for him. Frommy unique vantage oint I
couIdseeacuriousrocessgoingon, foritbecamecIearthathehadtwo
maindirectionsofinterest.symboIsandsociaIoroIiticaIanthrooIogy.It
wasasifashisthoughtrogressed,therewouIdcomeastagewhenitwas
time for him to take a new tack, Iike a saiIboat beating uwind. Quite
quickIy hewouId reverse direction. Herehehad gonefarenough forthe
timebeingonthetackofsymboIs.MowbacktohisinsightattheVictoria
Arms, theideaofthe sociaIdrama. Vic, MarcSwartz, andArthurTuden
metat aaneIonoIiticaI anthrooIogy at the 1964 AnnuaI Meetings of
theAmericanAnthrooIogicaIAssociation,andtheinterestofthethreeof
theminoIiticaIanthrooIogycaught6re.AIexMorinoftheAIdinePress
wascaughtuinittoo.HeitwaswhoubIishedthesymosium, Political
Anthropolo (eds. M. Swartz, V Turner, and A. Tuden, 1966). The theory
derived fuIIy from the Manchester SchooI, deaIing with dynamc he-
nomena, becoming, conict, faction, and rocess. Mew concets were
now deveIoed, heId" and arena"~for Vic had been reading Kurt
Lewin'sField Teor in Social Science (1951). InRituaI Asects ofConict
ControI in African MicrooIitics" and Mukanda, Boys' Circumcision.
ThePoIiticsofaMon-PoIiticaIRituaI,"bothincIudedinthisbook,wehnd
a way ofhandIing what aear to be vague and ehemeraI factionaI
tendencies sread through a wide sociaI grou. These tendencies con-
stitutedthe6eId, anabstractcuIturaIdomainwhereruIesareformuIated,
estabIished, and come into conict, ruIes from which many kinds of
sequences ofsociaI action may be gencrated.. . . Arenas are thc concrete
settings in which ...owcr s mobiIzcd and in which therc s a triaI of
strcngthbctwccn thoscwthnucncc" (Tn:cr 1 974: 17) . An +rcna couId
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY
beaviIIagemeetinghouse, acourtroom,theoIIs, oreventheagesofa
newsaer.
PoIiticaIanthrooIogyandrocesscanbeseenworkingcontinuaIIyin
Vic' sthought. HewouIdreturnconstantIytothegrassroots,thatis,tothe
use ofdetaiIedheIdmateriaItogivestrengthtohisrogress.Hewas fond
ofa maxim ofKarI Marx's about the giant Anteus who couId never
bebeatenifhe ket his feet on the earth. The earth was the eoIe and
actuaIevents.
In 1972 at the Toronto Meetings ofthe American AnthrooIogicaI
Association, in a aneI on symboIic inversion, Vic met Brian Sutton-
Smith,who introducedhimto the fascinatingworId ofIay as aheId of
study. WhatinterestsmeaboutSutton-Smith' sformuIationisthathesees
IiminaI and Iiminoid situations as the settings in which new symboIs,
modeIs,andaradigmsarise~astheseedbedsofcuIturaIcreativityinfact.
These new symboIs and constructions then feed back into the centraI
economic and oIitico-IegaI domains and arenas, suIying them with
goaIs, asirations, incentives, structuraI modeIs, and raisons d'etre" (Turner
1982:28). Thisidea offeedbackwas to becomethebasis ofVic's idea of
thewaysociaIdramaandstagedramaareIinked(.300). Anewhasein
his research was in the making. He Ioved acting, as we have seen, and
oetry, art forms, and aII asects oferformance. This side ofhim was
echoed when he met Richard Schechner, the 6-6Broadway theater
director. Vic began to be invoIved in Mew York theater, focusing on
anotherasect,Iifeaserformance.ThetheaterworIdofhisyouthbecame
materiaI for anthrooIogy. A series ofWenner-Gren conferences com-
menced.Theirdirector,Litasmundsen,weIIunderstoodtheossibiIities
inherentinthenewkindofresearchthatwasbeingioneeredbyVicand
Richard.Withthe generous suort oftheWenner-Gren Foundation for
AnthrooIogicaIResearch, master erformers oftheaterand rituaI from
aII over the worId were brought together to enact their work and to
comarenotes,aIongwiththeoreticianstoanaIyzethedata.TheresuItwas
a ooIing ofideas never before exerienced in anthrooIogy or theater.
During this stage ofourresearch, in various contexts and countries, Vic
andIwitnessedorarticiatedintheYaquiDeerDance, Suzuki's]aanese
postmodern theater, a BrookIyn goseI-singing heaIing service, the
ManhattanPentecostaIs,]aaneseMohIays,andothererformancessuch
as Kabuki, Bunraku uet theater, the Kagura dance ofdivinity, and
pouIar festivaIs, Indian Kutiyattam, and KathakaIi temIe theater, WoIe
Soyinka'sYorubatheater, Korean shamanism, Eskimo dance, Indonesian
Vayang and Toeng, ostmodern 6-6Broadway theater, CarnavaI,
Umbanda, and the Kardecism sirit cuItinBraziI, the]ewish Purim and
Passovcr, the Samaritan aschaI sacrihce, Easter at the HoIy SeuIchre,
IO PROLOGUE
Indian tribaI marriage, the Indian Sariswati ceIebration, the Ik theater
roductionintheL.S.A.,andChorus L|m~theIistcouIdgoon.
Terewasathreadofcontinuityintheseerfomancesthatinterested
Vic, a thread he worked over and deaIt with. He couId y from one
erformance to another hnding the thread. His concIusions found
exressionin severaI essays onerformanceandexerience. About the-
ater, he quoted Constantin StanisIavski when he aIied the subjunctive
if" to theater. 'If' actsasaIevcrtoIiftusout oftheworIdofactuaIity
into the reaImofthe imagination'' (1936:43) . The reaImoftheimagina-
tion,"Vicsaid, corresondstothreaImwhereimagesofheterogeneous
astsjostIewithimages ofheterogeneous resents and are worked into
aIternative atterns bythe shaing wiIIs ofauthors, directors, actors, and
onIookers, oneofwhichwiII6naIIyemergeasthemostsatisfactory 'asif'
exression for assigning meanng i:i the contemorary reIationbetween
sociaIdynamcsanditsinterretativedoubIe,thethcater. . . . Thetheateris

fI)vi
"
g
'
I
7"
i
F'
i
'
g

natureofaturbuIentsocieywhichcanhecharactemzedmore becom-

bIish

&m) . Icr:
_
-see tLecon
_

`Hc
@

ofrocesstheory comingthroughhisworkon erformance. He

seaksoferformersasexrsofourfuture

weshouIdtakenof

themessa
[,,|!
i[_

.
:may seem a Iong Iea from the Mdembu to Broadway, but Vic
deIightedinhndingthethreadthatconnectedthemtogether.Hedidnot
regard the rituaI oftheMdembu as show, rather, their mode oferfor-
mance suggestedtohim thathe shouIdIook attheerformance ofother
societies. Hetraced theerformancerocess. Inthe ast webeganwith
an initiation to our sociaI dramas, and a consummation, not mereIy a
beginning and an end, becausewiII andemotionare invoIved as weII as
meresequencesorevencognitiverocesses. . . . Butnow. . . theaterandcuI-
turaI erformances are the exIoring antennae by which we move for-
ward" (unubIished manuscrit) . (.
an
.""
arenashavetak

theIiminaIspacethat

beIongedtorituaI, theyfr_
=,ofe

nrIromitsmndanc u1eveIof
,\t.,--.-tgenevated, eEectivenits ownright,hIcht:cd
+a1hc+:cnbod .
> --
^^^ - -~~- .,.

. ........ -'""'''""'Y .............

WhIIthethickofthe study oftheaterand rituaIVic came across
thehiIosohy ofWiIheImDiIthey. h wastyicaIofhimthathe reachcd
outunexectedIytoahiIosohertodrawinanewstrandofthought.He
neededDiIthey, becauseatthebasis ofDiIthey'sworIdviewwascxeri-
ence,"theatom, asitwere, ofthehuman rocess. fromexerience arise
vaIueandmeaning,aIIthemeaningsinthesymboIsthatVichadsocIoseIy
anaIyzed. DiIthey's hiIosohy comIemented Vic's IifcIong aroach,
thatit wasinhumanaction, humanvoccss, thatthcrootso|mcaning, o|
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY II
rituaI, erformance, and aII ofcuIture originated. Cometence, hereaI-
ized, couId be estabIished by the work ofgeneraIization. The study of
erformanceandexeriencewasIikecatchingtheeIectroninmotion, by
nomeansanunhttingtaskforthescientihcanthrooIogist.
In 1980, Vic and Edward Bruner organized a aneI onthe Anthro~
oIogy of Exerience at the American AnthrooIogicaI Association
meetings atWashington,theessayinthisbookonexerience(chater9)
is based on the resuIts ofthat conference. I attended it myseIf and it
was artIy because ofan act ofmine that Vic took u an even more
intriguin heId. I was stroIIing among the book disIays at the HiIton
whcnmyeyesIitonatide, The Spectrum cfRitual, IookingcIoserIsaw
thesubtitIe,A Bioenetic Structural Anlysis (1979). Iickeditu.Itwasmore
concerned with neurobioIogy than with genetics~the neurobioIogy of
rituaI.ThiswasanunfamIiarheIdtous.We obtainedacoyanucame O
understandthatan e_t ensivebioIogy haddeveIoed aroundrituaIization.
WhatwasinterestingwastheworkonthefunctionofthecerebraIhemi-
sheresoftheneocortex,theIeftandrightbrain.TheIeftwastherationaI,
verbaIizingside,thesidethatstructuredexerience.Therightwastheside
that comrehended the metahor, the symboI, and was caabIe ofthe
hoIisticview. Whatwerethesebutthetwo asectsofsocietythatVichad
beenIookingat,structureandIiminaIity?Theinteractionofthetwoatthe
heightofrituaI, roducing the ash," was beginning to be understood.
therfactsaboutbrainfunctionaIsocorresondedtoVic'sanaIyses, such
as the existence ofbrain IeveIs, resembIing the ideoIogicaI and orectic
oIes ofa symboI. The two essays at the end ofthis book give Vic's
argument.Theywereresonseshemadeto overturesfromPhiIiHefner
ofthejournaIZ ygon andtheInstituteforReIigioninanAgeofScience, of
which R. Serry, the MobeI Prize winner, is a member. Links were aIso
|ormingwithEugened'AquiIi, oneoftheeditorsofTe Spectrum cf Ritual.
VicwasaskedtoseakattheInstituteconferenceatChicagoOniversityin
thefaIIof1982. WhenwearrivedattheconferencehaII,itwasacked,Vic
rcad hisaer, Body, Brain, and CuIture," (Chater 11 inthisbook) and
rcceivedastandingovation.
Mow Vic and PhiI Hefner worked for an even broader conference,
pl annedinthe summerof1984. But sadIy, onIyour sonRory andIwere
alIctoattend,forVichadcometotheendofhisIife'sjourney.
TheimIicationsofthis Iastareaofresearchseemtobe thatreIgionis
not, after aII, the oiate ofthe eoIe, but that it has heaIthy genetic
|ndations. Te detaiIs of our neurobioIogicaI heritage~IateraIization
andthesiIIover e6ect, inhibition and disinhibitioncontroI, brain oer-
ators, thc archctyaI bundIes with their endowment ofrearedness for
st:ciaI actionandsociaIreIationshis~arecertaintohaveimIicationsfor
anthrooIogy.
I2 PROLOGUE
OEssays
The essays appearing in this volume have been selected from those of
Vic's writings that have not yet been collected under one cover. When
reviewing the scores of articles available for this purpose I saw clearly that
he began to teach his feldwork method right at the beginning of his
career-always concerned with human relationships on the ground, at the
grassroots. His understanding of the human process was there from the
start. In many of these essays he takes some basic sequence of human
behavior and sets it in motion within its own feld of social relationships.
Thus he could watch process. The frst six essays in Part One illustrate this
method. I follow them with a theoretical piece on process, entitled "Proc
ess, System, and Symbol." This group of seven corresponds to Vic's ideas
about social drama which started in Manchester, and also covers his later
interest in Kurt Lewin's feld theory.
As we have seen, there intervened contrasting stages in which Vic was
occupied with rites of passage and the issues related to ritual and sym
bolism. Essays deriving from those periods will be presented in volume II.
Here we will be able to concentrate on the aspect of human behavior. In
Part Two of this volume, Vic links the spontaneous behavior evinced in a
social drama to staged performances of various kinds. Human beings are
conscious of both kinds of drama, and they consciously relate them. Vic
makes it clear that no formalistic philosophy will work for him-for he is
studying man alive, woman alive.
Later still, in the course of his investigations inwards into the more
subtle regions of human consciousness, Vic discovered that many of
the intimate workings of the human brain were already known, for the
neurobiologists had made a step forward. The two essays in Part Three
show how Vic related his framework for process and ritual to the new
neuroscience, a science whose richness is fully worth the attention of
anthropologists.
Thus the essays presented here will lead the reader along the route of
Vic's work on process, stopping at various centers on the way that he
researched in detail to prepare for the next advance.
In Part One, the essay ''spects of Saara Ritual and Shamanism: An
Approach to the Data ofRitual" originally appeared in 1956 as a review Qf
Verrier Elwin's Te Reliion c an Indian Tibe. It still carries a salutary
warning to those who record a ritual system without tracing the rela
tionships between members of cults, or relating something of their life
histories and the events leading up to the ritual, or shamanic, episodes.
Even though ritual is autonomous and powerful in its own right, it still
does not operate in a vacuum, but in a certain setting, one that is moving
and dynamic.
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY I
In the next two essays, "Ritual Aspects of Conflict Control in African
Micropolitics," frst read at the 1964 Annual Meetings of the American
Anthropological Association, and "Mukanda, Boys' Circumcision: The
Politics of a Non-Political Ritual," frst read at a Wenner-Gren conference
in 1966, may be found detailed demonstrations ofhow to perform the task
demanded in the frst essay. Here Vic maps out the feld of tension in the
villages participating in the boys' circumcision and runs the drama
through the text in live motion. In Te Frests c Symbol (1967) appears an
account of the ritual proceedings of the boys' circumcision; "Three Sym-
_bols ofPassage" (1962: 124-279) is a close analysis of the main symbols of
the ceremony, and the two essays presented here complete the theoretical
framework for analyzing the social processes of the ritual. Thus there are
four essays covering diferent aspects of the rite. Vic provided not merely a
detailed record f this ritual but has scored it in many di
f
erent ways
enabling the full flavor to be appreciated. Rarely has a ritual received such
thorough handling. The texts constitute a bank of material that can be
reanalyzed by future anthropologists.
In writing ''n Anthropological Approach to the Icelandic Saga" and
"The Icelandic Family Saga as a Genre of Meaning-Assignment' -dealing
with a form ofliterature in which the. texts themselves describe the social
and kinship background in meticulous detail-Vic
a
cknowledged his debt
as an anthropologist to the early training in Old Icelandic and the sagas
which he received at University College London before World War II. Was
his consciousness of social process, social drama, feld, and arena rooted in
the study of these sagas? Vic often claimed that it was. ''n Anthro
pological Approach to the Icelandic Saga," written for Evans-Pritchard's
festschrift, Te Translation c Culture (1971), discusses Nal's Sqa, the greatest
of the sagas; and "The Icelandic Family Saga as a Genre of Meaning
Assignment," which Vic wrote for his seminar in 1980, and which is
now published for the frst time, deals with the processes implicit in Te
Eyrbyga Saga, another saga masterpi
e
ce. Vic's latter essay is preceded
by an explanation of his term "epic relation," a relation that consists of the
"heroic time" of the narrated events; "narrative time," when the epic was
frst composed; and "documentary time," the period in which emerged
manuscripts of the epic in their various recensions. He also discusses the
merits of the theories for and against the written origin of the sagas, as
opposed to the oral. These passages constituted a paper read to the
Chicago Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar on epic in 1969.
The last essay in the group that deals with a particular culture area was
read in 1980 as the Ethel Weigert Lecture at the Forum on Psychiatry and
th Humanities at the Washington School of Psychiatry and is newly
published here. It was the frst fruits of a feld tour in Brazil and is entitled
"Confct in Social Anthropological and Psychoanalytical Theory:
Iq PROLOGUE
Umbanda in Rio de Janeiro." The Umbanda cults came as a welcome
challenge to Vic: their very peculiarity was to help prove his contention
that one must consider ritual in its social setting. Yvonne Vel?o of the
Department of Social Anthropology at the Federal University, Ro de
Janeiro, took us to a cult center in Rio where we were able to participate in
the ritual. Yvonne herselfhad produced a fine analysis of the events in two
cult centers, including some of the life histories of the members. In the
present essay Vic uses part of her material as well as our own observations
in his discussion of this new ritual process, not neglecting the fascinating
problems of factionalism and the impact of modern life upon the trancers.
The theoretical essay, entitled "Process, System, and Symbol: A New
Anthropological Synthesis," was first published in Daedalus (1977). Here
Vic analyzes "the processes, involving shared symbols, gestures, and lan
guage, by which social interaction generates an emergent social reality
distinct from and external to that. of the individuals who produce it"
(p. 154). And it is through often discrepant norms, through the indeter
minacies of actual social life, that the true picture emerges. He discusses
liminality as the means of generating variability and the free play of
humanity's cognitive and imaginative capacities.
Part Two breaks open the world of performance. The essay "The
Anthropology of Performance," written for his seminar in 1980, now
published for the frst time, lays out the new development, in which he
integrates his concept of the social drama with the processual refexive
character of postmodern drama. He leads on to the richness and subtleties
of contemporary social performances, where communitas, though "intrin
sically dynamic, is never quite realized" (p. 190). It is through Dilthey's
dynamic view of "Weltanschauung" and of "lived experience" that Vic
shows us the next step, which takes us to the anthropology of experience.
In the essay "Experience and Performance: Towards a New Pro
cessual Anthropology," written for the panel on experience at the 1980
Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association at Wash
ington, D.C frst published here, Vic sees processual analysis not as the
mere marking of movement, of events, in society, nor of the social drama
as event only, but as the analysis of "the lived experience of some whole
unit of meaning" in Dilthey's words. The essay contains a useful bibli
ographical commentary on Dilthey's works and those of his exponents,
also a postscript on the meaning of the word "experience."
"Images of Anti-Temporality: An Essay in the Anthropology of Expe
rience" was a paper given in the Ingersoll Lecture Series at the Harvard
Divinity School in 1981. In it Vic takes the reader by various earthy stages
in the world of anti-temporality. Going right back to the beginning, he
shows how human beings are "prepositional entities" by nature (p. 229),
relating positively or negatively to others-there is a hint here that this is a
FROM THE NDEMBU TO BROADWAY I]
genetic endowment. Then he leads on through the social drama, the
activity of that prepositional entity, to the situation of redress, to ritual,
which contains both the sacred and the sacrilegious, thus to the Clown in
the sacred sphere. His Clown here is the Kutiyattam Clown in temple
theater in South India, whose performance is in timeless time, whose
person is invulnerable, immune, whatever treasonable things he says. Here
is Vic's key to anti-temporality.
Part Three was Vic's last venture into the unknown, his meeting with
the neurobiologists. In "Body, Brain, and Culture," published in Zygon
(1983) he courageously looked back at his former stance when he believed
that human behavior was basically bred from culture, and found he had to
revise it. The essay probes the secrets of culturetype and genotype, hemi
Eherical lateraliitiQ. l!.. play, religion and archetypes, and dreaming . ..
New Neurosociology," part of the fourth William Allen Neilson Lecture
at Smith College in 1982 and frst published here, looks at Carl Jung's
psychology and its concept of the whole "self" now seen as the unifcation
of the whole brain, left and right, upper and lower. Freud's "ego" seems to
be the domination of the left hemisphere, the rational mind alone. Vic uses
William Blake's Four Zoa as a literary allegory of the unifcation ofbrain's
neuropsychical levels.
In the concluding essay, "Are There Universals of Performance in
Myth, Ritual, and Drama?" given in the Neilson Lecture Series at Smith
College (1982), and frst published here, Vic draws together with the use
of diagrams the threads of the argument of this book. Social drama and
stage drama are linked in the "Turner-Schechner Loop" (p. 300), and
social drama's progeny right down to our own modern culture and arts is
traced in a continuous "genealogy" of performance.
Acknowledgments
Victor Turner's colleagues in the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Virginia have been generous with their time and help in
the production of this book. I particularly acknowledge the valuable
assistance ofDavid Sapir and Peter Metcalf in the writing of the Prologue.
Peter Metcalf supplied the title of the book, while Mary Gelber aided in
typing, preparation, and general encouragement. My thanks are due to all.
EDITH \DMD
PART
Processua Aaysis
1
Aspets ofSaora Bma
and Shaasm
A Approach to te Data ofRtual
bometimeagoI vasaskedtovrite
a reviev ofVerrierEIvin's book, Te Reliion q an Indian Tibe (1955), a
descriptiveaccountofthereIigiousbeIiefsandpracucesoftheHiIISaora
ofOrissa.I jumpedatthechance,forI hadcoIIectedcomparabIeeIddata
in a CentraI African society, the Ndembu ofZambia. EIvin's book, I
hoped,vouIdshedIightonsomeofmyovnprobIems,particuIarIyonthe
reIationshipbetveenrituaIandsociaIstructure.But,inthisrespect,I vas
disappointed. ForEIvindoesnotvriteasasociaIanthropoIogist,butas
anecIecticethnographer,andvhereheinterprets,heusestheIanguageof
atheoIogian.HegivesexhaustiveIistsofthenamesandkindsofmysticaI
entitiesbeIievedinbytheSaora, describesincuIturaIdetaiImanysortsof
rituaI to propitiate or exorcise them and contributes a most vaIuabIe
sectiononshamanism. Fromm thisheconcIudesthat thevhoIestruc-
tureofSaoratheoIogyandmythoIogymayberegardedasanattemptto
makememysteryandhorroroftheunseenmorebearabIe.Theburdenof
the "vhoIIyother"vastoogreatforthemtobear, andsotheyproduced
Reprinted with permission of Tvlstock Publications, Ltd., from r CgSt|s|Ant|r-
|g,edited by A.L. Epstein, Copyright 1957.
2C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
ghosts, who were related to them, deities who had the same desires and
passions as themselves. Such ghosts and gods might still be alarming and
dangerous, but they were not overwhelming; rationalization, of however
simple a sort, had drawn their sting. This formulation may well meet with
the approval of the theologian or the psychologist of religion, but the
social anthropologist would, I think, examine the same sets of data in a
diferent conceptual framework and require additionally a fuller treatment
of the social background of Saora religion than Elwin has given us. For
)
religion, particularly in tribal societies, bears the im_ py:!!!_f many features
cial structure. Crucial religious symols, for exampl

, may-repre
.
-
sent
-

so
c
l
et

a
rticu1ating principles of social organization. The domi
nant symbol of the girl's puberty ritual among the Ndembu, for instance,
is a tree which exudes a white latex when cut. As a religious symbol this
tree ranges in meaning from "mother' s milk" (primary sense) to
"matriliny" (a much more abstract significance). Other symbols may rep
resent social groups, cateories, or social positions (in a per during system).
Furthermore, performance of rituals may make visible specifc struc
tural aspects of the situation to which they refer, as, for example, the local
or tribal hierarchy of authority or patterned opposition between the sexes.
And to obtain an adequate understanding of a given performance, the
investigator must take account of the idiosyncratic relations obtaining
between particular groups at that time. Relations between village pressure
groups may, for example, influence the allocation of roles in a particular
performance of ritual. These considerations entail the collection of sys
tematic data about the social .eld in which ritual is observed. (Although I
write as an Africanist about Indian data, I would like to stress that we have
many common problems and must fnd common methods of tackling
them if social anthropology is to develop a genuinely scientifc basis.)
The methods I shall use to interpret certain features of Saora ritual
have been fruitfully applied by anthropologists to the study of societies
with widely difering ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I hope that this
will serve as an adequate excuse for my presumption in analyzing Indian
data although I have never done feldwork in India.
Let me try to show with the help of three examples how Elwin might
have clarifed certain features ofSaora ritual ifhe had made a prior analysis
of the social system. On p. 4II,he cites the case of two brothers who livd
together with their father, until his death, when each set up a separate
establishment. Shortly after one of the brothers had built his new house,
he became very ill. He summoned a diviner-shaman, who ascribed his
illness to the afiction of three gods. These gods had been regularly wor
shipped by his father, and his brother had painted an ikon (i.e., a sacred
drawing, on an inner house-wall, dedicated to gods and spirits) in their
honor. The shaman, impersonating the three gods, declared to the sick
SACRA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM 21
man that "this man's father used to worship us, and so did his brother. So
long as he lived with them he joined in the worship, but now that he has
separated from them, he neglects us. If he wishes to recover he must honor
us in his house also." The patient begged the shaman to paint an ikon to the
gods, sacrifced a goat before it, and we are told that he recovered from his
illness.
In this case, reference is made to no less than fve categories of social
relationship: father-son, brother-brother, shaman-patient, shaman-god,
moral ofender-god. Indeed, the shaman performed two roles that in
Saora society are often undertaken by diferent individuals, those of
diviner and doctor. Does Elwin supply us with sufcient background
material to enable us to put these relationships in their relevant structural
context? Unfortunately he does not, for his main interest in this case is in
Saora iconography. We do learn, however, from the introduction to the
book, that the "one essential unit of the Saoras is the extended famly
descended from a common male ancestor." But it is impossible to discover
whether "the extended family," called birinda, is really a paternal extended
family or a patrilineage with internal segmentation, or whether the same
term covers both meanings. Again, Elwin says next to nothing about the
modes of succession and inheritance, whether these are dominantly adel
phic (along a line ofbrothers) or flial (from father to son). He does indeed
mention that a man's "paddy felds are divided among the sons," but on
the other hand he cites a murder case (on p. 539) in which "a youth named
Turku killed his paternal uncle Mangra in a dispute over a feld." On the
following page he mentions how quarrels over the inheritance of a palm
tree from which wine is made "often lead to tragedy, for these trees are the
most cherished of a Saara's possessions." An uncle killed his nephew in
one such dispute and in another a nephew killed his uncle. I presume that
the term "uncle" in these cases refers to "father's brother," although Elwin
does not make this clear. From these cases, it would appear that there was
no clear rule of inheritance, and that the death of any man with property
was the prelude to sharp disputes between persons belonging to several
categories of his close paternal kin. In the ritual case mentioned earlier,
one may not be far of the mark in inferring that the brothers had quar
relled, since the shaman states that the patient had "separated" both from
his father and from the brother who had continued to worship his father's
domestic gods. It may very well have been that the brothers had disputed
over their share of the inheritance, and that the brother with the superior
share had continued to worship his father's gods. But Elwin does not tell
us this, nor does he tell us whether the patient was the elder or the
younger brother.
In view of the widespread belief in tribal societies that spirits and
gods frequently afict the living with illness and misfortune to punish
22 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
them, whether for quarrelling openly with their kin or for harboring
malignant wishes against them, it seems feasible in this instance that the
shaman, using the idiom of mystical a:f iction, was in fact redressing a
breach of the customary norms governing behavior between seminal
brothers. At the same time, the ritual he performed would seem to have
had the efect of restating and reanimating the value set on patriliny. For
the patient's recovery was made dependent on his consenting to worship
his father's gods. After the ritual both brothers worshipped the same gods,
and were presumably reconciled.
One learns further that it is believed that the gods actively intervene
to punish breaches between living kin and to maintain the continuity
through time of patrilineal ties. The shaman mediates between gods and
men and makes the wishes of gods known to men. One is led immediately
to inquire whether the shaman may not perform a structural role of great
importance in the day-to-day adjustment or adaptation of Saora society,
since it would appear that one of his tasks is to reestablish the social order
after disputes have led to the breaking of certain of its relationships. For
example, in the case cited, patriliny is asserted as an axiomatic value. Now,
patriliny is a principle that apparently governs a number of quite distinct
sets of relationships in Saora society. It appears to govern domestic rela
tionships in the household. But it also seems to articulate households that
are spatially distinct and may even belong to diferent quarters and vil
lages. In ritual, patriliny is asserted as a unitary value that transcends the
diferent kinds of relationships governed by patrilineal descent, and also
transcends the conflicts of interests and purpose that in practice arise
between paternal kin. This case also leads one to inquire whether the
position of shaman may not be structurally located outside the local or
kinship subdivisions of the Saora social system. The shaman may well
have no structural links to either of the parties in a dispute. It is also
possible that he has the permanent status of an "outsider" or "stranger"
who has little stake as an individual in any of the ordered arrangements of
secular society. He appears to mediate between persons or groups as well as
between gods and ancestors, on the one hand, and the living, on the other.
And as he mediates he mends not only the idiosyncratic tie that has been
broken, but also adjusts a far wider set of relationships that have been
disturbed by the quarrel. Let me give another illustration of the redressive
role of one of these functionaries, this time of a female shaman,
o
r
shamanin, to use Elwin's term. Incidentally, it is worth noting in connec
tion with this concept of the shaman as an outsider that shaminins out
number shamans, although in secular political and social life women rarely
occupy positions of authority or prestige.
This second case is dominantly concerned with afnal relationships,
although the patrilineal basis of Saora society is an important factor in the
events described. A man's wife ditd :md a year afterwards a glrcame "of
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM 2
her own accord" to live with the widower. She fell ill, and her illness was
attributed by a diviner-shamanin to the frst wife's spirit. It would seem,
although Elwin does not mention this, that the husband had married the
girl before she became ill. The shamanin, reputedly possessed by the spirit,
declared to her, "What are you doing in the house I made? I was there frst,
and you have entered it of your own accord, and have never given me a
thing."
On the shamanin's advice the husband instituted a ceremony of
friendship (addin) to bring his two wives, the living and the dead,
together. Another shamanin acted as ofciant, and said to the husband
speaking as the spirit, "Why did you bring this woman into my house? I
had a little sister; she was the girl you should have married. She would
have looked after me properly." The husband replied, "But that was the
very girl I wantea to marry. I went to her father's house for her. But the
old man made such a fuss that we quarrelled. Then this girl came. She
works well; you ought to be pleased with her." The shamanin, acting in the
character of the dead wife, agreed to make friends with the new wife, and
gave the latter a cloth and bracelets (supplied by the husband) in token of
ritual friendship. Two funerary priests, dressed up to represent the two
wives and carrying bows and arrows, then mimed the antagonsm of the
two wives, while bystanders threw ashes over them. In Africa the throw
ing of ashes might have represented in some tribes a symbolic "cooling"
of the anger, but Elwin does not explain the signifcance of this act for the
Saora. In the end the funerary priests drank together, embraced and
fondled one another, thus dramatically portraying the end of the dispute.
From these events we may infer that the Saora practice the sororate.
Indeed, Elwin states elsewhere that they do, and also that soro
;
po
i
,
-

gyny is not uncommon. In this respect the Saora resemble many other
patrilineal peoples. The data also show that the bond between seminal
sisters is highly valued. It would also appear that most marriages are
arranged, for the second wife is blamed for coming to live with the wid
ower c her ow accord. Her action, it is implied, disregarded the values
attached to the sororate (a form of marriage that maintains the structural
relations between patrilineal groups), to the relationship between sisters,
and to the custom of arranging marriages. The husband tries to defend the
new wife by claimng that he had tried to fulfll Saora norms by marrying
his deceased wife's sister. Her father was in the wrong, he suggested, for
"making such a fuss" that they quarrelled. If Elwin had been interested in
sociological problems he would have inquired more closely into the con
tent of this alleged quarrel, which might conceivably have thrown light on
the nature and functions ofbridewealth among the Saora. One would like
to know, for example, whether a w

man's father has to return her wid

ower's bridewealth, if the widower does not marry her younger sister. In
the, case we are discussing the husband might have claimed the return of
24 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
his brideveaIth, ratherthanmarry aIittIegirI. Orthefather mighthave
vanted to marry his younger daughter to another, perhaps veaIthier
husband, and this mayhave occasioned the fuss" he made. lt appears
probabIethatneitherthehusbandnorthefatherdesiredaradicaIbreachin
their reIationship, for the symboIism ofrituaI friendship betveen dead
andIivingvivesseemstosignifythatthenevmarriagevasacceptedby
thekinofthedeadvife.lnthisconnection,itvouIdhavebeeninteresting
toknovthesociaIcompositionoftherituaIgathering,vhetherrepresen-
tativesofthedeadvife'spaternaIextendedfamiIy(birina) verepresentor
not, and vhether they pattook ofthe sacri6ciaI meaI vith the husband.
Again,sinceeachbirinda hasitshereditaryfunerarypriest,onevouIdIike
toknovvhetherthetvofunerarypriestsvhommedconictandrecon-
ciIiationbetveenthedeadandIivingvivesrepresentedthebirindas ofthe
vomen.Ivindoesnotgiveusthiskindofinformation.
Whatvecansay, hovever, isthatboththediviner-shamaninandthe
doctor-shamanin vho performed the friendship rituaI reamrmed a
numberofSaoranormsandvaIuesinasituationfoIIovingtheirbreachor
negIect. The doctor-shamaninfuI6IIedthefurther task ofreconciIingthe
variousparties to the quarreI. Through her mediation their reIationships
verereaIigned,soastotakeintoaccountthefactofthenevmarriage.
lnthe casejust mentioned the agent ofamiction vas aspirit, not a
god. lt is possibIe thatdierent kinds ofmysticaI beings are invoked to
expIainmisfortuneinconnectionvithdierentkindsofsociaIreIations.lt
maybemereIythatgodsandspiritsareinvokedhaphazardIyaccordingto
the caprice ofdiviners.Atanyrate, thedierenceinthe amicting agency
doesnotseemtodependupontheseverityofamiction,forbothgodsand
spirits arebeIievedtohavepovertokiltheIiving.My ovn guessisthat
gods are regarded as agents ofamiction vhere emphasis is Iaid on the
generaI interests and vaIues ofSaora society, or vhen generaI disasters,
IikepIagues, strikethepeopIe, vhiIespirits arebroughtinto accountfor
misfortunesarisingfromopenquarreIsandconceaIedhostiIitiesvithinits
componentsubgroups.Thepointlvishtomakeisthatiftheinvestigator
had been concerned vith the socioIogy ofSaora reIigion, avareness of
suchprobIemsvouIdhaveinuencedhisseIectionofdata.
MyIastexampIeoftheinterdependenceofaspectsofrituaIandsociaI
structureisafragmentofageneaIogy. ltisaveryoddgeneaIogyindeed,
foritportraysmaritaIandbIoodties betveenhumanbeings and spirits.
Thehumanbeingsare Saorashamansandshamanins.Thespiritsarenot
ancestor-spiritsbuta speciaI cIass ofmysticaI beings caIIed tuteIaries by
EIvin, vho are beIieved to marry diviner-shamans and shamanins, to
possessthemin trances, and to assist them in divininginto the causes of
misfortuneandiIIness.ThegeneaIogyisextractedfroman autobiographi-
caItextrccordcdbyElwin froma |amousshaman, who wasboth d|vincr
and doctor (p. 258). This shaman' s father, who was also a shaman, was
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM 25
sa|dby his sontohavehadfourchiIdrenbyhistuteIaryspirit, tvoboys
and tvo girIs. One ofthe spirit-sons became thetuteIary husband ofa
s|amanin,inaviIIageaboutthreemiIestothenorth,andoneofthespirit-
Jaughters became the tuteIary vife ofa shaman in another viIIage. lt
wouIdappearfromthisandsimiIartextsthatshamansandshamaninsare
|u the habit ofIinking themseIves to one anotherby coIIaborating in the
manufacture of6ctitious or, rather, fantasy geneaIogies ofthis sort. The
Saora, in reaI Iife, attach a poIiticaI signi6cance to interviIIage ties of
aGnity, perhaps because they have no indigenous centraIized poIiticaI
authority, but Iive in autonomous viIIages, each IargeIy seIf-supporting
and seIf-contained. Shaman-diviners express their professionaI unity in
thcidiom ofamnity andkinship, andfabricategeneaIogiesinvhich the
s|gni6cantIinksareunseen,6ctitiousbeings.
There is another curious feature about these 6ctitious geneaIogies.
ManyofthemarriagesbetveendivinersandtheirtuteIaryspousesvouId
bcreckonedincestuousiftheyverebetveenIivingSaora.Thus,onp.435,
LIvin describes hov a shaman married the tuteIary daughter ofhis
|ather's father, in other vords his father's spirit-sister. On p. 149, a
shamaninisrecorded as having marriedher deceased mother's tuteIary,
| cherspiritstepfather.Anothershamanmarriedhisspirit-cross-cousin,
and cross-cousin marriage is forbiddenin reaI Iife. Moreover, irreguIar
|orms ofmarriage are practiced betveen humans and tuteIaries. One
shaman and amaIe spirit Iived in poIyandrous marriage vith a femaIe
tuteIaryintheLnderWorId,vhereancestorspiritsandtuteIariesIive,and
whither the shaman beIieved he vent in dream and trance (p. 436).
AnothershamaninvasmarriedtotvotuteIariessimuItaneousIy(p. 138).
TheseexampIessuggestthatatIeastsomeofthe6ctitiousgeneaIogicaI
|nterconnectionsbetveenIivingshamans andshamaninsarisefromfan-
tasiesofincestuousmatingsandirreguIarformsofmarriage. Onceagain,
in anotheraspectofhissociaIpersonaIity,theshamanispIacedoutsidethe
tuIes that govern ordinary secuIar Iife. The geneaIogies aIso express his
jriviIegedpositionasveIIashisestrangement,forheenjoysconsiderabIe
jrcstige and maybecome a veaIthy practitioner. Forhe is priviIeged to
ttansgressruIes that others mustobey. Whenve come to consider vhat
sortsofpersonsbecomeshamans andshamaninsvemayaIsofeeIjusti6ed
|nsayingthatthestrongeIementsoffantasyinthesegeneaIogiesmayarise
|romthefactthatmany shamans feeI dissatis6edviththeirreaI kinship
connections and viththeirpositionsonreaI geneaIogies. lnothervords
thccompIicatedsyndromeofthefantasygeneaIogymaycontainanaspect
o| psycholoical compensation. SuchcompensationmaybereIatedtoanumber
o|characteristics ofthe typicaI shaman, someofvhichve viII consider
l atcr, such as physicaI inadcquacy or Iov secuIar status. The shaman or
Nhamanin seems to be a pcrson vho | s in some vay cxtruded from the
ftruotured rmbgroupings o|his 8ociCty, or who voluntarily disafliatcs
2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
himseIffromthem,andvhocompensatesbybecomingarepresentativeof
the totaI system, regarded as a simpIe homogeneous unit. Heisatonce
vithin and outsidehis society. Another aspect ofcompensationfor per-
sonaIinadequacyorstructuraIinferioritymaybeexpressedinthefactthat
tuteIary spirits are often supposedto beHindu or Christian Doms, not
Pagan Saora. These groups, vho oppress the Saora in secuIar Iife, are
veaIthier,andmorepoverfuIthantheyare.AndIikeshamansthemseIves,
Dom and Paik tuteIaries have the further attribute ofexternality to the
structuraI order ofSaorasociety. But l shaII return to this topic vhen l
havemadeanattemptfromEIvin'ssomevhatsketchymateriaIonSaora
sociaIorganizationtodeterminejustvhatarethemajorsubunitsofSaora
societyandhovtheyareinterconnectedandsubdivided.
TheHiIISaorainhabittheAgencyTractsoftheGanjamandKoraput
Districts ofthe modern state ofOrissa. Saora are mainIy distinguished
fromotherpeopIesbyIinguistic andcuIturaIcriteria, andbytheoccupa-
tion ofa given territory. The most typicaI ofthese Saora Iive in the
Gummaand SerangoMuttas orsubdivisionsoftheGanjamDistrict, and
in the viIIages vithin ten miIes ofPottasingi in Koraput. Not aII Saora
IivinginthisareaareHiIISaorathoughmostofthemare.HiIISaoraIivein
Iongstreets, invhich theybuiIdIittIe shrines, theyerectmenhirs (stone
memoriaIs)tothedead,vhomthey cremate,theysacri6cebuaIostothe
dead, shamanismis the most conspicuous feature oftheir reIigion, they
engageinbothterracedandshiftingcuItivation,theyhaveapecu|iarform
ofdress.OtherSaoraarebecomingassimiIatedintothesurroundingpop-
uIations, andareIosing their Ianguage, andtheyhavebegunto vorship
Hindu gods, to adopt Hindu food taboos, and to vear dierent cIothes
and ornaments fromthe HiII Saora.The HiII Saora haveno overaII cen-
traIized poIiticaI organization oftheir ovn. The Koraput Saora have no
overIordsorIandIords,andpaytaxesdirectIytotheState.ButtheGanjam
HiIISaoraterritoryisdividedintotractsofIandundertheruIeoffeudaI
overIords caIIed Patros or Bissoyis. Each ofthese overIords has a smaII
armyofhomeguards"caIIedPaiks.Theenvironment"oftheHiIISaora
incIudes, therefore, Hindu Bissoyis and their Paik retainers, vho livein
theirovnviIIages. ltaIsoincIudesChristianDoms,vhoinhabitseparate
hamIets, seII cIoth to the Saora, and have in recent times become mon-
eyIendersvhodespoiItheIatterofcashandproduce.
There are three main branches ofHiII Saora.]atis, vho do not eat
beef and cIaim thatthey are purein bIood, custom, and reIigion, Arsis,
fromthetermformonkey, vhovearaIong-taiIedcIothandeatbeef,and
]adus, fromavordmeaning viId," vhoIiveonthe topsofhiIIs and in
the viIder tracts north ofSerango. There arc aIso a fev occupationaI
groups, vhosemembcrs|ivevith the other Saora and "rescmb|cthcmin
every respect except in the special craf thcy have adopted." These ncIudc
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM 2]
basketmakers, potters, brass-vorkers, and bIacksmiths. Dierent groups
arevhatEIvindescribesas vagueIyendogamous."A]atimaymarryan
Arsiora]aduvithouteIicitingmuchcJcbarriersare,hovever,
aIittIe strongerbetveenthe cuItivating and occupationaI groups, yet an
eIopement betveen a potter and a]adu cuItivator is not taken very
seriousIy and is forgiven after the payment ofa smaII 6ne. But a]ati
hereditary priest or Buyya cannot marry an Arsi Buya or]adu Buy a.
Members ofaIIthese groupsIook, dress, and behave aIike. EvenbIack-
smithsandpottershavetheir6eIdsandcattIe.DierentgroupsoftenIive
in the same street. A most signi6cantfeature ofHiII Saorasocietyis the
highdegreeofpoIiticaIautonomyenjoyedbythemostimportantresiden-
tiaI unit, the viIIage. lt may be said vithout exaggeration that a
socioIogicaI anaIysis ofthe structuraI reIationships vithin and betveen
Saora vi|Iages vouId provide an indispensabIe introduction to EIvin's
study ofSaora rituaI. But his data on vi|Iage organization and on the
demographicaspectsofviIIageresidencearethinandfragmentary.
SeveraI ofthe rituaI case-histories cited by EIvin refer to quarreE
vithinandbetveenvillages. EIvinaIsomentions(. 57) theacriddisputes
that occasionaIIy dis6gure a Saora village." Before performing a rituaI a
shamanusuaIIy makes an invocation to the unseen beings and povers,
vhichincIudesthefoIIovingphrase. LetnooneinthefoIIovingvillage,
a,b, c, etc.,vorkeviI(i.e.,sorcery)againstus"(. 235).
TesedatasuggestthattherearestabiIizedconictsbetveenviIIages,
perhapsoverrightstoscarcetractsoffertiIeIand,perhapsasthevestigiaI
tracesoffeudsforbiddennovbytheCentraIGovernment.We cannotteII
fromEIvin'saccount.AnditvouIdbeimportanttoknovthemotivesfor
interviIIage conmct and the customary mechanisms for restoring order
between viIIagesfromthepointofvievofouranaIysisofshamanism~for
shamanspractice outsideasveIIasinsidetheirovnviIIage.
What,then,areveentitIedtosayaboutSaoraviIIagestructure?lnthe
i
6rst pIace ve can quoteEIvin as saying that SaoraviIIages are, for the

mostpart,Iarge,"long-estabIishedintheirpresentsites, andbuiItinthe
mostdif6cuItandinaccessibIesites thatcanbeimagined."ButEIvingives
usIittIeindicationastopreciseIyhow IargetheseviIIagesare.Hehasmade
no attemptto discuss inquantitativeterms suchfactors asthemagnitude
and mobiIity ofviIIages, and the residentiaI mobiIity ofindividuaIs
throughviIIages. We canobtainno informationabouttheaverage magni-
tude ofa SaoraviIIage or ofthe rate ofviIIage size. He does mention
tantaIizingIy thatshiftingcuItivationmeansthatsomeSaoraviIIagesare
very smaII, vithonIythree or fourhouses, high in the hiIIs, IoneIy and
remote,butconvenientforthesviddens"~byvhichtermhemeansash-
gardens. But he hasjust previousIy vrittenthat "Saora viIIages in fact
rcsembIeestabIishedCondorSanta|settIementsratherthantheroughand
28 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
ready camps ofBaigasandKonds, for vhomshifting cuItivationmeans
shifting homes (p. 39). He does mention that in three ofthe Ganjam
poIiticaIsubdivisionscaIIedMuttas thereare04viIIages.Nov there are,
according to EIvin, about 60,000HiII Saorain Ganjam, Iiving in eight
Muttas. Putting these 6gures together, and making the admittedIy risky
assumptionthat three-eighths oftheGanjamHiII SaoradoinfactIivein
thethree Muttas hementions,vemay guessthattheaverageviIIagepopu-
IationintheseMuttas isabout26.lnaIaterchapterentitIed,TheCostof
ReIigion, EIvin mentions that

in one Koraput HiII Saora viIIage there

vereeighty househoIds, in another seventy-four, andinathird tventy-
6ve. TisinformationisnotentireIyheIpfuI, sincehenovhere discusses
thesociaIcompositionortheaveragesizeofahousehoId.ButveareabIe
toinferfromsomeofhiscasehistoriesthatcertainhousehoIds~ahouse-
hoIdmay ovnseveralhouses,for eachvifehasherovn~containthree
generationsofkin.HeaIsomentionshereandtherethattheSaorapractice
poIygynyandvidov-inheritance. PoIygyny,"saysEIvin,isfairIycom-
mon. lnDokripangalfoundeverymarriedmanhadatIeasttvovives
(p. 56). Nov Ietus supposethat anaverage eIementary famiIy contains
fourmembers. ThenIetus suppose that various accretions frompoIyg-
ynous marriage, temporary coresidence ofaduIt brothers (Saora are
patriIocaI), vidov-inheritance, and such account on the average for
anotherfourmembers.The6rstviIIagevouIdthencontainapproximateIy
640 inhabitants, the second 592, and the third 200. The 6rst viIIage he
mentions, Boramsingi, he refers to severaI times as Iarge and divided
intovideIyseparatedhamIets(p. 5). lthinkthatvevouIdnotbetoo
muchinerrorifveassumedthattheaveragesizeofaHiIISaoraviIIage
vas betveen 200 and 300 inhabitants, vith a range offrom about 30
to800.
lhaveIaidstressonthisquestionofviIlagesizesincetheremay veII
beafunctionaIreIationship ofsome importancebetveenthesize andthe
structure ofanimportant residentiaIunitinasociety IiketheSaora,vhich
emphasizes kinship as a signi6cant principIe ofresidentiaI orgamzation.
LimitationsonviIlagemagnitudemay, forexampIe, imposeIimitsonthe
numberofgroupsofuniIineaIkinvhocandveIItogether,andonthesize
ofeachgroup. SuchIimitations can aIso controItheextentofdierentia-
tionoftheviIIageintooccupationaIandsubterritoriaIgroups.ViIIagcsize
may signi6cantIy inuence the reIationship betveen lineaI and familiaI
modes oforganization. lfpatrilineaI descent is an important principIe
governingresidentiaIamliation,asitappearstobeamongtheSaora,andif
in smaII viIIages patrilineages are stunted, it is probabIe that the sociaI
mechanismsforpromotingcohesionandreducingconictintheresiden-
tiaIunitviIIdierfromthosefoundinpatriIineaIsocietiesvhereaIarger
viIIageis typicaI orin sociaI systems, such as theZuIu, vhere emergent
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM 2
nev settIements canmove out to found nev smaII viIIages. Again, the
average magnitude ofviIIages maybe connected vith ecoIogicaI factors.
Above a givenpopuIationthreshoId a viIIage mayhave to spIit to avoid
pressure on resources. And indeed EIvin vrites that in the Western
Ganjam District there is considerable pressure on Iand (p. 36). On
p.536,hequotesfromthereportofaForestryOmcethataIreadyin907,
in Ganjam, denudation ofthe hiIIs by axe-cuItivation had seriousIy
aectedthevater-suppIy, andthatthepressureofpopuIationhadaIready
resuItedinfartooshortarotationintheuseofcIearings." lnIarger-than-
averageviIIagesonemightexpectto6ndtensionsbetveensubgroupsand
factions. EIvin, indeed, gives cases ofquarreIs over gardens in suchviI-
Iages.ThesmaIIviIIagesthathementionsmayveIIresuItfromthe6ssion
ofviIIagesthathaveexceededacertainoptimumsize.Anditisinjustsuch
over-Iarge, quarreI-ridden vilIages that l vouId have expected to 6nd
many performances ofcurative rituaI, a type ofrituaI that vriters on
CentraI African rituaI have found to have the Iatent function often of
redressingdisturbedsociaIreIationships.ltmaybemorethancoincidence
that many ofEIvins exampIes of rituaI are dravn from viIIages he
describesasIarge,suchasBoramsingi,mentionedabove.
Since EIvin has emphasized that most Saora viIIages are Iong-
establishedandhavenothingofthenomadaboutthem,"andsincemost
aredimcuItofaccess, and vere formerIy forts for defense against the
raidsofotherSaora,vemayinferthatsuchviIIagesaresociaIentitiesvith
ahighmeasureofcohesionandcontinuity,tovardsvhichtheirmembers
teeIstrongsentimentsofIoyaIty.YetatthesametimeEIvinshovsusthat
cachviIIageisinternaIIy dividedintoanumberofIocaIandkinship sub-
divisions.lnthe6rstpIace,mostSaoravilIagesaredividedintoanumber
ofgroups ofhouses caIIed sahis vhich EIvin transIates as quarters"
orhamIets." Oftenthesearenamedaftertheirmostimportantresidents.
|nSaoraviIIages,thereareanumberofpoIiticaIomciaIs.Eachhasaquar-
ternamed afterhis omce. Thus the Gamat{ or Chief the Kari, and the
Dhol-behera, otherpoliticaIfunctionaries,havequarters. SohastheviIIage
priest orBuya, vhohaspoIiticaIasveIIasrituaIfunctions.ThenucIear
group in each quarter consists ofthe paternaI extended famiIy ofthe
quarter-head. Not infrequentIy, hovever, quarters are named by some
geographicaIoroccupationaIterm,andnotafterapoIiticaIorrituaIomce.
WhatisthesociaIcompositionofaquarter?HereaseIsevhereinhis
introductory section EIvin is extremeIy vague. He points out that in
contrast to aII the neighboring tribes the HiII Saora haveno exogamous
totemic cIans, no phratries, no moieties. The one essentiaI unit, he
vrites, istheextendedfamiIy descendedfromacommonmaIeancestor.
Thi

s extended famiIy, the birina, is the main exogamous unit ofSaora

society. lthasnonameandnototem.ltispossibIe, aslsuggestedearIier,
C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
that the term birinda refers to tvo distinct kinds of grouping~a
patriIineageandanextendedfamiIy. lfbothsensesarepresentinbirinda,
there may be conict betveen the organizing principIes ofthese tvo
kindsofgrouping. Membersoftvo ormore birindas mayIivetogetherin
onequarterorhamIet,ormembersofonebirinda maybedividedbetveen
tvo or more quarters. ButnearIy every birinda is to be found vithin a
singIe viIIage. A voman does not change her birinda membership after
marriage, and it appears from severaI ofEIvin's texts that a person's
mother'sbirinda pIays an importantpartinhisorher aairs. There does
not appear to be any cIear ruIe ofpostmaritaI residence and ve hear of
marriedsistersIivinginthesamequarterastheirseminaIbrothers,thatis,
brothers by the same father. l suspect thatone ofthebasic conicts of
Saora societyisbetveena voman'shusbandand father or brother for
controI over her and over her chiIdren's residentiaI aIIegiance. ln other
vords,theconmctvouIdIiebetveenherhusband'sbirinda andherovn.
Furthermore, this indeterminacy vith regard to postmaritaI residence
vouId appear prima facie to inhibit the deveIopment of deep IocaI
patriIineages, foramanhasthechoiceofresidingvitheitherhisfather's
orhis mother's birinda. ResidentiaI amIiation vouId seeminfact tobe
ambiIateraI,inthesenseinvhichProfessorFirth(957)hasde6nedthis
term. This viev receives support from EIvin's remark that ifa man
migratestoanotherviIIageandsettIesthere,hecan~providedthatsome-
oneinthereIationshipofmother'sbrother, father'ssister, ortheirsonsis
Iiving there~be admitted to a sort ofhonorary membership oftheir
famiIy (p. 36). As EIvin aIvays transIates birinda as famiIy, one has
novtheimpressionthattheIocaIbirind isacompositegroupcontaininga
nucIearmembership ofpatriIineaI kin ofboth sexes, vithmenprepon-
derating, descended from an apicaI ancestor, perhaps not many gen-
erationsback from the oIdestIiving members, vith a fringe ofsisters'
chiIdren and their chiIdren. The fact that cross-cousins are forbid-
dentomarryisaIsoconsistentviththevievthatsisters'chiIdrenarere-
garded as honorarymembers ofthe birinda. Onemightinferfromthis
feature ofresidentiaI structure that there isincompatibiIity betveen the
principIesofpatriIineaIandmatriIateraIamIiation. SinceEIvinpointsout
that there is considerabIe intermarriage betveen separate viIIages, it is
possibIethatthisconictof IoyaItiesunderIiesthehostiIitybetveen
.
viI-
Iagesexpressedinsorcery accusations. OnemightaIsopostuIatethatdis-
appointedcIaimants forviIIage omce andmenvho havefaiIedtoobtain
vhat they considered tobe a fair share oftheir patrimony express their
discontentbygoingtoresideviththeirmatriIateraIkinintheviIIages of
theIatter.Theymightbringup theirchiIdreninthoseviIIages. SuchchiI-
drenm|ghtbeunabIeto succeed too0ceorinherit0/r/04oproperty~forit
vouId appe0I that the 0/r/04o owns the permanent terraced rice-felds
supplying the staple crop. If thiM conception of the structure of the
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM I
birinda iscorrect,itmay heIptocIarify featuresofthe shamam roIe. For
three shamans, mentionedby EIvin, saidthattheirtuteIary vives vere
broughttothembythetuteIariesoftheirmothers,andonebyhismother's
brother's tuteIary, in other vords, from tuteIaries associated vith their
mother'sbirindas. lncompIementaryfashionmanyshamaninsacquiretheir
tuteIaryhusbandsfromtheirfathers'sisters'tuteIaries,thatis,frommem-
bers oftheirfathers' birinda. Shamans ofone sex stressrituaIIoyaIties to
thebirindas oftheirparents ofthe opposite sex. lnthe case ofshamanins,
rituaI IoyaIties coincide vith their secuIar IoyaIties and strengthen an
attachmentvhichconictsviththatofmarriage.Thusmanyshamanins
emphasize the rituaI importance ofprincipIes other than those vhich
oughtto governtheirdominantIoyaItiesinsecuIarIife,asigni6cantpro-
portion of shamans in Saora society stress matriIateraI ties against
patri|inyandvomenstressareinforcedpatriIateraIityagainstthemarriage
bond. lnthisconnectionitisinterestingtonotethatfunerary shamanins
(Guarkumbois), vhoareusuaIIy trainedandinitiatedbytheirfathers'sis-
ters,oughtnottomarryandhavechiIdren' (p. 46).ThepatriIateraItieis
reinforced in a rituaI context at the expense ofthesecuIar marriage tie.
Such shamanins are outsiders to the customariIy expected roIe of
vomen.BothshamaninsandshamansuserituaIIinksviththebirindas of
theirparentsofoppositesextopIacethemseIvesoutsidetheircustomariIy
cxpected group aIIegiance and emphasize their personaI independence
|romcustomarycIaimsmadeupontheirIoyaIties.FreudiananaIystsmight
postuIate that the shamans marriage vith a matriIateraI tuteIary spouse
rcpresentsabareIydisguisedvishforincestvithhismotherandthatthe
shamaninpatriIateraI spirit-husband isreaIIyher father. But this inter-
pretation vouId have to reckon vith the fact that reIigious beIiefs are
customs, coIIective representations, sociaI stereotypes, not private fan-
tasies. lt mightbeargued, hovever, thattheoperative residentiaI group
among the Saora is not, asit ideaIIy ought to be, strictIy patriIineaI, but
consistsofbrothersandsistersandtheiraduItchiIdrenvhostandtoone
anotherinthereIationshipsofcross-cousin.ThisbiIateraIgroupresiststhe
|ossofits vomenbyviriIocaImarriage. AndaIthoughinsociaIreaIity it
must recognize the force ofexogamy, in the powerfuI vish-vorId of
r|tuaI, men and vomen mate in fantasy vithin forbidden degrees of
k|nship,orvithsurrogateparents,andthusasserttheomnipotenceofthe
jt|mary group against the structured, dierentiated order, based on
exogamy, ofaduItsociety. ltvouIdseemthatsomevomenpreferceIibacy
N shamaninstoreIinquishingfuIIparticipantmembershipintheirfather's
roups. We can onIy specuIate because EIvin's materiaI is thin on this
po.int, butlsuggestthatSaorashamanisticbeIiefsarereIatedtotheuniver-
Nal human probIem ofthe basic contradiction in exogamy~the primary
kin group wants to keep its own members and at the same time to vin
members from other groups.
2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
BecauseEIvinvaspreoccupiedvithreIigious customandbeIiefsui
generis, hefaiIedtocoIIectthedatathatvouIdhaveenabIedhimtomakea
prior anaIysis ofthe Saora sociaI system, and this has givenhis book a
curiousIyinvertebrateappearance.ForthesamereasonhehasbeenunabIe
to interpret adequateIy those items ofreIigious custom itseIfvhich are
directIy Iinked to the sociaI structure. For, as SimmeI once vrote (1950,
p. 15): reIigiousbehaviordoesnotexcIusiveIydependonre|igiouscon-
texts,butitisagenera|IyhumanformofbehaviorvhichisreaIizedunder
the stimuIus not onIy oftranscendentaI objects but ofother moti-
vations. . . . Even in its autonomy, reIigious Iife contains eIements that are
notspeci6caIIyreIigiousbutsociaI . . . onIyvhen(theseeIements)areiso-
Iatedby means ofsocioIogicaI method, viIIthey shovvhatvithin the
vhoIe compIex ofreIigious behavior may IegitimateIy be considered
pureIyreIigious, thatis, independent ofanything sociaI."Whatkindsof
data,then, doveneedtocoIIect,inordertounderstandtheSaorarituaIs
intheir sociaI context, and evento understand their signi6cancefor the
individuaIs concerned vith them? What l am about to say may seem
eIementary, indeed nave, but the omission ofthe data l shaII Iist has
seriousIyreducedthevaIueofmanyotherviseexceIIent compiIations of
rituaIcustomsbyIeadingmodernanthropoIogists.
We needcensussurveysofseveraIcompIeteviIIagesbothinGanjam
andKoraput. We needinformationabouttheamountofbrideveaIthpaid
orreceivedateverymarriagerecorded,theamountofcompensationpaid
foraduIteryordivorce,thenumberandagesofchiIdrenofviIIagemem-
bers,thenataIviIIagesandviIIagesofrearingviIIagemembers, thequar-
tersofthoseviIIagesinvhichtheyformerIyresided,theviIIage, quarter,
andbirinda amIiationoftheirparents, theirovnoccupationandstatus,and
simiIarsituationaIIyreIevantinformation.We aIsorequirefuIIgeneaIogi-
caI data from birinda-heads and eIders, so that ve can attempt to |ink
togetheraIImembersofabirinda onasingIegeneaIogy.We needrecordsof
aIItheamnaItiesinterIinkingdiderentbirindas inthesameviIIage,andthe
amnaIties connectingmembers ofcensusviIIages vithotherviIIages.We
shouIdaIsohavehutdiagramsofaconsiderabIenumberofviIIages,reIat-
ingthehut-ovnershippatterntoourviIIageandbirinda geneaIogies. From
ournumericaIanaIysisofcensus andgeneaIogicaIdatavevouIdthenbe
inapositiontoinfertheeectiveprincipIes determiningviIIagestructure.
We vouIdthenhavebeenabIetocomparethisanaIysisofthesituationon
the ground vith the ideaI pattern as it is stated by Saora informants.
CoIIateraIIy, verequireviIIagehistoriesgivingactuaI cases ofsuccession
tovariouskindsofpoIiticaIandrituaIpositions.Fromthesevemayinfer
not onIy the mode of succession but aIso vhether struggIes for o0ce
foIIov ade6nitepattern, so that ve may ask, for exampIe, vhether the
factionaI groupings that support thc main c|aimants tcnd main|y to bc
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM
tbeirpatriIineaIkin,membersoftheirviIIagequarters,orothercategories
o| persons. We vouId aIso Iike to knov the cIass and occupationaI
attributesofsuchgroupings.ltvouIdbereasonabIetocoIIectdataonthe
mode ofinheritance ofmovabIe and immovabIe property and on the
system ofIand-tenure. lt vouId be important to have case histories of
d| sputesoverinheritanceofpropertyandrightsto dierentcategoriesof
|and, for quarreIs over Iand are mentioned in EIvin's cases ofsorcery-
accusation. I considerthatinformation ofthese sorts,properIyanaIyzed
audsuccinctIypresentedinacoupIeofintroductory chapters,vouIdhave
cuormousIy enhanced the vaIue ofEIvins ritual data. Furthermore, ifhe
badcoIIectedsystematicinformationaboutaseriesofrituaIsperformedin
I s|ngIeviIIage, orinaneighborhoodcIuster ofviIIagesoveraperiod of
uonthsorevenyears,hemighthavegreatIyiIIuminatedourunderstand-
| ugoftheroIeofrnuaIinSaoragroupdynamics.lnothervords,ifhehad
|vcnus 6rst a generaI modeI ofSaora sociaI structure, foIIoved by an
auaIysisofactuaIsociaIprocessesinsigni6cantsectorsofHiIISaorasoci-
.ty,hevouIdhavebeenabIetoshovustovhatextentprincipIes,vaIues,
uotms, and interests, and the reIationships they govern and estabIish in
tcuIar contexts, are represented in rituaI, both in its sociaI and in its
symboIic aspects. HevouIdthenhavebeeninabetterpositiontodetach
|romthevhoIe compIex ofrituaI behavior and ideas vhat vas pureIy
tcl|g|ous,"inSimmeI'svords,andindependentofanythingsociaI."
SystematiccoIIectionofthesekindsofdata,then,vouIdhavegivenus
a |rmer foundation for anaIyzing viIIage structure thanthe morseIs of
o|oIogicaI information thatEIvin interpoIates in his descriptions of
|cl|g|ouscustoms.ButIetusnevertheIesstrytoconstructamodeIofthe
Saora viIIage trom these scanty bits ofinformation. The viIIage, as ve
havcseen,isdividedintoquartersorhamIets.ThenucIeusofeachquarter
|s a birinda, vhich itseIfhas a core ofpatriIineaI kin and a fringe of
| ii atr| lateraIIy attached kin, cognates, and amnes. Cutting across these
gioup|ngsisadivisionbetveenaristocratsandcommoners.lnmostSaora
v| | |agcs, there are titIed poIiticaI functionaries, and in Ganjam there is
a.l d| t| onaIIy a viIIage priest or Buyya. Each ofthese functionaries, of
waomthemostimportantistheviIIagechiefhashisovnquarter,named
a |!rrbistitIe.EIvindoesnotteIIusvhetherthebirindas ofthesefunction-
ai, cach member ofvhich may calIhimseIfby the titIe oftheir head,
|cud to dominate their quarters or hamIets numericaIIy. The birindas of
pol| t|cal |unctionaries and viIIage priests together constitute the aristoc-
r+iy. |t is possibIe that viIIages are spatiaIIy divided betveen prepon-
dcraut|yaristocraticandpreponderantIycommonersections,eachsection
|ous|st|ngofscvcraI quarters. EachquarteraIsovouIdappeartohaveits
| u|cru.tl div|sions bctvccn patrilineaI kin and its honorary members
g| n, cach0|r|/o contains separate houscholds, andahouschoIdmaybc
q PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
divided betveen the matricentric famIies ofa poIygynous househoId
head,orbetveenthefamiIiesofbrothersvhoIivetogether.Beyondthese
divisions there is the gradationin descending order ofprestige betveen
the three branches ofHiII Saora, ]atis, Arsis, and]adu. Members ofaII
three branches may Iive in one viIIage. Then there is the distinction in
statusbetveencuItivators, both aristocratic andcommoner, andoccupa-
tionaIgroups, such asbasketmakers and potters. ln summary, the Saora
viIIageisby no means a homogeneous, undierentiatedunit. lt is gov-
erned by a number of distinct, and even discrepant principIes of
organization.
Professor Srinivas, in his book Reliion and Society amo the Coorgs cf
South India (1952), isoIates the various subunits ofCoorg society, viIIage,
caste,jointfamiIy, domesticfamiIy, andIineage,andreferstoeachofthese
indierentcontextsasthe basicunitoftheCoorgsociaIsystem.lfhehad
saidthateachofthesesubunitsvasa basicunit,hevouIdhaveresoIved
thediscrepancyinhisanaIysisbyamrmingtheexistenceofdiscrepancyin
sociaI reaIity. For the structuraI principIes to vhich he refers in some
situationsmay comeintoconictvithone another, inothersagainmay
operate in isoIation from one another. Fromthe point ofviev ofsociaI
dynamcsasociaIsystemisnotaharmoniouscon6gurationgovernedby
mutuaIIycompatibIeandIogicaIIyinterreIatedprincipIes.ltisratheraset
ofIooseIyintegrated processes, vith some patterned aspects, some per-
sistencies of form, but controIIed by discrepant principIes ofaction
expressedinruIesofcustomthatareoftensituationaIIyincompatibIevith
one another. SimiIarIy in Saora society, ve may expect to ndconicts,
undervaryingcircumstances,betveenitsdierentarucuIatingprincipIes.
viIIage amIiation, quarter, birinda, househoId, eIementary famiIy, sociaI
cIass, andoccupation.WithintheindividuaIthesevouIdtaketheformof
conictsofIoyaItytodierentsociaIgroups.
ltisprimariIyinrituaIthat discrepancies betveen structuraIprinci-
pIesareoverIaidorfeignednottoexist. Onevayinvhichthe Saorado
thisis by rituaIizing eachcruciaI principIe in isoIation fromtheothers.
Thusve6ndperiodicrituaIseachofvhichceIebratestheimportanceofa
dierentprincipIe ofgrouping. These rituaIs are performed at dierent
periods in the annuaI cycIe. Each ofthem asserts theparamountcy ofa
particuIar principIe of grouping in connection vith a speci6c set of
activities and motivations. The functionaries at the periodic, prescribed
rituaIsthatceIebratethesestructuredgroupings ofSaora society arenot,
Iiketheshamans,outsiders,butratherinsiderstothegroupstheyconcern,
aIthough shamans aIsohave a roIe in some ofthese rituaIs, as represen-
tativesofthemostincIusiveSaoracommunity.
l have no time to do more than point up the contrast betveen caI-
endricaIrituaIsofthistype,associatedviththehxcdstructureofthcSaora
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM ]
system, and curative rituaIs, associated vith the reestabIishment ofthat
structure, afterbreacheshaveoccurredinitscriticaIreIationsh|ps.Hereis
an abbreviated Iist of these reguIar rituaIs, the groups they typicaIIy
invoIve,andtheprincipaIrituaIomciantsateach.
Most ofthe Harvest FestivaIs, vhich ostensibIy ceIebrate the har-
vesting ofdierentkindsofcrop,invoIve thevhoIemembership ofthe
viIIage.lnthatpartofSaoracountryvheretheinstitutionofviIIagepriest
exists, thispriest or Buyya presidesovertherituaI. His speciaIfunction
|stooersacri6ceforthevhoIeviIIageinthecuIminatingphaseoftherit-
uaI at one ofthe pubIic seru-shrines, vhich are Iocated outside the viI-
lage.Theseshrinesareforthegods,shrinesmadevithintheviIIagearefor
theancestorsofparticuIarhousehoIds,andforthegodsvorshippedinpri-
vatecuIts.
TheBuyya priest,vhohaspoIiticaI andjuraI, asveIIasrituaI,func-
t|ons, has the further task ofguarding the viIIage Iands fromthe inter-
|crence ofhostiIe sorcerers, spirits, and gods connected vith other
|ocaIitiesofSaora-Iand.HeisnotusuaIIyinvited,astheshamanis,tovisit
other viIIages to performrituaI. lt vouId seem that his omcehas to do
withmaintainingtheunityandcontinuity oftheviIIage. Anevpriestis
sc|ectedbyashamaninstate oftrancefrom amongthepatriIineaIkinof
h|spredecessor.ThismodeofsuccessiontoomceconformstothegeneraI
Saorapattern,andcontrastsviththat foIIovedbymanyshamans. lnthe
HarvestFestivaIs,presidedoverbytheBuyya priests,theprincipIeofthe
uu|tyoftheviIIageis stressed over and aboveits internaI divisions. The
cmphasishereisonthemaintenanceofthesociaIorder, not,asincurative
r|tuaI, on its reestabIishment after breaches have occurred. But in the
s:cuIarinterstices oftherituaI, asitvere,intheintervaIs betveen sacred
evcnts, andonthemarginsofsacraIizedsites,behaviorindicativeofcon-
||ictinotherrangesofbehaviormaybeobserved.To quoteEIvin(p. 325):
^|athermay choosethismomentforthededicationofhisdaughterasa
s|amanin, sickpeopIemaydecidetoconsuIttheaIreadyexcitedshamans
|:r diagnosisoftheirmaIadies,theancestorsare aIvaysbreakingin, and
| hc r coming aords a convenient opportunity to consuIt them about
doucstic and other matters. QuarreIs that have been situationaIIy sup-
ticssed by rituaI prescription here obtain indirect representation in the
|dlomofSaora rituaI. Both priest and shamanuphoIdthe orderofSaora
godcty: theoneby positiveIyamrmingit,theotherbyredressingnaturaI
m|-|ortune and the consequence ofhuman error or maIice. Each has a
d| |Ircnt sociaI personaIity and empIoys dierent means, but both are
drvotcd to the same ends, sociaI peace and naturaI prosperity, vhich
hatir, ||kcmost preindustriaI societies,regardasinterdependentorcom-
jlcmcntary aspccts ofa singIe order. The interdependence ofpriest and
s|mmis rccognizedinthc factthatancv pricstisseIectedby ashaman
PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Again, the priest vorships the same gods in their fertiIity bestoving
aspectthattheshamanpropitiatesorexorcisesintheirpunitivecapacity.
EIvingivesIittIedetaiIedinformationaboutrituaIassociatedviththe
viIIage-quarter, butvrites that many ceremonies take pIace vithin the
quarterforits ovnmembersvhooveaspeciaIIoyaItytotheirparticuIar
Ieader."
The birina, or paternaI extended famIy, has its speciaI rituaI auton-
omy, forit controIs certain sacri6ces, asveII asthe ceremoniaIeating of
foodinpubIic rituaIs. TheDoripur andAjorapur ceremomes, to propitiate
respectiveIy thefever-givinggodofcattIegrazersandthesnakegodvho
causes miscarriages, are performed onIy for and by members ofthe
amicted personsbirina, aIthough l suspect that doctor-shamans initiated
into the cuIts ofthese gods may aIso take part regardIessoftheir birina
amIiation. Each birina has its ovn hereditary funerary priests and
priestesses, vho succeed patriIineaIIy, these cannot function for other
birinas. Atthegreatfunerary rites oftheGuar, Kara, andLajap, atvhich
members ofseveraI viIIages attend, members ofthe birina ofthe dead
person eat their share ofthe rituaI food intheirovn homes and obtain
morethanstrangers,vhoeatoutinthe6eIdsandobtainIess.AttheactuaI
cremationofthe deadonIymembers ofthe birina may attend, and each
birina has its separate burning-grounds and separate cIuster ofstone
memoriaIs for its dead. But these funerary rituaIs interIink neighboring
viIIages, asveIIasemphasizing thevaIuesetonpatriIiny. Foratthe Guar
rituaI, vhich transforms a dangerous vandering shade into a reputabIe
ancestor vith a home in the Lnder WorId, certain physicaI remains of
patriIineaI birina membersvhohave been residingvithmatriIateraIkin
or vho have married out in other viIIages are brought back by their
kin. Members ofbothviIIagesperformroIesinthe Guar rituaIcycIe. And
thereisaspeciaIcIassofshamansandshamanins, theGuarkumbois (incIud-
ing many ceIibate vomen), vho omciate at these interconnecting fu-
neraryrites.
Some occupationaI groups are recognized as distinct units in some
rituaIs. ForexampIe, atKara ceremonies the KndaIbasketmakers cere-
moniaIIy exchange mats and baskets for a share inthe rice and meat of
thefeast.
The househoId, in some rituaI situations, becomes the eectivenit,
for the rites ofthe threshing-oor are performed by each househoIder
separateIy.
We seehov, in these dierentkinds ofrituaIs, the vaIidity ofcertain
cruciaI principIes oforganizationisinsisted on, outsidethespeci6c con-
textsinvhichtheyproduce conicts. TheserituaIs, asitverc, feignthat
the principIes are nevcr in conict, and that thcrc arc no antagonisms of
intcrcst or purposc bctvccn pcrsons and groups organizcd undcr cach
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM ]
principIe.ButinsociaIrea|ity,thereismuchantagonismofprincipIeand
purpose. Andit is atthis point, l think, that ve shouId reconsider the
outsiderpositionoftheshaman.
Fortheshaman, aslhavesaid, does notrepresentaparticuIar group,
but, as EIvin says, may govherever he is summoned (p. 3). . . . Heis
regarded vith respect and often vith aection, as a man given to the
pubIic service, atrue friendintime ofamiction. HeIpedbyhis tuteIary
spouse, he has access to the gods, ancestors, and shades vho punish the
livingforsinning, quarreIIing, bearinggrudges, andfaiIingto remember
particuIargodsandspiritsvhenmakinginvocationsduringrituaI.These
mysticaIagenciesamictvithmisfortuneandiIIness,andtheshamancures
the amicted. Suchamictionsare thecommonIot ofmankind, and rituaI
directedtovardstheirremovaIseemstopossessin SaoracuItureapoIiti-
caIIyintegrativefunction.ThevidestSaoracommumtyisacommumtyof
suering,thereisnoSaorastatevithcentraIizedadministrativeandmiIi-
taryinstitutions.NoraretheregreatnationaIrituaIsattendedbythevhoIe
SaorapeopIe. The conceptofpan-Saoraunity, transcending aII the divi-
s|onsofthesecuIarsystem,andexpressedinbeIiefsandsymboIssharedby
all Saora, israther the product ofinnumerabIe, 6tfuIIy performed occa-
s|ons ofIocaIized rituaI, each couched in the idiom ofunity through
common misfortune. The shamans and shamanins maintain this videst
auity, mainIybecause they are structuraIIy Iocated outside theIocaI and
\| ushipunitsoftheirsociety.
Men andvomenbecomediviner-shamansastheresuItofanexperi-
cncethatEIvincaIIsconversion.ThepersonvhoviIIbecomeadiviner
o|tendreamsaboutaparent'stuteIary vho comesvithayoungtuteIary,
wbomayormaynotbeareIativeoftheIatter,toarrangefortheintended
d|vinertomarrythespirit.At6rstheorsherefusesandbecomesveryiII,
sometimes to the point ofmadness. There exists, in fact, the impIicit

.ssumption that psychic conict in the individuaI prepares him for the
latcr task ofdivininginto the conicts in society. Such psychic conict
|tsclfmaybereIated,asvehavespecuIated,tothesociaIfactofexogamy. _
1hcdiviner-eIectvandersabouttheviIIageandoutintothevoodsdanc-
| ogand singing.Thismaybesaidto representhis disamIiationfromthe
orJcredIifeofviIIagesociety. DreamsandiIInessesofthesesortstypicaIIy
OtCU during adoIescence for diviners-eIect ofboth sexes. When the
J|cted person consentsto marryhistuteIary,herecovershisheaIthand
jo|scand enters onhisvocationas adiviner.HethenreceivesadditionaI
| r. |ningfromaccrediteddiviners,vhoarefrequent|yhiscIosepaternaIor
matcrnaIkin.
ThroughconversionthedivinerachievesasociaIIyrecognizedstatus
I
(
|I8 a sacredoutsidcr.Butthcquestionremains.vasheorsheinanysense,

sOO! or psychobioIogica|, an outsider before convcrsion? Arc shamans

& PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS

andshamaninsrecruitedfromcategoriesofpersonsvhohaveeithersome
inherent de6ciencies or a Iov ascribed sociaI status? ln the 6rst pIace,
many,butbynomeansaII,diviner-shamansand-shamaninspossesssome
physicaI orpsychicaIabnormaIity. For exampIe,EIvinmentionsamaIe
eunuchvhopracticedas ashamaninvithamaIetuteIary. ThistuteIary
hadformerIy been the eunuch'smother'stuteIary husband, according to
thediviner'saccount. Another shamanvas bornvitha great head that
caused his mother much pain." Another vas impotent, for aII his seed
vasinhishead,"ashetoIdEIvin.OneshamaninvasaIeper,anothersaid
that because she had a chiId in the othervorId she did not think she
vouIdhaveonehere,"andyetanotherhadIivednakedfrombirth,doinga
man'svork, evensovingseed," amongtheSaoraatypicaIIymascuIine
task. ButbeforesayingthatabnormaIitiesofthese kindsmarkmen and
vomen out tobe shamans andshamanins, veshouIdIike toknov hov
many abnormaI peopIe did not become diviners. For shamanism is a
phenomenonofcuItureandsociety,notofbodiIyorpsychicabnormaIity,
and sociocuIturaI phenomena are associated vith a pIuraIity of moti-
vations and interests. Thus many apparentIy normaI Saora become
diviners, andit is possibIe thatmany abnormaI Saorado not. Again, it
IooksasthoughsociaIfactorsareinvoIved.
EIvin has said that both maIe and femaIe commoners, as veII as
aristocrats, can become shamans and shamanins. ViIIage priests, on the
other hand, and poIiticaI functionaries are dravn excIusiveIy from the
aristocracy. But he does not teII us vhat is the ratio ofcommoner to
aristocratic shamans. Hevrites (p. 449) that some shamans comefrom
verypoorhomes"andmentions tvoArsiSaora(shamans)inIargeIy]ati
viIIages."Onevondersvhethertherearesigni6cantstructuraIdierences
betveenthe domestic and birina arrangementsofthe tvo sociaI cIasses
andaIsobetveenthethreedierentbranchesoftheHiIISaora.ForEIvin
stresses (p. 52)thatthearistocratsmarrycommonershypergamousIy. He
hasaIsosaidthatpoIygynyisfairIycommon,andve5aveToricedabove
that he mentions a viIIage vhere every married man had at Ieast tvo
vives"(p. 56).Thequestionarises,vheredotheSaoraobtainthevomen
toenabIethemto do this?Byraidingothertribes? CIearIy, no, fottribaI
varfareisforbiddenbytheCentraIGovernment.AIternativeIy,theremay
be avery earIy marriage-agefor girIs (and this is indeedthecase), and a
Iatemarriage-agefor men. ButEIvin states expIicitIy (p. 54) thatSaora
boys commonIy marry at sixteenorseventeen."Thisparadox mightbe
resoIvedifmale aristocrats marriedearIy,andmale commoners Iate.TheviIIage
vith many poIygynists might be a viIIage of]ati aristocrats. But this
situation vouId produce numericaI imbaIance betveen the married and
unmarriedofbothsexesinthedicrentsociaIcIasses.ForexampIc, under
hypcrgamy, somearistocraticvomcnmightnotbeabIcto hndhusbands.
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM
Perhapsitis fromthesevomenthatthe celibatefuneraryshamaninsare
mainIy recruited? lt might aIso mean that there vouId be a shortage of
marriageabIe commoner vomen, vith corresponding maIe competition
forthem. lfinaddition, commonermenmarried fairIy Iate, theremight
veIIbesharptensionsbetveentheoIderandtheyoungermenvhomight
tendtocommitaduIteryviththeoIdermen'svives.
We have no information on these important points. lndeed, EIvin
regards the conversion" ofa shaman or shamanin as a generaI phe-
nomenonofadoIescence, insteadofconsideringdierencesinadoIescent
reactions betveen members ofdierent groups and sections ofSaora
society. HisnotauniversalIyhumanpsychoIogicaIprobIembuttheprob-
Iemofaspeci6csociaIsystem. lhaveaIreadymentionedearIierthatthere
appearstobeaconictbetveenpatrilineaIandmatriIateraIamIiation, and
that a certain proportion ofpatriIineaImembers ofeach birina Iive vith
their mothers' patriIineaI kin. This Iinking-poIiticaI roIe must impose a
strainonthosevhoperformit,andsolsuggestthatasigni6cantpropor-
tionofshamansmayberecruitedfromavuncuIocaIIyresidentyoungmen,
especiaIIyfromthosevhohaveaIreadyaconstitutionaItendencyto psy-
chicabnormaIity.
AII one can safeIy say is that many shamans may berecruited from
groupsandcategoriesofpersonsvhosesociaIpositiondebarsthemfrom
obtaining politicaI or priestIy omce, substantiaI veaIth, or high secuIar
prestige.TeironIypathofupvardmobilitymaybethroughshamanism.
As individuaIs, shamans ofthis sortmay bepsychobioIogicaIIy normaI,
andmayeveninherit their shamanistic status patriIineaIIy. Onthe other
hand, some ofthe shamans vho exhibit aberrant psychic or physicaI
characteristicsmaynotbestructuraIoutsiders,butmaybeIongtoomce-
hoIding cIasses and famiIies. EIvin has introduced a certain amount of
confusionby cIassingundertherubricsofshaman'' andshamanin' the
roIes of diviner and doctor. Doctors are speciaIists vho do not have
tuteIaries,andvhoIearnthemedicinesandpracticesofparticuIarcurative
rituaIs,suchastheDoripur andAjorpur, fromotherexperts.lvouIdguess,
byanaIogyvithAfricanstudies,thatsuchdoctorsvereformerIypatients
themseIves in those rituaIs. Then, vhen they vere successfuIIy treated,
thcybecamedoctor-adeptsinacurativecuIttopropitiatethegodvhohad
aHictedthem. CertainIy, thosevho arebeIievedtohavebeenkiIIedby a
particuIar god are thought by Saora to become" that god themseIves,
citherbybecomngmergedinhim,orbybecomingoneofhisassistantsin
aHictingtheIiving. fcurativecuItsdoinfactexist,thisvouIdmeanthat
cult-ties cut across other forms ofamIiation and provide Iinks betveen
vi|lagesandbirinas.
ThereremainstheprobIemofhovshamanismismaderespectabIe,in
vicv ofthe fact that many ofits exponents vithdrav themseIves to a
qC PART 1 : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
considerabIeextentfromtheobIigationsof ordinarygroupIife.lnthe6rst
pIace,itisanimperativeofSaoracuIturethatthediviner-shamanhastobe
coerced byhistuteIaryinto acceptinghisvocation. He aectsto resist the
forces that prevent him from occupying the sociaI position that vouId
havebeenhisinthenormaIcourseofsociaImaturation.EveryonebeIieves
thatthe divinerhashadIittIeorno choiceinthe matter, thatheisnot a
diviner by free viII but by mysticaI eIection. He c+nnot then be heId
personaIIy responsibIe for seeking an exceptionaI (and indeed often
Iucrative) status at the expense ofmany ofhisnormaI secuIar commit-
ments. ln the second pIace, his fantasies ofsexuaI intercourse vith his
tuteIary areIegitimizedby the beIiefthathe must marry the Iatter. The
vaIue set on marriage in secuIar society is upheId by the cuIturaI ster-
eotypeofspirituaImarriage.ThetuteIaryisnotanincubusorsuccubus, a
demon Iover, but a spouse. Yet the iIIicitnature ofa diviner's sexuaI
strivingsissometimesbetrayedbyhischoiceofaspirit-mate.For,asve
have seen, EIvin mentions severaI cases ofmarriage to the chiId ofa
parent'stuteIary,inothervords,toaspirituaIhaIf-brotherorhaIf- sister.
Other Saora shamans married their spirituaI cross-cousins, aIthough
cross-cousinmarriageisprohibitedinreality.Diviners'fantasiesmaythus
oer a Iegitimate outIet for incestuous vishes. They constitute further
aspects ofthe shamanistic syndrome, that is, compromise-formations
betveensociaInormsandiIIicitvishes.AsociaIfactormayaIsobepres-
enthere. for commonersmayhaveonIyafev avaiIabIematesandthere
maybeahighpoIygynyrateamongeIders. Thissituationmayencourage
sexuaIreIationsbetveenforbiddencategoriesofkininthisgroup.
SeveraI features ofthe behavior ofadiviner-eIect during theperiod
before conversion areconsistentviththevievthat a diviner-shamanis
outsideandinasenseopposed to thestructuraIarrangements ofthe sociaI
order.ltissigni6cant, lthink, thatconversionoccursonthethreshoIdof
aduIt life. lhavefoundno evidenceinEIvin'sbookthatthe Saorahave
Iife-crisisrituaI, initiatingjuniors into aduIt tribaI status. RatheritvouId
seem that most Saora graduaIIy attain sociaI maturity, and that men
achievesociaIand economic independenceratherIateinlife~oftenafter
their fathers have died. But for the diviner-shaman there is an abrupt
breakbetveenhischiIdhoodandhisaduItIifeasarituaIpractitioner.His
conversionandspirituaImarriageis aIife-crisisthatsetshimoutsidee
normaI Iife-cycIe. During the Iimited period betveen chiIdhood and
divinerhood, he is cuIturaIIy conditioned to behave as though he vere
mad.Nov, madnessinmanysocietiesseemstosymboIizethenegationof
aIIorder. lnmorethanone African society, for exampIe, theNyakyusa,
eitherthesimuIationofmadnessasrituaIbehavior, ormadnessasasanc-
tionagainstbreach ofrituaItaboos, is a feature ofseveraIkindsofIifc-
crisis rituaI, especiaIIy offunerary ritua| (W|son, M. 1957:46 -54) .
SAORA RITUAL AND SHAMANISM qI
FuneraryrituaIconstitutes apassagefromonesetoforderedreIationsto
another.DuringtheinterimperiodtheoIdorderhasnotyetbeenobIiter-
atedandthenev orderhasnotyetcomeintobeing.Teeectis anaIo-
gous to the attempttophotographtvo successive famiIy groups on the
same negative. Many events ofa typicaI funerary rituaI are concerned
viththecarefuIdisengagementof pastfrompresent,andviththesystem-
atic reordering ofsociaI reIations, so that the dead person is converted
fromadangerous ghostintoaheIpfuIancestor,vhiIethereIationshipsof
the Iiving arereorientated soas to take account ofthe changes instatus
andmutuaIpositioningbroughtaboutbydeath.Madnessinsuchasitua-
tionmayrepresentthebreakdovnofaformerorderortheconfusionof
tvo orders. SimiIarIy, the disordered, disorientated behavior ofthe
shaman-eIectistheappropriate accompaniment ofhistransferencefrom
an ascribed position in a IocaI subsystem ofsociaI reIations to a nev
positionvhereheviIIperformaroIeconcernedviththemaintenanceof
SaoratribaIvaIues transcendingthoseofhousehoId, birina, quarter, and
viIIage.
lt must, hovever, bestated that not aII diviners compIeteIy separate
themseIvesfromsecuIarIife. Somemarry andhavechiIdrenbyearthIyas
weIIasspirituaIspouses.EIvincIaimsthatthereisIessconictbetveena
person's roIe as diviner and as ordinary citizen than might have been
cxpected,yethegivesexampIesofsharpconict.Oneman,vhosemother
hadbeen ashamanin, treatedhisshamaninvifevithgreatbrutaIity (pp.
I69-70) andfeIt apassionatejeaIousyandsuspicionofhis vifevhen-
cver she vent anyvhere to fuIm her duties as a shamanin. Another (p.
I 68) feIt greatIy cut ofrom his vife's inner Iife. There vas aIvays
something going on, shehadarange ofinterestsinto vhichhecouId not
cnter. ShehadababyfromhertuteIaryandaIotofherheartvasvrapped
upintheboyvhomshesavonIyindreams,butvhovasasreaItoheras
anyhumanchiId.OnceshevanderedoutintothejungIeandstayedthere
threedays,IivingentireIyonpaImvine. She saidthatshehadbeenvith
bcr tuteIary and had enjoyed the experience. No vonder, comments
|lvin,thatsomehusbandsregardtheirshamaninvivesvithsuspicion.
TheearthIyvifeofashamanvasaskedbyherhusband'stuteIary, speak-
|ugthrough hismouth, TeII me, viIIyouhonourme orno, or are you
oingto quarreIvith me? (p. 37).Thesecasesindicate, tomy mind at
any rate, theexistenceofconictintheroIe ofashamanorshamaninvho
snotaceIibate.
To sumup both the sectiononshamanismandthe essay as avhoIe.
S| mmeI'spointthateveninitsautonomy, reIigiousIifecontainseIements
that atenotspeci6ca|Iy reIigious, butsociaI vouId appearto havesome
usthcation n the case of Saora shamanism. Conversion and spirituaI
m.ttiagearcbcttcrundcrstoodnotasrcIigiousphcnomenasui generis, but
42 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
inreIationto SaorasociaIstructureandtothe sociaImaturauonofindi-
viduaIsoccupying ascribed positions inthat structure. U is aIso possibIe
that investigators trained in psychoIogy and psychoanaIysis vouId have
been abIe to throv further Iight on thoseeIements ofSaora shamanism
that appear to be independent of anything sociaI." OnIy after the
socioIogicaIandpsychoIogicaIfactorsinuencingreIigiousbehaviorhave
beencIoseIyexamined, is itjusti6abIetospeak, asEIvindoes, foIIoving
RudoIphOtto,ofanuminouseIementinreIigion,oftherecognitionof
somethingentireIydierentfromourseIves.FinaIIy, lvouIdsuggestthat
menotion that the abnormaI personand/orthe structuraI outsider is in
SaorasocietyaIIocatedtheroIeofrepresentingandmaintainingthetran-
scendentaI,unifyingvaIuesofthevidestsociaIsystem,mightbefruitfuIIy
tested outinother ranges ofdata. ltmightheIp to expIain, for exampIe,
some ofthe phenomena ofmysticism, asceticism, conversion, and hoIy
mendicancyinthehigherreIigions.
2
Rta Aspects of
Conict Control m
Mrican Mcropolitcs
. .
1xtendedcasehistoriesofdisputes
Il1 AfncanviIIages,

eighborhoods,andchiefdomsreveaIthateachdispute
tc

ds to have a hfe cycIe vith distinct phases (see MitcheII 955,

MrddIeton960,andTurner957) .SincereIationshipsinthesesmaIIface-
to-facecommunitiestendtobemuItipIex,vithtotaIpersonalityinvoIve-
mcnt i

ac

ivities ofaIIt

pes, vhether these maybe de6ned asprimariIy

|omest

c,

raI, econonuc, poIiticaI, or reIigious, the consequences of

mteractmnH one type tend to aectthe premises ofinteraction in the
unnediateI succeeding activities of a

other (see GIuckman 955a.

| 20). This tendency canbestbe descnbed, and Iater anaIyzed, ifve
adopt DorothyEmmet'sviev, the resuIt ofa cogent butcompIex argu-
mcntinierbookFunction, Purose an Powers (958.293),thatasocietyisa
pr()cess wi
.
thsomesyst
.
ematiccharacteristics,ratherthanacIoseIyintegrated
systcm,hkeanorgamsmoramachine.
A dispute, then, has a Iife cycIe that is systematized by routines,
procedures, and symboIs that estabIish the character ofits successive
ltrjlrintcd with permission of Aldine Publishing Co., Chicago, from Political Anthropolo
Ptllttd by Marc]. Swartz, Copyright 1 966.
'
+3
qq PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
phasesorsituations"asprimariIypoIiticaI,"rituaI," economic,'andso
on. Some ofthese situations may be prescribed and predeternuned by
custom,forexampIe,reIigiousperformancesthatoccur at6xedpointsin
the annuaI cycIe, or reguIarIy reformed initiations into age-sets. Other
situationshave aconungent, adhoccharacter, sometimes deveIopingout
ofthe disputeitseIf sometimes tepresenting aresponse or adustmentto
eventsoriginatingoutsidethecommunity.
A dispute runs its course through a series ofsituations ofdierent
types,buttvokindsofsequencesareinvoIved.The6rstispureIychrono-
IogicaI. situations, ofvhatevertype, aretemporaIIyuxtaposed.Thesec-
ondistypoIogicaI.situationsofthesametypefoIIovoneanother,butata
remove.BetveenonepoliticaIsituationandthenextanumberofdierent
types ofsituationsisinterposed.perhapsaceremony, perhapsacoIIective
hunt, perhaps a 6esta. ChronoIogicaI sequences are continuous, typo-
IogicaI sequences are discontinuous, at Ieast this is the case in on-going
interactions,regardIessoftheirquaIities.
ButthereisanothersenseinvhichchronoIogicaIsequences aredis-
continuousandtypoIogicaIsequencesarecontinuous,forcertainkindsof
issuesarethoughttobeappropriateIy con6nedtocertaintypesofsitua-
tions. ltisvideIyheId, for exampIe, that inIegaI andpoIiticaIsituations
conicts ofinterest, opinion, and purpose may beventiIated, discussed,
underscored,orresoIved. Ontheotherhand,manykindsofrituaIsitua-
tionsareconcernedvithsociaIunityandsoIidarity, andviththesuppres-
sion ofovert expression of disputatious actions and sentiments. Thus,
vhen a rituaI situation immediateIy succeeds a poIiticaI situation, the
contentiousissuesraisedintheformer are kept inabeyanceinthe Iatter,
but, at a Iater phase in the sociaI process, the dispute may again attain
pubIicstatusinanevpoIiticaIsituation.
ThepointIvishtomakehereisthatthe interveningsituationsviII
haveIefttheirimprintonthesubsequentpatternsofbehavior.Thesecond
poIiticaI situation viIIhave been inuenced by therituaI and economic
situations thatseparateit fromthe 6rst, because one andthesame set of
personsmoves,ineverchangingpatternsofreIations,throughaIIofthem.
For exampIe, adisputebetveen tvo viIIage factionsmay threaten,inthe
6rstpoIiticaIsituation, tobecome vioIent. At thatpointthe obIigation of
aIImemberstoparticipateinancestorvorshiporinaIife-crisisceremony
maysupervene, andtheirenoinedcooperationinrituaImaythenhavea
curbingeectontheirpoIiticaIrivaIry,sothat~vhennexttheirroIesare
poIiticaIIy de6ned~their dierences may be composed peacefuIIy and
rationaIIyinsteadofdisruptingcommunityIife. Ontheotherhand,poIiti-
caIrivaIriesmaycarryoverintorituaI situations andmarkedIyacctthcir
bchavioraIpattcrns.
CONFLICT CONTROL IN AFRICA q]
ltmustnotbethought thatacommunity' ssociaIlifeisentireIycon-
structed out ofsituations. A sociaI situationis acriticaIpoint orcom-
pIicationinthehistory ofagroup, and most groups aresubdividedinto
partsthatpossessvaryingdegreesofautonomy, and aconsiderabIepro-
portionofanindividuaI' ssociaIparticipationisinthepurposiveactivities
ofthese subgroups, such as the nucIear famiIy, the vard, the Iineage
segment, the age-set, and soon, ratherthaninthoseofthevidergroup,
suchastheviIIageorthechiefdom.
Situ

tionsthatinvoIvegroupsoflargespanandgreatrangeandscope
arereIativeIy fev. Whentheyoccur, hovever, theroIes,interactions, and
behavioraI styIe that constitute them tend to be more formaIized than
thoseofsubgroupbehavior.TegradientofformaIitymayextendfrom
themeredispIayofetiquetteandpropriety, throughceremoniaIaction,to
the fuII-bIovn rituaIization ofbehavior. Even vhen situations deveIop
spotaneousIy, outofquarreIsorceIebrations, theyrapidIyacquireafor-
mahzed orstructuraIcharacter. MostanthropoIogistshaveobservedthat
inhecourseofviIIagequarreIs,thecontendingfactionsdrav apart,con-
sohdatetheirranks, and deveIop spokesmenvho presenttheir cases in
terms ofa rhetoric that is cuIturaIIy standardized. Situations, too, have
rather cIearIy de6ned termini. the investigator can observe vhen they
beginandend.

Thusasocietyisaprocessthatispunctuatedbysituations,butvith
mtervaIs betveen them. Much behavior that is intersituationaI from the
perspective of the videst eective group may, hovever, be situationaI
|romtheperspectiveofitssubgroups.ThusanucIearfamiIymayhaveits
ovnsituationaIseries,itsfamiIycounciIs,itsactsofvorshipdevotedtoits

Lares atqueenates,''its

areningbees,and soon, andthesemayhave

rttIe to do
"
ith

the functiomng ofthe totaI community. Yet, especiaIIy

i rregard t
'
it

sdisutes,th

famiIymaynotbe abIe to controI divergen-

crcs from its mbut behavioraI norms byits traditionaI machinery and
thcse become a matter for the community. Tey may then precipitate
community-videsociaIsituations.
Doing 6eIdvork among the Ndembu ofZambia, l coIIected a fair
.

mountofdataintheformofextendedcasehistories,andthusvasabIeto
| ollovthevicissitudesofasociaIgroupovertime.lnseveraIpublicationsl
have, inapreIiminaryvay,indicatedhovlthink suchdiachronicstudies
-houId bemadein thecontext ofviIIageorganization,butherel vouId
. -to re

ount a series ofsituations l observed, over a short period of

I UHC, thatmvolvcdthcsociaIgrouplhavecaIIedavicinage."
AnNdembu vicinageisaclusterofviIlagesvith matriIineaI cores,it
4
6 PART . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
has a changeabIe territoriaI span, andis uid and unstabIe inits sociaI
composition. lt has no recognized internaI organization that endures
beyondthechangesintheidentityofitsviIIagesmakingitup,butitisnot
justaneighborhoodaround,viIIage.ThevicinagebecomesvisibIeasa
discrete sociaIentityincertaintypesofsituations, andaparticuIarhead-
manvithinitusuaIIyexercisesmoraIandrituaIIeadership.
ViIIagesinavicinagedonotmove asacompactbIoc, eachmovesin
its ovn time and to its ovn chosen site~either vithin the same, or to
another, vicinage. The frequency vith vhich Ndembu viIIages change
theirsites~asaresuItofshifting cuItivation, ofquarreIsvithneighbors,
or in search ofeconomic advantage~means that the composition of
vicinagesis constantIy changing.nevviIIagesmove infromother areas
and oId viIIages move out. lt aIso means that each vicinage is
socioIogicaIIyheterogeneous,fevofitscomponentviIIageshavemutuaI
tiesofmatriIineaIdescent,orevenoriginateinthesamechiefdom.
What, then, arethetypes ofsituationsinvhichthevicinageemerges
as a signi6cant sociaI group?Thesesituations are dominantIy rituaI, but
theyhavepoIiticaIimpIications.
Thevicinagelvanttoconsiderherecontainedin 953eIevenviIIages
vithinanareaoftveIvesquaremiIes.NyaIuhanaViIIagevasfoundedby
thesisteroftheseniorchiefabout880.Wukeng'iViIIagespIitavayfrom
NyaIuhana(afevyearsbeforemy investigation)andbuiItanevviIIagea
quarter ofamiIeavay. OnemiIefromNyaIuhanavasWadyang'amafu,
vhich came inthe nineteenth century from another Lunda chiefdomin
the Congo. TvomiIesfromNyaIuhanavasKafumbuViIIage, inhabited
by the autochthonousKaviku peopIevho inhabited the areabefore the
Ndembu arrived (more than tvo centuries ago), Kafumbu broke avay
fromaIargerKavikuviIIageinanothervicinagetventy-6veyearsearIier.
A miIe and haIfon the other side ofNyaIuhana vas Sampasa, vhich
arrivedfromanotherNdembuchiefs area6yyearsearIier, itsheadman
vasreIatedtomatchief(thesenior chiefsinstitutionaIizedsuccessor)and
ofthesamematriIineaIdynasty.
FourmiIesfromNyaIuhana,inyetanotherdirection, vasMachamba,
vhose headman vas descended froma son ofthe 6rst Ndembu senior
chief and vho considered himseIfthe ovner ofthe Iand (though the
BritishauthoritieshadaboIishedhis chieftainship vhiIeretainingitstitIe,
MviniIunga, asthenameoftheir administrativedistrict).NearKafumbu,
the autochthonous viIIage, vere Saviyembi and Mukoma, vhich came
thirty-6ve years before from an Ndembu chiefs area in AngoIa, the
matriIineaIcoreofMukomaconsistedofdescendantsoftheformersIaves
ofSaviyembi. Near them vas NyampasaViIIage, founded by avoman
vho spIitavayfromtheviIIage ofthe senior headmanofaIItheKaviku
autochthonesinyetanothervicinagc.
CONFLICT CONTROL IN AFRICA 4)
ln addition to these viIIages vere three smaII, modern, residentiaI
units~caIIed farms by the Ndembu~that vere based on the nucIear
famiIy and vere not recognized by the British administration as tax-
registered viIIages. Wukeng'i farm, originaIIy from NyaIuhana but
Iocated nearWadyang'amafu, and SaIad Farm andToveI Farm vithina
shortdistanceofMachamba.
'
Teseries

ofsiuauo

slvanttodescribeembracedthemembership
ofaIItheseresidentiaIurutsandvasconcernedviththe decisiontohoId
and the

successive stages of a boys' circumcision ceremony (

--+,.
ThesentesareheIdapproximateIyeverytenyears,boysbetveensixand
sixteenyearsarecircumcised,andthesociaIgroupfromvhichinitiandsis
dravn isthevicinage (vith a fev exceptions thatneed not concernus
here). The ceremony is compIex in character, rich in symboIism, Iasts
thro

ghoutmuchofthedryseason(fromMaytoAugustorSeptember),
andmvoIvesseveraIofthevicinage'sseniormenasomciants.
To act as an omciant is anindex ofstatus. Theprocess ofseIecting
rituaIomciantsis,inthesenseempIoyedbysuchschoIarsasLevy(952),
Easton(959),andFaIIers(965),poIiticaI,foritisconcernedvithmak-
i

g and carrying out decisions regarding pubIic poIicy, by . . . institu-

tionaImeans.ThepubIicrecognition ofstatusthusacquiredhas mrther
poIiicaimpications in that these omciants may Iater be caIIed by the
tcrntonaIchief~vhose areais a muItipIeofvicinages~to act as coun-
seIorsandassessorsinhiscourt
TefourmajorrituaIfunctionariesare:()thesponsor,"theheadman
oftheviIIage nearvhichthe camp ofinitiands'parents and cIosekin is
buiIt, (2) tiesetter-upofcircumcision, themaIememberoftheviIIage
acontnbutes most sons (and otherjunior maIekin) to the group of
i i

tttands, (3) the senior circumciser, theIeaderofa group ofcircum-

crsers,vhoundertakesthetaskofcircumcisingtheseniorinitiand(usuaIIy
t|coIdestsonofthe setter-up ofcircumcision'), (4) the Iodgeinstruc-
tor, vho is responsibIe for the teaching and discipIine ofthe initiands
Juring the Iong period ofbush secIusion in a rituaI Iodge. (Tere are
scvcraI

importantrituaIroIes,butthesefourarethemorobjectsof
competitivetmportance.)
ln the vicinage l am speaking about, the decision to hoId
--+
hcganvithadecisionofthepeopIeofMachamba, SaIadFarm andToveI
| 'arm o
.
caII a

ting ofaII the viIIages to discuss the desirabiIity of

committmgthevicmagetothisexactingtask. lntheirprivate counciIthey
j|anned thatthe headman ofMachambashouIdbesponsor thatthehead
o|SaIadFarmshouIdbethe setter-up, andthat theheadmnofSampasa
saouldbe theseniorcircumciser Theircase vas to rest onthefact that
M.tchamba vas traditionaIIy "ovner ofthe Iand, that the sister'ssonof
HcaJman Sa|ad had four uncircumcised sons to bc initiatcd, and that
q8 PART . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Sampasa vas the most emcient circumciser in the vic

in

ge.

t the
vicinagecounciI,hovever,NyaIuhanastrongIyopposedtis sIate vhen
its composition vas hinted at, fear ofNyaIuhana'sprestige and sorcery
restrainedtheMachambabIocfromadvancingitopenIy.
NyaIuhana's prestige vas the product of severaI

fact

rs. First,
.
the
headmanvas acIose reIative ofthe senior chiefandhved mthat chiefs
reaIm. He vas, moreover, in theIine ofdirectmatriIineaI descentfrom
severaI former senior chiefs,one ofvhomfoundedhisviIIage. Hevas a
counciIIorinthe seniorchiefs courtandcouIdberegardedashisrepre-
sentative in the vicinage, aIthough he had no institutionaIized poIiticaI
authority over its members. Second, he haaIready

acted as sponsor of
tvo previous mukanda ceremonies in theviIIage. Third, he had actedas
seniorcircumciser, asveIIassponsor,intheseandinotherperformances
ofmukanda invariousNdembuvicinages.
With such a formidabIe area ofquaIi6cations for seniorrituaIroIes,
vhy vas it that Machamba and his coterie ventured to aspre t

usur

NyaIuhana's position?These young Turks" had severaI pomts m then

favor. lhavesaidthatvherereIationshipsaremuItipIextheconsequences
ofonesetofinteractionsinuencethepremisesofthenext,andtherehad
beenmany signsthatNyaIuhana'sprestigevasindecIine.Wukeng'i,or
exampIe, had spIit avay from his viIIage, taking more than haIf ofits
originaI popuIation vith him. Gossip about NyaIuha

's sorcery had

heIpedtoprecipitatethisschism,NyaIuhanahadbeenngidIyopposedto
modernchanges ofaII types, and vas regardedas amasterotr

ditionaI
expertise, incIuding maIevoIent magic. He had, moreover, msisted

n
beingpaidthedcferenceduetoachieflnshort,herepresentedtheanren

.
Many others in the vicinage no Ionger adhered to its norms and
vaIues, and some of them~incIuding Machamba, SaIad, ToveI, and
Wukeng'i~hadvorkedasIabormigrantsinthetovnsofthehenNorth-
ern Rhodesian copperbeIt. Wukeng'ihad Ieft NyaIuhana's viIIage partI
/
toemancipatehimseIffromtheIatter'straditionaIism,andothrssavthi

successfuIbreakavayasasignthattheoIdmanhadbecomea has-been.
Furthermore theMachambacIusterhadaIvaysresentedthedepositionof
theirheadm.nfromthepositionofgovernmentchief"hoIdingthathe
vasthe6rstNdembuchieftobesoinstaIIed andthathisfaIIvasdueto
the machinations ofthe senior chief and his cIose matrikin, incIuding
NyaIuhana.
.

. .
_
Thus a mixture ofmodern and traditionaI considerations impeIIed
themto use the occasion ofmukanda as abid to restructurethevicinage
prestige system AIso, they opposed NyaIuhana'

cIaim to be senior cir-

cumciscronthcgroundsthatoIdagehadmadehrshandsunstcadyandhc
CONFLICT CONTROL IN AFRICA q
mightharmtheinitiands.Thisvasanotheraspectoftheattitudethathe
vasoverthehiII."
ln situation (sponsorship), vhich had a poIiticaI character,
NyaIuhana ma

aged toobtain the support ofWukeng'i vith the argu-

men

hat the ntes shouId be sponsored by seniormembers ofthe royaI

atnIineage and by proposing that Wukeng'i shouId be the setter-up,

smcehehadthreesonsreadytobeinitiated.TheviIIagecIeavagebetveen
NyaIuhanaandWukeng'ivasthusputinabeyancebytheneedtounite
againsttheMachambafaction.
The vilIages ofNyaIuhana, Wukeng'i, Wadyang'amafu, Kafumbu,
and Nyampasa, moreover, constituted a connubium vith a reIativeIy
dense netvork ofamnaI interconnections. NyaIuhana and Wukeng'i,
betveen the managed to secure the support oftheheads ofWad-
yang'amafu,Kafumbu,andNyampasa.ltvasthereforedecidedthatNy-
aIuhanashouIdsponsortherites,andWukeng'ishouIdbethesetter-up.
DuringtheintervaIbetveenthis meeting andthe dayappointedfor
the beginning ofthe rites, the Machamba faction began a series of
intrigues to bar NyaIuhana from acting as a circumciser. They spread
muchgossiptotheecctthatnotonyvasNyaIuhanatoooIdto operate
properIybutthathevouIdusehisrituaIpoverandmedicinestobevitch
theboys.
.
On the

penin

day of

the rites, after many intervening events (in

whichbothsides tnedtoenstmysuppor

tasaninuentiaIstranger),the
roIe ofsenior circumciser vas stiII un6IIed. The Machamba faction stiII
supported Sampasa, and it imported another autochthonous headman
|ro

then

xtvicnage,vithvhoseviIIagetheyvere|inkedbymarriage,
tocircumcisebesideSampasa.lnaddition,theyhadpIayedsohardonthe
|cars ofWukeng'i for the safety ofhis three sons, the eIdest ofvhom
wouIdbecircumcisedbyNyaIuhana, thathesecretIysupportedSampasa
againsthismother'sbrother.
The afternoon and night before circumcision (vhich occurs some
|ours after davn) constitute an important rituaI situation for Ndembu.
Thecircumcisers setupashrineanddispIaytheirIodgemedicinebaskets
tbc initi

nds' p

ents' camp is ceremoniaIIy erected, and a night-lon

dacewithtr

dttio

aIsongsanddrumrhythmsisheId. TraditionaIsym-
l

ohsmsan+ntes,withtheobservanceoftraditionaIfoodandsexprohibi-
|+ons,donunatethescene,foratime,theoIdLundacuItureisparamount.
ln thissituationaIcontext(situation2),headmanNyaIuhanamadean
| mpassioned speech in vhich he stressed the danger to the initiands of
uysticaI povers that might become active if peopIe vere to cherish
grcdges in thcir hearts againstone another, iftaboos verebroken, and
c-pccia||y if openquarreIing vereto breakout. He emphasized thatthe
]C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
rituaIoEciantsmustcooperatevithoneanotherifourchiIdren'vereto
passsafeIythroughthemysticaIdangersofmukanda.
lheardmuchgrumbIing againstNya|uhanaaroundthebeerpotsof
theMachamba facuonduringthenight, and expressions offears ofhis
sorcery ifthey shouId oendhim, it seemed he vas getting the upper
hand. Tedramaticmomentcame nextmorning (situation3), vhenthe
boysvereritua|IysnatchedbyaIodgeomciantfromtheirmothers,taken
beneathasymbolicgatevayoutofthedomesticreaImoftheirchiIdhood,
andbornecryingtothesecretsiteofcircumcisioninthebush.
LittersofIeaveshadbeenpreparedfortheboys,eachIitterattendedby
acircumciserandtvoassistants.Teseniorinitiandvasbornetothesite,
andquickasthought,NyaIuhanarushedtothemudyi tree beneathvhich
this initiand vas to be circumcised, inaugurating the rite. Hebeckoned
vith his hand and croaked. Kud'ai (Take him to me''). (ActuaIIy his
vork vas neat and eective, and the boys he operated on aIIrecovered
veIl)
ThisterminatedthesituationinNyaIuhana' sfavor. SocioIogicaIIy,he
had succeeded in reasserting his status, and not onIy his status but the
Ndembuvay ofIife,infaceofthe oppositionofthe modernists. He
hadaIsovindicatedthecIaimoftheroyaImatrilineagetomoraIauthority
overthevicinage.ThefactthatnoonechaIIengedhiscIaimtoactassenior
circumciserindicatedthattraditionaINdembuvaIues,atIeastinthistype
ofsituation, vere coI|ecuve representations that stil had considerabIe
povertocompeIassent. Furthermore, onythree circumcisers operated:
NyaIuhana, Sampasa, and yet another member ofthe senior chief's
matriIineage,vhoresidedinanotherchiefdom.TedefeatofMachamba
factionvascompIete.
OnIy a brief anaIysis is needed to put this case in its theoreticaI
perspective.TedisputebetveenNyaIuhanaandMachambamaybestbe
understood not in terms of synchronic structure but in terms ofthe
dynamicpropertiesofthevicinagesociaI6eIdandin terms ofthesitua-
tiona|series.
Whenthesituationvasde6t:edpoIiticaIIy, itseemedthatMachamba's
factionmightsucceedinatIeastnominatingtheseniorcircumciser, since
theyverenumerica|Iysuperiorandbetter organizedandcouIdappealto
thoseeIementsmostsensitivetomodern changes. Butvhenthesituation
vas de6ned rituaIIy, and vhen severaI rituaI situations foIIoved one
another immediateIy, traditionaI vaIues became paramount, and
NyaIuhana pIayed on the reIative conservatism ofNdembu tomaintain
andevenenhanceastatusdathadpoIiticaIimpIications.
The outcomc ofthis particuIar dispute process vas a|so anindex of
the degreetovhichNdembuvere sti|| committedto pre-European vaI-
CONFLICT CONTROL IN AFRICA ]I

es.Tisconse

vativebiasvasvith theNdembu, for, atIeastuntiI 964,

in CentraI Afncan nationaI po|itics, most of the Ndembu supported
Nkumbu|a's African NationaI Congress rather than the more radicaI
LniedNationa| lndependenceParty ofKaunda, andtheyvere staunch
partisans ofme poIicies oftheir feIIov Lunda, Moise Tshombe in the
Congo.
Fi

naIIy,
^
e may venu

e, as a e

ntative proposition, thatifa person

occupi

sp

hticaI and re|igiouspositionsofsomeimportance, hispolitical

pover1b remforcedatthosepointsintheseasonaIcycIe orgroup' sdeveI-
opmentaIcycIevhenhisritual omcegiveshimenhancedauthority.

Muana, Boys' Circumcision

Te Poltcs of d
Non-Poltca Rta
henl cametoexaminethedata
lhadcoIIectedonasingIeperformanceoftheMukana, orboys'circumci-
sionritesoftheNdembuofZambia, l foundmyseIfinaquandaryabout
the most fruitfuI mode ofpresentation. For the mode ofpresentation
dependsonthemodeofanaIysis.lhadbroughtintothe6eIdvithmetvo
distincttheoreticaIorientations,andthesedeterminedthekinds ofdatal
coIIected, and to some extent predetermined the sorts ofanaIysis l
expectedtomake.Ontheonehand,foIIovinginthetraditionofRhodes-
livingstonelnstituteresearch,lcoIIectedthekindofdatathatvouIdhave
cnabIed me to anaIyze the structure ofthe sociaI system in vhich
Mukanda occurred. l recorded geneaIogies, made hut diagrams, dis-
coveredpoliticaI ties andcIeavagesbetveen groups and subgroups, and
noted the sociaI characteristics ofthe rituaI participants. On the other
band, lrecordedrituaIdetaiIs,theirinterpretationbyexperts andIaymen,
and thoseitems ofsecuIar behavior directIy reIated to the servicing and
maintenanceoftherituaIcompIex.
Hcprintcd with permission of Aldine Publishing Co., Chicago, from Local-Level Politics: Social
|t|tCtlltural PmpcctlviJ, edited by MarcJ. Swartz, Copyright 1968.
J3
]q PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Frm the 6rst setofdata, l vas abIe to abstract a system ofsociaI
reIationshipsamongtheparticipants, andtoreIatethis speci6csystemto
vhat l aIready knev about the generaI principIes underIying Ndembu
sociaI structure. From the second set of data, l vas abIe to exhibit
MukandaasasystemofcustomsgovernedbythesameprincipIesthatl
hadaIreadyisoIatedintheanaIysisofmanykindsofNdemburituaI.lvas
then Ieft vith tvo virtuaIIy autonomous spheres ofstudy, one ofthe
sociaI,theotherofthecuIturaIstructureofMukanda.
Andyet,duringtheperiodofMukanda,lhadfeItkeenIythatmostof
the events l had observed, not onIy at sacred sites and during sacred
phases but aIso at other pIaces and times in the sociogeographicaI area
primariIy concerned vith its performance, vere signi6cantIy intercon-
nected vith one another. Such events exhibited a dynamic interdepen-
dence, andlfeItthatitvasincumbentuponmetoexposethegroundsof
this interdependence. A simiIe that occurredto me Iikened thecuIturaI
structureofMukandatoamusicaIscore, anditsperfotmerstoanorches-
tra.lvantedto6ndsomevayofexpressingand anaIyzingthe dynamic
interdependence ofscore and orchestra manifestedinthe uniqueperfor-
mance. Furthermore, l vanted to 6nd a theoreticaI framevork vhich
vouIdenabIemetounderstandvhyitvasthatcertainpersons andsec-
tionsoftheorchestravereobviousIyoutofsympathyviththeconduc-
tororvithoneanother,thoughaIIvereobviousIyskiIIedmusicians, and
veII rehearsed in the detaiIs ofthe score. Neither the properties ofthe
orchestra qua sociaIgroup, northepropertiesofthe score,takeninisoIa-
tion from one another, seemed abIe to account fuIIy for the observed
behavior,thehesitanciesincertainpassages,theIapsesinrapportbetveen
conductorandstrings,ortheexchangedgrimacesandsympatheticsmiIes
betveenperformers. SimiIarIy,itbecamecIeartomethattheeventsboth
inandoutofarituaIcontextthatlobservedatMukandavereinuenced
by the structure ofa 6eId vhich incIuded both rituaI and sociaI
components.
When l 6rstread ,Kurt Levin's Field Teor in Social Scieme (1951), l
reaIizedthatanimportantadvancehadbeenmadeintheanaIysisofsociaI
Iife.LevinfounditpossibIetoIinkinade6nitemanner,bymeansofhis
eId theoreticaI approach, a variety offacts ofindividuaI and sociaI
psychoIogy,vhich,fromacIassi6catorypointofviev, seemtohaveIittIe
in common. He vas abIe to do so by regarding the barrier betveen
individuaI and environment as inde6nite and unstabIe. His approach
requirestheconsiderationofanorganism-environment6eId
`
hosep

op-
erties are studied as 6eId properties, and not as the properties ofeither
organismorenvironment,takenseparateIy.Theovofeventsvithinthe
6eId aIvays is directedto somecxtentbythcreIationsbctveenthe outer
andinncrstructurcs.
MKA, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION ]]
AccordingtoLevin, abasictooIforthe anaIysisofgoup Iifeisthe
representationofthegroupanditssettingasa'sociaI6eId.'Anyeventor
happeninginthis6eIdhevievsasoccurringin,andbeingtheresuItofa
totaIityofcoexistingsociaIentities,suchasgroups,sub-groups,members,
barriers, channeIs ofcommunication, etc. This totaIity has structure,
vhichheregardsasthereIativepositionoftheentities,vhicharepartsof
the6eId.
.
lreaIizedafterreadingLevinthatthebehaviorlhadbeenobserving
durmgMukandabecame,toaIargeextent,inteIIigibIeifitvasregardedas
occurringinasociaI6eIdmadeup,ontheonehand,ofthegenericbeIiefs
andpracticesofMukandaand,ontheother,ofitsspeci6csociaIsetting.ln
practicethesemajorsetsofdeterminantscouIdnotbecIearIydemarcated
fromoneanother. Sincethepredominantactivityvithinthis6eIdvasthe
performance ofa protracted rituaI it seemed appropriate to caII it the
rituaI 6eId ofMukanda. What, then, vere the major properties and
reIationshipsofthatrituaI6eId?
First, thespatiaIIimits oftherituaI6eIdhadtobe considered. These
vereuid,varyingfromsituationtosituation,butcorespondingapprox-
imateIytotheboundariesofavicinage,vhichlhavede6nedeIsevhereas
adiscretecIusterofviIIages.AIItheboystobecircumcisedcamefromthe
vicinage, andthemajorityoftheof6ciants.AtthegreatpubIicceremonies
that preceded and terminated Mukanda proper, hovever, peopIe from
severaIvicinages, andevenchiefdoms, attended, andduringonephaseof
the secIusion period, masked dancers from the Iodge visited viIIages in
adjacent vicinages. Teboundary oftherituaI6eIdvastherefore vague
andvariabIe.NevertheIess,formostoftherituaItheeffectiveboundaryof
therituaI6eIdtendedtooverIaptheperimeterofthevicinage.
NovtheNdembuvicinagehascertaingeneraIpropertiesvhichcru-
ciaIIy affect the structure ofthe rituaI 6eId of any performance of
Mukanda.ltconsists, asvehavesaid, ofanumberofviIIages~anything
|rom tvo to over a dozen, separated fromone another by variabIe dis-
tancesof6ftyyardsto acoupIeofmiIes.FevoftheseviIIagesareinter-
linked by matriIineaI ties, that is, by the dominant principIe ofdescent.
MostofthemhaveonIyshorthistoriesofIocaIsettIementandhavecome
|romothervicinagesorchiefdoms.SuchviIIagessoonbecomeinterIinked
by acompIexnetvork ofmarriages, and af6nity assu

esapoIiticaI sig-
uihcance.SincemarriageisviriIocaI,andmostmarriagesoccurvithinthe
vicinage, most viIIages rear as their seminaI chiIdren'' thejunior
matriIineaI membersofthe otherviIIages. l mentionthisbecauseitisan
|mportant feature ofMukanda that fathers protect and tend their sons
duringcircumcisionand secIusion. The father-sonIinkvhichis cruciaI
f(>r thcintegrationofthevicinageisaIsostressedintherituaIcustom.
As I have shovn in Schism and Continuity in an Afican Society (1957),
j PART . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
vicinagesareunstabIegroupings,forviIIagesfrequentIy spIitthroughtime
and vander overIand. The spIit-off section or migrant viIIage often
changes its vicinage af6Iiation. These characteristics ofthe vicinage, its
instabiIity andtransience, render impossibIe poIiticaI controI by any one
headmanovertheothers. NocIearIy dominantcriterion existstovaIidate
suchauthority. AsinothersetsofNdembusociaIreIations,ve6ndrather
the coexistence and situationaI competition ofseveraI principIes vhich
confer prestige but not controI. Thus in each vicinage there are usuaIIy
tvoormoreviIIagesvho cIaimmoraIpreeminenceover the others, each
advancingitscIaimbyvirtueofasingIecriterion.OneviIIage,forexam-
pIe,mightcIaimseniority onthe groundsthatithasresidedforaIonger
time in the territory occupied by the contemporary vicinage than any
otherviIIage. lts cIaimmaybecounteredbyaIater-arrivingviIIagevhose
Iineage core is cIoseIy reIated to the Ndembu senior chiefor to the
government subchiefofthe area (vhichincIudes severaIvicinages). The
conict betveen them is pertinent to the anaIysis ofMukanda, for the
headmansponsoringthisrituaItherebyobtainsgeneraIrecognitioninand
outside his vicinage as its moraI Ieader, ifnot as its poIiticaIhead. Thus,
everyMukandaisprecededbyfactionstruggIesfortherighttosponsorit.
Eachimportantheadman tries to expIoithis ties ofkinship, af6nty, and
friendshipvithmembersofotherviIIagestostrengthenhisfoIIoving.He
may aIso attempt to vinthe favor ofhis IocaI chief vho must ritu

IIy
inaugurateMukanda. OntheoutcomeofthisstruggIedependsthespeci6c
aIIocation ofrituaIroIes, for the most important faII to members ofthe
victor'sfaction.
ln deIimiting the rituaI 6eld, the structure ofthe viIIage and the
pattern ofinterviIIage reIationships have aIso to be considered. ViIIages
arethemajorIocaI subdivisions ofthevicinage, andmustbeconsidered
both in terms oftheir interdependence vith that vider grouping, and
vith regard to their degree of autonomy vithin it. Furthermore, they
mustbeexaminedfromthestandpointbothoftheirinterdependencevith
andindependencefromeachother,thatis,oftheirreIationshipvithstruc-
turaIIyequivaIentgroups.
Membership ofviIIages heIps to shapethecomposition ofthe rituaI
assembIy atMukandaandisanimportantfactorinthe disputesthatarise
inthesecuIarintervaIsbetveen sacredphasesandepisodes. lndeed,yhat
ismoreimportantthanthe generaI characteristics ofviIIage structure in
this kind ofrituaI isthe speci6c content ofintraviIIage and interviIIage
reIationships during the period ofMukanda. This content incIudes the
contemporary interests, ambitions, desires, and goaIs ofthe individuaIs
andgroupingsvhoparticipatein such reIationships. ltaIsoincIudespat-
terns ofinteractioninheritedfromtheimmediate past. personaI grudges,
memories ofsituations ofbIood vcngeance, and corporatc rivaIrics ovcr
NKA, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION ]]
property orover the aIIegiance ofindividuaIs. lnothervords, vhenve
anaIyzethestructureofasociaI6eIdvemustregardascruciaIproperties
oftat 6

Id not
.
onIy spatiaI reIations and the framevork ofpersisting
reIationshipsvhichanthropoIogistscaIIstructuraI,"butaIsothedirected
en

itie

s"

at anygiventimeoperativeinthat6eId, thepurposiveactivities
'
fmdividuaIs

andgroups,inpursuitoftheircontemporaryandIong-term
mterestsandaims.

One asp

ct

ofthe enduring structure ofNdembu society assumes

heigenesig6cance in
.
this kind ofrituaI 6eId. l refer to cateorical
reIationshipsvhichstresshkenessratherthaninterdependenceasthebasis
or

cIassi6caton.Mukandahastheprominentcharacteristicofexpressing
mits symbohsmand roIe-pattern not the unity, excIusiveness, and con-
stancyofcorporate groupsbutrathersuchvidespreadcIasses as men"
" '' Id " hId "
'
"
omen, e ers, c i ren, the married," theunmarried," circum-

isedanduncircumcised,"andsoon.Suchcategoriescutacrossandinter-
I

nktemembersipsofcorporategroups.lnasensetheyrepresent,vhen
ntuahzed,theutut
"
andcontinuity ofthevidestsociety, sincetheytend
torepresentth

utuversaIconstantsanddierentiaeofhumansociety,age,
sex, andsomaticfeatures.Byemphasizingtheseinthe sacred contextofa
great pubIic rituaI, the divisions and oppositions betveen corporate
groups,andbetveenthetotaIsociaIsystem,vievedasacon6gurationof
groups, and aIIor anyofitscomponentgroups, are pIayeddovn'' and
forced out ofthecenterofrituaIattention. Ontheotherhand thecate-
goricaIreIationshipsarerituaIizedinopposedpairs(menandvmen oId
andyo

ng, circumcisedanduncircumcised,etc.),andinthisvayat-ans-
erenceis

adefromstruggIesbetveencorporategroupstothepoIariza-
tion ofsociaI categories. But it must be emphasized that Mukanda is
donatIy

epressiverituaI,notarituaIofrebeIIionoranactingoutof
sociaIIyiIhcitimpuIses.OnthevhoIe,conictisexcIudedfromthestere-
otypedbehaviorexhibitedinrituaI events. Onthe onehand thesevere
physi

aI danger to the novices and, onthe other, the dangr of6ghts

breakmgoutbetveencorporategroupingsinthesecuIarintersticesofthe
t|t

aI situatio

arepartiaIIycounteredby astrong stress onthe need for

s

ciaIcat

gonestocooperate.HarshpenaItiesareexacteduponthosevho
dtsobey ntuaI omciants, and dreadfuIsupernaturaIsanctions arebeIieved
to punish taboobreaking. By thesemeans the opposition betveen sociaI

ategoriesiscon6nedvithinnarrovIimts,andintherituaIsituationtheir
i i:terdependence,r

therthantheirmutuaIantagonism,isemphasized.
lthoughspeci6ccorporategroupsdonotreceivedirectexpressionin
t|c ntuaIcustoms ofMukanda, certain typicaI kinship reIationships are
v

i vtdIy represented. These are theparent-chiIdreIationships. Oneofthe

nsofMukanda, as ve shaIIsec,is to modify the reIationship betveen
| rrothcr and son, and bctwccn fathcr and son, in the sense that after
j8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Mukandathetelationshipsbetweenoccupantsofthesethteesocialposi-
uons ateguidedby dietent values and ditectedtowatddietentgoals
thanthosewhichptevailedbefotethattitual.Boys,ftombeingunclean'
childten,pattiallyfeminizedby constantcontactwiththeit mothets and
othetwomen,ateconvettedbythemysticaleHcacyoftitualintoputied
membetsofamalemotalcommunity, abletobegintotaketheitpattin
theutal, political, andtitualaaitsofNdembusociety. 1ischangehas
tepetcussionswithintheittelationshipstotheitpatents. These tepetcus-
sionsnotonlyteshapethe sttuctuteoftheelementatyfamily, thatis, the
modes ofintetlinkagebetweensonsandpatents, but alsoteshapeetta-
familial linksofmattilinealdescentandpattilatetalaHliation.Fotaboyis
linkedthtougheachofhispatentstodietentkindsofcotpotategtoups.
thtoughhismothettothemattilinealnucleusofavillage,andthtoughhis
fathetnotonly to anothet village, butalso, by etension, to units ofthe
widetsociety, vicinage, chiefdom, ttibe Mukandasttengthensthewidet
and teduces thenattowetloyalties. Mattiliny istheptinciple govetning
the petsistence ofnattow local units thtough time. lt is a ptinciple of
catdinalimpottanceinNdembusocietyandistitualizedinagteatnumbet
ofcontets. But in Mukanda, emphasis is laid on theunity ofmales,
ittespective oftheit mattilineal intetconnections. The fathet-son tie
assumesspecialptominenceandisalmosttegatdedasteptesentativeofthe
values and notms govetnIng the telationships ofthe widest Ndembu
community. lt is a ligament binding togethet local gtoups into a ttibal
community.1esepatationofmenandwomeninMukandaisnotonlya
titualizedeptession,indeedaneaggetation,ofthephysicalandpsycho-
logicaldietencesbetweenmenandwomen,butitalsouulizestheidiom
ofseualityto teptesentthedietencebetweenopposedmodesofotdet-
ing social telations, which in Ndembu cultute have become associated
withdescentthtoughpatentsofoppositese.Themothet-sonandfathet-
sontelationshipshave, in Mukanda, becomesymbolsofwidetandmote
completelationships.
lhavestatedsomeofthemaotspatialandsttuctutalptopettiesofthe
titualneld ofthe Mukanda lstudied, andindicatedthatthegenetalchat-
actetisticsofNdembusocialsttuctutewetehetecombinedinanidiosyn-
ctaticway, consonantwiththeintetestsandputposesofmembetsofthe
contempotatycommunity.Thepteviousessay(chaptet2) showshow the
actually existing socialtelationships wete specincally alignedinasingle
petfotmance ofMukanda. Now l wouldlIketopoint out thatftom the
standpoint of out analysis these spatial and sttuctutal ptopetties teally
telatetowhatIewinwouldcall apowetneld," tathetthan fotceneld."
Theconcept ofpowet" tefets to a possibility ofinducing fotces" ofa
cettain magnitude on anothet petson ot gtoup. lt does not mean that
Nya|uhana'sgtoupactua||yecttsptessurconMachamba'sgtoup I have
MK/ BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION ]
de

sctibed
.
a powet neld, the boundaties ofwhich wete toughly cotet-
nunouswitan dembuvicinage, containing villages ofvatious sizes,
smeofwchclarmedmotalleadetshipofthevicinagebyvatiousctite-
na, ndwhicweteintetlinkedwithoneanothetbyties ofkinshipand
aHtutyovan

ble

numbetandemcacy lhavediscussedothetgtoupings
and telationships m the sttuctute ofthis powet neld. (See also Tutnet
I97.I5I-279.)
,
Now the decision to petfotm Mukanda convetted this powet neld
tntoafotceneld.(Hete,ofcoutse,lamnotusingthetetmspowetand
fotce aspolitical scientistsnotmallyusethem. Rathettheycottespond
roughly

to
-
potency and 'act.) Iewin dennes fotce as a tendency to
loco

oti

whetelocootiontefetstoatelationofpositions atdiet-
enttimes. Whatdoesthis

eanfotusinanalyzingMukanda?ltmeans,
ontheoneh
.
and,thatt

vanouscomponentgtoupingsputtheitpowet
t

the test, m competitio

fot the leading titual toles. Fotces ate goal-

nect
.
ed,andgoalsdetetmnethesttuctuteofpatticulatfotcenelds.lnthis
sitution, the patticipants in Mukanda, individually ot in sections and
factins, co

peted fotcommon goals, i.e. maot titual toles, inotdet to

obtamptestige.Buttheconceptoffotce neldimpliesmotethanthisat
Mukanda. Mote thantheteleology ofsttugglefotshott-tetmbenentsis
meanthet
. Fotte comle sequence oftitual events whichmakes up
Mukandaisassociatedwithothettanpatticulatisticends. lnanimpot-
tantt

spect, Mukandais a cybetnetic custom-ditected mechanism fot

testotmgastateofdynamicequilibtiumbetweenctucialsttuctutalcom-
pone

tsofategionofNdembusocietywhichhasbeendistutbedbythe
gtowmg up of a latge numbet ofboys. Too many unclean'' (an
bulakutooka) o
)
saehan

ingatound"thewomen'skitchens.Notenough
yothsatesiti

gmthevillagefotum(chota) andpatticipatinginitsadult

oings-on.lttsmthegenetalintetestofmanyvillagestobtingtheseboys
mto the adultfold and thus to cottect the obsttuctions inthe coutse of
teg

lat soiallifebtoughtaboutby theit ptesence. Giventhe beliefthat

mcitcumcisedNdembumalesatebothuncleanandimmatute,thenatutal
|ncteaseofsuchpetsonsmustleadtoanumeticalimbalance andalsoto
an ibalance in social inuence, between men and women. Fotuncit-
cumcisedboysbelongtothewomen'sspheteofactivitiesandtheitattach-
aenttothisspheebecomesgteatetastimepasses.Atanygiventimethe
ocleatc

stellatmn ofsocial telationships in avillageisbetween male

m, atnhneally ot pattilatetally attached to its headman. But tela-
t|onshipsofauthotity-tespectandsupetotdination-subotdinationconcetn
only
,
thectcumcised.lfsttuctutaltelationshipsmaybedennedassocial
tclatronshipsthatategivenahighdegteeofconstancyandconsistencyby
oons sanctionedyotg
nized fotce and/otby mystical agencies, itmay
bc said that on|y crtcumcrsedmcnpatticipatein such telationships. Men
C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
do not notmally otdet about ot chastise uncitcumcised childten.
Ancesttalspititsatenotbelievedtoam ictuncitcumcisedboyswithillness
otmisfottunefottheitownmisdemeanots,sincetheyatenottegatdedas
tesponsible petsons. Childten ate notentitled t

suet. Sucboys may,

howevet,beamictedfotthemisdemeanotsoftheitmothets,smcethey ate
tegatded aspatt ofthe socialpetsonality oftheitmothets. But aftet the
boyshavebeenputinedandtendetedmen'byMukandathe

stobey
theit eldets fulnll the notms govetning each categoty ofkmship tela-
tionship, admay be punished fot disobedience by any male seniot to
them.Tbeycanalsobeamictedbythespititsasindependen

petsonsot

s
teptesentativesofsttuctutedsubgtoupingsofN dembusoci

ty. ltheteis
anundueptepondetanceofuncitcumcisedboys,thetefote,mavillage

ot
inavicinage,thetemaynotbeenoughinitiatedboystopetfotmtouu

e
tasks ofvillagemaintenance, andthetemayeist atendency fo

nc

it-
cumcised boys to become incteasingly less amenable to the disciplme
whetebysttuctutaltelationshipsatemaintained.Ptolongedattachmentto
mothet and to the women

s sphete is symbolized in the fact that the

foteskiniscompated tothe labia majora. Whenthefoteskinistemov

dy
citcumcisiontheeeminacyoftbechildissymbolicallytemovedwithit.
Thephysicalopetationitselfissymbolicofachange

fsocial

tatus.
Thus thete ate two main categoties offotces m the ntual neld of
Mukanda associatedwithtwotypes ofgoals. One typeofgoaliscon-
cetnedw.ththemaintenanceofthettaditionalsttuctuteofNdembusoci-
ety.Themeansemployedisaboundedsequenceoftitualc

sto

sditected
to the cottection ofa deviationaty dtift towatd numencal imbalance
betweensociallytecognizedcategotiesofNdembu.Ndembuthemselves
donot fotmulate the situation at this level ofabsttaction. They say that
theteatemanychildten (atwanst) inthevillageswhohavenotbeencut
(ku-ketula) ot citcumcised (kwalama ot kwadika), and sothe eldets of

the
vicinagefeelthat it would be goodto citcumcise them. Ptessed
.
alittle
futthetNdembuadmitthatitisinconvenientiftheteatemanyuncncum-
cisedboysinavillage,fotcitcumcisedmenmaynoteatfoodcooedona
nte usedfot cooking suchboys

meals not use aplattetonwhichthey

have eaten. Again they will say that the boys in a village get shatply
dividedintocitcumcisedanduncitcumised,andthatthefotmetmockthe
lattet. This division cuts actoss gtoups ofsiblings, and it is felt o be
inapptoptiate that btothets shouldtevile btothets. Utetine bt

thets and
the male childten ofsistets fotmthe ptincipal unit in foundmg a ne
village andinothetcontetsalso theptincipleoftheunityofbtothetsis
sttong|y sttessed. We have seen that oldet btothets ot patallel cousins
ftequently act as guatdians (ayilombwejt) f

t thei
Y
ounget tothets ot
cousinsintheseclusionpetiod following cncumcision. lnthiswaythey
MKA, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION I
ate
.
btought into a close, helpful telationship with theituniot siblings,
whichtosomeetenthelpstoovetcometheiteatlietcleavage.
CustomatybeliefsaboutthefunctionofMukanda,then,givetisetoa
situ

tion o
,
fboth motal and physical discomfott when thete ate many
uncitcumcisedboysinavicinage. ltisthis feeling ofdiscomfott, associ-
atednodoubtwithanietyonthepattoftheitfathetsaboutwhethetthe
boysatebecomingtoo closelyattached to theitmothets, andwithittita-
tion among the men genetally that thete ate so many undisciplined
youngstetsatound,thatsetstheptevailingtoneofvicinagelife.lnsuchan
atmosphetethesuggestionbyatesponsibleadultthatMukandashouldbe
petfotmed is teceived with a cettain amount oftelief although this is
t

mpeted by the knowledge that Mukanda is a diHcult and dangetous

ntual to undettake, and that it involves the patticipation ovet sevetal
months ofalmost evetyone in the vicinage in some capacity ot othet.
Muman beings evetywhete like to feel secute about the functiomng of
cettain dominant social telationships. lfthese wotk smoothly and, soto
spe

k,unottusively,theyatethebettetabletoputsuetheitpetsonaland
sectionalaims.lftheyfeelthatcustomis,onthewhole,beingupheldand
obsetved, they ate bettet ableto ptedict the outcome ofactivities setin
ttaintoachievetheitpatticulatgoals.Theymaywellfeelthatthetotality
ofsocialintetactionsinwhichtheypatticipateinovetlappingtimecycles
hasaftamewotk. Cettainactionsandttansactionsateobligatoty,how-
evetonetoustheymayseemtotheindividualswhopetfotmthem.lfthese
leftundoneotatedoneinadequately,theftamewotkcannolongetbe
tehed upon as a safeguatd and standatd ofgenetal social intetcoutse.
| osecutityandinstabilitytesultwhentheintetactionsthtoughwhichctu-
c|alsttuctutalcustomsatemaintainedandeptessedfailtepeatedlytobe
jetfotmed.NowMukanda,asstatedabove,isamechanismbuiltintothe
system ofcustoms which give a measute offotm and tepetitiveness to
Ndembu social intetactions lt is a mechamsm which tempotatily abol-
| shes

t minimizes ettots and deections ftom notmatively epected

|ehavmt. Such ettots ate not hete to be tegatded as ovett, dtamatic
|teache

ofnotmotchallengestovaluesbuttathetasdtiftawayftoma
stateofidealcomplacencyotequilibtium.Othetkindsofmechanismthan
Vukanda, bothutal and titual, ate indeed availableinNdembu cultute
|it

tetessin
&
bteaches ofnotms. Mukanda, like tituals in many othet
societies which ate connected with thesociobiological matutation of
|oad categoties ofindividuals, is a cottective tathet than a tedtessive
oechanis

, atesponseto cumulative mass ptessutes, andnot to specic

:|r retgencies.
Theothetsetofgoal-ditectedfotcesinthetitualneldofMukandais
coostitutedbythecattyingfotwatdintothatneldofall kinds ofptivate
2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
putsuitsofscatcevaluesftomthepteeisting state ofthevicinagen

ld.
lndividuals and gtoups seeinMukandanot only ameansofcottectmg
andadustingthewidetftamewotkoftheitsocial
,
telatonshipsb

tal

oof
augmentingtheitownptestigeotestablishingtheitclaimt

ttamnghts
insubsequentseculat andtitualsituations.Theyalso

seem

tanoppot-
tuuitytoteducetheptestigeanddamagethefututeclaimsofnval
,
s.

ln dynamic tetms the titual neld ofthe Mukanda l am discussmg

teptesents the ovetlapping oftwo fotce nelds, each otientated towatd
dietentandconttadictotysetsofgoals.lsayconttadictotyfotthesame
petsonswete at one and the same timemotivatedto act fotthe genetal
goodofthevicinageandtocompetewithoneanothetfotscatc

value

.lf
oneweteinapositiontoeamineevetyitemofpublicbehaviotdutmg
thepetiodandinthesiteofMukanda, onewouldundoubtedlyndthat
one class ofactions was guided by the aims and values ofMukanda,
anothetclassbyptivateandsectionalsttivings,whileyetanothettepte-
sented a seties ofcomptomises between these alttuistic and selsh
tendencies. And ifone couldhave access to theptivate opinions ofthe
patticipants, it couldptobablybeinfettedthatideals andselnshmotives
conftontedoneanothetineachpsychebefotealmostevety act. My own
obsetvationsandtecotdsofafew conndentialconvetsationswouldlend
suppotttothispointofview.
. .
lt must be cleatly undetstood that l am not positmg a simple di-
chotomybetweenideals," asembodiedinthecustomsofMukanda, and
selnshotpattisanintetests,"aseptessedincettainkindsofbehaviot.Fot
the ptinciples themselves, consciously tecognized ot implicitly obeyed,
whichgovetnsocialintetactionatenevet, inanysociety, sointettelated
thatthekindofbehavioteachinstigatesfallshatmoniouslyintoplacewith
behaviot accotding toothet ptinciples.Evenwhete each ptinciple con-
ttolsasepatateneldofactivity,nevetthelessactivityneldsateintetcal

ted
by individuals putsuing theitlife-goals. Whetevet aptinciple leaks mto
an, asitwete, alienactivityneld,itmodinesthebehaviotofpetsonswho
putsuetheitaimsinthatneld.ltoftenhappensthatinptacticethei

ttud-
ing ptinciple, highly valued in its otigina a

tivity neld, eetci

ses a
sttonget inuence on behaviot than the ptmciple notmally d

tmna

nt.
Thus theptinciple ofmattiliny, which should govetnonly telationships
atisingftom descent inthecase ofmattied Nembu wo

en, some

imes
ouststheptincipleofvitilocality as adetettmnantofrestdence .
.
lwnte
.
as
thoughlhavepetsoninedptinciples,butthisismetelyaconvetuentdevice
fot eptessing avety comple intettelation ofvatiables. ln te

ality, t

n-
sions within individuals and between gtoups genetate behaviot which
tendets alteady established ptinciples opetative ot inopet

ative. But

n
whetebehaviotisptincipledandis notentitely self-seekmg, theptmci-
ples that suppott it may be disctepaut aud iuduce the actots to putsue
MKA, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION
mutually inconsistent ot even conttadictoty aims at the same time and
with tegatd to the same people. lt is atguable that without a cettain
loosenessofntotdisctepancybetweenitsptinciplesofotgauizationthete
wouldnotbesuch athingasasociety. Asocietyisessentiallyawhole
hietatchy of cottective and adaptive activities, in which each mote
inclusive activity cottects ottedtesses the deuections ot bteaches ofthe
activitybelowitinthehietatchy.Buttheteisnevetinthishietatchysuch
athingasthetadicalcottectionofdeviationotthecompletetestotationof
bteach.Biopsychologicalneedsanddtivesontheonehand, andetetnal
sociocultutalstimuliontheothet,ensutetheimmottalityofdistutbancein
eachsociety. Buttheactivities thatmakeup a society atepattetned by
custom, andpattetnonly emetges in cottective and adustive situations.
Societyisaptocess, aptocessofadaptationthatcannevetbecompletely
consummatedsinceitinvolvesasmanyspecializedadaptationsastheteate
specializedinuencesintheenvitonmenttobemet, asHetbett Spencet
wtoteacentutyago. Anessentialfeatuteoftheptocessthatissocietyis
the disctepancyamongits sttuctutingptinciples.Thesttugglesbetween
petsonsandgtoupsthatateptovokedbysuchdisctepancycontinuallycall
intoplaythecottectiveandadaptiveactivitieswhosehietatchysummates
humansociallife.
1etitualneldofMukanda,then,ehibitscettaintelativelyconstant
ptopettiesandtelationships,suchasitsspatialcootdinatesandcustomaty
ptinciplesofsocialotganization.ltalsoehibits,aswehaveseen,dynamic
ptopetties in the fotm ofaim-ditected chains ofactivities. These aim-
ditectedactivitiescanbeenvisagedasfotceneldswhichovetlapandintet-
penettate. The citcumcision titual itself with its aims ofputifying and
confetting socialmauhoodonuncitcumcisedboys, establishes one such
|otceneld.1ekindsoftelationshipswhichatehandledbythistitualtend
tobecategoticaltelationships,andtheovetteptessionofcotpotatetela-
tlonshipsisconcomitantlysupptessed.Ptivateandsectionalaimssetupan
antitheticalfotceneld.lnthisneldtheunitsofsttuctuteandsttuggletend
tobeustthoseunitsandtelationshipswhichatesupptessedbythetitual,
thatis,thoseofacotpotatechatactet.Thismeansthatsincethetecanbeno
|lcitadmIssionofthetensionsbetweencotpotategtoups,behaviotindica-
tlveofsuchtensionswasonthewholeecludedftomthesactedepisodes
o|Mukanda. But it could be cleatly obsetved in the seculat intetvals
|ctweensuchepisodes, andinthosetegionsofthetitualneldwhichhad
oot beensactalized. ltispethapshatdlycottecttospeakofseculatand
sacted"behaviotinthetitualneldofMukanda.Allbehaviotlobsetved
lotheneighbothoodofthemaintitualsitesandbetweentiteswasditected
by thete|ations between the sttuctutal and dynamc components ofthe
iot.t|neld.Behaviotcharacteristicothesocial telationshipssupptessedby
ri tual custom outished outside the utisdiction o such custom And
6| PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
titualcustomitselfwasmodinedandevendistottedftomtheidealpattetn
whichonecouldelicitftomtheaccountsoftitualspecialistsundetplacid
intetviewconditions. ltwasmodiedbytheputposiveactivitiesofpet-
sonsandgtoupsotganizedaccotdingtothevetyptinciples teptessedby
ovett titual custom. ShIfts in the balance ofpowet between sttuctutal
componentsofthepowetneldofthevicinageatetefettabletothefotce
neldofintetestswhIcheettedptessuteonthesttuctuteoffotcesditected
towatdtheendofthetitualptopet Thetewetetegions ofthetotalneld
whetethe sttuctutesofthetwomaotfotceneldstendedtocoincide,but
thete wete also tegions ofsttess and disctepancy between them The
methodsofanalysiswhIchhavebecomeestablishedinanthtopologycan-
notptovideadequateconsttuctstoeplainthetelationships betweenthe
intetactingfactotswhichdetetminesuccessiveandsimultaneouseventsin
a behaviotal eld ofthis type. lf on the one hand, one absttacts that
behaviot which can cleatly be classined as titualIstic, that is, ptesctibed
fotmalbehaviotnotgivenovettotechnologicaltoutinebuthavingtefet-
encetobeliefsinmysticalagencIes, onegainspossessionofasetofdata
useful ptimatily in compatative cultutal analysis. One can compate the
obsetved titual behaviot with othet obsetvations ofthe same kind of
titual, andwithinfotmants'accountsofthatkindoftitual. Ftomthese
obsetvationsandaccountsonecanconsttucttwotypesofmodels. Ftom
tepeated obsetvations ofthesamekind oftitualonecanmaketentative
statementsaboutitstealpattetnatagiventime,theaccutacyofthismodel
vatyingwiththenumbetofobsetvedinstances. Ftominfotmants'state-
ments one can make a similat model ofthe ideal pattetn. Then, ifone
wishes, one can estimate the degtee and kind ofdeviance between the
specincinstanceandbothtypesofmodels.
lfontheothethand,oneabsttactsthekindofdatathatonecanlabel
as sttuctutal, that is, teasonably telated to the constant and consistent
telationshipsbetweenpetsons, gtoups, andcategoties, onegainsposses-
sion ofdata pettinent to the consttuction oftwo simlat models at a
dietentlevelofabsttactionftomthepaitofcultutalmodels.
Ftomthentstpaitofmodelsonecandemonsttatethatdeviationeists
betweenspecincinstanceandtealandidealnotmativepattetns, andshow
whetepteciselyitoccuts,but onecannotshowwhy itoccuts,whatatethe
causativefactotsbehindit.Fto:nthesecondpaitofmodelsonecanehibit
whichfeatutesofthesttuctuteofthetotalsocialsystemteceiveeptession
inthegivenkindoftitual.Whetedeviationeistsbetweenidealandteal
pattetns,one canspeculatewhethetthIsis due to theinttinsicnatuteof
titual,whichpethapsalwaysallowsinitssymbolicpattetnahighdegtee
ofleewaytoaccommodatelocalandsituationalvatiationsinthesttuctute
ofthegtoupspetfotmingit,otwhethetsocia|changeisthefactottespon-
siblefotmatkeddivetgence.ltisofthevetyessenceofsttuctuta|analysis
MK/ BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION 6
thatittegatdsasittelevantitemsofbehaviotwhichatenevetotseldom
tepeated,theunIqueeventsofwhichsociallifeisfull. Yetitmaybeust
suchitemsofbehaviotwhichhavethehighestsignincancefotthestudyof
so

ie
.
tyteg

tdedasaprocess. Afutthetobectiontothekindofabsttacting
activttywhichleadstotheftamIngofmodels,oftenonassumptionsbot-
towedftomthestudyoftwodimensionalngutes,isthatthesttuctutaland
cultutalmodelscannotbecompatedwithoneanothet,fottheybelongto
dietentplanesofanalysis.
ltisdoubtfulwhethetftuitfulptoblemscanstillbeposedintetmsof
the
.
c

tute-sttuctutedichotomy. lfsocietyisconceivedas ahietatchyof

activtties, otasaptocessofadaptationtoinnumetableandevettenewed
stimuli ftom the envitonment, then cultute becomes a ptopetty ofa
singleimpottantclassofactivities, andsttuctutebecomesatetmsigni-
fyingacettainconstancyinthepositionsofactiveindividualstelativeto
oneanothetovetapetiodoftime.To conceivesocietythusasthemotion
ofentitiesundettheinuuenceoffotcesistoallowscopefotthesystematic
tteatment ofmodes ofmotion which ate not ditectly detetmined by
cultute. The idiosynctatic behaviot ofindividuals can now be handled
withinthe analytical contet ofactivity neld, fot the consequences and
implications ofthis kind ofbehaviot ate telated to the constant and
dynamIcptopettiesofsuchaneld.
Thesotts ofconsttuctsot, to use Iewin'stetm, elementsofcon-
sttuction'' l have in mInd ate not genetalconcepts basedon absttaction
|tomindividualdietencesinsuchawaythattheteisnologicalpathback
|tomthetaonomIcabsttactiontotheindividualcase.Rathet,likeIewin,
believe that the individual case, the unique event, the patticulat tela-
tionship,maybeteptesentedbytheaidofafewconsttuctiveelementsot
t|eit ptopetties. Suchelements and ptopetties tefet to activity nelds as
dynamic wholes A total activity neld ot situation must ntst be chatac-
tetized,notasanaggtegateofisolatedelements,butintetmsofthekinds
o|intetdependences, spatial and tempotal, which eptess its opetative
aoity. Onlywhen this hasbeen doneisit possibleftuitfully toeamIne
asectsandphasesofthesituation.Eachindividualinstancemaythenbe
tetesented as aspecincspatio-tempotalneusofneld consttucts. Fot \
Vukandawhatatetheconsttuctsandtheitptopetties?
ThepetiodofMukanda,includingptepatationsfotitanditsimmedi-
|IIU sequelae, cottespondstothetime ofthesituation.Thevicinageinwhich
it is petfotmed locates itin space. Both its time and space have limits ot
/J(Jtll/daries. Thesehavetheit conitions. Among these conditions ate theit
J:gtee ofpermeability ot impermeability. Mukanda, fot eample, has its
+jct oftempotal uniqueness, insofat as it involves the suspension of
| | |.iny activities h|therto etfotmed, but it also constitutes aphase in a
suc.u tocess of gteatet inc|usivencss, and many of its distinctive
ee PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSI S
activities have tefetence toactivities typicalofthat widet ptocess. The
initial limits ofMukanda, thetefote, tetmInate cettain seties ofactivities
andmatkthecommencementofothetseties.Thefnal limitsofMukanda
tevetse this otdet. Duting the time ofMukanda, thete ate also mediate
limits, at which cettain activities chatactetistic of ptetitual time ate
tesumedandtitualactivitiesdiscontinued. ThesemediatelimItsatecon-
cetnedwiththetelationbetweentitualtimeandnontitualtime,andnot
withthephasesoftitualtimeitselfMukanda,moteovet,hasitsaspectof
spatialautonomy, aswehaveseenabove. ltseectiveboundatywiththe
envitoningsocietycoincideswiththatofthevicinage.ButsinceMukanda
is, inpritiple, attibaltitual, sevetal membets ofitspersonnel came ftom
outsidethevicinage, anddutingonephaseofitspetfotmance,Mukanda
wastakento adoiningvicinages. WithinthesituationofMukanda, too,
thete ateboundaties that dematcate ateas oftitual space. Some ofthese
boundatiesalsodelimitMukandaftomtheenvitoningsociogeogtaphical
tegion, in that they allow selective entty into esotetic ateas ofspecic
categotiesofpetsonsftomthattegion,thatis,enttytocitcumcisedmales.
HavingestablishedthetempotallimItsandspatialboundaties ofthe
Mukandasituation,andtheitconditions,thenetstepistoconsidetwhat
ateits constructional elements. Ptiotity mustbegiven, l think, tothoseele-
mentswhichotganizebehaviotinatitualsetting. Whatmghtbecalled
theesemplastic elements,ottheunIfyingfactots,ofMukanda,atethegoals
ofthetitualbehaviot.Thesemay bedividedintoexlicit andimplicit. The
eplicitgoalsatethosewhichcanbevetbalizedbythemaotityofpattici-
pants.Theimplicitgoalsmay befutthetdividedintounavowed andutUon
scious. Unavowed goals can be vetbalized by a mnotity ofintelligent
infotmants and ate concetned with the teadustment of social tela-
tionshipsintheeld. Unconsciousgoalscannotbevetbalizedbutbettay
themselvesinthe]ermoftitualsymbolismandinthecompatativestudyof
disctepanciesinthemeaningsofsymbolsgivenbyinfotmantsindietent
titualcontets. Suchgoalsate concetnedwiththeadaptationofthepsy-
chobiological disposition ofthe individual to thegenetalconditions of
humansocialeistence,fot eample,withadaptingthatdispositiontothe
eigencies oftheincesttaboowhichit seems, onthe evidence ofdepth
psychology,tonndinnatelyuncongenIal.
Goals"atedisttibutedthtoughthedutationofMukanda, insuch a
waythatpetsons,tesoutces, andactivities atemobilizedtoattaininsttu-
mentalgoals, which, when attained, ate seen as means to futthet goals.
ThusoneofthentsteplicitgoalsofMukandaistocitcumcisetheboys
without mshap. Onceteached, thenet aim is to seethattheboys ate
ptopetlyhealed.Whenthishasbeendone, thenetaimistoseethatthe
boys ateptopetlyinsttucted, and soon, untilthe6nalgoal,thatoftetutn-
ingtheboystosocietyasputihedandsociallymatutettibcsmen,hasbeen
MKA, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION e)
eected.Eachaimotgoalfocuses afotce neld ofspecinc sttuctute, and
theteisalogicalptogtessionftommediategoalstonnalgoal.The goal-
sttuctute ofMukanda may thenbelikened to amany-step tocket, each
step ofwhichincteasesvelocityinotdet to build up amomentumade-
quatetoteachatatget.
lntetpenettating the gtadient ofeplicit goals ateimplicit goals of
bothcategoties.Thus,thosewhocitcumciseaimeplicitlyatbtingingthe
boys to life as men. Unconsciously, howevet, as songs and symbolism
indicate,theoldetmengoasneatastheydatetocasttatingotkillingthe
boys. lnfantileand atchaic impulses seekgtatincationinthetitual situa-
tioninditectionsandbymeanscleanoppositetothoseptesctibedbythe
eplicit goal-sttuctute. lndeed, l would atgue that the symbol-fotm
whichischatatetisticoftitualteptesentsaconunctionofoppositeten-
dencies. Conttatygoals ate teptesentedby thesame fotm, whichowes
muchofitsappatentobscutitytothisantilogicalptopetty. lnmostkinds
oftitualthe sequence ofeplicit goals is logical, iftheitptemises ate
accepted.Butthesymbolismofthesametitualsmusttemainemgmatic
unless one postulates the eistence ofimplicit goals which often tun
countettotheeplicitones.
ThegoaIsofthetitualitselfeptessedinwotdsotbutiedinsymbols,
sttuctutetelatIonshipsfotadetetmInatepetiodoftime.Pteeistentfotms
ogtoupings andtelationships atetealignedin anewsttuctute oftela-
i|onshipsestablishedingoal-ditectedbehaviot. Afotceneldissupetim-
josedonthenetwotkofintetvillageintetactionswithinavicinage.This
|irceneldischatactetizedbyaspecinctole-sttuctuteofoHcials,novices,
d othetpatticipants. But each titual tole itselfbecomes a goal to be
+ttained, andwhenattained, apatttobeplayedcompetitively intelationto
otbettoles,andsuccesqully-to demonsttatetheimpottanceoftheactot.ln
otbetwotdsthetitualfotceneldsupplieswhatIewinwouldcallasetof
jositivevalences"fotmembetsofthevicinageneld.Apositivevalenceis
P
region(whichmayteptesentanactivity, asocialposition,anobect,ot
+oyothetpossiblegoal)whichisatttactiveto(agiven)petson(otgtoup)."
1hus the samesetofgoal-ditected activity pattetns whichmakeupthe
|| |ua| ptopet both covets up and activates the antecedent powet neld of
v| uage intettelations. The system ofvicinageintettelations becomes a
v|| oagefotceneldottathetasetofintetpenettatingfotcenelds.Butthis
Nt ointetpenettating fotce nelds is subotdinated to the esemplastic"
goa|softhetitualfotce 6eld.Thetitualfotce neldis chatactetizedbya
ruoperative atmosphete, thevicinage fotcenelds atetypinedby acom-
t||t|veatmosphete. But values held incommonby all Ndembudetet-
m|nc thattheattainment ofthetitual goals hasptiotity ovettheattain-
i | |eot of ptestige in the titual situation by speci6c gtoups and petsons.
| nu|Vdus and fact|onshavetoaccepttheftusttationoftheit ambitious
8 PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
strivingsintheinterestsofwhatisregardedasthegeneralwelfareofthe
widestcommunity.
Thesubacentforceeldswiththeircompetitivegoals arenotmerely
arbitrary features ofthe total ritual neld, but integral parts ofit Many
kinds ofritual containobservanceswhich epress conict and struggle.
Such stereotyped formsmaywellinducethefeelingstheyportrayinthe
psyches of the participants. Gluckman has analyzed such rituals of
rebellion'inCustom and Corict in Afica (I955b)andinOrder an Rebellion in
Tribal Afica (I93).Butwhere rituals eclude the epressionofcertain
kinds ofconict and competition from their overt andlicit structure, l
wouldpostulatethattheirculturalenvironmentisfullof ustthosekinds
ofconuictandcompetitionwhichareecluded.Theetremecaseisfound
inpuritanicalProtestantismwhichinitsritualstructure suppressedpar-
ent-child and sibling competition and enoined dependence and collab-
oration in these relationships. ln the environing secular life, however,
nerce competitionreigned, thecIassicalbellum omnium contra omnes ofnas-
centcapitalism.Thiscompetitioneistedbetweenentrepreneursandtheir
surrogateparentsorbrothersinthenationaleconomicsystem.
Amongthe elements ofconstructionofthe ritualneldofMukanda
arevariouskindsofsocialgrouping.lfweregardthevicinageustbefore
Mukandawasperformedasapowerneld,thatis, asetofpossibilitiesof
inducing forces ofvarious sorts and magnItudes, wemusteamine the
power units and their interrelations. The dominant power unIts in an
Ndembuvicinageneldarevillages, andsowemustsaysomethingabout
their general structure and the characteristic form oftheir interdepen-
dence.Butsinceweareconsideringaspecincactivityneld, wemustalso
discussthecontentoftheactualIyeistingrelationshipsbetweenthevil-
lagesinthis neld.Wemustdealwithgeneral form,withpatterned interdepen-
dence,andalsowithidiosncratic contentandwithspecic properties.
l beganthe analysisby setting out general and specinc features of
villagerelationshipsinthevicinagewheretheMukandaldiscussedtook
place.lcalledthissetofrelationshipsapowerneld~afterIewin~rather
thanasocialsysteminordertobringoutthepointthatthisisastudyin
socialdynamics, andnotin social statics.Althoughpowernelddoesnot
have the sameconceptualdimensionasthatofforceneld, itstillimplies
the possibility ofmotion. Nevertheless, to investigate the state ofthe
vicinage asitwasustbefore andduring thepreparations for Mukanda
was to make something closely resembling a structuralist analysis. The
maordierencebetweenthisandanorthodostructuralistanalysisisthat
l discussed the contemporary state ofpower relations among the rea|
groups in the neld, as well as eamin|ng the traditional principles of
organization which govern the relatively constant interdependencies of
MK^A, BOYS
'
CIRCUMCISION
personandgroups. Sincelhavemademyabstractionfrom reality with
referencetoaparticular place and time, l couldnot ehibit thevicinage
powerneldasabalanceofpower,butratherasanimbalanceofpower,an
unsteadystate,whichtheprocessofMukandaritualwouldshortlytrans-
formintooverlappingandinterpenetratingforcenelds,rifewithstruggles
between individuals and groups. Powerequilibria and steady states
refertoidealmodelsofacertaintypeandseldomtosocialrealitywhichat
anygiventimemaywellehibitdisequilibriumanddeviationfromnorm.
KarlDeutsch (I9,pp.89 -9I)hasargued, inaway l nndconvincing,
thatthetraditionalequilibriumanalysismustbereplacedby acybernetic
model asatoolinthesocialsciencesforstudyingsocialunitsovertime.
Equilibriumanalysis,hepointsout,assumesthatasystemwillreturntoa
particular state when disturbed, that the disturbance is imagined to
comefromoutside the system, that the systemwillreturnwithgreater
|orce toitsoriginalstatethe greater has beenthe disturbance, that the
highorlowspeedwithwhichthesystemreactsorwithwhichitspartsact
oneachotherissomehowirrelevant(andwetermthisqua|ity' friction'to
denotethatitisasortofimperfectionorblemIshthathasnoproperplace
lnthe'ideal'equilibrium) , andnnally,equilibriumanalysissuggeststhat
nocatastrophescanhappenwithinthelimitsofthesystem,butthat,once
aoequilibriumbreaksdown,nettonothingcanbesaidaboutthefuture
o|thesystemfromthenon.
This is notthe place to consider theimplications ofthe cybernetics
oodelforthestudyofpoliticalsystemsandnelds,withitsrelatedconcepts
o|feedback, lag, input, and gain. But it seems that this model, which
makes both order and change, equilibrium and disequilibrium prob-
| e

matical a

ormal,hasdistinctadvantagesover amodelwhichpre-
d| ctsonednection ofchange only~that whichrestoresthesystemto a

teadystate.Clearly, thenascentdisciplineofpoliticalanthropologymust
|odconceptswhichtakefullyintoaccountchangesofthestateofnelds,
dl sequilibria,anduncertaintiesofsystemicsurvival.
+
A Atropologca Approach
to te Iceladc Sa
g
a
his atticle isessentially a ttibute
tothegteatestlivingBtitishanthtopologist,PtofessotEvans-Ptitchatdof
OfotdUnivetsity,whoin 1950 hadthetemetitytodeclateinhisMatett
Iectute, in face ofthesttuctutal-functionalistotthodoyofmost ofhis
colleagues,thathetegatdedsocialanthtopologyasbeingclosettocettain
kindsofhistotythantothenatutalsciencesvans-Ptitchatd1950: 198).
This view ptovoked a stotm ofptotest ftom the maotity ofBtitish
anthtopologists,whoheldtothepositionfotmulatedbythelatePtofessot
Radclie-Btownandhisfollowets,includingEvans-Ptitchatdinhiseat-
|letdays,thatthebehaviotandintetpetsonaltelationshipsobsetveddut-
lng eldwotk by anthtopologists should be absttacted inthe fotm of
sttuctutal telationships between social positions and gtoups and these
sttuctutaltelationshipsshould)futthetbeabsttactedinthefotmofsepa-
tate systems. economic, political, kinship, etc. van Velsen 1967: 130).
Compatisonbetween such timelessandabsttactsttuctuteselicitedftom
the tich vatiety ofcultutesin dietentpatts ofthe ptimitive wotldwas
Hcprinted with permission of Tavistock Publications, Ltd., from The 'anslation Culture,
edited by T. L Deidchnan, Copyright 1971 .
7!
]2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
thought to be in thotough accotdance with scientic method. Histoty,
accotding to RadclIe-Btown, in societies without wtitten tecotds ot
aboutwhichwtittendocumentsbyalieninvestigatotswetenot available,
could nevet be anything but conectutal histoty. Such guesses wete
almost wotthless and much time and enetgy could be saved, as both
Radclie-BtownandBtonIslaw Malinowski assetted, ifsttess wete laid
oneposingthefunctionalintetconnectionsbetweensocialpositionsand
institutionsastheyeistedintheethnogtaphicptesent,inthehete-and-
nowofanthtopologicalinvestigation,oteven,aswehaveseen,inatime-
lessmilieuofsttuctutaltelationships.lndigenoustalesaboutthepastwete
considetedpseudo-histotyotmyth,and, atleastinMalinowski'sview,
had the main socialfunction ofptoviding achattet andustincationfot
contemporar institutions andtelationshipsbetweenpositions andgtoups.
Muchundetstanding ofthe natute and functioning ofcettain kinds of
socialsystemwasundoubtedlyobtainedbytheuseofthisso-calledsyn-
chtonic method. But it led to a widesptead devaluation ofhistotical
teseatchbyBtitishanthtopologists, evenwheteanabundanceofwtitten
documentswasavailable, asinWestAfticaandlndia, foteample. Since
Evans-Ptitchatd'sMatettIectutein I950, andevenmoteptonouncedly
sincehis SimonIectuteatManchestetUnivetsity in I90, thettendhas
beeninconsidetable measute tevetsed. A stteamofhistotical studies by
anthtopologists,patticulatlyinAfticanttibalhistoty, hastushedftomthe
ptesses in the past few yeats. Ptofessot]an Vansina, now at Wisconsin
Univetsity, hasevenbeenabletoshowushowthefotmetlydespisedotal
ttadition can be handled as teliable histotical evidence, ifit is ctitically
assessedintelationto othet soutces ofknowledge about the past, as he
wtitesI95.7 -8),
Otalttadition] . . . hastobetelatedtothesocial
.
andpolitic

sttuc-
tuteofthepeopleswhoptesetveit, compatedwiththettaditions of
neighbotingpeoples,andlinkedwiththechtonologicalindcati

:nsof
genealogiesandage-setcycles,ofdocumented contactswithlitetate
peoples,ofdatednatutalphenomenasuchasfaminesandeclipses,and
ofatchaeologicalnnds.
He also tecommends the compatative use oflinguistic evidence ibid..
I80 -8I). Vansina, whose neldwotkwas conducted ftom I952to I90,
was undoubtedly inuenced by Evans-Ptitchatd's I950 Matett Iecture
andby the conttovetsy that followed it, andpethaps evenmotepowet-
fullybyEvans-Ptitchatd'shistoticalstudy, publishedinI949, Te Sanusi o
Cyrenaica. AtecentBtitisheampleofEvans-Ptitchatd'spetvasiveinu-
enceisthepublicationofavolumeofhistoticalstudiesbyanthtopologists
entitledHistor and Social Anthropolo Iewis I968).lntheUnitedStatesthe
gteat Califotniananthtopologist,A.I. Ktoebet, alsosttessed,evenbefote
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA ]
Evans-Ptitchatd, the impottance fot anthtopology ofthe histotical
apptoachKtoebet I935.558),andthetecentbookAn Anthropoloist Look at
Histor SingetI9)isatestimonytohissustainedintetestinthemattet.
When l heatdPtofessotEvans-Ptitchatd delivethis SimonIectute
'nthtopology and Histoty I9I), atthe Univetsity ofManchestet i
I90ltemembetbeingdeeplyimptessed,andoddlymoved,whenhesaid
ibid. .I3).
Anantht
9
pologi
.
calttni

g,includingneldwotk,wouldbeespecially
yal

abl

m the mvestigation ofeatliet petiods ofhistoty in which

msti

utionsandmodesofthoughttesembleinmanytespectsthoseof
thesimpletpeopleswestudy. Fotsuchpetiodsthehistotiansttuggles
to detetmi
.
ne a people' s mentality ftom a few tets, and
anthtopologists cannot elp wondeting whethet the conclusions he
dtawsftomthemttulyteptesenttheitthought.
loteample, CananOfotddonwotkhimselfintothemindofasetfof
LouisthePious? ibid..I4).lwasimptessedbythisbecauseitwaslatgely
thtoughstudyinganeatlypetiodofhistotythatlhadbecomeaddictedto
anthtopology. This petiod was the lcelandic Commonwealth ftom
|ngoltssettlementatRey[avikinA.c. 874toA.D. I22whentheicelan-
dets oftheitownfteewillinsolemnpatliamentmadeatteatyofunion
withtheKingofNotwayinwhichtheyaccepted,atlast,hissuptemacy.l
|ad come gteen to thesewhitepastutes as anundetgtaduateustbefote
wotldWat!! when ! studiedundetPtofessot Chambets, Dt.Batho, and
|r. Hitchcock,allofwhomhadbeenstudentsofV1 Ket,authotofEpic
and Romance I97)and Te Dark Aes, whosetulingpassionwaslcelandic
| |tetatute.lwasmovedbyEvans-Ptitchatd'swotdsbecausetheytevived
|i:r meandmadesuddenlypalpablenotonlymyyeatsofneldwotkamong
||cNdembu ttibesmen ofCenttal Aftica, but also nights in theBtitish
NtmywhenlhadteadE.V Gotdon'sAn Introduction to Old Norse-full of
jotcntettactsftomthelcelandicsagas~bytotchlightundetmyblankets
| ocvadethesetgeant's baleful eye. Onmytetutn to civilianlife, itwas
jattly a desite to wotk in a live society not too dissimilat to ancient
|ce|and thatmademe switch ftomEnglish to anthtopology. ButEvans-
|t| tchatd vividly tevealed to me the possibility of applying my
+ot|topological epetience and thinking to the vety litetatute that had
s:.:tmeinditectlytoAftica.
lndeed, in this case it was not at all a mattet ofdetetmining a
jcole's mentality ftom afw tets my emphasis). The tets hete ate
I I miyandtichandfullofthevetymatetialsthatanthtopologiststeoicein
w|covouchsaedtothembyinfotmantsintheneld.lshallsaysomething
+|outt|enatuteandte|iabilityofthesetetsinamoment butwouldntst
| l |c to ma
k
e c
l
ear w|y t|ey ate o theotetical concet: to me ln my
]q PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSI S
Aftican wotk l had ptoposed toanalyze some impottant events which
atose invillagelife, and which l called social dtamas, as possessing a
tegulatlytecuttingptocessionalfotm otdiachtonicptonle~inothet
wotds ctisis situations tended to have a tegulat seties ofphases. They
usuallybeganwithabteachoftuleotnotmandled,typically,toatapidly
tamifyingcleavage,btingingaboutoppositionbetweenthelatgestgtoups
thatmaybeinvolvedinthedispute,itmaybebetweensectionsofavillage
otsegments ofachiefdom. lnNdembusociety,thesmallttibalgtoupin
Zambiallived amongfottwo andahalfyeats, cleavageisaccompanied
by a set ofadustive and tedtessive ptocedutes, tanging ftom infotmal
atbittationtoelabotatetituals,thattesulteithetinhealingthebteachotin
publictecognitionofitsittemediablechatactet.lhaddetivedtheptoces-
sionalfotmofthesocialdtama ftomdatalhadcollecteddutingeld-
wotkamongtheNdembuofZambia(fotmetlyM Rhodesia).Thesedata,
ifnot 'histotical' in type, wete at least mictohistotical, in that they
telatedto chains and sequences ofevents ovet a time, howevetlimited,
tametthanto eventscoeisting at agiventime. Alatgepattofmy data
consistedofditecttepotting,butlwasfotcedattimestotelyonaccounts
byinfotmantsofhappeningsinthevillagepast.lmadeavittueofneces-
sitybyplacinginananalyticalcenttalpositionthevetybiasofmyinfot-
mants.Fotthemainaimofthe'socialdtama'isnottoptesentateputedly
obective tecital ofa seties ofevents, it is concetned, tathet, with the
dietentintetptetationsputupontheseevents,andthewayinwhichthese
eptess nuanced shifts ot switches in the balance ofpowet ot ventilate
divetgent intetests within common concetns (Epstein 1967:228) . My
intentionwasthatiffactsweteeaminedftomdietentpointsofview,
anddiscussedwithdietentinfotmants,theetendedcasewouldtakeon
a multidimensional aspect. the individual patties would be mote than
mete names but become chatactets in the tound whose motives would
becomeintelligiblenotonlyintetms ofpetsonalityottempetament,but
alsointetmsofthemultipletolestheyoccupysimultaneouslyotatdiet-
enttimesinthesocialsttuctuteotinttansientfactionalgtoupings.lnall
this thetewasmenotionthatsocialeventsatespunintocomplepattetns
ovettimebycustomandwill,andespeciallybyconmctsofcustomsand
willsandcollectivewishesandneedstotesolvethoseconicts. ltwasnot
longbefote lbeganto look fotcompatable datainothet societies, fot

l
wasconvincedthateachsocietyhadits ownvatiantofthe social dtama
fotm. Each society's social dtama could be epected to have its own
style,too,itsaestheticofconmctandtedtess,andonemightalsoepect
thattheptincipalactotswouldgivevetbalotbehaviotaleptessiontothe
values composing ot embellishing that style. l was not in favot of
absttactingsepatatesttuctutalsystems,economic,political,kinship,legal,
etc"ftomtheunitatyyetphasedmovementof the socialdrama.Adistinct
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA ]]
aim ofthis study was to compate the ptoles ofdtamas in dietent
societies, taking into account such aspects as theit degtee ofopen-
endedness,theitptopensitytotegtession,theemciencyoftheittedtessive
ptocedutes,theabsenceofsuchptocedutes,thedegteetowhichviolence
otguileweteptesentinctises,andmanymotebesides.Yetwhenlwtote
mybookthetewasadeatmofsuchinfotmationeceptinthewotks of
someofmycolleaguesintheCenttalAfticaneld~andeventheteitwas
notsystematicallyptesentedottelatedtotelativelyconstantfeatutesofthe
socialcontet. But ifctoss-cultutal studiesappeatedto beout,ctoss-
tempotalstudieswetefeasible.Thewtitingsofhistotiansatebulgingwith
socialdtamas,nattativesofsuccessiveeventsthatcanbenttedwithout
Ptoctustean violence into the schemas outlined eatliet. But l was not
sumciently temetatioustotacklethe dataptesentedandhandledbypto-
fessionalhis!otians. Tenl suddenlytemembetedmyeatly ptedilection
fotlcelandiclitetatute~indeed,itcouldwellhave setved as the uncon-
scious, ot, at anytate, pteconscious model fot the social dtama. l had
teadmostofthesagasavailableinEnglishttanslationandhadoncehada
smattetingofOldNotsethatcouldbetevived,ifnecessaty.Andthesagas
wetenothingbutconnectedsequencesofsocialdtamas.Ftomthemcould
also beinfetted, so l thought, manyfeatutes ofancient lcelandic social
sttuctuteandeconomics~enoughtoptovideapteliminatyftamefotthe
phasedevelopments.
Themotelthoughtaboutusingthesagasascollectionsofdatacom-
patable to my Aftican etended cases, the bettet l liked the notion. lt
seemedtome,too,thatsincethetewas anabundanceofnativewtitings
telatingtothesettlementandeatlyhistotyoflceland (asVigfussonand
|owellpattlysubtitletheitOriines Islanicae) itmightevenbepossibleby
eaminingthesagasinptopettime-sequencetoplotthesuccessivestages
ofthe development ofeective adustive and tedtessive ptocedutes and
thisftomthevetyfoundationoflcelandicsociety. lcelandicscholatswill
teadilypetceivehownavelwasandhowlittlelthenknewoftheagged
and tteachetous tettain oflcelandic saga otigins and datings. Nev-
ettheless, l amstillcondent that, withdue ptecaution, anthtopologists
can make a positive conttibution to lcelandic studies, and in doing so
shatpen meit own undetstanding ofsocial ptocesses~fot thtough the
saga medium lcelandic society is potttayed as in constant change and
1evelopment,thoughwithcettaintepetitiveandcyclicalaspects.
Befote eamining a saga as a set ofsocial dtamas, which may be
tegatded as both indices and vehicles ofchanges in the sttuctute and
jetsonneloft|:esocial atenastowhichtheytefet,letmesketchinbtiey
omethingofthesalient lcelandicsettingsinspaceandtime.lcelanditself
coutainsabout40,000 squatemiles-one-ffth aslatgeagainaslteland~
but eccpt for the narrow strip of co:st "between fell and foreshore" and
] PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
along sevetal tivet valleys thete ate few places suitable fot settlement.
Hugeokulls ot ice mountains back most ofthe coast. lceland contains
ovetahundtedvolcanoes,aquattetofwhichhavebeenactiveinhistotical
times, elds oflava covet hundteds ofsquate miles and hot sptings ot
geysets ate numetous. ln btief about si-sevenths oflceland's atea is
unptoductive, wild, and inhospitable, batten cold tock intetmittently
lacedwithinnette.OwingtothepositionoftheGulfStteam,howevet,
the climate, consideting the latitude (3-7 M), is quite mIld and
humId. The weathet seems to have been tathet bettet duting the saga
petiod,fottheteisnomentionofoatingicetothesouthatthetimeof
the ntst settlement. Thete appeat, too, to have been tichet natutal
tesoutces in wood and pastute. Shottage ofwood was, nevettheless, a
constantptobleminthesagas. MenwouldvoyagetoNotway otBtitain
toloadup withbuilding-timbet, andsomeofthebitterestfeuds,suchas
Nal's Saga, beganwithquattelsbetweenthtallsovettheptecise bound-
aties ofwoodlands. Today, apattftomsmallstands ofmountainash and
bitch,theteishatdlyanywoodlandtospeakofinlceland.
The eatly settlets took land atound thecoast, sailingwithouthaste
ftom one cteekotbay to anothettond good unoccupied land. Many
sagasmentionquattelsovetlandonlyafewgenetationsaftetthisotiginal
land-taking. lt has been calculated that about 5000 such settlements
wete tecotded in the so-called colonizing petiod between A.D. 870 and
930. Many ofthese tecotds appeatintheLannab, aneatlymastet-
pieceofhistoticalscholatship, byAtiThotgilsontheWise, acleticwho
wtoteinthentst halfofthetwelfthcentuty. Sincethesettletsoftencame
withmattiedchildtenandsetvants,itislikelythatbyA.D. 930something
like30,000 -50,000people(thelatget nguteisSit GeotgeDasent'sesti-
mate)wetelivingonabout,000squatemIlesofutilizableland,muchof
whichwassheepandcattlepastute.Thteehundtedyeatslatet, dutingthe
so-calledStutlungAge, ithasbeenestimatedbyEinat C Sveinssonthat
thetotalpopulationwasabout70,000 -80,000(SveinssonI953.72).By
thattimethetewasmuchvagtancy,andmentionismadeoflatgenumbets
ofitinetant seasonal ot day-labotets. lt seems likely that the cattying
capacityoftheland, otctiticalpopulationdensity,hadbeeneceeded,in
telationtothemeansofsubsistenceandcultivablepetcentageoflandthen
available.Theptesentlcelandicpopulationofabout200,000,abouthalfof
which lives inReykavik, depends latgely upon commetcial shing fot
sale in theintetnational matket, and could not sutviveon fatmng and
small-scaleshingalone.But it would seemthat during themainsaga
petiod,atoundthetutnofthentstmIllenmum,thetewasalteadyptessute
onland, ot at any tateon cettain categories ofscatce tesoutces, such as
woodlandandpastute,andthatthisptessutewasonemaotsoutceofthe
conicts desctibed inthe sagas |n tetms ofpersonal|ties, and such values
ashonorandshame.
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA ]]
Whydid the settlets come to this bleakislandin the tst place and
whete did they come ftom? The answets to these questions shed much
lightonthefotmofthe social dtamasinthe sagalitetatute.1eemIgta-
tionftomNotway, whetemanyoftheeatliestsettletscameftom(though
some came inditectly, stopping fot a while in Scotland, lteland, the
OtkneysotShetlandsbefotemovingon)wasundettakenbymanychief-
tainsandkinglingstoescapetheovet-tuleofKingHataldFaithait,who
soughttoimposecenttalizedmonatchicaltuleonallNotway.AsWP.Ket
hadsaid(I97.58) .lcelandwascolonizedbyapickedlotofNotwegians,
bypteciselythoseNotwegianswhohad. . .sttengthofwillinthehighest
degtee.HepointsoutthatpoliticalptogtessintheMiddleAgeswasby
way ofmonatchy,butsttongmonatchywasconttatytothettaditionsof
GetmanIa,andinNotway, acounttyofgteatetentandgteatdiHculties
ofcommunIcation,theambitionofHataldFaithaitwastesistedbynum-
betsofchieftainswhohadtheitownlocalfollowingandtheitownfamIly
dignity to mainta|nintheit tths and dales.The ntst lcelandets,infact,
wete inttactable, teactionaty atistoctats who tefused to make them-
selves tenants otvassalsofanyking.Thispoliticalandspatialdisengage-
mentmadethemahighlyself-consciousgtoup,who,asKetsays,began
theit hetoic age in a commonwealth founded by a social conttact
(ibid..59).lndividualscametogethettoinventasetof lawsandtottyto
setuputalptocedutestomakethemwotk,itwasnotthemovementofa
gtoup alteady possessed ofaoint polity. The tesult was that, again in
ket's wotds, this teactionaty commonwealth, this fanatical teptesen-
tativeofeatlyGetmanicuseandwont,ispossessedofacleatnessofself-
consciouness,ahatdandpositivecleatnessofundetstanding,suchasisto
|cfoundnowheteelseinthe Middle Ages andvetytatelyat allin any
jolity (ibid.). Ftom the anthtopological point of view this self-tecog-
aizantclatitythatKetcalls dtylighr' makesthemecellentinfotmants
a|outthegtowthoftheitinstitutions~assetoftomthoseofNotway-
aadabouttheitcumulatingtelationswithoneanothet.
AsA.MatgatetAtenthaswelleptessedit(I94.vi).
in the founding days, thesoveteignpowetlayin thehands ofthe
oiar, chieftain-ptiestswhofulnlledbothpoliticalandteligiousfunc-
tions.Agoii's authotityetendedovetthosewhopaidduesandwot-
shipped at his temple. ln echange fot this ptivilege and thegoi
totection, thesefollowets pledgedhimtheitallegianceand suppott.
Thesequitenaturallywetethefatmetsandneighbotsinhisimmedi-
atevicinity.Thenumberof goar waslimItedandthetitlewasgenet-
ally hereditaty. The fatmers tesetved the tight to choose the gooi
whom they wished to follow, but loyalty to a cettain one usually
becamemoreotlesshab|tual.Thetelationshipwasthusoneofmutual
ttust and agreement~the o|d Germanic code ofloyalty between
ch|ea|n and followers. The years ofthe Commonwealth saw the
cstabl|shmentof theA|||i|qt.o930),ademocrat|cparl|amentw|th a
]8 PART I: PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
sttongatistoctaticbase.Thego;ar automaticallybecamemembetso
thetulingbodiesofpatliament(thelegislatuteandtheudicatute)and
a Iawspeaket was elected to tecite the laws at the meeting ofthe
Athin whIchtookplaceonceayeatontheplainsofThingvellitinthe
southwest of the countty As time went on, the gooi's obligations
becamemotepoliticalthanteligious,hispowettettitotial.
Thetewasnocentta|izedauthotity ovetandabovethegooar. TheAthin,
and the local Tins fot each ofthe Quattets into which lceland was
divided, hadno punItivesanctionsbehindthem,menmet thete to seek
compensationfotwtongothomicide,butthetewasnootganizedstateto
backtheitclaimswithfotceevenwhenplaintisweteawatdedcompen-
sationceaseasema|m~indeed, asweshall see, muchdependedonhow
manysuppottetsaplainticouldgettotidewithhim toThingvellitot
tectuitonthatspot,ifhewetetohaveahopeofevenobtainIngaheating. *
Thisweakness inthepolitico-legalsttuctute~due to the self-conscious
independence ofemgratistoctats who had edcenttalizedmonatchy-
leftmuchleewayfotintetnalandlocalizedfeuds,and,intheStutlungAge
patticulatly,ledtopowetpoliticsonalatgescaleandpetsonalaggtandize-
mentbythetichattheepenseofthesmallfatmets.ltmaywellhavebeen
ditectlyduetothelackofcenttalizedpo|Iticalauthotitythatlcelandetsput
somuchsttessonpetsonaldignity, honot, andloyalty, andespeciallyon
theobligationsofkinship.Sincethecouttshadno mandatetocatty out
sentence, onehadto takethelaw into one'sownhands. One tesult was
thatevenfanciedslightsmightleadtobloodshedandhomicide, fotthis
sectotofthecultutebecame,asitwete,ovetloadedwithvalueemphasesto
compensatefotthelackofsanctionedlegalptocedutes. ltwasleftto the
plaintihimselfto enfotce outlawty, nnes, and settlements, and a good
dealofthesagalitetatuteistakenupbyaccountsofhowthesethingswete
done.Theteonecancleatlyseethatiftoomuchislefttopetsonalhonot,
dishonotabledeedsoftentesult.Thettagedyofthe Commonwealthisthe
gtadualcottuptionintoo|igatchy ofitsownptincipleofhonotable, atis-
toctaticindependenceftomsuptemeovetlotdship~anddoubtlessthetet-
tainwithits natutal battiets to easy communication was a factot hete,
thoughitmustbe saidthatNotwaywasequally tuggedyet genetated a
kingship
How fat may the sagasbetegatded as tecotded histoty tathetthan
histotical ction, aswotks ofcteative imaginationinspitedby the past?
*In practice the system worked out as a balance of power between districts and landholders;
a majority decision of the Thin could only be enforced if you had power on the winning
side. If you had not, the decision was unrealistic and probably some excuse was found to
alter it.
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA ]
Theptoblemisatealone,fotthoughthesagasputpotttotellof theninth,
tenth, and eleventh centuties, they wete actually composed inthe thit-
teenthcentuty, thetutbulentAgeoftheStutlungs.Anthtopologistsmay
wellsuspectthatsevetalimpottantsocialandpoliticalaspectsofthat age
have been foisted by the sagamen upon the eatliet events. Sveinsson
(1953:2) has eloquently desctibed the Stutlung petiod (named aftet an
impottantlineage).
Bythistimethepowetoftheindividualchieftainshasmultiplied,one
manmaytuleentite distticts otquattets . . . Someofthe chieftains
ate possessed ofgteatetwealth thantheit gtandfathets dteamed of
othetsmustptovidefottheitinitialestab|Ishmentbyfotciblemeans.
Aconsidetablenumbetofthecommonpeopleatedestitute. . . . P
istestlessmotion.lneatlietdays. . . amanmightsendtotheneatest
fatms fot help ina ght with othets ofthe same disttict othostile
visitots ftom aneighboting one. Nowfotces ateleviedftomwhole
quattetsfotepeditionsintoothetsectionsofthecountty.lnsteadof
skitmishestheteatepitchedbattles.
OnemIghtcommentonthisthatNal's Saga, whichptofessestodesctibe
eventsatoundA.D. 1000, alsotellsoffotces. . . leviedftomwholequat-
tets," foteample,thefollowetsof FlosiwhocametobutndownNal's
homestead and household wete dtawn ftom the southetn and eastetn
quattets Ontheothethand,vittuesateetolledinthesagasabouteatly
timeswhichappeattohavegtowntatnishedintheStutlungAge,petsonal
|ntegtityamongthem.Hete,again,anthtopologistsmightsuspectthat,as
|nRomanaccountswtittenintheEmpiteabouttheRepub|ic,aptocessof
|dealizingthepastwasgoingon.Thusbothptesenttealityandidea|Iza-
tionmayhave distotted the pictute ptesented by the sagas ofthe eatly
Commonwealth. Ontheothet hand, the Stutlung histoty itsel( wtitten
by Stutla almost contempotaneously with its events, has the fotm and
v|vidnessofthesagasabouteatliettimesAsWP.Kethassaid(1967:252):
TheptesentlifeinStutla'stimewas,likethelifeofthehetoicage, a
petpetual conict ofptivate wills, with occasional and ptovisional
teconciliauons.Themodeofnattativethatwassuitablefotthehetoic
stotiescouldhatdlyfailtobetheptopetmodefotthecontempotaty
factionsofchiefs,hetoicmoteotless,andsoitwasptovedbyStutla.
Vyownviewisthatthetewetesomanymaotcontinuitiesbetweenthe
car|ietandlatetyeatsoftheCommonwealth,atthebasiclevelsofkinship
and tettitotial otganIzation, mode ofsubsistence, fotms ofadudication
and atbittation, and notms govetningtelationsbetweenindividualsand
toups, that sagas tteating ofboth the eatliet and latet petiods canbe
tegatdedequally asmodelsofandfotlcelandicsociallifeasitlastedovet
evetal ccnturies. l do not think we have as anthtopologists to concern
se PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
outselves too much with the ptoblem ofwhethet thete was a highly
developedotalattofsaga-tellingbefotethesagaswetewtittendown(the
so-called Fteeptosetheoty), ot whethet the sagas wete ftom the outset
delibetatewotksofatt,makingconsidetableuseofwtittensoutces(such
as Ati'sLandndmabo') aswellasotal ttaditions(theso-calledBookptose
theoty).1ewtittensagasatecleatlymastet-ptoducts oflcelandicsoci-
ety, whichftomthebeginning containedatelativelyhighptopottionof
litetate men, and we canthus tegatd them as authentic eptessions of
lcelandic cultute. ln many ways, too, eatly lcelandets ate the best
anthtopologistsoftheitowncultute,theyhavethesobet,obectiveclatity
aboutmenandevents that seems tobelongtotheAgeofReasontathet
than the Age ofFaith. When they show, in saga fotm, how institu-
tionscameintobeinganddisputeswetesettled,l aminclinedtobelieve
that they wete tepotting facts. Nevettheless, the sagamen ate not
sociologica|ly conscious ofthe conttadictions anddisctepancies intheit
own ptinciples ofotganIzation, and tegatd the conicts . sttuggles
tesultingftomthemastheeectsofeithetFateotpetsonalmalice.And,as
in today's Aftica, though to a lesset etent, witchctaft is sometimes
invokedtoeplainmischance.ltshouldalsobesaidthatthoughthesagas
wetewrittenwe|lwithintheChtistianetainlceland,manywete about
pte-Chtistian times and customs. Moteovet, in the thitteenth centuty
mostsagaswetewtittennotbyleatned cleticsbutbylaymen.AtiThot-
gilsson,whoseeacthistoty . . . ptecedesthefteetandmoteimaginative
stoties, andsupp|iessomeofthemwiththeitmattet,whichtheywotkup
intheitown(lesssttict)way(Ket I97.248),wasindeedaptiest,buthe
wtote inthe twelfth centuty, which intetvenes between the times pot-
ttayedinthesagasandthetimeoftheitwtiting.Othetptiestswtotesagas
andhistotiesaftetAtiandinhissobetmannetinthetwelfthcentuty.By
thethitteenthcentutyitisevidentthatsomectucialchangehadoccutted
in the telationships between Chutchmen and laity. To undetstand this
changewemustgobacktothebeginningoftheChtistianetainlceland.
lceland'sconvetsionto Chtistianitywaschatactetistically ptagmatic. As
nattatedinNal's Saga and Ati's fslendingabo', it tesolvesinto acollective
decisiontakenattheAlthinginA.D. I000toacceptChtistianityinotdetto
pteventatadicalcleavageinlcelanditselfbetweenChtistiansandpagans,
andtofacilitatettadeandavoidconictwiththepeoplesofEutope,mot
ofwhombythatdatehadbeenconvetted. lndividualsmightcontinueto
sacticetotheNotsegodsinptivate~andthiswasstatedinA.D. I000by
theIawspeaketThotgeittattheAlthing~aslongastheitpublicwotship
was Chtistian. One consequence ofthis was that, although otganized
paganismnevettevived,asPtofessotTtville-Pettepointsout(I953.8),
neithet wete paganideas ecotiated as diabolic. The noblet pagan stan-
datds ofconduct, which gave the |euds moral statute, continued to be
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA sr
eective~suchasdren-skapr, manlyecellence,otasenseofhonotSuch
ethics, ofcoutse, did little to make peace, and, as Sveinsson has said
(I953.I29), onesagacould outweigh ahundtedsetmons. Manyofthe
gooar, ot chieftain-ptiests, wete otdainedas Chtistian ptiests, and con-
tinued to eetcise both sacted and seculat functions, though sactedness
wasnowintetptetedinChtistiantetms. Ptiests, andevenbishops, could
and did matty and taise famIlies. lt took quite a while fot Rome to
eetciseeectivecenttalizedauthotity ovettheisolatedlcelandicChutch
outtheteinUltima1ule.lnthepetmissivetwelfthcentuty, accotding
toEinatSveinsson(ibid. . II- I7),
meninholyotdets,theotdainedchieftainsnotleast,wetetheleadets
intheintellectuallifeofthecountty,andtheycombined,inoneway
ot anothet, anative andfoteignway ofthinking, these leatnedmen
natutallywetethetsttoemploywtiting.But. . . thetewetealsoat
thistimeanumbetoflaymenwhowetebutlittleaectedby eccle-
siasticalinuences andlivedandmovedinnativeleatning.By I200
knowledge ofteading and wtiting had become not uncommon, at
leastamongthechieftainclass . . . (and,also,appatentlyamongsome
giftedcommonets). . . Theteisnoteasontosupposethatlitetacyhad
declinedby I200, inthevety sptingtime ofthe saga-wtitingofthe
laity, and . . . was fatmotewidespteadin lceland than abtoad. But
ust at that time, atound I200, the ecclesiastical and the seculat
sepatate.
TheChutchotdetsptieststo giveup chieypowets, enoinscelibacyon
them, andingenetaltaisesthemaboveothetmenassactincingptiestsin
tetmsofthedennitionsoftheIatetanCouncilofI2I5.
TheChutchthtustsawaythelaity, asitwete,andthespititandtaste
oftheseculatchieftainsptevail.Thelaitynowusetheitknowledgeof
wtiting to eptessthatspitit. Theyinhetitthectitical spitit ofthe
twelfth centuty(eemplinedbyAti),anditbecomesoneoftheptin-
cipalfotcesintheintellectual|ifeofmanyofthem,wheteasaboutthe
same timethe Chutchencoutages venetation ofsaints andbeliefin
mitaclesandthusbecomesthemainpillatofbeliefinthematvellous.
Thelitetatuteofthe nationundetgoes gteatchangesinthe tutn-of-
the-centuty genetation. The antique style, the style ofthe twelfth
centuty, which has a cettain vety agteeablecletical avout, is now
replaced by the pute and limpid classical saga-style, which thus
belongstotheStutlungAge,whileinthehandsofmonksandzealous
cleticsthecleticalstylemovestowatdswhatwasfashionableabtoad.
long-windedthetoticandsentimentalptoliityateitschatactetistics
|tomnowon.
|1espite a cleatly detectable anticletical and chauvinistic note in Einat
Svclusson'sworkgenerally, lthinkthatbehetemakesthepointwellthat
| hrprosesagasaremainlythcproduct o|laymen o|the chietain class."
&z PART . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
This sttuctutal petspective may pattly account fot the intetest in and
knowledge ofpagan mattets shown in the sagas and fot theit almost
putely paganattitudesto conduct~l say almost' because inNal's Saa
patticulatly thete ate cleat matks of Chtistian, even hagiogtaphical,
inuuences.
The maotsagas, then, ate the ptoducts ofStutlungalay and chief-
tainlylitetatethought,teectingonthewtittendepositofttaditionsabout
theeatlygenetauons ofthe Commonwealth and, no doubt, on theotal
ttaditionsofgteatfamiliesaswell. Suchthought, kindledby cteativete
andendeavotingtogivemeaningtoanagefullofouttage,hasgivenusa
seties ofpeetless social dtamas which yield us insight into the innet
dynamIcs oflcelandic society befote its disasttous submIssion

to the
NotwegianCtown.
The sagal wish to eamineinanthtopological tetms is Te Sto o
Burt Nal, tecentlydesctibedbyPtofessotTutville-PetteofOfotdUni-
vetsity,inhislnttoductiontotheEvetymanIibtatyeditionofSitGeotge
Dasent'sclassicalttanslation,asthennestoflcelandicsagas,and. . . one
ofthegteatptosewotksofthewotld (I957.v). ltsauthotseems tohave
livedinthelatethitteenthcentuty andtohavebeen aleatnedmanwho
hadteadnot only mostoftheknown sagas butmanylost ones as well.
Tutville-Pette(I957.vii)believesthattheoutlineofthestotyisundoubt-
edlyfoundedonfact, andthechiefeventsdesctibedtookplaceinthelast
yeatsofthetenthcentutyandthetstoftheeleventh.Theauthotcleatly
livedmuchofhislifeinsouthetnlceland,fothisknowledgeofitsfeatutes
isintimate.Nal's Saga isptesetvedinsomenfty otsitymanusctipts,the
oldestofwhichdate ftomthentstyeatsofthefoutteenthcentuty. ltmay
besaidto bethefne jeur ofthesagaage andtheculminationoflcelandic
litetatute. ltis also thepatadigmatic social dtamaofthe lcelandicCom-
monwealth,containingifnottesolvingallitsconttadictions.
]e|'sSeye
Nal's Saga isananthtopologicalpatadise. ltsvetyliabilitiesintheeyes
ofmostlcelandicscholats,whotendtobelitetatyhistotiansotctitics,ate
anthtopologicalvittues. WP.Ket, foteample( I97.I85)points outthat
thelocalhistoty,thepedigteesofnotablefamilies,atefeltasahindtance,
ina gteatet ot less degtee, by all teadets ofthe Sagas, as apteliminaty
obstacletocleatcomptehension.Butheisteadytoadmit,supetbscholat
thathewas,thatthebestSagasatenotalwaysthosethatgivetheleastof
theit spacetohistoticalmattets, tothegenealogiesandfamily memoits"
(ibid..I85). Ofcoutse, anthtopologists, withtheitptacticalimmetsionin
small-scale societieswith multiplex social relationships, thatis, whete
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA &
pe

leintetactwiththesamesetsoffellowstoachievesevetalputposes,
famihal, ptoductive, educational, teligious, otganizing (Gluckman
I95.5)
.'
attach gteat impottancepredsely to genealogical connections,
fot kinship as such, in societies ofthis type, isoften the spine ot main
ttunk ofatticulation ofmany kinds ofsocial telationships, economic
domestic, political, and so on. Social telationships ate othetwis
undietentiated, fottheteislittle scopefotspecialization, andkinship, as
Gluckma

says (ibid..54)involvesagenetalobligationonpeopletohelp
andsustnoneanothet,whatevetmaybethepteciseneldofactivity.Kin,
ofcoutse, fallintodietentcategotiesoftelationshipsbybitth,mattiage,
andevenfostetage

whichentailvatyingobligations.Withthispeculiatity
ofthe anthtopologicalapptoachinmind,itwillsutptiseno onethatthe
Notse sagas have nevet been comptehensively studied in tetms ofthe
kinship systems so completely deployed in the so-called family sagas,
such
.
as th
.
eLaxdaela Saga (whichfollows a set oflinkedand contiguous
localized|neagesovetmanygenetationsftomthentstsettlement andin

hichtypesanddegteesofkinshipandaHnityctuciallyinuence

behav-
iot), Haward's Saga, vtzdaela Saga, andNal's Saga (to citebutafew).Fot
fewwhoteadtalesptimatilyfotlitetatyenoymentwouldundettakesuch
hatdywotk|
.
lthas
.
oft

beenpointedouthowinthesagasgteatheedispaidto
patticulatmdividualsandhow themystetiesofindividuallifeatehinted
at.This sttess shouldbecomplementedbyastudyofthe socialpositions
9
ccupiedbyindividualsinkinship,tettitotial,andpoliticalsttuctutes,and
H thetolesplayedby theminwhat anthtopologists call action-sets-
quasi-gtoups that emetge in tesponse to the putsuit ofpatticulat and
limitedgoals~inthelcelandiccase,foteample,infeudsandlitigations.
Ftomthispointofviewintuitionandpetsonalsensibilityshoubebut-
ttes

edby aco

lconsidetationofthegenealogiesandsocialgeogtaphies
sonchlysuppedusbythesagamen. lam,ofcoutse,innowayatguing
thatthebehaviotofthesagaactotsisdetermined by, otistheef ct q, social
factots such as genealogicalposition, systemsofvalues,institutionalized
politicaltoles, and thelike. l amonly sayingthatthese actots entetinto
telations w

ith oe anothet in social nelds that ate inimpottant ways

sttuctutedmter alta by suchfactots.Theitimpottanceissuchthatitseems
thatquiteoftenkinshipobligationscompelpetsonalftiendstonghtone
anothet.
lhave mentioned the tetm neld." Ietmenow tty to denneitmote
ptecisely, thtowinyetanothettetmftompoliticalanthtopology, atena,
telatetheseto socialdtama, and thenlook at some ofthetich data of
Njal's Saga intetmsoftheseconceptsandtheitintettelations. Aneldis
composed ofthe actots ditectly involved in the social ptocesses undet
cxamination. |ts socia| and tettitotia| scope and the ateas ofbehaviotit
8
4
: PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
implicates change as addinonal actots entet and fotmetoneswithdtaw,
and as they bting new types of activities into theit intetaction and/ot
abandonoldtypes. ltis oftenconvenIentinItiallyto chatactetize a eld
whenits actots atemote ot less at peacewithone anothet ot whenthe
ptocessesinwhichtheyateengagedateleadingbacktosomepteviously
estab|ishedstate.Anatenamaybedesctibedasasocialandcultutalspace
atoundthosewhoateditectlyinvolvedwiththeeldpatticipantsbutate
not themselves ditectly implicated in theptocessesthat denne the eld
(Swattz 1968:11). Thus inNal's Saga thete ate a numbet ofnelds, each
being denned by a ptocess, ot set oflinked ptocesses, such as seeking
vengeanceand/otgoingtolawtoobtaincompensation.Theteatesevetal
atenasalso,thelatgestbeinggeogtaphicallycotetminouswiththesouth-
etnandmuchofthe eastetn quattets oflcelandand sociologically with
theit local political leadetship pattetns. ln thIs sociogeogtaphical atena
theteateanumbetofpetsonsandgtoupsthatdonotditectlytakepattin
eldactivitiesyet stilleettapowetfulinuence oneldbehaviot. ltis
pethapsuseful too, to talk about eldandatenacontents. Field contents
includethevalues,meanings,tesoutces, andtelationshipsused, genetated,
and atticulatedby the actots. Atena contents tefet to values, meanings,
andtesoutcespossessedbytheactotsbutnotditectlyemployedbythem
int t osive tocesseswhichactivatetheeld.
Socialdtamas eptesent, sotos_eak thetimeaes ofnelds. Mote
thant`they openup me pylogicaldimensionb
inliodi,wellasthe
tel nsiten,od
eld. y alsoindicaxesoIoganizm.retoe
situationnlyinconsistent, sctepantotopodIaJi a-
di (n u lcelandic case opagan

d__htistiaattitudes to

.
'
-

ci

, i

ws
e actually hve H atena agj:o_utsue
theit ami ot1iR them, and how, thtough signicant
chodebyimpottantindividualsgroups,theatenasttuctutemay
itselfbe,ge
_ ----.
..
. < W
-N.fal'-Saga, as it has come down to us, quite natutally leaves the
sttuctuteandptopetties ofeldandatenaimplicit~cleatly, itsintended
audienceisepectedtohaveknowledgethtough petsonal epetience of
theinstitutionalizedbackgtoundandthekindsofvaluesandmotivesthat
inuence and apptaise deeds. But, fot the anthtopological investigatot,
neld-atena''ismotethanametebackgtound,itisatheoteticalconsttuct,
developedoutofthestudyofmanysocietiespossessingwidelydivetgent
cultutes.Fottheaudienceandactotslcelandic,otevenNotdiccultuteisa
natutal backgtound, !celandic society metely the way men live.
Anthtopologistsknowthatothetmenliveinquiteothetways, andtheit
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA ' 8S
taskistoshowhowthispatticulatlcelandicatenaisconsttuctedintetms
thatwouldallowfotcompatativestudywiththeatenasofothetcultutes.I
havesaidthatkinshipwasanimpottant,almostitteducibleptincipleof
lcelandic social otganization, butthis does not tell us what the specic
tules oflcelandic kinship ate, ot how kinship is connectedwith othet
sttuctutalptinciples.
Anthtopologists who tty to study ptocess and histoty without
accountingfotsttuctutalconsidetationsateustasone-sidedasthettadi-
tionalsttuctutalistswhoneglectedptocessandhistoty.Thuswecanleatn
much about the lcelandic sagaftom Radclie-Btown, whom we eatliet
notedasoneofthefathetsofBtitishsttuctutalism.lnthelnttoductionto
Afican Systems c Kinshi and Marriage (Radclie-Btown& Fotde 1950), he
has pettinent things to say about Teutonic kinship whichbeat on Nal's
Saga (whichhementions butmisspells| thoughhistefetenceisalmost the
only onein anthtopologicallitetatute to lceland). Hepoints outhow in
someTeutonic societies at least, thete eistedlatgehouse-communities
undettheconttolofahouse-fathetothouse-lotd,ofthetypeofwhatitis
usualtocallthepattiatchalfamily. Sonscontinuedtolivewiththeitfathet
undet his tule and daughtets usuallyoinedtheithusbands elsewhete a
fotm known as 'vitilocal mattiage' VT. ] . But although the pattilineal
ptinciplewasgenetalotusual,itwasnotalwayssttictlyadhetedto.Thus
in . . . Nyal's Saga sic] the house-community ofold Nyal included not
onlyhiswifeBetgthotaandhisthteemattiedsonsbutalsoadaughtet's
busband, and, with childten, men-setvants, and othets, the household
aumbeted some nfty petsons" (ibid.:I7- I8) . But while the cote ofthe
|ocal gtoup was a gtoup ofpattilineal kin, in mattets concetning blood
vengeance andwergild, whichistheindemnitythatistequitedwhenone
jetson kills anothet, awidet tange ofkinsmen wasinvolved. This was
what the Anglo-Saons called the sib, denned by Radclie-Btown as
computablecognatictelationship fotdenitesocialputposes.One'ssib
i nAnglo-SaonEngland, ot inlceland, was not a gtoup but a tange of
jetsons focused on oneself lfonewas killed the sib would teceive the
wergild otindemnity.
Commonly, theinnetcitcleofanindividual'ssib includedhis fathet
mdmothet,hisbtothetandsistet,andhissonanddaughtet.Beyondthat
vat|ous degtees ofkin wete tecognized. Anglo-Saons appeat to have
| ocludedwithinthesib allthedescendantsoftheeightgteat-gtandpatents.
JhcsituationinNal's Saga isfaitlyueible.Muchseemstodependinthis
society ofindividualistsonwhethettheptincipalkinsmanofavictimof
aoo|cide, on teceiving wergild, makes a petsonal decision to divide it
a| r:ongothetmembetsofthedeceasedman'ssib otnot.Abigmanwillget
h| ownway. Thosewho seekvengeance fotaslaying, howevet, fotm a
varcd bai:d, hardly equivalent to a sib, but united by divetse ties of
8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
kinship, aHnity, neighbothood, political aHliation and ftiendship. Hete
politics, otbettet,politicking, tathetthankinshipdutiesalone, seems to
playthemaottole. Onemustetssuppottftomanyquattetwheteitmay
behad.Butthefactthatawidetangeofkin, onboththekillet'sandthe
victim'sside, atemadevisibleateachhomicide,isanimpottant atena-
chatactetisticofoldlcelandicsociety. Howmanyactuallyentettheeld
ofputposivewergild otvengeanceactiondependsonmanyothetfactots,
political, economic, andpsychological. Such factots becomeappatentas
thesocialdtamassucceedoneanothettomakeupatlastthetotalsaga.
Othetatenachatactetisticslshouldmentionatetettitotialandpoliti-
cal otganization. Since we have ftom Ati infotmation about the ntst
land-taking, wecanplottheptocess oftettitotialsettlement.Thetst
settletssoughtoutthewillofthegodsbythtowingintotheseaust o
lcelandthesactedpillatsofthehighseat(ondvei), btoughtftomNotway
andwatchingwhetethey dtiftedashote. Netthey viewedot kenned
thelandbyclimbingtheneatestpointofhighgtound.Aftetthattheland
wastitually hallowed bysuttoundingitwithatingofbonntes. Hal-
lowedlandbecamethesettlet'sownanditsboundatieswetethenmatked
bynatutalotattinciallandmatksotbeacons.Thenetstepwastodemat-
catehouseandfatmbuildings,andtown'othomeelds.Thechieuings
who wetentst settlets built aHqot temple fot the gods, whete blood
sacticeswetemadeatimpottanttitualsandfestivals.Theseptiest-chiefs
wete the ntstgoaar, whomwe mentioned eatliet. Theit ntst step, aftet
settlement, was to allot pottions ofland to kinsmen, followets, and
ftiends~as istoldatlength inAti'sLandndmab andtheLaxdaela Saga.
Thentst ttacts wete so huge that plenty was left fot followets ofthe
ptiest-chieftains. Astimewentonandlandbecameoccupied,thepowet
of thegoaar wasoftenmuchteduced,sincetheitfollowetswetefteetostay
otgo.AsinNewGuineatoday amongtheso-called bigmen,agoai's
inuence depended on such things as physical sttength, petsonal fame,
andskillat atms,ustasmuchasonbitthandinhetitedwealth.Aman's
powetmightwanewithage,feudswouldtaketollofhischildtenandkin,
whileyoungetgoaar mightwainpowetandinuuenceatoundhim.The
vetyatttibutewhichgavehimmostfame, genetosityinptovidingfeasts
fothisownpeopleandothetneighbots, andhelpingthemtopaydebts
andwergild, mightbethatwhichimpovetishedhimmostdecisively. Giv-
ingtowinandkeep followetsdepleteswealthandlosesfollowets.Ths
much depended on a man's ptesent achievements and less on his past
glotiesotfamilyfame.Themainsanctionagainsthisabusinghispowets
wasthathisThingmenmightleavehistempleandoinanothetgoli's.
Tegoli had the tight tocalltogethet the Tins, otmeetings ofthe
people, at stated times, todiscusspublicbusinessand whete suits at law
mightbetakenup.Asptiesthe hallowedthcThit. and ptoclaimedpcacc
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA 8]
whileitwasinsession,hewaschiefmagisttateptesidingovetthemeet-
ing,henamedudgesandsupetintendedtheptoceedings.lnsummaty,he
wasleadetofthedisttictofhis goli-ship, givingptotectionintetutnfot
allegiance.Butanothetman,ifsttongenough, couldbuildanewtemple
inhis disttictand subvett hisfollowets.Thepossessionofatempleand
petsonalpowet,basedonnumbets,otganization, andtesoutces, weteall
heneededasatitletohisoHce. Oneeventeadsofgobi-ships beingbought
andsold.
Thepictutewehaveat aboutthe endofthentstfewgenetationsof
occupationisofanumbetoflittleptiest-chiefdomsalltoundthecoastof
theisland,undetthe inuence, tathet thanthe powet, ofgoaar, who at
statedtimesconvened theit adhetents and tetainets to meetings fotthe
settlement ofmattets ofcommon concetn. Alongside thegoaar wete
impottantseculathouseholdheads,someofwhomaspitedtogoai-hood.
Each Tin ot meeting was independent ofthe othets, and quattels
betweenthemcouldonlybesettledbytteatyotbattle~asbetweensov-
eteign powets. Hete the localgobi teptesented the community in what
may betetmedits foteigntelations and ttied to come to a settlement
with his fellowgoaar. But even when Ul ot made a code oflaws fot
!celand, and Gtim Goatbeatd his btothet found a southetn site at
Thingvellit fot an Althing ot genetal assembly oflcelandets in A.D.
929-930,onecannotassettthatanlcelandicstate hadcomeintoeistence.
Lven at theAlthin almost evetything depended not on the law code-
thoughthiswasmanipulatedinlitigationtogiveaglossoflegitimacyto
the actsofpowetfulmenandtoenlist suppott ftomtheuncommitted-
|utonhowmuchfotceamancouldmustetwhenitcametoashowdown.
| ssuesand gtievances couldbeventilatedattheAlthing butthesettlement
o|issueswaslefteectuallytothepatties concetnedandmencontinued
to seek theittightsbypoint and edge (med odde ok eg o), as Nal once
|amented.
Nal's Saa ismainly amattetofpointandedge'' despiteNal'sown
creationofaFifthCoutt,tobeheldattheAlthing tosteetthelawandset
ML atpeace. Ihavecountedthekillingsin[e|~they amountto94in
tbc330pagesoftheEvetymanEdition. Sometakeplaceoutoflceland,
cut most ateintimately connectedwiththe chainoffeudsthat compose
tbc saga. One wondets how teliable this ngute is when one considets
Svc|nsson'scomment(I953.72)thatthenumbetofmenkilledinbattleot
exccuted between I208and I20 (inthe so-called tutbulenr' Stutlung
^gc) has been computed at atound 350 ot about 7 pet yeat~in a total
jojulationof70,000ot80,000.Quitepossibly,themotesanguinatysagas
aadasonefunctionthatofthecautionatytale~theywatnedagainstwhat
i i t |ght happen ifpeople did not tespect the tules ofkinship and neigh-
borhood relations. |n rcality, many mote feuds may have been settled
88 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
peacefully than bloodily. Butthe etremsm ofNal's sagathrows into
highreliefthenormalandtting.ThereisinthecaseofNal'shousehold
whatmIghtbecalledanalmostunnatural stress on, oroverevaluationof
thefather-sonbond, attheepenseofothersib andamnalties,whichare
radically undervalued, as where Nal's sons kill their almost saintly
foster-brother Hauskuld, thegooi, whom Nal himselfhad set up in his
omce.Nal'ssons,evenaftermarriage,continuetoresidenotonlyontheir
father'slandbutinhis veryhomestead.Thissolidaritywas onecauseof
theirdeaths~hadtheynotlivedtogetherandfoughttogethertheywould
nothavebeenburnedtogether. (Te family that yearns together, burns
together.)
TheplotofNal's Saga maybedividedintothreeparts,eachaseparate
narrative, yet interlinked like the phaes ofa great ritual. The rst
describestheheroicdeedsathomeandabroadofGunnarofIithend,and
howhiswifeHallgerdaandNal'swifeBergthoranearlysettheirhouse-
holdsagainstoneanother,byeggingontheirthrallsandservantstokill
oneanother.Bergthoraeveninvolvesher sons inthekillings at last. But
Nal and Gunnarremainnrmfriendsandsettlethehomicidesbywegild
notretaliation.The nrstpart endswiththekilling ofGunnarinhis home
afterhavingbeeneiledforaseriesofkillingsinself-defense.Thesecond
section begins when Nal's oldest son helps Gunnar's son avenge his
father'sdeath,andcontinues,throughachainofkillings,counter-killings
andattemptsatsettlementandreconciliation,totheburningofNal,his
wife, children, a grandchild, and many servants in their homestead, by
Flosi,whohastakenupthetaskofavengingHauskuldtheGooi's death.
Flosi is accompanied by many who seek vengeance on Nal's sons for
kinsmenslainbythem.Thennalpartnarratestheretributioneactedon
theBurnersbyKari,Nal'sson-in-law, whosewifeperishedintheames.
KariharriestheBurnersoverlcelandandevenpursuesthemoverthesea,
he slays Gunnar Iambisson, a Burner, at the very feast-board of]arl
SigurdoftheOrkneys.Thesagavirtuallyendswiththereconciliationof
FlosiandKari,whogoesontomarryFlosi'sbrother'sdaughter,andhasa
sonbyherwhomhecallsFlosi.
W P. Ker remarks (1967:190) ofNala: lt carries an even greater
burdenofparticularsthanEyrbyga (anotherfamIlysaga),ithastakenup
intoitselfthewholehistory ofthesouth country oflcelandinthehetoic
age. The south country mentionedisthe arena for the neld ofsocial
relationsformedbytheultimateconfrontationbetweentheBurnersand
Nal's faction at theslaying ofHauskuld. lndeed, since Nal's burning
raised suits in two Quarter Courts and thenin the Fifth Court ofthe
Althin itcouldbesaidtohavehadalllcelandasarena.Strangely,although
itdealsprimarilywithkillingsbetweenthepatrilinealresidential corcs of
house-communities," the saga's main sequencc ofcvcnts bcgins with 3
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA 8
quarrel between unrelated women, Bergthora and Hallgerda, and ends
withreconciliationbetweenunrelatedmen,KariandFlosi.
Kari,thoughunrelatedbybirthtoNalandhisblood-kin,indeed,not
evenanlcelanderbutanOrkneyman,islinkedbymarriagetothem,asis
Bergthora, Nal's wife. Hallgerda is linked by amnity to the opposite
faction, as is Flosi. Thus connections by marriage may serve as either
disruptiveorunitivefactorsintherelationsbetweenhouse-communIties
andsetsoflinkedhouse-communities.lnthecaseofthewomenwhoare
incorporatedintopatrilinealcore-groupsbyviri-localmarriageandspend
mostoftheirpost-maritallivesintheirhusbands'communIties,risingto
the status ofmatriarchs, concern for the honor oftheselocal, particu-
laristicgroupsbecomesarulingpassion.Theyarenotconcernedwiththe
wider groupings, suchasDistrict, Quarter, or lceland, but fomentlocal
conmctswiththeirsharptauntingtongues. Butmen,throughtheirpar-
ticipationinuridicalandlegislativeactiononawiderscalethanthelocal,
may eert their inuence as in-laws to reconcile disputing house-
communIties rather thaneacerbatetheirenmties. Evenwhenthey are
inImical tobothparties to a dispute, likethesinisterMordValgardsson,
whoprovokesNal'ssonstokillHauskuldbydeceitfulwords,ill-wishing
menhavetocouchtheirmischievousintentionsinthehoneyedlanguage
ofthe common good. But the womenhave no suchinhibitions. When
HallgerdahiresBrynolftheUnrulyto cause troubleamongBergthora's
servants, early in the saga, she says to him (referring to At|I, one of
Bergthora'smen). lhavebeentoldthatAt|iisnotathome,andhemust
bewinningworkonThorofsfell.Hewascuttingwoodthere.]
Whatthinkestthoulikeliestheisworkingat?saysBrynolf
'tsomethinginthewood,shesays.
Whatshallldotohim?heasks.
Thoushallkillhim,saysshe.
Nevertheless the killings ofservants for which these women are
tesponsible are relatively smallbeer.Thebulkofthesagaisma up of
|ong social dramas.

s social dra

heth'breach ou
lU ular or - verneons isusuay akilling, thene p ase,
'_isis sees the mobilization o_factions, either to take revenge am
tcfendagainstit, or to seekcompensation,ifoe
|
|a

IBnng_g_ redressTve procedures, these may either be ofan

m|ormaI1, as when Nal and Gunnar privately decide to oer one
.aother compensation for the slain thralls, or involve formal measures
t..:iging from self-doom, whereaplaintiisconcededtherightbyhis
oj:nentstonamethekindandetentofdamageshethinksfair,through
tccoutsetoloca| andD|str|ctThings totheAlthin of|celandandtheFifth
C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Court"init.Nal's Saga beginswithsimplebreachesoforder,mInorcrises,
andinformalredress,mainlyatthelevelofrelationsbetweenhousehold-
communities in a small region ofthe South Quarter, which cumulate,
despite temporary settlement and redress, until nnally the breach is the
killing ofagoii who is also a good man, the crisis involves a maor
cleavage between factions consisting ofthe maor lineages and sibs in
southern and south-eastern lceland, andthe parties seek redress at the
A/thin andFifthCourt.Nal's Saga showspitilesslyhow lcelandustcould
not produce the machinery to handle maor crises, for inevitably the
A/thin negotiations break down and there is regression to crisis again,
sharpened crisis, moreover, that can only beresolved now by the total
defeatofoneparty,evenitsattemptedannihilation.Theartoftheliterary
geniuswhotooktheoralandwrittentraditions andwovetheminto the
sagawenowhaverevealsforushowthebitternessoftheearlyhousehold
feuds,whichalandGunnarhadtheauthoritytokeepformallywithin
local bounds, nevertheless trickled through the rivulets ofmany small
crisesintowhatmighthavebeenanationalcrisishadtherebeenanation.
The fact that there was no nation was represented by the absence of
nationallawswithteethin them, theteethofpunitive sanctionsointly
appliedbytheleading men. Thus localfeudswhich could be only tran-
siently contained by enlightenedindividuals generated forces over time
which sundered lceland andrevealedthe weakness ofheruncentralized,
acephalous"polity. Strongindividualismcanonlybekeptinboundsby
strong centralized institutions. lt seems, however, that Nal's Saga was
writtenafterlcelandhadacceptedNorwegianovetlordshipandNorway's
king, andit may havebeenpartly written toshow how the traditional
Commonwealthhadnomeans ofkeeping thepeace. Patently,Nal's Saga
reuectstheeperienceofthe SturlungEra. The sagarelates, in terms of
personalities,thestoryofasociety. Nal succeedsinkeepinglocalpeace
forawhilebut cannotcurbhis ownsons,whodisobeyhiminorderto
carry outtheirmother'swill. Yet the greatestmenoflcelandhangupon
hiswordswhenheproposestoestablishgenerallegalmachinery,suchas
theFifthCourt,andgivehimsupport.Theirony ofthesagaisthatitis
through the continual disobedience ofhis own sons, who undertake
revengekillingsagainsthiswill,thatthennaldisasterscomeabout,epos-
ingtheimpotenceoflcelandicredressiveinstitutions. Nalisshown asa
manwhoalwaysseekspeaceandisforevertryingtosetupsocialdevices
forkeepingit.ForeamplehefostersHauskuld,whosefatherThrainhas
beenslainbyNal's grim andblacklyhumoroussonSkarphedinn, pre-
ciselytoreconciletheladandhiskinwith Skarphedinn, andNal'sother
sons, Helgi and Grim. For a time this seemed to work and, as the saga
says,Nal'ssonstookHauskuldaboutwiththemanddidhimhouourin
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA I
everyway."Nal laterhadtheFifthCourtmakehimagoai. Butintheend
Skarphedinnslew Hauskuld,andthus madetheburningalmostinevita-
ble. For a time it seemed that Nal and Flosi, who took up the suitfor
Hauskuld'sslaying,wouldcometotermsaboutcompensationbutatthe
last moment SkarphedinnoeredFlosianunforgivableinsultthat could
onlybewipedoutinblood.Asocietyorganizedatitsonlyeectuallevel,
the local level, on kinship, and especially on patrilineal kinship, cannot
copewithlarger,moreimpersonal,nationalrelationshipsandissues.1us
theverypowerofagnation,ofthepaternalbond,compelledNaltostand
byhissonsandindeedsuerdeathwiththem,althoughtheyhadwillfully
broughtthatdeathaboutbyuoutinghis adviceandruininghiseortsto
createpeace-maintainingmachineryabovethelocallevel.
Withthehindsightofthepost-SturlungperiodNala's authorispor-
trayingforusthefateofasocialorder,oftheoldGermaniatransportedto
aninhospitableislandwhereTeutonic nomadismwasslowed downand
haltedby lackofadequatecultivableorpastoralland~save fortheulti-
mateadventurerslikeEiriktheRedandIeifEriksonwhodiscoveredthe
NewWotld. Allthestructuralcontradictionswereleftinthe laboratory
eperimental conditions oflcelandic isolation to shake the polity to
pieces The settlerswere aristocrats oftheancient breed, who edto a
ruinedlandofsphagnummoss" tocontinuetheoldways,eventheold
verseforms, interms oftheold attitudeswhichhadelsewherevanished
beforeChristendomandchivalty.Thesagas,especiallyNal's Saga, chroni-
cle,stepbystep,thesuicidalcharacterofthatlaststand.
Yetitwas perhaps, byanother parado, theveryfactofGermania's
roectionintothenewliterateagebyfourcenturiesthatmadelcelandic
|| terature possible. The contrast between the new polities abroad,
observedbyvigilantandhighlyintelligentlcelandictravelersandvikings,
aud their own ancient acephalous polities, based on kinship and local
organizationofasmall-scalecharacter,madeforanalmostself-mocking
sc|f-awareness, and for W P. Ker's drylight." Yet aristocratic prideful
obduracy kept the old order~or was it disorder?~going, and let us
tememberthatsomeoftheresultsweremaorliteratureaswellasahigh
aomiciderate.
lwillhaveto concludewherelwouldliketohavebegunbypointing
outthatthesagasreadlikeeceptionallywell-nlledethnographicrecords
and diaries,writtenbyanincomparableliteraryartist.lwouldhaveliked
| ohavebegunbymakingatechnIcalanalysisinanthropologicaltermsof
|acdetailsofNal's Saga, relatingitscopiousgenealogicalmaterialstothe
s|t|ogofhomesteadownersonthemapandpointingouthowthemeticu-
|ous descriptiousofsuchthingsasseatingorderatweddingfeastsreuect
| ac social structure also visible in the patternings ofgenealogies and
2 PART I: PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
settlements.Atthewedding ofGunnar andHallgerda, foreample, not
only were the dierent kinds of kinship, aHnal, and territorial rela-
tionshipsinwhichtheguestsstoodtoGunnarrepresentedintheirplacing
roundthefestaltable,buttheshapeofthingstocomewassimultaneously
represented by Nal'sparty'splacement on one side ofGunnar and the
foremostBurners' onthe other~aclearindicationoftheimportance of
structural links and divisions for the development ofthe feud. Iiterary
criticswouldassent toW P.Ker' swordsthatinNal theessenceofthe
tragic situation lies in this, that the good man isinthe wrong, and his
adversaryintheright''(I97.I90 - 92). Theanthropologistwouldseethe
situationlessinethicalterms.Thelcelandercompelledbystructuralties
totakeupavengeancesuithasasimilarroletothatofamaturemaninan
NdembuvillageinCentralAfrica(TurnerI957.94).Suchaseniorvillager
iscompelledsoonerorlatertotakeastandonthequestionofsuccession
totheheadmanship. Apersonwho tries toavoidpressingtheclaimfor
thatoHcevestedinhisverymembershipinthevillagekinshipstructure,
whentheoldheadmandiesissubectedtointensepressurefromhisclose
kinand children toputit forward. lfheshouldstillfail to do so, there
occurs adisplacementofthelocusofconict,notaresolutionorbypass-
ingofconict.lnsteadofleadingagroupofkinagainsttherepresentatives
ofother pressuregroups or factions, he becomes the target ofcriticism
and even scornfrommembers ofhis owngroup. At somepoint in the
socialprocessarisingfromsuccessionheiscompelledtoturnanddefend
himself whatever his temperament or character, however good or
badhemaybe.Aslwrote, thesituationinanNdembuvillageclosely
parallelsthatfoundinGreekdramawhereonewitnessesthehelplessness
ofthehumanindividualbeforetheFates.butinthiscasetheFatesarethe
necessitiesofthesocialprocess.Mutatis mutanis the samebasicsituation
prevailed in lceland, and this is pithily revealed in Nal's Saga in its
accountsofhowmenreactedtotherulesforcingthemtotakepartinthe
feud. lcelandic social structure never resolved the opposition between
forces making for centralIzation and forces making for decentralization,
between etremeindividualismandfamilyloyalty, between kinship and
citizenship and, perhaps, also, between abare subsistence economy and
the aspiration to an aristocratic style oflife. There may well have been
increasingpressureoneective resources atthatsubsistencelevelwhch
eacerbated disputes between adacentgooar and their followers over
scarceresources, suchastimberandmeadows, andactivatedotherstruc-
turalandculturalcontradictions. Ahostofculturalconsiderationslhave
notbeen abletomentionarerelevanthere, Nal,themanofpeace, wasa
Christianbutlcelandicstandardsofconductremainedvindictivelypagan,
it is constantly hinted that he was somewhat edeminate~his enemies
calledhimmockinglytheBeardlessCarlc"~forifpursuingvengeanceis
APPROACH TO THE ICELANDIC SAGA
denedasmanly,seekingreconciliationwithone'sfoesmustbeunmanly,
and so on. Butultimately, forthe author ofthe saga, Nal seemsto sym-
bolize the Commonwealth itself This is perhaps best reected in the
celebrated scene when the burning begins. l must quote (fromDasent's
translation) .
Flosi(fromoutside)saidto Bergthora, Nal'swife, Comethou
out,housewife,forlwillfornosakeburntheeindoors.
l was given away to Nalyoung, saidBergthora, andl have
promisedhimthis,thatwewouldbothsharethesamefate.
Afterthattheybothwentbackintothehouse.
Whatcounselshallwenowtake?saidBergthora.
Wewillgotoourbed,saysNal, andlayusdown,lhavelong
beeneagerforrest.
ThenshesaidtotheboyThord,Kari'sson,Theewillltakeout,
andthoushaltnotburninhere.
Thouhastpromised me this, grandmother, says theboy, that
we should never part so long as l wished to be with thee, but
methinks it is muchbetter to die with thee and Nal than to live
afteryou.
Anohidewasthrownoverthethreeofthem,andtheyspokeno
more.
Skarphedinnsawhowhisfatherlaidhimdown, andhowhelai|
himselfout,andthenhesaid,Ourfathergoesearlytobed,andthatis
whatwastobelookedfor, forheisanoldman.
Forme, theselaconic, ironic, heroic words epitomizethe fate ofthe
|celandicCommonwealth,anditsattempttonndpeaceandorderltcould
aotlivebutitmadeagoodend,sogoodthatitsfailuretosurvivebecame
|mmortalliterature.
D
Te Icelandc Fay Sa
g
a as
a Gene of Meann
g
-Assi
g
nent
Loncteteeamples ate moteelo-
quent than absttact theotizing, even when that theotizing is based on
muchempiticalobsetvationandanalysisofetendedcasestudies.lwould
like to discuss with you a tenowned litetaty gente which takes as its
subectmattetallegedlyhistoticalsequencesofsocialeventsofthetypel
havecalled social dtamas. l tefet to the lcelandicfamily sagas, most of
whichateknowntohavebeencomposedabouttwohundtedandnftyto
thtee hundted yeats aftet the events they putpott to desctibe. Few
anthtopologists have wtitten about lcelandinthesagapetiodcoveting
events taking place between about A.D. 930 and A.D. 1030), yet these
nattativesatetepletewithmatetialsonsociocultutalptocesses,telations,
andsttuctutes. RosalieWaisaneeception. Hetbook,Magic, Fate, an
Histor: The Changin Ethos qthe Vkings (1969), whicheaminesthe ques-
tionofwhethetthelcelandicwtitets' tenownedfteedomftomsupetsti-
tion was indeed a manifestation ofa ptecocious, ptoto-scientinc
enlightenment,otnottathet atetminaleptessionofanettaotdinaty
disenchantment p. 162), isfullofpenettatinginsights, although lthink
shemissestheptoto-Romanticismbehindtheappatendyaustete,ptoto-
eistential,wattiotphilosophy,withinwhichaman'sbtaveandhonotable
deedswetethemostvaluableandlastingofallthings"p. 162). lfwelook
closely atthecoutse and outcome ofa gteat humansocial ptocess, and
especiallyifwehavegtaspedthemainptinciples~andantiptinciples~of
J
PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
the cultute and Jltanschauung in which it is being conducted, she also
mIsses the sheet teueive delight in the meaningfulness offactuality. l
havetoadmitthatlalsottiedmyhandatundetstandinganaspectofsaga
litetatute in an atticle which appeated in one ofthe manyfstschri fen
dedicated to the late PtofessotEvans-Ptitchatd, Te Translation q Culture
(1971), editedbyT.L. Beidelman.Thiswascalled,tathetgtandiosely,'n
Anthtopological Apptoach to the lcelandic Saga (see Chaptet 4 inthis
book) . latguedthatlcelandicsocialsttuctutenevettesolvedthecontta-
dictionbetween fotcesmaking fot centtalization and fotces making fot
decenttalization, between etteme individualism and family loyalty,
betweenkinshipandcitizenship, and, pethaps, also, between abatesub-
sistenceeconomyandthe aspitation(amongmanyleading lcelandets) to
anatistoctaticstyleoflife(p.92 above) .
Futthetoninthischaptet, lshallpickoutoneofthemaotlcelandic
famIly sagasot ptose epics, theEyrbyga Saga, toundetlinesomenew
theotetical points. Meanwhile, someinttoductionis needed to lcelandic
histoty, ecology, andto Oldlcelandiclitetatygentes. lt mustbeundet-
stood, inthetstplace, thatthelcelandic family sagas atenothistotical
chtonicles but highly sttuctuted and elabotated litetaty pieces. Asust
mentioned, theywetemostly composedinthethitteenthcentutywhile
theeventstheyputpotttonattatetookplaceinthetenthandeatlyelev-
enthcentuties. Most scholatsnow agteethattheyatebyno meansotal
ttaditions wtitten down in the eatly days oflcelandic litetacy (the so-
called FteeptoseTheoty),butweteotiginallitetatycteationsdtawing
onsevetalcentutiesofwtittenmatetials. This Bookptose1eoty does
notdenythatotalhistotiesandpoemsmayhavebeenusedassoutces,not
onlybythe eatliestwtitets ofsagabutalso thtoughout theentiteetaof
saga composition. Thebest-known sagas teptesent bticolages ofotal
and|itetatefotms, motifs, fotmulae, ftamingdevicesandttopes. Each of
themisabtilliantlitetatyachievementinitsowntight. lnhetstudy, Te
Laxdaela Sqa: Its Structural Patterns (1964), Matgatet Atent Madelung is
patticulatly ctitical ofthe notion that the saga stems ditectly ftom otal
ttadition.Hetconclusion,attivedatbyaclosesttuctutalistanalysisofthis
gteatsaga,iswotthquotinginfull.
Rhetotical techniques such as the use oftepetitions, inctements,
antitheses, negative altetnatives,litotes [undetstatement foteect,1n
whic something
,
is eptessed by a negation ofthe conttaty~e.y,
GtettntheSttongstematktoThotbotnshottlybefoteheslewhim
inGrettis Saga (p. 102), lptophesy,Slowcoach,thatyouwillnotdieof
tesmokeoftheheatt, andyetpethapsyouwillnotdieofold age
eithet . . . . myptopheciesatenotgenetallylong-lived~theteisusu-
ally asauce ofitonyin litotes| ] , chiasmal telationships [invetsion of
thesecond oftwo patallel phrases ot c|auses~ln The Laxdaela Sta,
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT ]
Thotsteinhasmuchlivestockbutlittleland, wbileHalldothaslittle
livestockbutmuchland(p. 1 14) otwhete dteams ofgood omenate
followed by dteams ofbad omen, smooth sea ctossings conttasted
withdiHcultsea-ctossings,otmenwithsimilatnameshaveopposite
cha

actets], stylstic conventions such as the use ofanticipatoty

devices, conttasuves (aftet gladness, sottow etc.), incotpotation of
authotitativenames,folketymologies,poems,dteams,nattativetech-
niques such as intetspetsing nattation with dialogue, mingling of
ditectandinditectdiscoutse, use ofash-backs [allthese] atehatdly
newwiththeauthotofLaxdaela, andcanbeshowntobethetesu|t of
long schooling with classical tets, howevet much they may have
coincidedwiththedevicesofnativepoetty(p. 154).
Whatweateineectdea|ingwithisatypeofsocia|dtama, chatac-
tetisticoflcelandiccultute,involving feudsbetweencoalitionsofhouse-
holds,eamInedwithintheftameofa setofthetotical conventions that
havedevelopedwithinalitetate ttaditionthoughbottowing cettain stet-
eotypedelementsftomapteeisting otalttadition. Mostscholats agtee
thatthe kinds ofsituations ptevalent inthe StutlungPetiod, whenthe
sagaswetemostlywtitten,wetesimIlatinnatute,thoughpethapsgteatet
inintensity,tothoseintheeatlietstagesoflcelandicsociety.Butthetime
lagbetweenpastdeedsandlatetnattationofthosedeedsishighlysignIn-
cant,fottheytaisemostoftheptoblemswehavebeendiscussing.teue-
lvity, theassignmentofmeaning,theinuuenceofJltanschauungen, vatia-
tionintheptocessualfotmofsocialdtamasindietent cultutes, and so
|otth.ltenablesme,futthetmote,toteviveapettheotyofmineintheatea
otcompatativestudyofnationalepics, whichlntstbtoachedattheUni-
vetsity of Chicago in 1969 duting a semInat l convened with|ames
0edneld,whenbothofusweteonthefacultyoftheCommItteeonSocial
Tbought. We btought togethet a gtoup consistingof. A. K. Ramanuan
aud|. Van Buitenen to discuss eatly lndian epic (they focused on the
Mahabharata); David Gtene and|amesRedneldhimselffotancient Gteek
clc(GtenetooktheOdyssey, RedneldtheIliad fotdetailedstudy),Donald
.cvlne,whogaveapapetontheKebra Nagast, themajotepicofAmhatic
|tblopia, Donald Shoai, an ltanian scholat who spoke about the
Shahnameh, thegteat Petsian epic by Fetdowsi, and l who conttibuted
sooe thoughts on the lcelandic lal's Saga, and a genetal papet on the
coopatative ptoblems emetging ftom the seties. Matgatet Atent took
jart,anditiscleatthathetbookontheLaxdaela Saga benentedftomout
d| scussions.Shewti.sinhetPtefacethatsometenyeatsaftettheincep-
Ii un o|thewholeideaofhetstudy ofasinglesaga'' (p.i), lstumbled
uon sometbing totally unepected . . . the saga metamotphoses into a
ti||||||t clf" (p.).Bytblssbcmcansthattheeventsandpetsonagesofthe
/ ,,,xc/at'la s(a reerredto eveutsand peoplecontempotatywlth lts authot
p& PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
and not to those ofeatly lceland. l include a sectionftom the genetal
papet, Compatative Epic and Saga, (unpublished manusctipt, Cotnell
Univetsity lcelandic Collection) which l gave at the beginning ofthe
ChicagoseminatinI969.ThesectioncalledTheEpicRelation'betokens
myeatliestintetestintheptoblemofcultutalteeivity. ltwillalsosetve
asaninttoductiontomyanalysisinsocialdtamatistictetmsoftheEyrbyg
ga Saga, chosenbecauseit telates to the vicissitudes ofgtoups ofpeople
ovettime and not, as many sagas do, ptimatily toindividualsotpaits,
such as lal's Saga does to Nal, Laxdaela Saga to Kattan and Gudtun,
Grettir's Saga toGtettit.
Te Epic Relation
Byepictelation'ldesignatethetelationshipamongthteepetiodsof
time,eachassociatedwithapatticuIatotganizationofsocietyandcultute.
The ntst may be called the heroic time ofthe nattated events, with its
implicitbackgtoundofhetoic society,thesecondisnarrative time when
theepicwasntstcomposedotbelievedtohavebeencomposed,thethitd
is the documentar time which covetsthepetiodfotwhichwehaveman-
usctipts ofthe epic in theit vatious tecensions (tevisions). l have been
fotcedtofotmulatethisnotionoftheepictelationbecauseldisagtee,fot
once, withthe gteat Scottish scholat, W P. Ket, whenhe says that epic
poettyisadirect refection ofanotdetofsocietywhetethecentetoflifeisa
gteatman'shouse, andwhete themostbtilliant society isthatwhichis
gathetedathis feast,whetecompeutive boasting, stotytelling, and min-
sttelsy ate the ptincipal intellectual amusements . . . whete nghting is
moteimpottantthananythingelse,etc." (Epic and Romance, I967 I908].I2).
Cleatly, songswetesunginsuchsettings,butthe epicsweknow about
seemtohaveachievedtheitdennitivefotmat least sevetal centuties aftet
theeventstheyputpotttotelate.Othetgentes, too,mayevinceasimilat
ttiadictelationbetween nodes oftime, but the epic dietsinthemagni-
tudeofthehistoticalevents telated, theimpottanceofwritten soutces fot
theepic-maket,and,vetyoften,thenumbetof tedactions,ottecensionsin
patchment,vellum,otpapet,madeoftheteputedntsttet.
Considettheepicsinthis seties. (I)TheShahnameh tellsthe stoty of
theltanianEmpite,ftomthe cteationofthewotlddowntotheMoham-
medan conquest. This conquest took place in A.D. 636. But Fetdowsi
completedhistoyaltecotd,aftetthitty-nveyeatsofintetmittentcompos-
ing, in A.D. I0I0. Thus thete was a gap ofalmost fout hundted yeats
betweentheendofhetoic time and the endofnattativetime lhaveno
matetialptesentlyavailabletomeonthedatlngoftheeatliestmanuscrlpts
oftheShahnameh, butReubcnIevysuggcstsintheptologuctohlsttansla-
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT pp
tion that it may have been due toa tedactot that the vatious episodes
ttaditionally composedinno setsequencebyFetdowsiwetennally put
togethet in chtonological otdet (R. Ievy I967.vi). (2) Accotding to
ChatlesDtekmeietinKinship and Community in Early India (I962.I32),the
conictatthecoteoftheMahabharta ptobablytookplaceinthetenthot
nlnth centuties B.c., although populat ttadition has located it as eatly as
3I02B.c. P lndiasupposedlypatticipatedinthebattle,whichstotmedfot
eighteendaysontheplainofKutuksetta,inthevicinityofmodetnDelhi.
Accotding to W H. McNeill in Te Rise i the Ust (I963.I90n), the
Mahabharata eisted in some fotm ot othet as eatly as 400 B.c.; but its
ptesent tecension, which includes a ttemendous bulk ofptiestly piety,
ptesumably deposited atound an otiginal cote of mote seculat poetty,
dates ftom between 200 and 400 A.D.
"
McNeill adds. lt is tathet as
thoughHomethadbeentewotkedbytheChtistianFathetsinto analle-
gotyandhandbookofChtistiandocttine,leavingonlyttacesoftheotigi-
nalspititofthepoerrtOthetscholatslhaveteadoetvatiantviews,but
themainpointlwishtosttessisthatheteagainwehavetheepictelation,
between hetoic, nattative, and documentaty time, the implications of
whichwewillshottlyconsidet. (3) GeotgeSteinet,inhislnttoductionto
Homer: A Collection i Critical Essays (I962.4),tellsusthattheatchaeological
evidencesuggests thatTtoy VlIAwas sackedin circa I I80B.c., at atime
whenonbothsidesoftheAegean, theMycenaeanwotld,withitsgteat
alacesandcompledynasticandcommetcialtelations,metwithviolent
disastet. The citadels ofPylos and lolkos wetebutnt atound I200, and
goldenMycenaeitselfwasdesttoyedwithinthecentuty.Yet,inthefotm
nwhichweknowthem,theIliad andtheOdysse wetesetdownbetween
circa 750and700B.c.
"
AlthoughSteinetfollowingWhitmanstatesthatthe
|rstmanusctiptmightdateftomthesecondhalfoftheeighthcentutyand
wasinitiallysetdownintheOldAtticalphabet,thelonicsctiptinwhich
thcIliad andOdysse wetehandeddowncameinto oHcialuseonlyinthe
|i|thcentutyB.c. (p.6).Oncemotewehavetheepictelation.(4)Aboutthe
|thiopianKebra Nagast, EdwatdUllendotfhasthistosayinTe Ethiopians
( | 760.I43-44). The gteatest wotknot only ofthe time ofAmda Sion
( | I4 -44), butthe fotemost cteation of Ethiopiclitetatutegenetally, is
|hc 'GlotyoftheKings'whichhasbeenwovenintoEthlopianlifeinthe
mostintimatemannet.lthasasitspiece de resistance thelegendoftheQueen
o|Sheba(based onthenattativein I KingsX. I I3 andlibetally am-
j| | |cd and embellished and hete we might temembet what Ket said
abOm the telationship between histoty and epic]), how she visited King
So|omon, acceptedhisteligion,botehimason(Menelik i), andhowthe
Ol I vlslted hls athet and abducted the Atk ofthe Covenant, whichwas
| akcn to Aksum, thc new Zion Don Ievine in Ux and Gold (I965)
polots out that thloplans rcgard thls ark-stca|lng as a slgn that the
oo ' PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Promisc has passcd from IsracI to thiopiaj . Apart from numcrous
quotations and paraphrascs from thc CId andMcv Tcstamcnts, vc hnd
gcncrous borrovings from apocryphaI Iitcraturc, thc Book ofnoch,
thcBo r the Pearl, fromthcchristoIogicaIandpatristicvritingsinCoptic,
Syriac, Arabic and Grcck, from thc Tstamentum Adami, from RabbinicaI
Iitcraturc as vcII as thc Koran. . . . In fact, thc mainstory must havc had a
vcry Iong pcriod ofgcstation in thiopia and cIscvhcrc and havc pos-
scsscd aII thc cIcmcnts ofa gigantic conation ofcycIcs ofIcgcnd and
taIcs. Whcnit vas commttcd to vriting, carIyin thc fourtccnth ccntury,
its purposcvasnodoubttoIcndsupporttothccIaimsandaspirationsof
thcrcccntIycstabIishcdSoIomonicdynasty.Itsauthor,thcnebura ed Ycshaq
ofAksum,vasthusmainIyrcdactorandintcrprctcrofmatcriaIvhichhad
Iong bccn knovn, buthad notuntiIthcn found a coordinatinghand, an
cxpositorymnd,andagrcatnationaInccd."
Whatisintcrcstingaboutthis accountis that avcry Iargcportionof
thcKera Nagast appcars tobcbascd soIcIy onIitcrarysourccsrathcrthan
uponoraItradition.IhavcnoinformationaboutthcdatingofthccarIicst
vcIIum or goatskin manuscripts ofthis cpic, but I imaginc thcy cannot
Iong postdatc thcir author Ycshaq ofAksum. Hcrc thc dominant cpic
rcIationvouIdbcbctvccnhcroicandnarrativctimc.Iraiscthcmattcrof
vrittcn vcrsus oraI sourccs bccausc scvcraI ofthc Iitcraturcs havc bccn
subjcctcd tothiscontrovcrsy, as vc shaII scc in a momcnt. Whatis aIso
strikingaboutthccpicsvchavcaIrcadyconsidcrcdisthatinthcPcrsian,
Indian and thiopian cascs major rcIigious changcs havc occurrcd
bctvccn hcroic and narrativc timcs. Fcrdovsi vrotc in MusIim timcs
about Zoroastrian kings, Ycshaqin Christiantimcs about ancicnt IsracI,
vhiIc many ofthc incidcnts ofthc Mahabharata "go far back into thc
rcmotc Vcdic pcriod" (Orckmcicr I962.I32), but havc bccn thcn dras-
ticaIIy modihcd byBrahmanicaI pricsts, vriting in thc sccond and hrst
ccnturics B.c., "vho cxpandcdthc mcaning ofthc baIIads," according to
Orckmcicr, "Iinkcd thcm togcthcr vith proscnarration, andintcrpoIatcd
trcatiscs on cthicaI and thcoIogicaI probIcms." I cannot say vhcthcr a
simiIarsituationcxistcdinthc Grcckcpic,vhcthcrHomcr, for cxampIc,
IivcdundcrarcIigionradicaIIydiEcrcntfromthatofhcroictimcs-proba-
bIy mostauthoriticsvouIdagrccthatancicntGrcckrcIigionvasfarIcss
ordcrcdthanHomcr'spanthconofCIympians, bcingdcrivcdasMcMcII
vritcs. "partIy from Indo-uropcan sky and naturc dcitics and partIy
fromthc autochthonous protcctrcsscs vorshippcdby prc-Grcck popuIa-
tions" (Te Rise r the Wst I963.226). But thc Iliad and thc Odyssey, Iikc
much ofthcShahnameh, havcapronounccdIysccuIartonc,bycomparison
vithrcIigiousIitcraturcofthcsamcpcriod.
In thc casc of thc IccIandic literature we have large quantitics of
rcIiabIccvidcncctoshow us fairly precisely the nature of the epic relation.
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT ' Io
To bcginvith, vcknovthatthcpocticandprosccpicsandothcr gcnrcs
vcrccoIIcctcdor composcdby Christians, thoughthcy rcfcrrcdtopagan
timcs or to thc transition bctvccn paganism and Christianity. Thc grcat
sagas ofkings and ofIccIandic hcrocs vcrc vrittcninthc thirtccnth and
carIy fourtccnth ccnturics, but thcy vcrc usuaIIy about cvcnts that
occurrcdbctvccnthcIattcrpartofthcninthccnturyandaboutthcmiddIc
ofthccIcvcnth. Most ofthcsagas arcprcscrvcdin scvcraI manuscripts,
bothvcIIumandpapcr,datingfromabout I35OtoI4OO,oftcninfragmcn-
taryvcIIums, to papcr manuscripts fromthc scvcntccnth and cightccnth
ccnturicscopicdfromIostvcIIums.SchoIarshavcbccnarguingforscvcraI
ccnturicsastovhcthcrthcdiEcrcntrcdactionsofmcsamcsagarcprcscnt
oraI variants or manuscript variants. did thc scribcs copy dovn an oraI
tradition, did:hcycopythchrstmanuscriptand subscqucntrcdactions of
it,anddidthcyintcrpoIatcinSagaApassagcsfromsagasB,CandO
Ifcpics achicvcthcir dchnitivcformscvcraI ccnturics aftcr thc dccds
thcy rccord, it is Icgitimatc to ask. vhat has happcncd during thosc
ccnturics and is thcpicturc ofthcpast prcscntcd by thc cpic-makcr or
compiIcr an accuratconcModcrnIccIandic schoIars arcinmorc or Icss
agrccmcnt thatthc famIy sagas "or:ginatcd undcr thc inucncc ofthc
Kings' sagas,just as thc Kings' sagas originatcd undcr thc inucncc of
hagiographyand ofothcr Icarncd vr:ting" (TurviIIc-Pctrc I953.23I), not
a scqucnccofdcvcIopmcnt thatonc vouIdhavccxpcctcdarguing from
common scnsc! From saints to kings to foIk hcrocs! From cIcrks to
sagamcn!Yctthcrcis amass ofcvidcncc forthisdcvcIopmcnt. I suspcct
thata numbcr ofpopuIar stcrcotypcs conccrning thcincvitabiIity ofthc
courscfromoraItovrittcn, coIIcctivctoindividuaI, foIktoIcarncdcpics
and Iays may provc to bc cquaIIy bascIcss in thc othcr Iitcraturcs vith
vhichvcviIIdcaI.
ThcothcrprobIcm, thatofthcrcIationshipbctvccnthcpoctorrcdac-
tor and "thc hcroic timc," is onc offascinating compIcxity. Much ofthc
tcnsionand mystcry ofcpic dcrivcs fromthc ambivaIcnccofthc poct to
thcpast. ForcxampIc, thcIccIandic Saga ofthcoutIav Grcttirthc Strong
isat onccasctofChristianmoraI judgmcntsuponaproud manofbIood
vhocamcincvitabIytoabadcnd-ascontrastcdpointcdIyviththcpious
cnd ofhis youngcrbrothcr Thorstcinn vho dicd ahoIy hcrmitand a
sustaincdpancgyriconagrcatvarriorvhocmbodicdthcIccIandichcroic
idcaI. Much ofthc dramatic tcnsion ofthis grcat taIc comcs from thc
simuItancousappraisaIofGrcttir'sdccdsin tvocontradictorycvaIuativc
|ramcs. Thc rcsuIt is somchov to makc ofGrcttir a human bcing in thc
round, rathcr than an immacuIatc tragic hcro in thc romantic styIc or a
saintin thchagiographic. ThccpicrcIationhas simiIar conscqucnccs for
the Shahnameh, as Reuben Lcvy writes (!967.xxii) . "Thcovcrridingtragic
fact of [Ferdowsi's] life is that the glory ofwhich he singS is no morc.But
IC2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
this is not to say that thc ShahMh is a dchant nostaIgic Iamcnt. Thc
intcIIcctuaIhorizonofFcrdovsiis that ofanationaI and dcvout MusIim.
MohammcdandZoroastcrarcvcncratcdasifthcyvcrcofthcsamcroot,
but Fcrdovsi'spridcin!ranis his constantmusc,"just as thc sagamcn's
pridcin!ccIandvasthcirs,dcspitcits formcrpaganism. !nboththc!ra-
man and !ccIandic instanccs, ofcoursc, thc cpic-makcrs vcrc intcnscIy
conscious ofothcr socictics and poIiticaI systcms than thcir ovn, thc
!ccIandcrs ofMorvay, Ocnmark and !rcIand, thc Pcrsians ofthc Arabs,
!ndians, Afghans, and Turks. Thc !ndia ofthc Mahabharata-makers and
rcdactors vas asyct unthrcatcncd by outsidc invasion, anditvouId sccm
that its major tcnsion vas duc to thc rivaIry bctvccn Kshatriya and
BrahmanicaI vorId vicvs. But thcrc aIso appcars to bc in it a tcnsion
bctvccntribaIandcastcidcas, too,vhichisrccctcdinvhatOrckmcicr
caIIs "thc duaI charactcr ofthc Iord Krishna'' vho is at oncc a kshatriya
nobIc vhosc roIc as "avatar, protcctor ofthc dharma'' vouId ncccssariIy
invoIvchiminkshatriya functions,anda "tribaIgod,"a"trickstcr,amastcr
ofdcccption, a viIy fox" (I962.!35). !n aII thcsc cascs, a compIcx rcIa-
tionship sccms to cxist bctvccn thc imagincd past, stimuIatcd by thc
dcpositoforaItraditionsavaiIabIc tothc poct, cithcr at hrsthand, orscc-
ond- and thirdhand in manuscript rcdactions, and thc oftcn painfuI
prcscnt, a rcIationship in vhich somctimcs thc past and somctimcs thc
prcscnt arcbyimpIication aItcrnatcIy ncgativcIy andpositivcIy cvaIuatcd
vis-a-visoncanothcr. Againsincc "thcpast'isncvcrhomogcncousbutis
itscIfstratihcdandthcprcscntisahodgcpodgcofdisparatctcndcncicsand
rcIationships, thc poct isprcscntcdvith adivcrsity ofcIcmcntsvhichhc
cancombincinadivcrsityofvays.
What oftcn sccms to happcn is that thc struggIcs ofthc poct's ovn
timcarcprojcctcdontothctccmng data, fancifuIandfactuaI, ofthcpast.
Thus RcubcnLcvy vritcs (I967.xxi) that "thcbittcrncss ofthcmythicaI
!ranian-TuraniancpicstruggIcthat pcrmcatcsthc Shah-namaandgivcsit
itsdramatictcnsionisIargcIythcprcssingphcnomcnonofthcpoct'sovn
timc.Thus hc has cxpcricnccd a rccnactmcnt ofthc hnaI tragcdy ofhis
pocm. Thc ncccssity of dcdicating thc Shah-nama to thc vcry Turkic
dcstroycr ofthc!ranian Samanids must havcbccnabittcranddcmcaning
fact." !n !ccIand, too, such Iatc vorks as Nal's Saga sccm to rccct thc
turbuIcnt SturIung Pcriod in vhich thcy vcrc conccivcd, in thc vic
gcographicaIrangc ofthcirfactionaI struggIcs and thc numbcr ofhom-
cidcs rccordcd, rathcr than thc sociaI situation ofthc Iatc tcnth ccntury,
vhcnconctmusthavcbccnmorcIocaIizcd.
WhcnLcvygocsontomcntionthatthctcnsionsandcontradictionsin
thc poct's cxpcricnccthatarcrccctcdin thc tragicparadoxcsofthc cpic
arc "notat aII conscious or cxtcrnaI" (!962.xxiii) hc makcs apointthat I
bcIicvc vouId hoId good for othcr cpic Iitcraturcs as vcII. Thcsc inncr
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT IC
conicts,inassonanccviththcconictingschcmcsofvaIucsaccumuIatcd
by oraI and vrittcn traditions, providc an cmotionaI richncss and com-
pIcxity that givc to thc charactcrs and scttings of cpic thcir pccuIiarIy
Iiving quaIity. !t may vcII bc aIso that thc dcrivation ofcpic's vaIucs,
cthicaIimpcrativcsandmanncrsfromscvcraIdissonantcpochsmaybcthc
vcrycauscofitsvcII-knovn,univcrsaI-humanquaIity.Thcpoctisforccd
byhis matcriaIs avayfromthcfamiIiarpaths ofsystcmaticaIIy conncctcd
customs and norms to makc originaI asscssmcnts ofcharactcr andindi-
viduaIvorth.Hcisatasumcicntdistanccfromthcstandardsofthchcroic
agctobcobjcctivcaboutthcmandcvcndaringIytojudgcthoscstandards
thcmscIvcs by thcir good or bad cEccts on thc fuIIy human bcings thc
muItidimcnsionaIquaIityofhismatcriaIhasaIIovcdtocmcrgc.Thcscarc
somcofthcmotivcsthatinduccmctostrcssthc"cpicrcIation"rathcrthan
torcgardcpicasthcdircctcxprcssionorrccctionofthchcroicsocictyin
vhich itis supposcd to bc sct. !tis thc anachronistic naturc ofcpic that
givcsitscharactcrs thcir scuIpturaIsoIidity, this "strcngthandvcight' of
charactcrisnotmcrcIy aninvariabIc attributcofahcroic agc. Likc ahnc
vinc,cpicnccdstimctomaturc,itisnotthcncvsofthcday.
Freeprose versus Bookprose
ThcodorcAndcrsson( I964)argucsthatvhatvcthinkofsagaorigins
isimportantbccausconitrcstsourasscssmcntofthcirvaIucforastudyof
thc timcs ofvhich thcy tcII. ForcxampIc, ifvcbcIicvc, asa numbcrof
patrioticOanish,Morvcgian,andSvcdishschoIarshavcdoncandstiIIdo,
thatthcsagasarcvcsscIs ofauthcntichistoricaItraditiongoingbacktothc
ninth, tcnth, andcIcvcnthccnturics, thcn vc must countthcm as among
our most vaIuabIc sourccs ofinformation for that pcriod on Morthcrn
Europc. Cnthcothcrhand, ifvc hoIdthcmto bcfrcc compositions by
authorsvithothcrintcrcststhanthctransmissionofstricthistoricaIfacts,
thcnmuchofthcirvaIucforhistoriansisrcduccd. Atthccxtrcmcs ofthc
argumcnt, thcsagas, soAndcrssonshovs us, may bcthoughtofas cithcr
rccordcdhistoryorIatchistoricaIhction.ThcmostuscfuIpartofhisbook
isthcchaptcron"FrccproscvcrsusBookprosc,"tcrmscoincdbyAndrcas
HcusIcr (I94I). Thc frccprosc thcory postuIatcs ahighIy dcvcIopcd oraI
art ofsaga-tcIIingbcforcthc sagas vcrcvrittcndovn. This shapcd saga
styIcasvcII as sagasubstancc. "ThcrcIationship ofthcsagavritcrtois
matcriaI vas that otcditor rathcr than a crcator. Hc cnjoycd thc samc
lrccdomasanyprcvioustcIIcrin addition to ccrtain Iitcrary prcrogativcs
dcniedto thc oraIsagaman,but [andthisis cruciaIforthc thcoryj hcvas
always bound by his oral source or sourccs" (Andcrsson !964.65). Thc
proponcnts ofthis position incIudc such c

Icbratcd schoIars as RudoIph

ICq PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Mcissncr, Andrcas HcusIcr, Gustav McckcI, Pcr WicscIgran, and Knut
LicstoI,noncofthcm,signihcantIy, bcingIcIandcrs.
Thc bookprosc thcory rcgards thc sagas as dcIibcratc vorks ofart,
IargcIy bascd on oraI tradition, but making at timcs considcrabIc usc of
vrittcn sourccs, aIIoving much frccdom to thc individuaI artist, and
shoving dcmonstrabIc variation ofstyIc, narrativc, charactcrization and
organizing abiIity. Thc saga vritcr is on this shoving much morc an
authorthanancditor.Thcbookproscthcoryis associatcdvith!ccIandand
stcms csscntiaIIy from thc vork ofB. M. CIscn (I9II) . Thc formidabIc
schoIars Sigurdur MordaI (I953) and. C Svcinsson (I953) archis main
foIIovcrs, both arc !ccIandcrs. !t is casy to scc vhy !ccIandcrs shouId
support thc bookprosc thcory, for a "bookprosc" Nal's Saga or Laxdaela
Saga viIIimprcssusmorcthancvcrbcforcasavorkofIitcraturc.Hcrcthc
shaping povcrbchindthcsagaisthc gcnius inindividuaIgrcat mcnthc
frccprosc thcory hnds it in thc coIIcctivc rcprcscntation ofthc "foIk."
!ccIandcrs havc aIvaysbccninvctcratcindividuaIists andvouIdprcfcrto
havcgrcatvritcrsthanagrcatfoIkspirit.MordaI,forcxampIc, rcmindsus
that thcIitcrary quaIity ofthcsagasforbidsus to rcgardthcmas popuIar
art (S. MordaI, pp. 233 -34, citcd in Andcrsson, I964.7I). Whcrc thc
frccprosaistsargucthatstyIistichomogcncityinthcsagas procIaimsthcm
vcsscIs offoIk tradition, MordaI rctorts that this is Iikc saying that aII
babicsarcaIikc,orthcurbanitc'svicvthataIIvhitcshccparcaIikc!CIosc
study ofthcsagasrcvcaIsthatnotvo canvithccrtaintybcattributcdto
thcsamcauthor.AsforthcprobIcmofanonymousauthorshipvhichthc
frccprosaists hcId to rcprcscnt thc transmission ofan impcrsonaI tradi-
tion-MordaI hoIds that "aII invented sagas arc transmittcd anonymousIy,
Iikc aII ddic pocms. Oo Vbluspa (thc ddic pocm) and Nala (thc prosc
saga), vhich arc both anonymous, bcar thc stamp ofthcir authors Icss
than, for cxampIc, Ullekla and Sverri's Saga (thc authors ofvhich arc
knovn-inar SkaIagIamm for thc hrst, KarI)onsson for thc sccond)"
MordaI, foIIovingB. M. CIscn,idcntihcdSnorriSturIusonas thc author
ofEgil's Saga, vhiIcBardi Gudmundsson, thcIatcKccpcr ofthc MationaI
Archivcs of!ccIand, in his Hif undur Nalu (I958), has tricd to locatc thc
miIicu, ifpossibIc thc famiIy ormonastcry, invhich a sagavas vrittcn,
cvcnifhchas founditaImostaIvaysimpossibIctoidcntifythcauthorby
namc. AII this cEort sccms to bc adding up to thc cmancipation ofthc
authorfromasctoraItraditionand suggcstingthathc vas"opcnto thosc
cuIturaI andbiographicaI inucnccs vhich pIay such a Iargc partin thc
study ofmodcrn authors" (Andcrsson I964.74). Again, just as vc sug-
gcstcdinconsidcringthccpicrcIation,schoIarsarcnovscckingouttraccs
ofcontcmporaryIifcandcvcntsinthc sagas. AndcrssonIistsanumbcrof
idcntihcationsbctvccnsagaincidcntsandhappcningsofthcauthors'ovn
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT IC]
timc, for cxampIc, BIcy's suggcstionthatSnorri SturIuson'srcIationship
to K:ng Hakon ofMorvay vas "thc ncrvc ofgiII's conict vith rik
BIood-Axc in Egil's Saga" (Andcrsson I964.74) . Thc bookprosaists aIso
argucthatthcsagavasnot"hcrmcticaIIyscaIcdoEfromothcrgcnrcs," as
thc frccprosaists impIicd (Andcrsson I964.75). "Thc inucncc of thc
romanticIitcraturcvhichsprcadfromthcContincnt(ofuropc)toScan-
dinaviainthcthirtccnthccnturyvas studicdin Gunnlaugs Saga byB. M.
CIscn(I9II)andinLaxdaela Saga by.C Svcinsson.ThchistoricaIvrit-
ingsvhichprcdatcdthcfamiIysagascamctobcvicvcdtosomccxtcntas
styIistic modcIs . . . ucntstyIc [isj noIongcrrcgardcd as thctrucpatcnt
oforaI tradition but as a sign ofartistic ripcncss graduaIIy attaincd by
scvcraI gcncrations ofsaga vritcrs" (Andcrsson I964.75).Thcscpassagcs
supportandampIifyvhatvchavcaIrcadysaidaboutthcnccdtoconsidcr
cpicIitcraturcinitsfuIIcontcxtofdiEcrcntgcnrcsandintcrmsofvrittcn
asvcIIasoraIdcvcIopmcnts.
Thcsc considcrationsIcadmc to rcgardthcBookprosc thcory as thc
morc satisfactory ofthc tvo. For thc bookprosaists do not ruIc out oraI
tradition as Iying at thc foundation ofthc sagas. Butthcy do not scc this
traditionas bcing crystaIIizcd and transmittcd en bloc, so to spcak, in thc
sagas as vchavc thcmnov. Thcunvrittcntraditionis rathcr amattcr of
bits and picccsscraps not bIocks-vhat is caIIcd in !ccIandic thdettir
(singuIar. thdttr, IitcraIIy "a singIc strand of a ropc" and Iatcr, a "short
story"), and itis thcskiIIofthc author vho combincs thcsc scraps vith
matcriaI from carIicrvrittcn sourccs, historics and sagas, into a unihcd
vhoIcthatrcaIIycounts.
!havcgoncintothisdcbatcinsomcdctaiIbccauscitbcarsonccrtain
vicvs about thc naturc of Homcric cpic that havc bccomc cxtrcmcIy
inucntiaI-thoscofAIbcrtLord. HcisconccrncdviththcoraItransmis-
sionofpocticcpics,notproscsagas, anditmaybcthatpoctryIcndsitscIf
bcttcr thanprosc to this mcthod,bi:t it sccms to mc thathis positionis
cIoscIy simiIar tothatofthcproponcntsoffrccprosc. (LnfortunatcIyvc
cannot rcaIIy usc "frccvcrsc" or "frccpoctry" in ngIish as thc paraIIcI
tcrm.) ForcxampIc, hc vritcs, inhis chaptcr on"Homcr,"in The Singer i
Tates (I96O.I4I). "What is caIIcd oraI tradition is as intricatc and mcan-
ingfuI an art form asis its dcrivativc, 'Iitcrary tradition.' !nthccxtcndcd
scnscofthcvord,oraItraditionisas'I:tcrary'asIitcrarytradition.!tisnot
si mpIy a Icss poIishcd, morc haphazard, or crudcr sccond cousin tvicc
rcmovcd, toIitcraturc.Bythc timc thcvrittcntcchniqucscomc onto thc
st+gc, thc art forms havc bccn Iong sct and arcaIrcadyhighIy dcvcIopcd
aad ancicnt." Lord then statcs boIdIy. "Thcrc is nov no doubt that thc
composcr ofthc Homcric pocms vas an oraI poct. Thc proofis to bc
|iwt.dln thcpocms thcmscIvcs,anditispropcr,IogicaI, andncccssarythat
IC PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
this shouldbeso." Hethen cites a setiesoftechniques, suchasateused
todayby Yugoslav otal poets, that petmeatetheHometic poems~fot-
mulas,thematicsttuctutes, thelineofvetseasametticalunItinitselfand
sofotth~asevidencethatHometwotkedinsideanotalttaditionofepic
song. Finally, he claims that thefiad and the Odysse ate otal dictated
tets,'thetesultofcollabotationbetweenagoodsingetandacompetent
sctibe."Hometisallegedtobeanotalpoet"whomusthavesungthem
thefliad andthe Odysse] manytimesbefoteandmanytimes aftetthose
momentous occasions that gave us" the vatiants that we have now in
wtittenfotm.Iotdalsofeelssutethattheimpetustowtite(them)down
didnotcomeftomHomethimselfbutftomsomeoutsidesoutce."
Iotd atgues with the authentic voice ofa fteeptosaist, such as the
NotwegianKnut Iiestl, who, accotding to Andetsson, held that the
tecuttence ofstock phtases, the anacoluthon, the leveling ofstyle and
sttuctute,theobectivityandtheepictendenciesoepansionontheone
hand and schematization on the othet could only be intetpteted as the
ptoduct ofotalptocessescompatableto the analogousptocessesstudied
tsthandinthe(ptesentday)Notwegiansgt"~theotalttaditionofthe
temotevalleys (Andetsson 1964:68). IikeIotd, too, Iiestl suppotts the
claimthatthesagastyleisteallyaptelitetatyachievementbyobsetving
thatitappeatsinpetfectedfotmatthevetyoutset.SuchGetmanscholats
oficelandiclitetatuteasMeissnetandHeuslet,likeIotd,assetttheideaof
dictation,butNotdalshatplytetottsthatthefaithful teptoductionofthe
stotytellet's vetsion is a technique otiginated by modetn folklotists|
(Andetsson !964.7!). Hisnalcohetenttheotyseesthelinesofasagaas
the wotk ofan authot who imposedhisattistic will on hetetogeneous
matetials"(p.79), includingftagmentsftomotalttadition,andwhowasin
nowayptecludedftomgivinganaitofspontaneityandvetisimilitudeto
his wotk by using in his verse the techniques ofan otal poet. Thus, as
Baetkehas atgued, the tefetences to sagatellinginthe sagas themselves
losetheitvaluebecausetheyatethemselvescontainedinctionalsagas(p.
90). inanycasetheotal"qualityisnomotethanwewouldepectsinceit
teptesentsthewtitet'snatutalmodeofeptession. WalthetBaetke(cited
in Andetsson 64.8O -8!) sums up. The element ofotal ttaditionmust
thetefotebediscatdedinstudyingthesagas.Theywetetheptoductofthe
StutlungAgedutingwhichtheywetewtitten. The feudsandvendettas
ateateuectionofthecontempotatytumult,whichconttastedsoshatply
to eatlietconditions thatthe eta aftetthe settlementoficelandin about
87O A.D. cametobeviewedasagoldenageandwascastinahetoiclight.
This nostalgic view ofthe past (though it was intetpenettated by ethical
ctitiquesofpaganbehaviotandothetcleticalintetpolations)wasnuttuted
bytheimminentabsotptionundettheNotwegianctown.Thethteatfrom
abtoadbtoughtateactionagainsttheptevalentpreoccupatlonwith Nor-
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT IC]
wegianhistoty(asintheKings' Sagas) andledtoalitetatyconcenttation
onicelandicaaits.Thelitetatycountetpatttothishistoticalactivitywas
the cteation ofthe family sagas. Viewed as a cteation ofthe thitteenth
centutytheitdevelopmentundettheinuuenceofthe classical andmedi-
evallitetatuteinttoducedby the chutchissetinbettet petspective. The
saga cannot then be tegatded as the last oshoot ofGetmanIc hetoic
poetty,tathetitlledagapleftbythedepattedhetoicage."
OEyrbyggya Saga
Theteisno teasontobelievethatthelcelandicsocialdtamaandthe
genealogies which fotmintegtalpattsofthem ate mete ctions. Rathet
ate they otal ttaditions of feuds and disputes tewotked by otiginal
thinketsandattistswithinathetoticalttaditionwhichowesmotepethaps
to|itetatythantootalptecedent.intetestingly, theteissometimesapoot
t between the natutal" ptocessual segmentation ofthe social dtama
and the thetotical sttuctute ofthe saga fotm," between what Betnatd
Bedseman (p 21) called"organic" and ''frmal" segmentation. Theteason
fot this is thatthe saga neatly always comments on the chatactets and
delibetatelysetsthestagefotitskeyevents.inhisanalysisoftheicelandic
family sagasTheodote M. Andetsson in Te Icelanic Saga: An Analytical
Reading (1967:29) pointsoutthatasaga alwaysbeginswithaptefaceabout
the main chatactets~this is often a simple ptesentation of the pto-
tagonists, whete these chatactets ate antagonists theit futute conuict is
foteshadowedintheitptelimInatychatactetizationOttheptefacecanbe
adetailedaccountoftheheto'sfamilybackgtoundwithfullgenealogical
details. Sometimes the pteface is a vittually independent stoty which
setves togivecolot andmomentumto themainplot. inNal's Saga, fot
eample,itisthetaleofGunnat,hischatactet,deeds,andbettayal,which
occupies most ofthe tst patt, though Nal andhis sons ate inttoduced
andwecanseewhatmannetofmentheyate, measutedagainstthenoble
behaviotofGunnat.
Accotding to Andetsson, the body ofa saga is concetned with a
conuict eithet between two individuals, between an individual and a
gtoup,otbetweentwogtoups"(1967:29) . To mymind, italways comes
downtoaconuictbetweentwogtoupsThispattofthesagaisvetymuch
akinsttuctutallytomyfotmulationofthesocialdtama,fot, asAndetsson
wtites, the conuict is touched oby an insult ot inuty, sometimes
inuamedby themaliceofattoublemaket, andgtaduallyintensiedby a
sequenceofinvectiveandassault" (1967:29). Asyoucansee,heistalking
about the stages ofbteach and ctisis. Net he mentions in othet tetms
what I call the dep|oyment oftedressive machinety. This sequence
tes PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
mountstoacIimax.InsixtccncascsitcuIminatcsinthcdcathofoncofthc
protagonists (morc oftcn thc hcro than thc viIIain), in thrcc cascs in thc
dcath ofsomconc cIsc, and in tvo cascs in thcbIoodIcss discomhturc of
thchcro. . .ThcdcathordiscomhturcofaprotagonistisusuaIIyavcngcd.
ThcrcvcngcmaycithcrbccEcctcdbyIcgaIproccdurcs,or(inthcmajority
ofcascs)bybIoodvcngcancc,orbyacombinationofboth.Inafcvsagas
thcrcvcngcisfoIIovcdbycountcrrcvcngc. . . Thcrcvcngcscctionmarks
thctcrminationofthcaction,butinabouthaIfofthcsagasthctcrmination
ofconict is conhrmcdby an cxprcss rcconciIiationbctvccnthc hostiIc
partics.ThcrcconciIiationiscithcrinthcformofapcrsonaIagrccmcntor
ofIcgaIarbitration, tovhichthcparticsarcbound"(p. 29). AIthoughthc
hcro'sdcathisbyno mcans adistinguishingfcaturc ofIccIandicsaga-it
is foundinPcrsian, AngIo-Saxon, Spanish, and)apancsc cpic, for cxam-
pIc-itvcIIcxprcsscsthcOiIthcyanJltanschauung "idcaIismoffrccdom,"
vhich strcsscs unconqucrabIc viII in dchancc offatc. In thc saga, thc
rcIigiousaspcctisnotpromincntbutthcacsthcticisstrongIycmphasizcd.
Hovcvcr, thcrc is aIso a strong notc of"naturaIism," in OiIthcy's scnsc,
soundingthroughoutthcsagas,anobjcctivitythatisoftcnpitiIcss,rcvcaI-
ing thc avs in cvcn thc most hcroic charactcrs, and trying to picturc
pcrsonsinthcround.
As an anthropoIogist, I am intcrcstcd dominantIy in hov modcs of
crisis controIdcvcIopcdasthcscttIcmcntofIccIandprocccdcd.Thcsagas
givcquitcscIf-conscious ("rccxivc") cxcmpIihcationofthis grovth and
consoIidationofrcdrcssivcmachincry. PaIssonanddvards, inthcintro-
duction to thcir transIation ofthc Eyrbyga Saga (I973.II - I2), sav thc
saga as an intcrprctation of IccIandic history, bcginning vith thc prc-
ChristiananarchyofthcVikingAgc,movingrapidIytothcscttIcmcntof
IccIand (A.D. 874) and thc bcginnings ofan organizcd socicty. Thcn foI-
Iovcda"pcriodofintcrnaIstrainandvioIcncc, asthcIavsarchammcrcd
out on thc Iivcs ofproud and incxibIc individuaIs"-rcminding onc of
thc cxpanding vcstcrn fronticr in Amcrica. FinaIIy, Christianity comcs
and thc morc or Icss ordcrcd civiIization ofmcdicvaI IccIand bccomcs
cstabIishcd. Hcrc I vouId again invokc "thc cpic rcIation," for thc
Eyrbyga Saa vasprobabIyvrittcn"shortIy aftcrthcmiddIcofthcthir-
tccnth ccntury at a timc vhcn many sagas had aIrcady bccncomposcd"
(PaIssonanddvardsI973.23).Cthcrsagasarcrcfcrrcdtoinit,incIudig
thcfamousLaxdaela Saga vhichconccrnscvcntsinmuchthcsamcarcaof
IccIandasEyrbygya andinvoIvingscvcraIofitsmainprotagonists,notabIy
Snorri thc Pricst, vho vas an anccstor ofSnorri SturIuson, thc grcatcst
historian andman ofIcttcrs ofmcdicvaI IccIand. Somc havc argucd that
Snorri SturIuson vrotc thc Laxdaela Saga; hc may vcII had a hand in
vriting thc Eyrbyga Saga. Erybygga's author also drcv on thc Land
namab6k (The Book q Settlements), probably written in thc hrst half o|thc
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT re,
tvcIfth ccntury, pcrhapsby IccIand's hrsthistorian, AriThorgiIsson, thc
pricstvhoisknovntohavccomposcdhisflendin bctvccn ! I22and
II3. AII Ari's vorks arc rcpIctc vith prccisc gcncaIogicaIinformation,
richIy suppIcmcntcdinsubscqucnt rcdactions byothcrauthorsincIuding
SturIa Thordarson (I2I4- I284), Snorri's ncphcv. Thc point is that
Eyrbyga vas composcdduring thc turbuIcnt agc ofthc SturIungs-and
othcrgrcatrivaIrousfamiIics-vhcrcordcrcdciviIization''gavcvaytoa
Hobbcsian struggIc for povcr bctvccn individuaI chicftains and thcir
foIIovings, sovcakcning IccIand that thc CommonvcaIth submttcd to
KingHaakonofMorvayin I262.ThcgrcatchicftainandhistorianSnorri
SturIusonhad aIrcady bccnassassinatcdin I24I at thc instigation ofthc
ambitiouschicftain Gizur ThorvaIdssonvho had hopcd tomakchimscIf
suprcmcruIcrofIccIand. GizurhadbccnmadcajarIbyKingHaakonbut
turncd against h
(
m for a vhiIc, onIy to dccIarc rcncvcd IoyaIty to him
vhcnitbccamccIcarthatthc IccIandcrs vcrcnovprcparcdtotradcthcir
oncc-vaIucdindcpcndcncc forIay sccurity, and tradc-pIcdgcs. Trcachcry,
turncoatism, covardicc, and sadistic crucIty in combat situations had
rcpIaccdthc simpIcrpagan cthic-unIcss indccd that cthic vas itscIfthc
nostaIgic crcationofvritcrs ofthc SturIung Agc.Thusthc cpicrcIation,
invoIvingboththcprojcctionofprcscnt conictsontothcdataofthcpast
and idcaIization ofthe past's moraI cuIturc, hoIds good vim rcgard to
Eyrbyga.
AtthctimcofthcmaincvcntsinEyrbyga, thcpopuIationofIccIand
has bccn cstimatcd to havc bccn about 2O,OOO. AIthough thc isIand is
ncarIy 4O,OOO squarc miIcs-about thc sizc ofVirginia-onIy a smaII
pcrccntagcvashabitabIc,IctaIonccuItivabIc,mostIyIandIying"bctvccn
fcII and forcshorc" as thc adagchadit. Motmuchmorcthan5,673 squarc
miIcs,oraboutthcarcaofConnccticut,canbcuscdforfarmingpurposcs
today, in thcpastpcrhapscvcnIcss. Yct it is IikcIy that thccarIy scttIcrs
camc primariIy for frcchoId Iand uncncumbcrcd by protofcudaI con-
straints such as vcrc bcginning to bind mcn in Wcstcrn Morvay from
vhichmostofthcpionccrscamc.ProbabIy,too,prcssurcofpopuIationon
rcsourccsandIand-shortagcvcrcbccomingacutcinMorvay.Thc"myth"
in most ofthc sagas vas that thc scttIcrs Icft Morvay bccausc thcy
opposcd King HaraId Fairhair's poIicy ofuniting thc pctty Morvcgian
chicftains undcr his ovn ccntraIizcd ruIc. This, hovcvcr, vouId not
account for thc tvcIvc pcrccnt, or so, ofscttIcrs vho, according to thc
Landnamabo', camc from thc Morvcgian coIonics in thc British IsIcs-
|rcIand,thcIsIcofMan,thcHcbridcs,thcCrkncysandShctIandsmainIy.
1hcy must have comc principaIIy for pasturcs unoccupicd by a hostiIc
nativc popuIation. Hovcvcr, thcsc scttIcrs musthavcbroughtanoticcabIc
tran o|CcItic culture vith thcm, for thcy had GacIic-spcaking thraIIs
1nd often wives and concubines and many vcrc thcmscIvcs chiIdrcn of
IIo PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
CcItic mothcrs. Somc schoIars havc notcd fcaturcs sharcd by !ccIandic
skaIdicpoctryand!rishsyIIabicpocticforms(TurviIIc-Pctrc !953.37),and
othcrshavc argucd thatthchigh art ofCcIticstorytcIIinghas inucnccd
saga-tcIIingtcchniquc.
Thcrcis, !think,though,somcthingmorcthanmythinthcvicvthat
many promincnt mcnIcft Morvay to scttIc hnaIIyin !ccIand. Thc arcas
vhichthcIcading scttIcrsIaidcIaimtointhcncvcountryvcrcnotsmaII
pIots ofground, thcy vcrc as cxtcnsivc asmodcrn Scandinavian parishcs
andjurisdictionaI districts. Within thcsc tcrritorics thcy apportioncd thc
IandamongthcirkinsmcnandfoIIovcrs.!nrcsponsctothcnccdforsomc
kindofovcraIIorganizationandforaforumforthcdiscussionofcommon
aEairsthc!ccIandcrssctup agcncraI asscmbIycaIIcdthcAlthingi, vithits
mccting pIacc at ThingvcIIir ncar th

Iand's Iargcst Iakc, Tingvallavatn,

about hfty miIcs cast ofRcykjavik, thc capitaI. Thc gcncraI asscmbIy
convcncd ycarIy in)unc. Thc IcgisIativc povcr vas cxcrciscdby thc li
retta, vhichconsistcdofthirty-six,Iatcrforty-cight,gooar. Gooar (singuIar
goal) vcrc cmincntmcnorchicftains vhohadbuiIt orvcrcinchargcof
pagantcmpIcs(notabIytoThor,Frcy, orCdin)inthcirarcas.Amongthcm
vcrc dcsccndants ofthc morc notabIc among thc hrst scttIcrs.

Thc li retta
vas prcsidcd ovcr by thc Lav Spcakcr (li siumaor) . Hc vas cIcctcd for
thrccycarsandvasrcquircdtoknovthcIavfrommcmory,cvcntorccitc
itinitscntirctybcforcthcgcncraIasscmbIyduringhisthrcc-ycartcrmof
omcc-anothcrcxampIcofthcrcmarkabIcmcmoricsofmcninprcIitcratc
cuIturcs. A court consisting ofthirty-six mcmbcrs vas aIso cstabIishcd.
This vas Iatcr dividcd into four indcpcndcnt courts, caIIcd district or
quartcrcourts, oncfor cachquartcr ofthccountry. To bcvaIid,thcvcr-
dictsofthcsccourtshadtobcunanimous.ThusmanycascscouIdnotbc
scttIcduntiIaFifthorHighCourt(mtard6mr) offorty-cightmcmbcrsvas
cstabIishcdshortIy aftcrA.D. !OOO. CfthcscmcmbcrsonIythirty-sixvcrc
to participatc at any onc timc injudging a casc. !fthc Oistrict Courts
faiIcdto achicvcunanimity, anappcaIcouIdbccarricdtothcHighCourt,
vhcrcasimpIcmajoritycouIdprovidcadccision.
MuchofthctroubIcin !ccIandic socicty vas ductothc factthatthc
!ccIandcrs crcatcd a IcgisIativc andjudiciaI authority on an isIand-vidc
basis,butvcrcunabIctogivcittccthbydcvcIopingcomparabIccxccutivc
andadministrativcauthority. Thc vcry drivc forindcpcndcnccthatIcdtp
thchrstscttIcmcntcontinucd to impcIthcIcadinggooar and othcr chicf-
tainsvhocouIdacccptaforumfordiscussionbutnotanauthorityvhich
couIdovcrruIcthcirviII.Wc viIIsccmanycascsofIitigationanddcscrip-
tionsofactsofvcngcanccinEyrbyga. !tiscIcarthatifaIitigantsuccccdcd
in having a condcmnatory scntcncc passcd against his opponcnt in thc
Quartcr Court or cvcn High Court, it vas his ovn rcsponsibiIity to
cxccutc it, thcrcvasnopoIiccforcc, nornationaIpcnaIsystem. Thc rcsuIt
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMlNT III
vasthatmattcrs vcrc scttIcd, asthcprovcrbhadit, by"point andcdgc,"
that is, by povcr and strcngth. !ndccd, thc courtjudgmcnts thcmscIvcs
vcrc somctimcs dictatcdbythc numbcrofrctaincrs andinucntiaI aIIics
onc couId gct to ridc vith onc to thc GcncraI AsscmbIy. SchoIars havc
commcntcdvondcringIythat"thcroIcvhichpovcrandvioIcnccpIaycd
in Iitigation prcscnts a sharp and strangc contrast to thc formaIism and
subtIctyvhichvcrcdcvcIopcdinIcgaIproccdurc"(HaIIbcrg,P.,pp.89).
!nmy articIc!shovcdhovthcabscnccofccntraIizcdpoIiticaIandcxccu-
tivc povcr Icd to thc scIf-dcstruction ofthc !ccIandic CommonvcaIth,
rcndcring itvuIncrabIctointcrnaI disintcgration asvcIIas cxtcrnaI prcs-
surcsfromMorvay.
Thc ruIc vasthatcvcry ninth farmcr or b6ndi (aIIIandvas frcchoId)
hadtogovithhishqooi, shortcncdtogooi, "pricst-chicftain'(or"tcmpIc-
chicf") to thc GcncraI AsscmbIy ifthc Iattcr so dcsircd. !fthcy staycd
homc thcy had topay thc cxpcnscs ofthosc travcIing to thcAlthing. My
vifcand!hadbccnvorkingonpiIgrimagcandits somctimcsambiguous
conncctions vith communitas. Thc annuaI trip to thc GcncraI AsscmbIy
couId bc conccivcd as a sort ofpiIgrimagc, an cxhibition of !ccIandic
antistructurcasvcII as a sourccofstructurations (vhich, hovcvcr, vcrc
oftcnabortcd). AtthcAlthing thcIcadingmcnofthccountrymct, andthc
Tinvellir sitcbccamcthchcartof!ccIand'scuIturaIIifc.AsPctcrHaIIbcrg
vritcs(p. 9). ". . . anintcnsivcactivityunfoIdcd,vhichvasnotrcstrictcd
to omciaI busincss. !n thcir frcc timc thc young mcn compctcd in baII
gamcs,vrcstIing, andsvimming.Bccrparticsvcrcgivcnforfricndsand
acquaintanccs. Pocts and storytcIIcrs contributcd to thc cntcrtainmcnt.
From aII indications thc asscmbIy aIso pIaycd an important roIc in thc
disscminationofncvs,pcrhapsinaccrtaindcgrcctothcartofrcIatingthc
ncvs.Thcrcarcvariousrcfcrcnccsto!ccIandcrsvho,havingjustrcturncd
homcfromabroad, rcIatcdthc' saga' ofthcirtravcIstothcAsscmbIy." Wc
found simiIar fcaturcs at piIgrimagc ccntcrs not onIy at major Christian
shrincs but aIso in thosc ofothcrrcIigions. Thckcy roIc ofthcgooar, or
tcmpIc-ovncrs,in!ccIandgivcsthis annuaIasscmbIymorcthanaIittIcof
3 rcIigious charactcr, sincc thcgooar vcrc thc kcrncI ofthcAlthing. This
titIc is dcrivcd fromgod vhich, as in AngIo-Saxon and ngIish mcans
"god," pcrhaps uItimatcIy conncctcd vith Sanskrit hu, "to invokc thc
gods." Thcgooar not onIy had chargc of tcmpIcs, but aIso had sccuIar
authorityinthcirdomains,caIIcdgodord, vhichaIsostandsforthciromcc.
1hcyhad authority in vhat vas in cEcctthconIy administrativcunitin
|ccIand.Thcgoli vasthcchicftainofthcdistrict, andthoscsubjccttohim
NLL caIIcd his thingmcn. But thcir rcIationship to him vas quitc frcc.
huc,thcypromiscd to accompany and supporthim, andhc promiscdto
protcct thcm and takc up thcir Iav suits. But if thcy fcII out or thcir
rll:ltionship cooIcd,c| and thingmcn couId dissoIvc thcir ticby mutuaI
====e er 4wwn00UAL &N&Ll0
conscnt. A farmcr ofoncgodord cou|d scck thc protccton ofthcodi of
anothcr, thc phrasc s "to dccIarc oncscIfnto thc thng" ofthc Iattcr.
CorrcIatvcIy, thcgoli vas frcctoacccptorrcfuschm.Thsmcantthatthc
godord vasnotstrctIy atcrrtoraIunt,rathcrtvasacontractuaIunionof
thngmcnundcrthcprovsonaIpoItco-rcIgousauthorty ofagoli. Thc
go(i's authorty, povcr, andnucncccouIdvaxorvanc accordngtohs
nitatvc andpopuIarty. ThconcvththcbggcstfoIIovng usuaIIy had
thcbggcstsay, bothIocaIIy andaIsovhcntcamcto scttIing cascs at thc
MatonaIAsscmbIy, thcAlthin. Thcgodord vashcrcdtarynthcory,mostIy
nthc patrIinc, but thc sagas mcntonmany cascs nvhchgodords vcrc
soId, tcmporarIy transfcrrcd, or cvcn dvdcd and hcId n partncrshp.
TruIy !ccIandvasacoIIocatonofndvduaIists-atIcastthcIcadngmcn
and vomcn vcrc such, thraIIs and poor farmcrs vcrc, hovcvcr, qutc
dcpcndcnt on thcrgolar and mastcrs. vcry ycar, bcforc thc A/thin n
)unc,thcgo(is hcIdthc"sprngasscmbIcs"athomconthcrgodords. Thrcc
authortcs comp
.
rscd onc asscmbIy or thng. !t s gcncraIIy thought thc
LI jotand Grm Goatbcardvho sct up thc hrstAlthin nA.D. 93O mod-
cIcdtsconsttutononsmiIarmootsnMorvay.
Te Eyrbyggya Saga as a
Sequence of Social Dramas
Most sagas narratccvcnts that took pIacc bctvccn1-1. 93O and A.D
IO3O,thoughframcdasItcraturc,schoIarsmostIyagrccthatmanyofthc
cvcntsrccountcdnthcmarc nothcttous, vhIcothcrshavc bccnndc-
pcndcntIy vcrhcd to bchistorcaIIy rcIabIc. !n any cvcnt, vhcthcrfac-
tuaIIy corrcct or not, thc sagas manifcst for us thc proccssuaI form of
socaIconctandthckcysymboIsvhchmadcsuchstruggIcsmcanngfuI
for contcmporary !ccIandcrs. !t s sgnihcant, too, that most sagas vcrc
vrttcn n thc thirtccnth ccntury durng thc SturIung Agc. ! mcntoncd
thcpcRcIatonasadynamicntcrpIay ofpastandprcscntrcIatonshps,
cvcnts, vaIucs, and symboIs-hcrc thc SturIung Agc and thc Saga Agc.
FortunatcIy, vc can rcad about thc SturIung Agc n a uniquc, dctaiIcd,
contcmporary vork, Sturluna Saa. This dcscrbcs thc hstory of!ccIand
durng thc tvcIfth and thrtccnth ccnturcs. Most oft vas vrttcn by

SturIaThordarson(!2!4- I284),ancphcvofSnorr SturIuson,authorof

thc Heimskringla and probabIy ofscvcraI ofthcbcst-knovnfamiIy sagas.
SturIa, Ikc Snorr, vas hmscIfnvoIvcd n voIcnt factonaI struggIcs
bctvccngrcatfamiIcs.ThcSturlunga Saga dcscrbcs muchthcsamcknds
ofconictsasthctaIcsofthcSagaAgc,vhichsupportsthcvcvthatthcsc
vcrcnotsmpIymadcup.ThcdEcrcnccvasthatbythcSturIungAgc, a
poItyconsstngofmanygo(ar vthapproxmatcIycquaIpovcrhadbccn
rcpIaccd bythcsubjugaton ofIargc tcrrtorcs by a fcv ntIucntaInd-
Hb 5AA ANO MbANl N*A55lNMN1 Hj
vduaIs and famiIcs, such asthc SturIungs thcmscIvcs. LOn| nuoI i sIIlll
ctragcdamongthcscchcftans,rcachngacImaxnthccar|ythr|crt|h
ccntury, andcvcntuaIIyIcdtothc submissonof!ccIandtothcru|cof thr
Morvcgan kng. From ths hnaI pcrspcctvc thc sagamakcrs must havc
takcnarctrospcctvc, rccxvcIookbackonthcpcrodofthc Common-
vcaIth'sformatontotrytohgurcoutvhatvcntvrong.CIcarIy,thcmcn
andvomcnofthcsagas arcprcscntedasIargcrthanIfc, farnobIcr, cvcn
far bascr, than thcr contcmporarcs. Ths viII cmcrgc as vc study onc
corncrof!ccIand-anmportantonc,forthcSturIungFamiIyvcrcIocatcd
at and ncar Hvamm (Hvammr mcans grassy hoIIov or IttIc vaIc), an
mportantscttIcmcntnthcrcgonvcvIIbccxamning.
ThcEyrbyga Saga csscntaIIy conccrns tcnmajordramas ofconct
andrcsoIutonnvoIvng sxgroups ofscttIcrsonthcsoumcrnandvcst-
crn shorcs ofHvammsord and thc promontory ofSnacfcIIncs to thc
south ofBrcdaord, aIInthcnorthvcstof!ccIand, atcrrtorythatIatcr
produccd thc hstorans Ar thc Scrbc and Snorr SturIuson. Eyrbyga
docsnottrcatasngIcdramaorafcvdramasnmnutcdctaiIasdoccrtan
othcrsagas, buttprcscnts achanofconctsnvoIvngpcrsonsIivngn
thc samc rcgon ovcr pcrod offour gcncaIogcaI gcncratons. Among
thcMdcmbu,vctrcdtocoIIccthistorcaIdataonsocaIdramasnvoIvng
matriIncaIIyconncctcdpcrsonstormngthccorcofMukanzaVIIagcand
othcrsInkcdtothcmanvIIagcmatrIincagcasthcrsIavcs. Wc obtancd
thcschstorcsnI953 toI954,butmcfarthcstvccouIdgobackntmcn
rcasonabIcdctaIvas I925 to I928-cvcnts fromthoscycars formcdthc
stapIc ofSocaIOramaV! nSchism and Continuity (Turncr I957.I78-82).
Thus good socaI dramatc data couId not bc obtaincd from an carIcr
pcrodthanaboutthrtyycarsbcforc.ThcoraItraditonsn!ccIandvhch
vcrc cvcntuaIIy ncorporatcd n Ar's hstorcs and thc sagamcn's taIcs
cvdcntIy had grcatcr hstorcaI dcpth, pcrhaps bccausc, as schoIars havc
argucd from Gudbrand Vgfusson (I879) onvards, thc Iong northcrn
vntcrsn!ccIandvcrcconducvctostorytcIIing,Iatcrstoryrcadng,Icad-
ng to thc tcnacous prcscrvaton offamiIy and IocaI traditons. !n any
casc,vchavcIongbccnonthcIookoutforconncctcdnarratvcsspanning
scvcraI gcncratonsnthc Ifc ofa gvcn sococuIturaI communty, forn
thc succcssvc dramas so rccordcd, vc can cxamnc not onIy thc
dachronc prohIc of poItcaI dcvcIopmcnt but aIso hov mcanng s
assgncd and sustancd and prcstgious paradgms and kcysymboIs arc
prcscrvcd, undcrmncd, or rcvvcd, for crss, probIcm, and dsastcr
provokcrccxvtyandthrovntorcIcfthcrangcofntcrprctatonsars-
ng to cxpIan thcm, and thcy hnd mcamng and ordcr n thcm. Thc
Eyrbyga s,atIcast,oncsagaman'sattcmpttoportrayandpartaIIyundcr-
standthchumanprobIcmofIivngtogcthcrnpcacc.
ThcrcvasnotmuchsustancdpcaccnthcSagaAgcfthctaIcsarcto
bcbcIcvcd~andvcrc not smpIyprojcctons ofthc SturIung Agc onto

II| PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS

the scteenofthepast Ofcoutse, theatmed sttuggles desctibed mainly
involved atistoctats, thtalls andsetvantswete deemed unwotthy ofkill-
ing, unless theit deaths wete to discomnt impottant tivals whete they
wouldhavebeenseenas chattels tathet thanhumanindividuals. ln one
sense, theoldManamotto,weonlykilleachothet,wouldapplytothe
oldlcelandiclandedgentty,thegolar andwealthyhomesteadets.
Eyrbyga is at once a tegional histoty dealing with the families on
Snaefellsnes andHelgafell, andthestotyofSnottiGo|. lnsofatasitis
Snotti'sstoty(hectopsupinothetsagas,suchastheLaxdaela Saga, Nal's
Saga, and Grettir's Saga, but inEyryga he has a centtal tole), this saga
tesembles othets focused onindividuals (Gisla Saa, Kormak's Saga, etc.).
ButSnottiisalways seeninthemidstofsocialinttigue, conspitacy, and
conuict.Futthetmote,as1eodoteAndetssonpointsout(p. !6!), heisno
standatdsagaheto,attagicchieftainwhosuccumbsintheend,otendsup
dominating his neighbots, but a shtewd, politic chieftain who is not
aftaidtoassetthisauthotitybutwhoknowsthelimitsofhispowet. . . .
Hiscateetisnot aptogtessionofttiumphsbuildingup toapositionof
unchallengedsuptemacyotawebofcitcumstancesleadingtoanoisyfall,
butanaltetnationofnicelyweighedsuccessesandinconclusive setbacks
. . . His] attitudebothinsuccess anddefeatis chatactetizedbycaution
and modetation. He eposes himselfneithet to a loss ofteputation
thtough ecessive yielding not to tettibution thtough ecessive
aggtessiveness. His countetpatt, pethaps, in Gteek Epic is the wily
Odysseus."Thepointlwishtomakehete,howevet,isthatSnottiGoiisa
man ofadaits, intimatelyinvolved insocialptocess, shtewdtathetthan
good,butnotbadeithet,atonceacatalystandmediatotofsocialconmct.
lnasocietystillinptocessofgenetatinglegaltulesandptocedutes,sttong
men oftenhad tecoutse to self-help andtheideal ofdreng-skapr, manly
honot, high-mindedness,valot, made it amattet ofskimm, shame, dis-
honot,otdisgtace,tositidlyby(at sita hja} wheninsultedotinutedand
failtouseone'sweapons.Menlike SnottiGoigainedpowetandlegit-
imacybymanipulatingthiscodeandthesemeanstotheitownadvantage,
and also nndingittotheitown advantagetocteatemoteedectivepublic
tules andsanctionsagainst atbittatyviolence. Pethapsthisiswhy such a
cool, amotalman utged the lcelandets so vehemently to accept Chtis-
tianity. He sawitas a dampetondreng-skar. lnEyrbyga, Snotti tepte-
sents the cautious tides ofconscious histotical change modifying the
honot-shame system ofbeliefs that gave the feud what meaning it
possessed.
TheplotofEyrbyga isfaitlysimple.Iikesomeothetsagasitbegins
withasketchofHataldFaithait'sattempttodominateptoudlocalchief-
lingsinNotway.Thenithomesinontwoofthesetebels,Thorolf Mostur
Beard and Bjorn the Eastman. It isi mportant for the development of the
saga that Thorolf was devoted to the god Thor and dedicated a mountain
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT IIj
on Thot's Ness (between Vigta Fotd and Hofsvag) to the stotm god.
Thot,though,wasalsotheguatdianoflawandusticeinthecommunity,
oaths wete swotn on holy tings keptin his temples, and the Genetal
AssemblyoflcelandalwaysopenedonaThutsday(hot'sDay) .Thotolf
calledthemountainHelgaFell, sactedmountain.Thotolfwasoneofthe
otiginal eer,andheheldhisThing(disttictassembly)onthepointofthe
Thot'sNessheadlandwhetethehigh-seatpillats ofhisfotmettempleto
ThotinNotwayhadcomeashote.AtitheHistotian'sflendingabo' andthe
Book r Settlements (Landnamabo'), ptobably wtittenbyhimtoo, showitas
thecommonptacticeofthepioneetsettletstothtowthehigh-seatpillats
oftheithouseottempleintotheseabefotelanding,followthemin,then
takepossessionofalatgepatceloflandbehindwhetethey cameashote.
Botn Ketilsson had been beftiended once in Notway by Thotolfat
Mostut (whence Thotolfgot his name Mostut-Beatd~he was a tall,
sttong man . . . vety handsome with a long beatd). Botn had been
outlawedbyKingHataldandThotolfhelpedhimescapetotheHebtides
bygivinghimamagnIncentlongshipwithagoodnghtingctew.Botn,
adoughtypagan, couIdnotstandtheChtistianfaith ofhis kinwhohad
settledintheHebtidesandaftettwoyeatsbetookhimtohisoldbenefac-
tot Thotolf btinging with him Thotolts son Hallstein who had been
enttustedtohimfotfostetingbyhisfathet.WithThotoltsapptovalBotn
tookpossessionoflandbetweentheStafRivetandHtaunFotd,andbuilt
his fatmatBotgatholtinBotn'sHaven.Thesagadeclates(Palssonand
Edwatds !973.42) that Hallstein Thotolfsson thought it a slut on his
manhood(dreng-skapr) thatheshouldbegtantedlandbyhisownfathet, so
he ctossed ovetto the othet side ofBteida Fotd, stakedhis own claim
thete,andsettledatHallstein'sNess.
We canseealteadyftomthisbtiefnattativehowettaotdinatilyindi-
vidualisticthesesettletswete.Theydidindeedtespectfamily ties,butit
wasimpottantfotthemtochoose totespectthem.NowondetIewisHenty
Motgan in his classical study ofkinship tetminology, Systems r Con
sanuinity and Afnity r the Human Family (!87!),shouldhaveconsidetedthe
lcelandicsystemofkinnomenclatutetheputesteampleofadesctiptive
system, as opposed to the classincatoty systems familiat to most
anthtopologistsinptelitetatesocieties.Akinshiptetmthatincludessev-
etal kinship types is said to classify these kinship types togethet (as
whetefathet, fathet'sbtothet,fathet'sfathet'sbtothets, etc. , ate classined
togethetasfathets). Ahighlydesctiptivesystemlikethe!celandicdoes
notclassifymothet'sbtothet andfathet'sbtothettogethetas uncle as
evenEnglishdoes,but,foteample,distinguishesfour-br6oir ftomm6our
br6lr, fathet's btothet ftom mothet's btothet andflr-m6tor ftom
tru5lr-m6tir, fathet's mothet ftommothet'smothet, instead ofclassi-
fying them together as "grandmother" as we would inEnglish. Highly
descriptive systems tend to be aCcompaniCd by kinship statuses that arc
II PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
highIy diEcrcntiatcd and invoIvc diEcrcnt roIc cpcctations for ncarIy
cvcryoncofgo'skinsmcn,vhiIchighIycIassihcatorysystcmsarcIikcIy
tobcaccompanicdbystatuscsvithmorc gcncraIroIcobIigationsthatarc
thcsamcforIargccIasscsofgo'skinsfoIk. ForcampIc,in!ccIandifonc
mansIcv anothcrit vas considcrcdhonorabIc cithcrto scckbIood-com-
pcnsation or bIood-vcngcancc from thc kiIIcr himself; in many parts of
Africa, hovcvcr, rctribution couId bc sought from any mcmbcrman,
voman, orchiIdofthc sIaycr'sIincagcor cIan, aII indccd, vho "sharcd
substancc" vith him. !nthc formcr casc, thc moraI unit vas apcrson, in
thcIattcrcasc,agroup.
To rcturntoEyrbyga: !ccIandicvomcngcncraIIycnjoycdhighstatus
and vcrc aIso ctrcmcIy individuaIistic. This is ccmpIihcd by thc nct
promincnt scttIcr, Aud thc Occp-Mindcd (vho appcars in scvcraI sagas
andvasoncofthcmostrcmarkabIcpcrsonagcsinancicnt!ccIand),vhois
aIsoknovnasLnnthcOccp-Mindcd(e.g, inthcLaxdaela Saga). Shcvas
thcsistcrofBjornthcastman.bothvcrcchiIdrcnofagrcatchicftainin
Morvay and Iatcr grcat viking "vho conqucrcd and took ovcr thc
Hcbridcs" (p. 36).Audhadbccn marricdto CIafthcWhitcdcscribcdin
Eyrbygya as thc "grcatcst varrior-king at that timc in thc British !sIcs."
WhcnhcrsonvaskiIIcdhghtingthc Scots atCaithncss,Audhttcd outa
ship "Ioadcdvith richcargo," accordingtoLaxdaela, "andbrought avay
vith hcr aII ofhcr kinsfoIk vho vcrcIcft aIivc. And thcrc is scarccIy an
campIc knovn to mcn, of anothcr voman having got avay, singIc-
handcd, out ofsuch grcat straits vith so much vcaIth and so Iargc a
company" (VcbIcn I925.6). Aftcr manyadvcnturcs, Aud vas rcccivcd in
grandstyIcbyhcrbrothcrBjornthcastmaninthcBrcidaFjordcountry,
hnaIIybuiIdingaIargcfarmstcadncarthcHvammsord, atHvamm. Shc
aIso"tookvidcIands"roundabout,vhichshcdistributcdamonghcrkin
and othcr foIIovcrs, byhcr gcncrosityshovinghcr 'high-mindcdncss'."
But hcr dcsccndants do not rcaIIy cntcr Eyrbyga; intcrcstingIy cnough,
shcvas ananccstrcssbothofAri and SnorriSturIuson, thcmainknovn
vritcrsvhohavcgivcnusknovIcdgcofancicnt!ccIand.
Four othcr pionccr scttIcrs shouId bc mcntioncd. Gcirrod, vhosc
sistcr Gcirridvas aIsograntcdIand vcst ofLrthvaIar Fjord, and vhosc
farmstcadvasCndurdayr,fromvhichthcsagatakcsitsnamc,Asbrand
ofKambonthccastcrnshorcofHvammFjord, andFinngcir,vhocamc
vithGcirrod,andvhoscttIcdatAIftaord.WithThoroIfandBjorn,thcy
vcrc foundcrs ofpatri-groups, thrcc to four gcncrations dccp, vhosc
intcractions,amicabIcorhostiIc, composcthcmainstructuraIdynamico|
thcsaga.
Cnc ofmy dimcuItics in dcscribing and anaIyzing cpisodcs in
Eyrbygya associaIdramashasbccntoIocatcphysicaIIy manyofthe pIaccs
mcntioncdinthe text. ! have quite a good map o|modern Iceland, but its
scale, even so, docs not allow mc to pi11point individual farmsteads in
THE SAGA AND MEANING-ASSIGNMENT JJ]
smaII districts. Morcovcr, thc namcs ofpIaccs
_
avc changcd in thc thou-
sandycarsthathavc passcd fromsagatimctomodcrntimc. SurprisingIy
though,scvcraIhavcnot changcd andthishasbccn ahcIpinmappingthc
sccncs ofthc saga. Thc transIation ! havc ofEyrbygya has no map, but
scvcraIvcrymanditiontctsofothcrsagascovcrsomcofthcrcgionin
vhich Eyrbyga's cvcnts took pIacc. But thcsc vcry gaps havc pcrhaps
somchcuristicvaIuc, forthcycnabIcmc to mcntionthctypcs ofdataan
anthropoIogistshouIdIookforintrying to charactcrizc thc structurc and
propcrtics ofa hcId ofsociaI action. !foncvcrc to rcgard Eyrbyga, for
campIc,asanaccountconstrucdfromthcnarrativcsofscvcraIgiftcdand
rcIiabIcnativcinformants, onc vouId Iist thc principaI actors and try to
discovcr information aboutthcmvhich vouId partIy accountfor thcir
bchaviorvis-a-Visoncanothcr. CncsubsctofinformationvouIdbchov
` thcy vcrc rcIatcd, ifat aII, by kinship and amnity, vhcthcr thcy vcrc
Iinkcdorscparatcdby cIass, rank, vcaIth,poIiticaIintcrcst, rcIigiousroIc.
Cnc advantagc of!ccIandic data is that "thanks to thc IivcIy intcrcst in
history and gcncaIogy ofthc carIy !ccIandcrs vc arcabIc to foIIov thc
bcginningsand grovthofthcnation . . . vhichisprobabIythconIy onc
in thc CIdWorId knoving its origin, sincc thc scttIcmcnt ofthccountry
took pIacc vithinhistoricaI timcs, and no aborigincs vcrc to bc found
thcrc vhcn thc Morvcgian scttIcrs arrivcd in thc ninth ccntury"
(Hcrmannsson I93O.I). ThusvccantraccthcintcrrcIations ofgroupsof
scttIcrs, thcir Iovcs, hatcs, fcuds, coaIitions, rcconciIiations, ovcr scvcraI
gcncaIogicaIgcncrations, notinghovthcvay oncdramavas concIudcd
mayprovidcthcconditionsforthcgcncrationofanothcrastimcgocson.
Wc canaIsotraccthc dcvcIopmcnt ofcharactcr asindividuaIsmaturc. Wc
candctcctaIsoarhythminindividuaIIivcsandingroups'aEairs.Thcrcis
intcnscIocaIization.AsGudbrandVigfusson(I879.i)notcd.
ach cIustcr ofdaIcs opcning on a scparatcbay, nay, cach daIcitscIf
posscsscd an individuality and Iifc ofits ovn, vithin thc circIc of
vhich a man's days vcrc mainIy passcd, and thc morc so as ncarIy
cvcryhrthhadbccnoriginaIIythc'cIaim' ofasingIcscttIcr, vhohad
dividcdit outbygiItorsaIcamong his kinsmcn ordcpcndcnts,Iatcr
comcrs bcing obIigcd to buy ofthc carIicr scttIcrs vhcrc and hov
thcy couId. Thus ascrics ofaImost' famiIy' groupsvas formcd, cach
IivingitsovnIifcamiditsovnintcrcsts,carcs,andpoIitics.
ThcrcarcaIsovhatVigfussoncaIIcd"tvogrcatoutIcts" (p.i). Cnc
vas thcAlthin, thc othcr thc Sea. ! vouId say that both ofthcsc rcprc-
scntcd"Iiminoid"*aItcrnativcstoIifcinthcIocaIcommunity.ThcAIthing
" Liminoid" resembles "liminal,'' which refers to the middle phase of a rite of passage.
J..i minoid activities nrc mnrginnl, frngmentnry, outside the central economic and political
prOccsca.
.
II8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
gavc thc !ccIandcr thc scnsc ofcommunity, a "normativc communitas"
transccnding narrov IocaIizcd tics and ofthc grovth ofa gcncraIizcd
systcm ofIav as against thc famiIy fcud. At thc AIthing and indccd at
QuartcrandOistrictThingsthcrcvcrcaIsofcasts,fairs, andgamcs (asat
Tarainancicnt!rcIandandthc!sthmusofCorinthinancicntGrcccc) .Thc
sagas arc rcpIctc vith dcscriptions of thc bustIing Iifc of thc AIthing
fortnight, vhich aIso containcd thc High Summcr FcstivaI, dcdicatcd to
thc fcrtiIcpovcr ofthc sun. Wc rcadofgamcs ofhurIing and offootbaII,
ofmatchmaking,offcasting,andabovcaII,ofthcrccitaIofstoricsbythosc
vho couIdtcII bcst thcIcgcnds and traditions ofthcir scvcraI districts-
pcrhapsthcscttingforthc prcIitcratc oraIbcginnings ofthcfamiIy saga.
Wc hcaraIso ofspringand autumn sacrihccs (cspcciaIIy toThor), vhich
sccm to havc coincidcd vith and vcrc hcId at thc district things. Vig-
fussongivcsussomcidcaofthccommunitasthatprcvaiIcdatyuIctidc,thc
vintcr fcastvhcnkin, fricnds, and ncighbors, vouId gcttogcthcrat onc
ofthcIargcrfarmstcadsinthcdaIc(. xxii).
Thc homcIy Iifc ofthosc days, vhiIc it kcpt cvcry man in his ovn
pIacc, yct toIcratcd no formaI scparation ofranks, and thc mcancst
thraIIsharcdviththchighcstchicfinthchospitaIityandrcIaxationof
thcscason.
Thcothcr IiminoidoutIctvasthc Sca. Thcsagashavc an aImostobIiga-
tory chaptcr or tvo about thc ovcrscas vandcrings ofyoung vcII-born
!ccIandcrs, cithcr to thc mothcrIands ofScandinavia, orfurthcr ahcId, to
thcMcditcrrancanIands,cvcntoConstantinopIctohghtinthcByzantinc
mpcror'sVarangianGuard.Tradcandvarvcrcthcoccupationsofthcsc
youngVikings.SomcvcntovcrscasbccauscthcyvcrcoutIavcdforfcud-
ing as vas Eirik the Red, discovcrcr of GrccnIand. (Hc had kiIIcd
Torgcst'ssonsanditvaspartIyductoSnorriGoJ'sdipIomacythatirik
vas not attackcdbyThorgcst's foIIovcrs at thcAIthing.) Thc Sca vas thc
grcatromanccinaIifcthatvasmainIyhshinginspring, haymaking, and,
in spots, grain harvcst in summcr, in autumnkiIIing bcasts and saIting
mcat for thc vintcr, in vintcr itscIL aftcr voodcutting and stump-
grubbing had procurcd fucI, vcaving, spinning, boat buiIding and thc
making and mcnding offarm impIcmcnts. !t sccms that thcrc vcrc no
spcciaIizcdpcrformativcgcnrcs,suchasmusic,dancing,ordrama, butitis
IikcIy that thc dccIaiming ofvcrscs andthc tcIIing ofstorics vcrc fuII o

dramatic, musicaI, and diaIogicaI cIcmcnts. Thcy vcrc pcrformanccs

indccd!
O
Confct in Socia Atropologca
and P
s
choanaytca Teory
Umbanda in Rio de Janeiro
nthispapcr!vantto discuss con-
ictbctvccnandvithinpcopIc,whether and,ifso,how thcyarcconncctcd,
andifsociaI anthropoIogy andpsychoanaIysis canjointIy contributcto a
gcncraIthcoryofhumanconict. I shaIItakc as cascmatcriaI astudyby
Yvonnc VcIho ofconicts shc obscrvcd in a cuIt ccntcr (terreiro) ofthc
Lmbanda rcIigion in Rio dc )anciro. !n thrcc months thc ccntcr vas
foundcd, cxpcricnccd crisis, and camc to an cnd, a proccss minutcIy
obscrvcd by VcIho. !n addition, shc coIIcctcd Iifc historics offour pro-
tagonists. Thcsc arc not ncarIy as dctaiIcd as cIinicaI anaIytic data, but
ncvcrthcIcss providc rcLabIccIucstothcmotivcs, conscious anduncon-
scious,impcIIingthcactorsinthcsociaIdrama.VcIhomadcaconsidcrabIc
| mpact onBraziIian sociaI thought inhcr book cntitIcd Guerra de Orixd:
Um Estudo de Ritual e Corito; Ur i Orixd: A Study i Ritual and Corict
(!975).Orixd mcans,forpracticaIpurposcs,thcsupcrnaturaIcntitics,gods,
orspiritsvhoarc"rcccivcd"bymcdiumsinLmbandistscssionsor,tousc
anothcr cuItic idiom, arc "incorporatcd" vith thcm. A "var oforixd"
rc|crs, in this idiom, to a struggIc bctvccntvo mcdiums in vhich thc
godsandlorspiritsvho habituaIIy "ridc" thoscmcdiumsas thcir "horscs"
tOHCintoconHictandtrytocapturcandimprisonthciroppositcnumbcrs
|n thcworIdo|"invisibIcs." Such supcrnaturaIconictsprovidcthcidiom
!!
I2C PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
inwhich actual con0icts fot impottant toles and omces in the cult ate
conducted We will thus be consideting con0ict on thtee levels. (1) the
netwotkofactually eisting socialtelations whichcomptisesthesocial
sttuctute ofa cult centet, (2) the teligious beliefs and ptactices ofits
membets,and(3) the mentalandemotionalptocesses ofthesemembets,
inothetwotds,onthesocial,cultutal,andpsychologicallevels
Two senses ofcon0ict' may be distinguished, both detived ftom
ubster's Ne Trld Dictionar: (1) shatpdisagteementotopposition, as of
intetests, ideas, and so on, clash, and (2) emotional distutbancetesulting
ftom a clash ofopposing impulses ot ftom an inability to teconcile
impulseswithtealisticotmotalconsidetationsThentstfallseasilyinto
the ptovince ofthe anthtopologist His notebooks, since Malinowski's
Crime and Custom in Primitive Society, ate lled with accounts ofpetiodic
ittuptionsofsttifeoutofpetmanentsttugglesbetweentypesofpets

s,
gtoups,otcategotiesondietentsidesofadominantcleavageotsubsidi-
aty cleavage in the total social system studied (ttibe, ptovince, village,
family, and so on) ot inone ofits patts Ma Gluckman sees sttuggles
atisingoutofwhatheseesasce|c|~ofintetestotloyaltyotallegianceot
valueinthesystem.Con0icts,inhisview,canbetesolvedinthepattetnof
theptevailingsystem,whathecallscontradictions cannot,butleadsteadily
to tadical changes ofpattetn (Gluckman 1958:46). The second type of
con0ictcanbestbeanalyzedbypsychologists. Heteadistinction should
bemadebetweennotmalandneutotic emotionaldistutbanceThetst
involves aconscious choiceofloyaltiesotintetestssuchascanbeteadily
detectedinthedesctiptive dataofanthtopologistsThesecondtelatesto
unconsciousconuictlnTe Ego and the Id, Fteudwatnedagainstdetiving
neutosesftomacon0ict,tout simple, betweentheconsciousandtheuncon-
scious,tegatdingit tathet asptoceedingftomthe antithesisbetweenthe
cohetent ego and the teptessed wish which is split offftom it ln The
Question i Lay Analysis, heelabotatedonthisbysuggestingthattheessence
ofaneutosisconsistsinthefactthattheegoisunabletofulnllthefunction
ofmediatingbetweentheid andteality. lnthispapet lwillsuggestthat
the cultutal symbols ofUmbanda in some measute substitute fot the
feeblenessoftheegointhusmediatingHowevet, somecosttothecohe-
sionofthetitualcommunityis incutted, since actotswho might othet-
wisehavetemainedsociallyunviablethtoughneutosishavebeenableo
manipulatesuchcultutalsymbolstofutthettheitintetestsin social con-
0icts.GezaRoheim(1968:74) wtotethatthedietencebetweenaneutosis
and asublimationis evidently the social aspect ofthephenomenon. "A
neutosis isolates, a sublimation unites l would ptefet, in this papet, to
think ofaneutosis as sealing oanindividualftomsocialcontentionin
his/het enclosed domain ofpsychological conuict But tbe psychic
defense system," wbicb Robeim and, atet him, Mclotd Spito wou|d
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I2I
identifywithcultute,teptesentedinthispapetbythetitualandmythic
symbols ofUmbanda,intendetingtheUmbandistnotmal,enableshim
to entet into social con0ict with gusto. Out data will ptovide us with
somebasisfotconsidetingthetelationshipbetweenso-calledmadness
and so-called notmality ot cultute, fot Umbandists have theit own
dennitionofmadness,whichlthinkyoumaynndintetesting.
Velhofounditusefultousemyconceptofsocialdtama''(seeChap-
tet 9, pp 215 -221 ; Chaptet 10, pp. 230 -232; and Epilogue, pp
291 -292) inattemptingtoaccountfotthedistutbancesandctiseswhich
she obsetved in the social life ofthe cult-centet l had developed this
fotmulafothandlingsituationsoftecuttentcon0ictdutingmyneldwotk
among the Ndembu people ofnotthwestetn Zambia My obsetvations
wete made in small villages whose cotes wete clustets ofmattilineal
kinsfolkButlhavesincefoundthe sameptocessualfotmin societies of
muchgteatetcompleityandscale.Asocialdtamabeginswith abteach
oftegulatnotm-govetnedsocialtelations, signalizedby apublic ttans-
gtession ofa salient tule notmally binding on membets ofthe gtoup
beingstudied.Thismaybeanovettuoutingofalawotcustomtomake
inevitableatestingpoliticalptocess, otitmaytesultftomanoutbutstof

viuslsu tessedfeelings s ne,which l call is

followedbyactisis
.
nwhichitsadtothimts patties
nvoIved,g to iIl_toups ofwhich
theyatemembetsThissecondphaselcallctisi Vatiousadustiveand

ssivemec smsateh yedtoseaoqp_athebteach_

allTh_ t of
_
elationsot
social tecogtuittepatable bteachbetween the contesting patties
Redtession sor:tmal
atbittati
'+9
solve
cettainkmds ofctisis, t
_
p ;itual Muchofmy
data consisted tdnct tepotting, but l was alteady halfway towatds
psychologicalmodes ofeplanationwhen l wasfotced at times~teluc-
tantly,then,duetomyDutkheimianbackgtound~totelyontheaccounts
ofmyinfotmants Soonl tealizedthatitwastheitvetybiasthatwasof
centtal impottance Fottheaimofthe socialdtamais not to ptesent a
seemingly obective tecitalofa seties ofevents, it is concetned, tathet,
withthe dietentintetptetations put upon thoseevents, andthewaysin
whichthesegivesubtleeptessiontodivetgentintetestsotswitchesinthe
balanceofpowetlnow considetthatsuchintetptetationsatethemselves
inuencedbyunconsciousfactots~wishes, anieties, ego-defensemech-
anisms~whichateinaccessibletotheteseatchmethodsandtechniquesof
socialanthtopology. Thestudyofsocialdynamics, asopposedto that of
social and/ot cognitive sttuctute, necessatily involves psychological
approachcs. Asocialdtamaengendetsasociopsychical neld fotwhose
I22 PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
"cvcnts" thcrc arc cIcarIy scvcraI dimcnsions ofintcrprctation, ranging
fromthcbiochcmicaI, physioIogicaI, andncuroIogicaI, tothcpsychoIogi-
caIand socioIogicaI. achtypcof:ntcrprctationansvcrssomcprobIcms,
butnotaII.LikcMaGIuckmanandIyOcvons,inthcir!ntroductionto
Closed Systems and Open Minds: The Limits q Naivet in Social Anthropolo
(!964), ! havc aIvays hcId that oncmust bcscrupuIousIy cIcar invhich
dimcnsion oncis opcrating. For actionsmayhavcdiEcrcntsignihcanccin
thc diEcrcnt dimcnsions. For campIc, a smiIc may bc a tokcn ofsociaI
amityinasocioIogicaIanaIysisandovcruyrcspondcd to assuch,butfor
thc dcpthpsychoIogist may bc asign ofrcprcsscdaggrcssionvhichviII
havc bchavioraI conscqucnccs for thc actor Iatcr on. McvcrthcIcss, and
cspcciaIIy vhcn onc is dcaIing vim rituaI symboIs and bcIicfs as thc
contcntofsociaIforms, thcanthropoIogistcannotcscapcthcfactthatthc
intcractions hc obscrvcs as thcy dcvcIop arc constanuy bcing shapcd by
intrapsychic factors and cannot bc cpIaincd avay as mcrc conformity
vith ctcrnaI cuIturaI norms. As McIford Spiro has vrittcn. "SociaI
bchavior. . . ismorcIikcIytobcthccndproductofachainofintcracting
psychoIogicaIcvcnts, incIudingimpuIsc (id), cuIturaIandpcrsonaI vaIucs
(supcrcgo), conct bctvccn thcm, and dcfcnsc against conct, vhich
onIythcncvcntuatcsinbchavior"(incd.GcorgcSpindIcr !978.356).Most
ofthc timc, bchaviorthc cnd product ofthis chaindocs conform to
norms, but in sociaI dramas, thc controIs vhich cnsurc this arc oftcn
brokcnandonccncountcrsthcbchavioraImanifcstationofthosc"discon-
tcnts"FrcudsavassoimportantforsociocuIturaIdynamics.
VcIho cpcricnccdsomc dimcuItics inattcmptingto appIythc sociaI
drama modcI to hcr study ofLmbandistas in conict. My modcI vas
dcrivcdfromthcstudyofAfricanviIIagcs,inasmaII-scaIcsocictyvhcrc
thc kinship systcm providcd a structuraI framc for anaIyzing thc rcg-
uIaritics ofthc sociaI proccss. Such a socicty has vcII-dchncd group
boundaricsvithacorrcspondingIymarkcdprohIcinthcdcvcIopmcnt of
sociaIcvcnts.VcIho'scuIt ccntcrvascmbcddcdin a compIcurbanm-
icu.!tsmcmbcrsvcrcdravnfrommanyvaIksofIifc,somcvcrcdchncd
in BraziIian tcrms as "bIack," somc as "vhitc", diEcrcnccs ofcIass and
cducation manifcstcd mcmscIvcs during thc drama, in short thcir Iifc
cpcricnccsvcrcgrcatIydivcrsc.Again,unIikeAfricanviIIagcrs,thcydid
notIivctogcthcrbutinvariousurbanIocaIitics.vcninthcirrituaIprac-
ticcsthcydiEcrcd, coming fromdiEcrcntcuIt ccntcrs, thcy hadidiosyn-
craticvicvsonhovthcritcsshouIdbcpcrformcd, for Lmbandahasno
authoritativcIiturgicaImanuaI.Morcovcr,thccuItccntcrvasthccrcation
ofvoIuntary action. !n African vilIagcs, kin tics rcsuIt from birth and
invoIvc cuIturaIIy spccihc rights and obIigation: status-roIcs arc ascribcJ
rathcrthanachicvcd. AviIIagchcadmanis rituaIIy invcstcd vith ccrtain
povcrs, priviIcgcs and capacitics, and vith Icgitimacy, in thc cuIt ccntcr
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I2
Icadcrship tcnds to bccharismatic and to cmcrgc from succcssfuI mcdi-
umistic pcrformancc. A viIIagc is thc sccnc ofits mcmbcrs' totaIIifc, of
thcir cconomic, domcstic, rcIigious, poIiticaIand Icisurc activitics. A cuIt
ccntcris onIy activcvhcnits mcmbcrs havchnishcd vork at mcir gco-
graphicaIIy scattcrcd occupations. Thcir intcractionis, as it vcrc, singIc-
strandcd, simpIc, notmuItipIcasinthc casc ofviIIagcrs vho pcrform
most ofthciractivitics viththc samc sct ofpcopIc, a group ofkin and
amncs. As GIuckman hasvrittcn. "!n thcvcry conditions ofaIargc city,
IookcdatincontrasttotribaIsocicty, thcvariousroIcs ofmostindividuaIs
arc scgrcgatcdfromoncanothcrsinccthcyarcpIaycdondiEcrcntstagcs"
(!962.35). Cnc vouId, thcrcforc, on this argumcnt not cpcct to hnd
conict on thc scaIc in vhich it cistcd in VcIho's cuIt ccntcr, sincc,
GIuckmancontinucs,"inmodcrnsocictynotonIyarcroIcsscgrcgatcdbut
aIsoconictsbctvccnroIcsarcscgrcgatcd"(GIuckman !962:38).Furthcr,
GIuckman argucs that rituaI is so frcqucnt and fundamcntaI in tribaI
socicty "bccausc mcn and vomcn . . . pIay so many ofthcir purposivc
roIcsviththcsamcsctoffcIIovs.achactionis [thusj chargcdvithhi
moral import. Aman'sactionsasvorkcrarcnotscgrcgatcdfromhisactions
asfathcr bybcingpIaccdina diEcrcntbuiIdingvith a spcciaIizcd sct of
fcIIovs. Hisachicvcmcntas afarmcrdirccuyaEcctshispositionasfathcr,
as brothcr, as son, as husband, as pricst, or as vorshippcr. That is, thc
moraIjudgmcntonamanvho ncgIcctshisvorkasacuItivatorappIicsto
hisrcIationvithhisvifc,hisbrothcrs,hischicLhissubsistcnccgroupasa
vhoIc.ConvcrscIy, ifamanquarrcIsvithhisvifcorhisbrothcrthismay
aEcctthcirabiIityto coopcratcinfarming.vcryactivityischargcdvith
compIcmoraIcvaIuations, anddcfauItstrikcs not at isoIatcd roIcs but at
thc intcgraI rcIations vhich contain many roIcs. ! mink that it is this
compound ofmoraI cvaIuation andthc sprcading cEcctofbrcac
_
ofroIc,
vhich accounts for thc vay rituaIs arc attachcd to so many changcs of
activityintribaIsocicty"(GIuckman !968.28).
GIuckmansccmsto bcsayingthatrituaIs in tribaI socictyarcfunc-
tionaIcquivaIcnts ofspatiaI scparation inmodcrn socicty, for itis rituaI,
not spacc, vhich scgrcgatcs roIcs from onc anothcr vhcn rcIations arc
muItipIc." RituaI hcrc sccms to bc a mcchanism ofthc sociocuIturaI
mainstrcam, in no vay a Icisurc activity sct apart for voIuntaristic par-
ticipation. Mov ! am going to prcscnt VcIho's data vhich documcnts a
highIcvcIofconicttakingpIacconvhatGIuckmanvouIdcaIIa"scgrc-
gatcdstagc''thatis,thccuItccntcrinacompIcurbanizcdsocicty(notc
thc thcatricaI mctaphor) . Why shouId rituaIizcd conictbcshovcd oEon
tothisstagcor"arcna"Lctmcstatchcrcatthcoutsct,sothatyoucanscc
vhat ! am up to immcdiatcIy and arc put in a position to raisc vaIid
objcctionsaboutmyhandIingofVcIho'sdata,that!havcconcIudcdonthc
basiso|cthcrstudicsthatsociocuIturaIactiviticscan bcroughIydividcdin
Iz| PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
aII cuIturcs bctvccnthosc vhich corrcspond vith thc inicative moodof
vcrbs andothcrs vhichhavc many ofthc propcrtics ofthc subjunctive or
optative mood. This distinction bccomcs morc cIcar-cut as socictics
dcvcIopinscaIcandcompIcxityandspcciaIization,butaIrcadyitcxistsin
tribaI socictics, bctvccnpragmatic andrituaI activitics. Thc diEcrcnccis
bctvccn vhat is cuIturaIIy dchncd as "vhat is" and "vhat miht be,"
bctvccnvhatcommonscnscprcscntsas "causcandcEcct," "rcaIity," and
vhatmayrcprcscntarangcofpIausibIcorfancifuIaItcrnativcstothctricd
and tcstcd. Thcsc may rangc from scicntihc hypothcscs, thc domain of
"as-iL" vhich viII bc cxposcd to vigorous cmpiricaI rcaIity-tcsting, to
fantasticaI or utopian aItcrnativcs, vhcrc vishcs prcdominatc ovcr prac-
ticaIcxpcricncc.ThisdistinctionmakcspossibIcthcvicvthatincompIcx
socictics thc arts, incIuding Iitcraturc and thcatcr, scicncc, in its crcativc
aspcct ncccssitating hypothcsis, and rituaI, both rcIigious and sccuIar,
vhichoftcn"pIays"mctaphoricaIIyviththcfactorsofsociocuIturaIcxpc-
ricncc, bccomc thc Icgitimatc diaIccticaI partncrs of"factuaIity," thc
domain of pragmaticaI handIing of historicaI "rcaIity" in any givcn
cuIturc. This provocativc dichotomy bctvccn fact and pIay, indicativity
and subjunctivity, at thc cuIturaIIcvcImakcs possibIc, ifnotincvitabIc, a
sort ofpIuraI rccxivity in socictics, vhcrcby a community ofhuman
bcings sharing a tradition ofidcas and customs may bcnd cxistcntiaIIy
back upon itscIfand survcy its cxtant condition not soIcIy in cognitivc
tcrms but aIso by mcans oftropcs, mctaphors, mctonyms, and symboIic
conhgurations, vhichmaygivcit somccxistcntiaI scnsc ofvhcrcitrcaI-
isticaIIy,cthicaIIy,orprophcticaIIystandsvithrcfcrcncctoitsovnpast,its
aspirations,anditsrcIationstoothcrsociocuIturaIgroups.Thcopposition,
indicativclsubjunctivc, is not prcciscIy homoIogous vith thc distinction,
consciouslunconscious, in dcpth psychoIogy, but inasmuch as thc sub-
junctivc is dccIarativcIy opcn to thc inucnccs ofviIIing, dcsiring, and
fccIing, dcfcnscs against unconscious drivcs and idcas arc to that cxtcnt
rcduccd in scopcand cmcacy, aIIoving unconscious phcnomcna, opcnIy
orincongcniaIdisguisc,tocmcrgcintopubIicvisibiIity. Thisinsightinto
thcIinkbctvccnthcsubjunctivcandcmotionstaIIicsrcmarkabIyviththc
Iink bctvccnthc right ccrcbraI hcmisphcrc and thc Iimbic systcm taIkcd
about in Chaptcr IIofthis book.j What may bc causc foridiosyncratic,
privatc rcprcssion, may not bc causc for pubIic, gcncraIizcd rcprcssion,
thatvhichconvuIscsanindividuaIvithpainfuIaEcct,mayhavcahcaIing
functionvhcnmythoIogizcdasadatumofasubjunctivcgcnrcofcuIturaI
pcrformancc. A pIcasurc sharcd may bc a pIcasurc doubIcd, but an
"unpIcasurc" sharcdmaybcan "unpIcasurc" haIvcd, orcvcncxtinguishcd
bythccIicitation ofsympathy, thccxpcricnccofvhat !havc caIIcd com-
munitas,vhichisrcIatcdncssamongindividuaIsvithoutjudgmcntaIity.
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO Iz]
Mycasc, as against GIuckman's, is that a rituaI systcmin a modcrn
urban sctting, such as Lmbanda, is a rccxivc institution, vhat CIiEord
Gccrtz has caIIcd "a mctasociaI commcntary," aIbcit onc actcd outrathcr
thanintcIIcctuaIizcd,vhcrcby thc "atomizcd" citizcns (inBraziIthcscarc
oftcnIabormigrantsfromruraI arcas to thccitics) actoutin symboIic or
mctapho

ic guiscthcconictsandtcnsionsproduccdby thcir uprooting

andrcsituatinginavorIdofcommcrccandindustryframcdbyapoIiticaI
systcm bascd on miIitary and poIicc forcc. Lmbanda is thc subjunctivc
countcrstrokcvhichmakcsviabIcformanythcsociaIIimitations ofBra-
ziIianindustriaIizcdindicativity.
BcforcvcprobcthccmpiricaIdata,onchnaIthcorcticaIpoint. Thisis
thc conccpt ofthc "star group." In compIcx socictics, vhcrc thc styIc of
voIuntarism prcvaiIs, individuaIs arc confrontcd vith a muItipIicity of
sociaI associations vhich thcy arc frcc tojoin in thcir Icisurc timc. Thc
sociaIimpuIsc,constraincdduringthcvorkingdaybycontractuaIobIiga-
tion, substituting for thc ascriptivc obIigations oftribaI Iifc, is unpcntin
nonvorkingtimc. Indccd,in burcaucratic organizations ofany compIcx-
ity,roomisIcftforjoining subgroups vithinahrm, anacadcmicinstitu-
tion,orabusincssorIaborcompIcx,duringthcvorkingday. Cnc's"star
group"isasubjcctivccatcgory. !tismadcpossibIcbyarccognitionofthc
sociaI catcgory of"thc individuaI" as a voIuntaristic cntity and by thc
gcncration ofmany voIuntary groups in a compIcx cconomico-poIiticaI
socicty. AImost cvcryonc, cxccpt conhrmcd soIipsists or thc timid or
fatigucd, has a targct-group to vhich hc bcIicvcs hc couId congcniaIIy
bcIong.ThisgroupisoncvhoscgoaIs,vaIucs,andpcrsonncIcomccIoscst
tohisidcaImodcIofhovhumanbcingsshouIdpurposivcIybchavc.Many
possibiIiticsofamIiationarcopcntomodcrn, urbanizcdmanandvoman.
Thcgroupvithvhomoncmostvants to spcndonc'stimc,invhichonc
hndsonc'sdccpcstsatisfactions,ovcrtordisguiscd,isonc's"stargroup."!t
maybc thc IocaIphiIatcIic socicty, indccd, I havc knovn coIIcagucs for
vhomitisaunivcrsityscnatcsubcommittcc.!tmaybcachurchfratcrnity,
a Lnion IocaI, an athIctic cIub, or an informaI group of fricnds vho
rcguIarIy spcnd thcir vacations togcthcr. Thc point is that an individuaI
chooses tobcIongtothcgroup, rcgardIcss ofitsobjcctivcrankingorstand-
ing. !nacompIcx socicty thcrc arc numcrousinstitutionaIizcdandinfor-
maI groups, many ofthcmarraycdinahicrarchyofstatus andinucnccd
by critcriaofsociaIstratihcation. AmongthcirmcmbcrsviIIbcaminor-
ityforvhomthcgroupisthcir"stargroup."Thcsctcndtobcthc"activ-
ists," thcIcadcrs, thcbuiIdcrs-up and sustaincrs ofits csprit dc corps, its
dcfcndcrsand ncgotiatcrs vis-a-vis thcvorIdoutsidc. Suchstargroupcrs
arcinactioninVcIho'snarrativc. Wc shaIIaIsonotcthatitisprcciscIythis
catcgory o|mcmbcrs vho arc most in contcntion. ovcrpoIicy, for omcc,
Iz PART . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
asprimcdcfcndcrsofthcgroup'shonor, andsoon. !ndccd,vcshaIIhnd
amongthcmmanyofthcattitudcsandoricntationscharactcristicofmcm-
bcrs ofan cIcmcntary fam:Iy. sibIing-rivaIry, intcrgcncrationaI conict,
ambivaIcnt fccIings, and thc Iikc. Sincc thc Lmbanda group is in thc
subjuncuvc mood, vc shouId bc abIc to dctcct in its symboI:sm and
bchavior thc opcration ofvhat in thc indicativc domain vouId rcmain
hiddcn,forinstancc,ovcrtcprcssionsofsuchunconsciousdcfcnscmcch-
anisms asprojection vhcrc thc outvard tcndcncy ofan impuIsc or drivc,
instcadofbcingrccognizcdas such, givcsrisctoafccIingthatitcistsin
othcrpcopIc, introjection andidentication, vhcrcthccgobchavcsasifithad
unconsciousIy absorbcd or, rcspcctivcIy, adsorbcd thc charactcristics of
othcrpcopIc(proccsscsobviousIycncouragcdbythcLmbandistidiomof
"incorporation' ofmc

ium and dcity or spirit), unconscious displacement

(mcan:ng to movc from its usuaI or normaI pIacc, hcrc thc cmotion is
transfcrrcdtoanothcr, morcacccptabIcobjcct)vhcrcboththcaimandthc
objccts ofimpuIscs arc aEcctcd, condensation, vhich aEccts thc form of
unconsciousidcasandpcrmitsthccprcssionoftvoormorcimpuIscsin
onc idcationaI prcscntation, and so on through thc cntirc rcpcrtoirc of
Frcudianunconsciousmcchanisms.PcrhapsaIIofthcabovcarcdcpcndcnt
uponsubIimation, sinccthcbcI:cfsandimagcrics ofLmbandaarccuIturaI
cprcssionsvhichmcdiatcbctvccnndividuaIunconsciousimpuIscs and
intcntions and thc sociaIproccsscs ofthc group making for its cohcsion
and continuity. My argumcntis that for thc Lmbandiststargroupcrs, thc
cuIt ccntcr is, in thc atomistic urban cnvironmcnt, a surrogatc famiIy.
McvcrthcIcss, sincc it is not a rcaI famIy, thc dcgrcc of rcprcssion of
IibidinaIandaggrcssivcdrivcsmustbcIcss,aIIovingformorcovcrtcon-
ict, conict vhich is mcdiatcd and rcduccd, ifnot ctinguishcd, in its
turnbysymboIicsubIimations vhich dcscuaIizcIibidinaI impuIscs and
rcdircct aggrcssivc drivcs to objccts vhich do not thrcatcn group soIi-
darity. McvcrthcIcss, as vc shaII scc, group soIidarity vcry oftcn docs
brcak dovn in thcsc urban cuIt ccntcrs, dcspitc thcsc cuIturaI dcfcnsc
mcchan:sms.ForvcarcdcaIingvithancpandingindustriaIsociaI sys-
tcmvhichburstsinhcritcdcuIturaIframcs.ThcconictsvcshaIIobscrvc
arc instructivc. Thcy dramatizc thc contradiction bctvccn cstabIishcd
mcaningandunprcccdcntcdsociaIstructuraIchangc.
The Birth, Life, and Death of the
Tenda Espiritu Caboclo Serra Negra
Lct us movc from thcorcticaI abstractions to concrctc data, VcIho' s
casc-matcriaI. Asyou may knov, thc so-caI|cdAfro-Amcricanrc|igions,
as vc|| as Kardccist spiritism, o|Frcnch origin, arc cbu||icnt|y on thc
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO Iz)
incrcasc in modcrn BraziI, vhcrc thcyvcrcthc objcct ofrcbukc from
Popc)ohnPauI!!. LitcraIIy thousands ofterreiros orcuIt ccntcrs (dcrivcd
fromthcLatinandPortugucsc tcrmterra, mcaningapicccorpIotofIand,
vithimpIicationsofthcIostruraIAfrica)havcsprungupinsuchciticsas
Rio dc)anciro, Sa PauIo, Campinas, BcIo Horizontc, and so on. ach
terreiro, vhichis oftcn no morcthan a hut in a yard, or a room, has a
mcmbcrship oftvcnty to thirty mcdiums, vith a fringc ofcIicnts and
consuItants.Thcrcarc scvcraI Ioosc fcdcrations oftcrrciros onthc urban,
statc, and cvcnnationaIIcvcIs, but thc csscntiaI unit is thc IocaIizcd cuIt
ccntcr.AIthoughLmbandahasAfro-BraziIianantcccdcntsinsuchcuItsas
CandombIc,Batuquc,KabuIa,Macumba,andothcrs, itaspircstobcinga
univcrsaIistic rcIigion and has incorporatcd not onIy aspccts ofCathoIic
rituaI but aIso bcIicfs and practiccs dravn from Spiritism, Amcrindian
rcIigion, and aIso from Asian-bascd rcIigions Iikc Thcosophy. !ts mcm-
bcrshipincIudcsmanyWhitcs, andAsians, asvcIIasBIacksandmuIattos.
Lmbandists mcct at Icast oncc a vcck to pcrform rituaI in vhat is
caIIcda"scssion."!nitthcmcdiums"rcccivc" supcrnaturaIbcings,knovn
as "orixa," "guidcs," "cntitics," or "saints" (thcsc tcrms arc intcrchangc-
abIc). McdiumsarcaIsoknovnas"horscs"tobcriddcnbythcorixa, nov
caIIcd "horscmcnorknights" (cabaIhcros). !nthccourscofatypicaIscs-
sion,scvcncatcgoricsor"Iincs"ofor:asarcinvokcd, "incorporatc"vith
mcdiums,andarc"dcspatchcd" tomakcvayforthcnct"Iinc."
Thc African inucncc is truIy vidc and dccp. As in many IiminaI
situations gcncratcdby poor orstructuraIIy "Iov" pcopIc, hctitioushicr-
archicsaboundinLmbanda.ThcmainhicrarchyisstructurcdbyAfrican,
mainIyYoruba,dcitics.ThcmajororiaiscaIIcdCaIaorZambi,Mzambi
isthc namc ofthc otiosc high godamong thc M dcmbu andmanyothcr
CcntraI Bantu-spcaking pcopIcs. CaIa has no "horsc"as thc human
medium (fcmininc,media) ofanoriaiscaIIcd. HconIyruIcs ovcrthcothcr
oriasvhoarccIassihcdintoscvcn"I:ncs" (linhas), cachIincbcingdividcd
intoscvcn"phaIancs."ThcscIincsarcbroad catcgoricsvhichdchnchov
cach oria shouId "vork" (trabalhar), that is, vhat his or hcr bchavioraI
charactcristics arc vhcn hc or shc "ridcs a horsc," in othcr vords, pos-
scsscs a mcdiumthc typc ofdancc pccuIiar to that oria, his or hcr
bodiIy man:fcstations (drcss, gcsturcs,intonation, vocabuIary, andsoon),
vhatcoIorsarcappropriatctohimorhcr, vhatdayofthcvcckisdcdi-
catcd to him or hcr, and so forth. Thc scvcn Iincs ofLmbanda arc as
|o|Iovs. (1) the line c Iemanja, a fcmaIc oria vho rcprcscnts thc sca and
rivcrs,thisIincis aIsocaIIcd "thcIinc ofthcvatcr-pcopIc." Shcisspokcn
o|asthcMcrmaidofthcSca(a Sereia do Mar), andhcrimagcmaybconcof
thc ad

ocations ofthc Virgin Mary, (2) the line c Xan8, a maIc Cria,
whosccu|tthrovcoriginaIIyamongb|acksofYorubaorigininthcrcgions
o| Pcrmtnbuc,A|agoas, and Scrgipc,rcprcscntingthundcr,tcmpcsts,and
. .
Iz8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Iightning, and thc hrc Iatcnt in stonc (CxaIa is "thc hrc ofhcavcn")-
Xang isportraycdbyanimagcofthc crusty CathoIic Saint)cromc, (3)
the line < Oxosse or ofCabocos-Oxosse is oftcnspokcn ofas a "guidc" and
rcprcscnts indigcnous or ruraI symboIic typcs, othcrvisc rcfcrrcd to as
CabocIos, a tcrm ofAmcrindian origin. Thc BraziIian vritcr OiIson
Bcnto (I979) spcaksofthisIincinIiadcan tcrms asthc"hicrophany of
ccoIogy."!tisthcprimordiaIland, asyctunravishcdbyhistory.Cxosscisa
conscrvcr, rcIatcdtovcgctation and thchcaIingpropcrtics ofhcrbs. His
ovn "phaIanx" is knovn as )urcma, (4) the line < Ogum, a maIc orixa
rcprcscntingvarandportraycdbyanimagcofthcnovdcmotcdCathoIic
Saint Gcorgc. His physicaI manifcstation is that ofa strong man vith a
svordinhishand.Hcdanccsasifhcvcrcridingonhorscback,(5)the line
< the Old Blacks (Prctos VcIhos). !ndividuaIIy thcsc havc namcs prcccdcd
by "Grand-Oad" or "Grandma" (vovos e vova) or "uncIc" or "aunt' (tios e
tias) . A pcrson posscsscd by an CId BIack vaIks vith a stooping gait,
somctimcs supportcdby a canc, and spcaks inarambIing fashion. Thcsc
cx-sIavcshavcbccnagcdmcdicincmcnorhcaIcrsoragcdvarriors.Thcir
ccramic imagcs rcprcscnt thcm as cIdcrIy BIacks vith vhitc hair and
country-styIc vhitc cIothcs. !nvariabIy thcy smokc pipcs. !n CcntraI
AfricancurativccuItsanccstraIspiritsactasagcntsofam iction,butvhcn
propitiatcd,thcybccomcasourccofbIcssing.!nAfricaanccstraIspiritsarc
associatcd vith particuIar famiIics, Iincagcs, and cIans. But undcr Mcv
WorIdconditions,thcscspccihcIinkagcsvcrcIiquidatcdvhcnsIavcsvcrc
scparatcdfromthcir kinsfoIkand fcIIovtribcsmcn, andvhatvasIcft of
thc Iincagc anccstors vas a "symboIic typc," to usc Oon HandcIman's
tcrms, rcprcscnting " anccstorhood." Thc CId BIacks arc gcncraIizcd
anccstorsinLmbanda,and,indccd,inKardccism,thcycanposscssWhitcs
as vcII as BIacks, (6) the line < the Child (Criana). Thc ChiId is an orixa
vhich stands for archctypaI ChiIdhood. Mcmbcrs ofthis Iinc arc aIso
caIIcd"chiIdrcnofIbcji,"AfricantvindciticsassociatcdviththcCathoIic
saints Cosman and Oamian, vhosc ccramic imagcs rcprcscnt thcm. As
individuaI "cntitics" thcytakcnamcs inthcdimnutivc, suchasPcdrinho
("IittIcPctcr"),)oaozinho("IittIc)ohn''), andsoforth,(7)the line <Exu. x
or Lcba is an cntity vho rcprcscnts both good and cviI. Thc namc is
cIcarIy dcrivcd from that ofthe Yoruba and Fon Trickstcr God shu-
Lcgbaorshu-Icgba.!had discusscdshuinanarticIc!vrotconmyth
and symboI for thcInternational Encclopedia < the Social Sciences somcycars
ago.LittIcdid ! thinkthcnthat! vouIdmcctx facc to facconc night
andbctoIdthat!hadhim "onmy shouIdcr! "And, Iatcr stiII, that !vasa
"Son ofx," a dubious distinction as vc viII scc! !n BraziI CathoIic
pricsts somctimcs idcntify x vith thc OcviI, vhiIc dismissing
LmbandaitscIfas"dcviI-vorship."HisccramicimagcccrtainIyrcprcscnts
himasamanvithgoats' |cct,pointed cars, somctimcscIutchingatridcnt,
oftcn cIadin ared and b|ackcapc, and wearing a siIk top-hata diabo|ic
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO Izp
dandyinshort' Buthcis aIsoportraycdas amanvith abarcchcst. Cnc
justcannotpinxdovn!!spcakofx,butxsarcusuaIIythoughtof
inthcpIuraI. Thcir "namcis Icgion." Whcnthcy cntcrthctcrrciro, thcy
taIk and gcsticuIatc obsccncIy, uttcr picrcing crics and stridcnt pcaIs of
Iaughtcr . BccauscthcsymboIictypcxisambiguous,bcingatonccgood
and cviI, his manifcstations and rcfractions may uncxpcctcdIy bccomc
dangcrousandpovcrfuI.ThcrcIationshipofmcnandvomcntothcxs
isaIvays ariskyonc, forthcsctrickstcrscandupcthcir"chiIdrcn'' (asthc
mcdiums oforixas arc caIIcd), tcIIingthcmoncthingbutdoing anothcr.
Thc xs (as in Wcst Africa) arc thc Iords ofthc crossroads and ofthc
gravcyard, vhcrcoEcringsarcmadc to thcm. Cncofthctypcsofrcfrac-
tions ofxisx ofthcTvo Hcads. His imagc vas promincnt among
thcimagcs onthcaItarofthctcrrcirovcvisitcd.Hcvcars arcdcapc and
carricsatridcnt. Cncofhishcadsisthatof)csus,thcothcrofSatan. Asa
CathoIic saint hc is somctimcs rcprcscntcd as Saint Pctcr, in thc doubIc
scnscofgatc-kccpcranddcnicrofhisLord.xsarccustomariIydividcd
intotvotypcs. "xsofLight,"dcscribcdas"supcrior"and"turncdavay
from'mattcr'." "xsvithoutIight"arc"Icsspurc,"and"cIoscrtomattcr."
ThcyhavctobccontroIIcdorthcyviII"produccconfusioninthcvorks"
(as Lmbandist rituaIs arc caIIcd). Thcy arc ruIcdby thc xs ofLight.
Thcycanbcuscdtovorkharm against pcopIc. Assuchthcyarcthcmain
"cntitics"in Quimbanda, thc rcvcrsc sidc ofLmbanda. !ts rituaIsarcthosc
of"bIackmagic."AsyouviIIhavcnotcd, thisdivisionamongxsisan
attcmpt to rcsoIvc thc ambiguity ofthis hgurc. !n Wcst Africa, shu-
Lcgba is an cxpIicitIy phaIIic dcity. in BraziI his phaIIicism is partIy
rcprcsscd.
ach ofthc scvcn "Iincs" has its chicfand his or hcr subordinatc
cntitics. ach "Iinc" is subdividcd into scvcn "phaIanxcs," cach vith its
ovn chicfandsubordinatcs,thcvhoIcgroupbcingundcr thchcgcmony
ofthcIinc chicf OI cxampIc, inthc Linc of!cmanja,thcvatcrgoddcss,
oncphaIanxiscommandcdby!ansa,afcmaIcorixavhodanccsbaIancing
a cup or vincgIass in hcr hand. Shc vcars a giIdcd crovn ringcd vith
pcarIs. Hcr CathoIicformisthcimagc ofSantaBarbara. Anothcr phaIanx
in !cmanja's "Iinc" is Mamac Cxum's. Mamac Cxum is a fcmaIc orixa,
rcprcscntcdasavccpingvoman,oftcnasthcCathoIicMatcrOoIorosa.
ach"Iine'is associatcdvithaIocaIity(sca,forcst, crossroads, andso
on), acoIor, aday ofthcvcck, andstipuIatcdkindoffood. Thcrcis aIso
thc catcgory oforixa cruzado, "intcrscctcd orixa," vhich dchncs an orixa
vhobcIongs totvo Iincs at thc samc timc. ForcxampIc, aCabocIo may
bc "crosscd"vithx, hc may bc haIfCabocIo and haIfx. This givcs
grcatc

ibilitytothcsystcm.
LmbandistasaIsospcakof"nationsofCandombIc"amongthcinvisi-
bIc cntitics. Thcsc i ncl ude Qucto, ]cjc, Mag (or Yoruba), AngoIa,
t

o|oco, Cambinda,

and Quine. Such namcsthcrc arc supposcd to bc

`
Io PART I: PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
scvcninaII-rcfcrtorcaIorimaginaryrcgionsofAfricafromvhichthc
sIavcs camcinthccoIoniaIpcriod.
!havcdiscusscdthcsccatcgoricsmainIytoprcparcyou forthcsociaI
drama vc viII discuss. Thcrcis ahicrarchy ofhumanroIcs as vcIIor
rathcrtvohicrarchicsincachtcrrciro. Thcsc arcknovnas thc hierarchia
Espiritual and hierarchia Material rcspcctivcIy. Thc spirituaI hicrarchy con-
sistsofcithcrapai- ("fathcr")ormae- ("mothcr")de-santo (IitcraIIy "ofsaint
or orixa'), a "IittIc mothcr" (Mae Pequena), thc sccond-in-command, a
samba, thchcIpcrofthcIittIcmother, thc .flhos or.flhas de santo, thcsonsor
daughtcrs "ofsaint,"vho arc aIso caIIcd mediuns or meias. A medium is a
pcrsonvho "vorksinthcsaint,"vhocntcrsintotrancc andcontroIsthc
idiom ofposscssion. For thcrc is nothing viId about Lmbanda trancc,
cxccptpcrhapsits hrstmomcntsvhcnthccntranccdoncjcrks andjack-
knifcs gaIvanicaIIy, though ncvcr actuaIIy faIIing on thc ground. Thosc
vho dofaII onthc ground arc onIookcrs, andthisbchaviorsingIcsthcm
outascandidatcsformcdiumship.Thcybccomcmcdiumsbyundcrgoing
thc initiatory rituaI knovn asfazer cabefa, IitcraIIy "to makc (pcrhaps
"inspirc")hcad." Mcdiumsarcadmircdforthcdcgrcctovhichthcycon-
troI thcir tranccs. van M. Zucssc has pointcd out (I979.I98) that in
Haitian voodoo simIIar in many rcspccts to Afro-BraziIian cuIts, it is
importantthatthcmcdiumshouIdbctraincdtoastandard behavior (Zucssc's
cmphasis)intrancc."bodiIyactionandagcnuincaItcrcgoarcdchncdand
cIaboratcdinthc coursc ofthcinduction, to rcpIacc thc Iost cohcrcncc of
thc cgo-vorId." Sinccthc "cntitics"vhoposscssthcmhavcmanyhuman
traits, it ishttingthat thcmcdiums intrancc actmorc orIcss Iikc normaI
humanbcings, aIthoughpromincntIydispIayingthcdistinctivcbchavioraI
fcaturcs ofthc orixa or guidc riding thcm. Somc mcdiums "scc" orixas
(meiuns videntes), othcrs"hcar"thcircommands(meiuns ouvintes).
ThcmatcrnaIhicrarchy organizcs thcintcrnaI aEairs ofthc tcrrciro
anddcaIsvithitshnanccs.Atthchcadisthcprcsidcnt,butthcrcmayaIso
bc a sccrctary, a trcasurcr, and a counciIIor ofthc associatcs, thosc vho
contributc monthIy ducs for thc gcncraI maintcnancc ofthc tcrrciro.
YvonncVcIho'sbookcontains caschistoricsofthcconictbctvccnom-
ccrsofthcspirituaIandmatcriaIhicrarchyinasingIctcrrciro,thcformcr
rupturingticsviththcmundancIifcoutsidc,thcIattcrinjcctingitscritcria
ofprcstigcintothctcrrciro'sorganizationofauthority.
! mcntion aII thcsc cIassihcationsandorganizationaIformatsin ordcr
to givc you somc idca ofhov a tcrrciro isframed both cuIturaIIy and
organizationaIIy.!pubIishcdapapcrinI977vhosctitIc,"Framc,FIov, and
Rccction" indicatcs somc ofthc main factors that ! think important in
anaIyzingmost kinds ofpcrformancc,vhcthcrthcscbcIongto thcvorIds
`
ofrituaI or ofcntcrtainmcnt. By "framc" I rcfcr to that oftcn invisible
boundary-though here visibly bounded by the terreiro's limits-around
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO II
activity vhich dchncs participants, thcir roIcs, thc "scnsc" or "mcaning"
ascribcdto thoscthingsincIudcdvithinthcboundary, and thccIcmcnts
vithIn thc cnvironmcnt ofthc activity, in this casc thc Lmbandista scs-
sion, vhich arc dccIarcd to bc "outsidc" (fra) andirrcIcvant toit. ! am
indcbtcd to suchschoIars asBruccKapfcrcr, Oon HandcIman, Grcgory
Batcson, and rving GoEman for this usagc. Thc framing proccss con-
tinucs throughout thcvhoIctimc ofthc activity,indccd, vhat GoEman
caIIs "framc sIippagc" is an cvcr-prcscnt dangcr. Thc occasionaI,
unsoIicitcd intrusions ofx probabIy manifcst this dangcr. But in
Lmbanda,asvcshaIIscc,thcrcisacuIturaIIyprogrammcdrituaIproccss,
an invariantscqucnccofcpisodcsvhichkccps thcframc intact untiI thc
cnd ofthc scssion. Tc ordcr in vhich thc cntitics of thc Iincs appcar
varicsindiEcrcntrcgionsofBraziI,butincachtcrrciro,thcscricsishxcd.
"FIov"isatcrmforvhich! amindcbtcdtomyformcrcoIIcagucs atthc
LnivcrsityofChicago,)ohnMacAIoonandMihaIiCsikszcntmihaIyi (scc
CsikszcntmhaIyi I975). FIov, forthcm, is anintcrior statcvhich canbc
dcscribcd as thc mcrging ofaction and avarcncss, thc hoIistic scnsation
prcscntvhcnvc actvith totaIinvoIvcmcnt, astatcin vhich action foI-
Iovs action according to an intcrnaI Iogic, vith no apparcnt nccd for
conscious intcrvcntion on our part. FIov may bccxpcricnccd, say thcsc
schoIars, inpIayandsport,inartisticpcrformancc, andinrcIigiousrituaI.
FIov is madc possibIcby a ccntcring ofattcntion on a Iimitcd stimuIus
hcId,bymcans offraming,brackcting, andusuaIIyasctofruIcs. !nov
thcrcisaIoss ofcgo,thc"scIf"thatnormaIIy actsasabrokcrbctvccncgo
and aItcr bccomcs irrcIcvant. Cnc might arguc that thc grammar and
Icxicon constitutcdby thc ruIcs and symboIs ofLmbanda can gcncratc
"framcs,'' vithin vhich "ov" might cmcrgc. But ov dispcnscs vith
duaIity and contraricty, it is nonduaIistic, nondiaIccticaI. And Lmbanda
scssions, IikcmanyrituaIpcrformanccs, arcimprcgnatcdvithprobIcms,
and probIcms aIvays invoIvc contradictions to bc rcsoIvcd. Mcdiums,
cspcciaIIy thc mac-dc-santo, arcrcgardcdas sccrs vho cangivcspirituaI,
guidcd advicc about probIcms and contradictions in pcopIc's Iivcs. Tc
mcmbcrsofatcrrciroarcaIsomcmbcrsofanurbansocicty, subjccttothc
strcsscs andaIicnatinginucnccs ofarapidIyindustriaIizing nation. Part
ofthc rcason thcy comc rcguIarIy to thc tcrrciro vith its dominating
mothcr and fathcr hgurcs as Icadcrs is to gct somc authoritativc advicc
abouthovtoIivcthcirIivcs, ataIIIcvcIs, marriagc, famIy, ncighborhood,
vork, surroundcd by urban crimc and oftcn assauItcd by poIicc. Thc
tcrrciro scssionis a IiminaI, spacc-timc "pod" in vhich thcy can distancc
thcmscIvcsfromimmcrsioninthcstatus-roIcstructurcsofthcprcscntby
idcntihcation vith thc gods, anccstors, and traditions of African roots
organizcd in terms of"Iincs" thatbringthcgodsofsca, rivcrs, vatcrfaIIs,
forestsg mountains, and other natural habitats into healing contactviththc
Iz PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
impuHt:cs of modcrn urban cuIturc. This hgurclground rcIationship
bctvccn a "purc Africanity" and "purc naturc" on thc onc hand, and an
impurcpost-sIavcryvorIdincitics dominatcdbypovcrfuIWhitcsonthc
othcr, surcIy induccs rccction and rccxivity. Rccxivity must bc an
arrcst of thc ov proccss, a throving ofit back against itscIL framing
proccdurcsmakcthispossibIc.ThcrcjcctcdcgoissuddcnIy rcmanifcstcd.
!nrccxivity onc is at oncc onc's subjcctand dircct objcct, notonIyin a
cognitivc vay, but aIso cxistcntiaIIy. Cr onc might say, ransacking thc
tcrminoIogy ofdcpth-psychoIogy, that thc dccpcst rccxivity is to con-
front onc's consciousvith onc'sunconsciousscIfFIovpcrhaps cIicitsor
"scduccs out'' thc unconsciousIcvcIs ofthc scIf But thcsc arc thcn scru-
tinizcdbythcconsciousscIL maybc notin scicntihctcrms,inthccascof
Lmbanda, for cxampIc, but ccrtainIy in tcrms ofvaIucsprcscrvcd and
cIaboratcdinthcinnumcrabIcpcrformanccsofLmbandathatgooncvcry
nightinthc vast tcrritory ofBraziI, tcrrciroby tcrrciro. A rituaI pcrfor-
manccisaovlrccxivitydiaIcctic. CnccanonIy "knov" thisinpcrfor-
manccitscIfForknovIcdgc,asOiIthcydivincd,isbascdon"structurcsof
cxpcricncc" that arc at oncc cognitivc, aEcctivc, and voIitionaI-aN of
vhich contributc to thc "form" ofthc actuaI pcrformancc itscIf Thc
protocoIs, sccnarios, and scripts may bc givcn sharp cohcrcnt "shapc" by
cognitivc schcmata. ThcscguidcIincs vouId corrcspond, for cxampIc, to
thc taxonomics ofLmbandathcrc arc many morc-!havc spcnt somc
timc in cIaborating. Butinto thc hnaI "form" must gothcuniquc, oncc-
onIy cmotionaI cxpcricnccs ofthc particuIar pcrformanccvhich arc not
onIy articuIatcd by thc formaI grammar of Lmbanda but vhich aIso
succccdin"bIurring" and "mcIting" itsidcaIoutIincs. !nothcrvords,thc
cxpcricncc ofthc conjoincd pcrformcrs is aprimar componcnt in thc
spccihc pcrformancc. SimiIarIy, it is not onIy thc gcncric tcIcoIogy or
goaI-structurc ofLmbandist rcIigion that is important, but thc spccihc
goaIs, thc muItipIc cntcIcchics of thc mcdiums and spcctators actuaIIy
prcscnt, thcir probIcms, diIcmmas, suEcrings, and succcsscs,thatmustbc
takcn into account ifvc arc to charactcrizc a pcrformancc, rathcr than
spcII out a cognitivc paradigm. RituaI, as 1 said carIicr, is muItidimcn-
sionaI, any givcnpcrformanccis shapcdbythccxpcricnccspourcdintoit
asmuchasbyitsconvcntionaIstructurcs.xpcricnccsmakcthcstructurcs
"gIov",thcstructurcsfocusandchanncIthccxpcricnccs.
VcIho diEcrsfromothcrschoIarsofAfro-BraziIianrcIigioninfocus-
ingonconictsvithinthccuItccntcrcommunityandnotonthcidcoIogy,
cosmoIogy, or thcrapcutic aspccts. Shc prcscnts in hcr book a diary of
cvcnts from thctcrrciro's inauguration to its dcmiscthrcc months Iatcr.
Thc dramatis pcrsonac ofthcsociaI drama consistcd ofthc mac-dc-santo,
knovn as Aparcida, thc prcsidcnt, Mario, thc IittIc mothcr, Marina, thc
pai-dc-santo, Pcdro, vho rcpIaccd Aparcida aftcr shc had bccn rcmovcd
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I
toapsychiatrichospitaI, Sonia, ancvIittIc mothcr appointcd by Pcdro,
aboutadozcnmcdiumsrcguIarIyposscsscdinthcgiras (IitcraIIy "vhirIs")
or scssions, sundry cIicnts ofthc mcdiums, and thcprcvious macs-dc-
santo ofAparcida andPcdro.ThcshortIifc ofthc group vas virtuaIIy
takcn u
}
vith compctition for Icadcrship roIcs and struggIcs bctvccn
omcchoIdcrs for prcstigc and rccognition. Thc Tcnda spiritu CabocIo
ScrraMcgra(TcntofthcSpiritCabocIoBIackMountain)bccamcanarcna
forparapoIiticaIconict.VcIhoconsidcrsthissituationnotuntypicaI.hun-
drcdsoftcrrcirosriscandfaIIcvcryycar.Thcyarcthusinmarkcdcontrast
to thc cuIt ccntcrs ofthc oIdcr-cstabIishcdAfro-BraziIian cuIts-such as
CandombIc in Bahia StatcvhichhavcIastcd morc than a ccntury. Thc
idiom ofconictdcpcndcdonanativccatcgory,knovnasdemanda, vhich
mcans, IitcraIIy, a dcmand or a contcst, but vhich VcIho's informants
dcscribcd as uma guerra de orixa, a "var bctvccn dcitics," or "a disputc of
santo," or "ahoIy var." Asthcyput it. '' mcdiumvhohas a disputc, a
qucstion or casc against anothcr mcdium, mobiIizcs hislhcr orixa by
mcansof'vorks' (thatis, rituaIs) sothatthcy shouIdharmhislhcrrivaI."
ThctargctmcdiumthcncountcrsbymobiIizinghisovnorixa,thccntitics
orguidcsvhorcguIarIyincorporatcvithhimlhcr.achtricstodamagcor
ncutraIizcthcvitchcraftvorksmadcbyhostiIcorixas.
"Demanda isavcrydangcrousthing,itcangoasfarasdcath,"saidonc
of VcIho'sinformants. !tmay takcpIaccbctvccnamac- or pai-dc-santo
andthcir"chiIdrcn,"orbctvccntcrrcirosasvhoIcgroups.Apai- ormac-
dc-santohas dccpcrcsotcricknovIcdgc than a "chiId,"knovsthc "Iav"
(|ct), thatis,thcbcIicfsandpracticcsofLmbanda, andmayhavcacquircd
povcrs by prcsiding ovcr thc initiation ofa mcdium (as thcy say, "thc
mothcrlfathcrknovsaIIaboutthcm"inthcrituaIknovnas ''fzr cahera,"
IitcraIIy "makingthchcad," vhichinvoIvcsthcmcdium's"giving"hislhcr
hcad-thc scat ofviII orintcntion-tothc mothcrlfathcr, as vcII as rcn-
dcring himlhcr morc acccssibIc to thc orixa). Thc proccss ofdcmanda
bcgins vithan accusauon or confcssionby a parcntor chiId "dc-santo."
Cncorothcrparty"makcsvorks,"thatistosay, makcsoEcringstooncof
hisorixaorguidcs (usuaIIyancx) togcthimhcrtoamictthcrivaI,vho
rcsponds by invoIving his guidcs to dcfcndhim. A battIc cnsucs among
thc "invisibIcs," sprcading toaIIthc"Iincs,"viththcaimofcapturingonc
ofthc opposing Iincs, oranimportantmcmbcr thcrcof Cncc an orixais
capturcd, hclshccannoIongcrprotccthislhcr "horsc."Thcmcdiumfaccs
thcprospcctofmadncss (loucura) ordcath.Thcmomcntthatthcmcdium
|oscscontactvithoncormorcofhisguidcs, vritcsVcIho(p.5O),hc"Ioscs
his idcntity as ahumanbcing, as apcrson." Cnc mcdium, vhobcIicvcd
thathcrprincipaIguidc, an CId BIack, hadbccn capturcd, toIdVcIho onc
day that shcvas rc|icvcd, bccauscshc had oncc morc "rcccivcd" hcr CId
|

ck vho to|d hcr t

fcar no morc for hc vouId protcct hcr from thc

I| PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
dcmanda."Shcaddcd, '^tIast,!mctmymc(encontrei o eu)." Cmeu eu, it
viIIbcnotcd, is mascuIinc, though thcspcakcris fcmininc. !nLmbanda
thc idcntity sccms to bc composcd ofthc guidcs that arc "incorporatcd"
viththcmcdium, orrathcrofthcrcIationshipbctvccnthcmcdiumand
hislhcr orixas. Thcrcis dangcr ofmadncss, ifcvcn onc ofthc principaI
guidcs is imprisoncd. ach guidc is conccivcd ofas pcrsonaIIy distinct
cvcnthoughbcIongingtoaIinc.Thc "scIf"isthusrcgardcd, asinmostof
Africa, as a muItipIicity ofcomponcnts (morc, indccd, than thc Wcstcrn
trinityofcgo, supcrcgo,andid,orfoursomc,ifvc addthccgo-idcaI' )aII
ofvhichtogcthcrrcprcscntasanccntity.!foncpartissubtractcd,insanity
mayoccur.AtIcastthisissointhcsubjunctivcdomainofLmbanda.
ThctcrrcirovcarcstudyingbcganpartIyinthccontcxtofadcmanda
bctvccnitshrstmac-dc-santo andher ovn mac-dc-santo inanothcrtcr-
rciro. Aparcida had achicvcd a hnc rcputation as a consuItant, vhcn
incorporatcdbyhcrCIdBIackWomaninthatcuItgroupduringoptionaI
privatcscssionshcIdinMario' shousc.Marioandhisfricndsthoughtthat
shcoughttobcsctupasthchcadofatcrrciroofhcrovn,ccrtihcdundcr
BraziIianIav thoughMarioproposcdthathcvouIdpaythcrcnt andbc
hrst prcsidcnt, hcad ofthc "matcriaI hicrarchy." This Icd Aparcida into
conictvithhcrmac-dc-santo,vhodidnotvishhcrtoIcavchcrtcrrciro
onBishopStrcct.SomcsaidshcbcganadcmandaagainstAparcidaatthis
point. !nanycvcntancvtcrrcirovas cstabIishcd. CnitsaItarinthcaItar
room(sala do gona, vhichiscntcrcdbythcmcdiumsinastatcofincorpo-
ration) vcrc ccramic hgurcs ovncd by Aparcida and by hcr pcrsonaI
cIicnts, and thcximagcand shrinc (thosc of"xMangucra") sctup
bcsidcthcgatcvayintothcyardvcrcaIsohcrs.
Thcncv tcrrciro, thcrcforc, vas thcrcsuIt ofanirrcmcdiabIcschism
accompanicd by vhat amountcd to vitchcraft accusations. Pcrhaps that
vasvhy MothcrAparcidabcganhcrtcrrcirovithanunorthodox rituaI
vhichvastoprovchcrsviftundoing.Hcrcycvasonthcpast,notonthc
ncv tcrrciro. VcIho did not obscrvc thc scqucncc ofcvcnts hcrscIL but
informants' accounts,hovcvcr,unvcrihabIccmpiricaIIy,havcthcmcritof
vividIy rcndcring thc vaIucs ofthc subcuIturc bcing studicd. ! shouId
mcntionthatuntiIthiscpisodcAparcidahadbccnhighIyrcspcctcdbythc
mcmbcrs, not Icast bccausc hcr CId BIack Woman, knovn as '^v"
(Grandmothcr) Maria Conga, hadhcIpcdaII thc group' smcdiums inthc
coursc ofconsuItations aboutthcirprobIcms,bothmundancandcsotcric.
Aftcr a convcntionaI inauguration ccrcmony, Aparcidadccidcd, a vcck
Iatcr,tosctup "avorkinthcccmctcry" or"anobIigation,"that istosay, a
rituaIinvhich oEcrings offoodand drink appropriatctocach orixa arc
madc. Thc chicf ofthc "pcopIc ofthc ccmctcry" is CbaIuacassociatcd
vith thc CathoIic St. Lazarusand hc is cIasscd among thc Exs. Hc is
hcad o|thc phaIanx o|Exs associatcd vith dcath and discasc, and,
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I]
indccd, his Yoruba prototypc AbaIuayc vas thc god ofsmaIIpox. !n
choosingthiskindofrituaIAparcidamayhavchadinmindthatshcvas
bcingattackcdbyhcrformcrmac-dc-santo, tovhomshchadbccnIittIc
mothcr,forgravcyardxsarccntiticsmorcoftcninvokcdinQuimbanda
than in Lmbanda. Thc oEcring may havc bccn a pIacation. Whcn thc
mcmbcrs ofhcr tcrrciro arrivcd thcy found that anothcr tcrrciro group
vastryingtoarriar obria{io, to "Iay dovnanobIigation,"inprcciscIythc
samcpIacc.Bothgroupsofmcdiumsvcrcincorporatcd,"riddcn''bythcir
guidcs, and Marina, thc hrst IittIc mothcr, bcgan to struggIc vith a
mcdium from thc othcr group. Hc, in trancc, accuscd hcr of"bcing a
traitor"toAparcida,ofbcingindcmandaagainsthcrovnmac-dc-santo.
At that, aII thc mcdiums ofAparcida's group cd from thc ccmctcry.
Backat thctcrrciro,AparcidascizcdMarinabythcarms and thrusthcr
bodiIyfromthchousc.Shcthcnattackcdmostofthcothcrs,Icavinginthc
tcrrciroonIyMario,thcprcsidcnt,andtvoorthrccmcdiums.
ThisvasonIythcbcginning. !nthcncxtfcvdaysAparcidaaccuscd
Marina of "vorking" against hcr, thrcatcncd to kiII hcr, brokc into
Marina'shouscandsmashcdhcrfurniturc,cntcrcdthchouscofhcr"god-
mothcr" (thcrituaIsponsorforhcrLmbandainitiation),bcathcrup,and
hcrccIy rcsistcd thc cEorts ofhcr mcdiums to rcstrain hcr. vcntuaIIy
Mario, thc prcsidcnt, ona doctor's advicc, took hcr to PincI HospitaI in
Ro,vhcnccshcvastransfcrrcdtothepsychiatrichospitaIofngcnhodo
Ocntro.Thctcrrcirorcmaincdshutforsomctimc.
Thc mcdiums providcd thcir ovn mysticaI cxpIanations for
Aparcida'smad or crazy(maluca) bchavior. Shc hadmadc vorks against
Marinaandhadput "scvcnxsinhcrhcad."At scssions MarinacouId
onIy "rcccivc" thcsc, and, inhcr turn, so shc informcd VcIho, shc ncarIy
vcnt mad (doida) . Shc sav cnormousinsccts (bichos) bcforchcrandcouId
ncvcrgcttosIccp. Hcrovnguidcshadbccncapturcd.ThcscvcnQuim-
banda-typc xs (shc had namcs for cach ofthcm) cntcrcd by thc
"brcach" (brecha) inhcrhcadvhichmaydcscribcacutmarkmadcdur-
ingthcmaking thchcad (initiation) rituaI onthcfontancIIc. Sonia, vho
vas to rcpIacc Marina as IittIc mothcr, toId VcIho that Aparcida had
pIaccd hcr hcad bcIov thc aItar, an act vhich vouId havc rcmovcd hcr
guidcs and madc hcr mad. Mario, thc prcsidcnt, rcportcd that hc had
avakcncdonccandfoundhimscIfinx'shousc,IocatcdtothcIcftofthc
cntrancc gatc to thc tcrrciro yard, and that hc had brokcn aII thcimagcs
pIaccd thcrc. His cIothcs vcrc aII torn. At hrst thc group cxpIaincd aII
thcsc untovard cvcnts asduc to thc dcmandafromthc tcrrciroinBishop
Strcct.But aftcrthcmac-dc-santo bcgantosay "strangcthings" andbcat
pcopIc,

thcy agrccd that hcr conduct vas causcd by hcr "madncss"

|e|:am),hcr"sickncss"(doenfa) . ThcyspccuIatcdthatthis,inturn,vasduc
to cxhaustion |rom pcr|orming thc "vorks" invoIvcd in thc opcning o|
I PART I: PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
thc tcrrciro. But hcr rituaI sponsor thcn toId thcm that ^panida had
prcviousIy bccn tvicc intcrncd in psychiatric hospitaIs. !ndccd, shc had
oncc had anothcr tcrrciro, vhich had bccn cIoscd dovn for thc samc
rcason.ThcdoctorthcntoIdthcmthathcrmadncssvas causcdbytrau-
mas cxpcricnccd in infancy. But thc group askcd thc qucstion by nov
famIIiar to anthropoIogists. "But vhy did shc bccomc madjust at that
prcciscmomcntand at that particuIarpIacc"Thcansvcr thcy gavc vas
vithin thc Lmbandist bcIicfsystcm. Shc had committcd crrors in thc
opcning ofthc tcrrciro. Shc shouIdnothavc "vorkcdvith x' in thc
inauguration rituaI-itisbcst to vait scvcnmonths bcforc doing this. !f
oncvorksvithxsbcforcthcprcscribcddatc,thcyarcIikcIytobcxs
vithout LightcaIIcd Quiumbas-"vho don'tvanttobring charity (car
idade-the grcatLmbandistvirtuc,inscssions, vhcn ancv guidcappcars,
hcorshcgocsroundthcvhoIcgroupcmbracingcachmcdiumandcIicnt
tvicc vith grcat aEcction) but go on to causc confusion (baguna)." !t
vas thcscxs vhomadc mac-dc-santo madand "causcd thcvar bc-
tvccnbrothcr andbrothcr andthcpaI-dc-santo and his chiIdrcn." Motc
thc usc offamIiaI tcrms hcrc. Addcd to this, shc did nothavc thc guid-
ancc ofhcr ovn mac-dc-santo, and shc faiIcd to "baptisc thc atabaque
drums"-vhosc sonic driving in scssions induccs posscssion and trancc.
Shc did not havc thc rcquisitc guidancc and approvaI (hcncc Icgitima-
tion) fromhcr mac-dc-santo bccausc shc vas having "a var oforixas"
vithhcr.
VcIho did not mcntion thc psychiatrist's diagnosis of Aparcida's
condition but it might bc gucsscd that hcr guiIt at Icaving thc Bishop
StrccttcrrciroandpossibIybcingindcmandavithitsmac-dc-santovasa
prccipitatingfactor. Whcn thc mcdium fromthc othcr tcrrciro, in trancc
and hcncc spcaking vith somc authority, pointcd out Marina as a trai-
trcss-and oncvhooccupicdthcsamcroIc,IittIcmothcr, vhchshchcr-
scIfhadoccupicdinthcothcrcuItccntcr-shcmayhavcbccnpushcdovcr
thc vcrgc ofparanoia. Thc fact that in both tcrrciros thc tcnsion vas
bctvccnmcmbcrsofthcsamcscxmayhavcsomcsignihcancchcrc.VcIho
cIscvhcrcstrcsscsthatAparcidaand MarinahadbccnvcrycIoscfricnds.
Cncthinksofsomcrcmarks onthcIinkbctvccnparanoiaandhomoscx-
uaIity by Frcud In his articIc, "Somc Mcurotic Mcchanisms in)caIousy,
Paranoia, and Homoscxua|ity," ( I922.226 -27). "Thc pcrsccutcd para-
noiacsccsin . . . othcrsthcrccctionofhisovnhostiIcimpuIscs against
thcm. SinccvcknovthatviththcparanoiacitisprcciscIythcmostIovcd
pcrson ofhis ovn scx that bccomcs his pcrsccutor, thc qucstion ariscs
vhcrcthisrcvcrsaIofaEccttakcsitsorigin,thcansvcrisnotfartoscck
thccvcrprcscntambivaIcnccoffccIingprovidcsitssourcc. . . andscrvcs
thc samc purposc for thc pcrsccutcd paranoiac . . . ofa dc|cncc against
homoscxua|ity."
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I)
! must abridgc VcIho's account ofconmct in thc tcrrciro, though !
rcgrctthcconscqucntIossofmuchrichdata. !tvasagrccdthatAparcida
shouIdbcdcposcdfromhcrroIcas mac-dc-santo thoughshccouIdpar-
ticipatcinthcscssionsasanordinarymcdiumvhcnshcrcturncdfromthc
hospitaI. Cn thc advicc of scvcraI mcdiums a ncv pai-dc-santo namcd
Pcdro vas brought in, abrickIaycr by tradc in ordinary Iifc, vho had a
goodrcputationforstartingtcrrciros.HcvassaidtobcvcryknovIcdgc-
abIc in "things ofsanto." For a timc hc unitcd thc group bchind him in
"makingvorks"againstAparcida,vho,itvasrumorcd,hadsccurcdthc
aid ofa povcrfuI CandombIc practitoncr to "vork iII" against thctcr-
rciro.ShchadmadcaspcctacuIarrcappcaranccaboutthrccvccksaftcrhcr
hospitaIization. ! transIatcVcIho's account ofit, notonIybccauscit con-
tains intcrcsting matcriaI on Lmbanda rituaI and thcorics about posscs-
sionbutaIsobccauscitmarksthcbcginningofacIcavagcbctvccnMario
thcprcsidcntandPcdrothcpai-dc-santo.VcIhovritcs.
Thcmcdiums vcrc asscmbIcd on Wcdncsday, )uIy 26th, I972, inthc
aItar room. Thcy vcrc about to bcgin thc rituaI of"dcvcIopmcnt'
(desenvolvimento) vhichbcginsvitha"Icsson"instructingthcmcdiums
in"thcthingsofthcIav," thatis,thcbcIicfs,rituaIs, andtcchniqucsof
Lmbanda. SuddcnIy Aparcida cntcrcd thc tcrrciro scrcaming and
hovIing as shc did vhcnincorporatcd. Shc vas aIrcady in thc smaII
houscofxandthcghostsandvasrcccivingx.Mariorushcdout
tohcrandrcstraincdhcrby thc arms vhiIcshcravcdthatshcvouId
"brcakcvcrythingup."HcdraggcdhcrtovardsthcaItarroom.Mario
assurcd mc that Aparcidavas not (rcaIIy) "vith saint," in a statc of
posscssionthatday, butPcdroinsistcdthatshcvasindccdincorpo-
ratcd.Whatcvcrmayhavcbccnthccasc, Aparcidadrcvthc symboI
ofan orixa (a dcsign ofIincs, stars, triangIcs, arrovs, and so forth,
thoughtto havc magicaI povcr dravn from thc supcrnaturaI cntity)
vithsacrcdvhitcchaIk(pemba) onthcoorofthcaItarroomncarthc
aItar,andpuIIcdMariointoit. ShcvantcdMarioto"faIIinthcsaint"
(caisse no santo) in thc symboIic draving akin to thc Wcstcrn "pcn-
tagramofsorccry", thatis, faIIintoatrancc.ButMario"hrmcdup"
(rmou), inothcrvordshcrcsistcdfaIIingintotrancc. [Thistcchniquc
may bc cmpIoycd to prcvcnt an orixa "from dcsccnding into onc's
hcad" and givcs thc mcdium a mcasurc ofcontroI ovcr his or hcr
orixas.j
!fMariohadsuccumbcd, AparcidavouIdhavcsuccccdcdin domi-
nating himand thus dcmonstratcdhcrpovcr to bcmac-dc-santoin
thctcrrciro. WhiIcthisvas goingonPcdro vaspicrcinghimscIfon
an armandfootvithanccdIcandmakingothcr"vorks."Thcpai-dc-
santo vas incorporatcd vithhis CIdBIack, and thc CIdBIack vas
Iockcd in mystica| combat vith Aparcida's x (demandando). As
Pcdro said, "Cnc ofthcm vas making a vork and thc othcr vas
unmakingit."

Fina||y, Aparcida

"bcat thc hcad" bc|orc thc a|tar. !n this ccrcmony

I8 PART I . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
thc mcdium Iics dovn bcforc thc aItar vhich is crovdcd vith thc
imagcs of thc orixa, and bcats his or hcr hcad thrcc timcs on thc
ground,tothcright, thcIcft,and straight ahcad, thcnthrcc timcsvith
thc forchcad on thc aItar tabIc, thcn thrcc timcs bcforc thc pai-dc-
santo.Thisccrcmonyisdoncatthcbcginningandcndof cachscssion.
AparcidacompIctcdit,thcnsaidthatshc "hadnothingagainst' any-
onc. Whcn shc turncd tovards thc stairs, Mario caught hcr by thc
hands and said, "Oon'tbc angry vith mc, you can comc back, but
onIytohcIp."Mariotookhcr "bcatingofthchcad" tobca signthat
shchad acccptcd hcr dcfcat and vas making arcspcctfuIfarcvcII to
thctcrrciroanditsorixas.
MarioandPcdrogavcsubstantialIythcsamcaccountof thccvcnt,but
MariocmphasizcdhisovnroIcinnothaving"faIIcninsanto,"vhiIc
bcIittIing that ofPcdro, vho, hc said, had drivcn thc nccdIcinto his
crippIcdarm(asachiIdhchadbccnthcvictimofinfantiIcparaIysis),
an arm vhich vouId havc bccn inscnsibIc. McvcrthcIcss Pcdro had
apparcntIy consoIidatcd his position in thc tcrrciro, particuIarIy for
having succccdcd in gctting Aparcida out ofthc housc vithout
brcakinganything[VcIho I975.59-6Oj.
Thcrc foIIovcd a pcriod during vhich Mario bccamc incrcasingIy
discnchantcd vith Pcdro'sIcadcrship. Tc tvo mcn vcrcvcry diEcrcnt.
Mario vas rcckoncd to bc "vhitc" by BraziIian critcria, Pcdro vas
"bIack." Both vcrc young, Mariobcing thirty-onc and Pcdro tvcnty-
scvcn.ButMarioconsidcrcdhimscIfancducatcdman, andvas,indccd,a
part-timc sociaI scicncc studcnt at thc FcdcraI Lnivcrsity ofRio dc
)anciro. Hc vas in onc ofYvonnc VcIho's cIasscs, and it vas in cIass
discussionthat shc had Icarncdofhis participationinLmbanda. At that
timchcvas aIso vorking as atypist, and gavc privatc cIasscsinhistory,
Iitcraturc, andngIishto cightpupils. Pcdro had anincompIctcprimary
cducation,hadbccnacoIIcgcscrvant, thcnvorkcdinthccantccn,bcforc
Icarning his tradc as abrickIaycr and pIastcrcr. Mario vas animmigrant
fromthcruraIintcrior ofthc Statc ofAIagoas. His fathcrvas probabIy a
dirt farmcr, though hc aIvays cIaimcd to havc comc from a famiIy of
''fazndeiros," orgrcatIandovncrs. HcIivcdinthcvorkingcIassnorthcrn
zonc ofRio. Pcdro, on thc othcr hand, Iivcd in thc rcsidcntiaI southcrn
zonc.WhiIcMariovasrcIativcIyncvtoLmbanda,Pcdrohadbccn"thir-
tccn ycars inMacumba" (a gcncric tcrm forposscssion cuIts, it may aIso
stand for a musicaIinstrumcnt uscd in thcm). Hc had originaIIy bccn a
drummcr(oi ormacumbeiro), andhadaftcrhvcycarsbccomcchicf-drum-
mcr(oi-iao). Hismac-dc-santovashis cousin,Lcdabynamc,andcvcn-
tuaIIy shc aIIovcd him to "opcn his ovngona," a tcrrciro "vhcrc thcy
don't bcat drums." To opcn a tcrrciro

onc must havc at Icast thirtccn

mcdiums. Hcmanagcd to rccruit ths numbcr, and vith thchcIp oftvo
mcdiums sccondcd from Mothcr Lcda's tcrrciro "developed" thc mcdi-
ums, tcachingthcmhov tocontro|potscstion and hovtoreceive appro-
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO Ip
priatcIy cach typcoforixa. !nbricL Pcdro pickcd uphisrituaIskiIIs in
practicc in "vorks." Ouring thc disputcvith Mario, Pcdro introduccd
Mothcr Lcda to thc group, to conhrm his asscrtion that hc had bccn
"baptizcd into Macumba'' (that is, propcrIy initiatcd). Shcsupportcd his
cIaim to knov "hov to vork in aII thc Iincs oforixa" that is, hc couId
dircctanytypcofccrcmony andvasfamiIiarviththcbchavior-pattcrns
ofcach orixa. Pcdro furthcr asscrtcd that hc had "a good crovn'' (coroa
bonita), thatis,thathc "rcccivcdmany strongorixas," chicfs ofphaIanxcs,
notmnorcntitics. Hcvas aIso, hc said, acIairvoyantmcdium, acIairau-
dicnt, vho hcardthcvordsofCrixas, and "a radiant," oncvho rcccivcd
orixas. Pcdro aIso insistcd that thoughhc vas an uncducatcd man, vhcn
hc vasincorporatcd vith an orixahc couIdundcrstandYoruba, thc Ian-
guagcofthchigh gods. Mario, againstthis, asscrtcdthathchimscIf"had
studicd,"hcvasaunivcrsityman,a "pcrsonofcuIturc." Hcattcmptcd to
manipuIatc Yvonnc VcIho, vhom hc had introduccd at thc inauguration
rituaI, as "myprofcssor,"hopingthcrcbytocnhancchisstandingviththc
group. Buthis formaI cducation rcactcd against him, for thc majority of
thcmcdiums,thcmscIvcsmostIyuncducatcd,murmurcdthat"bookIcarn-
ing" vas no substitutc for "knovIcdgc ofthc things of santo." Mario,
morcovcr,hadncvcrpasscdthrough thc ritcs ofmaking thc hcad (initia-
tion) . VcIho found Pcdro a morc consistcntIy rcIiabIc informant than
Mario, Icssgivcnto fantasy abouthis ovnimportancc. "HctoId mc his
Iifc-history thrcc timcs in substantiaIIy thc samc form. Hc vas ncvcr
givcn to cxaggcration, and toId mc facts and datcs aImost mcchanicaIIy.
HchardIycvcrgavc mcautobiographicaIinformationincasuaIconvcrsa-
tion,buttricd,rathcr,togivcmcinformationaboutrituaIpracticcs,aIvays
in aprofcssionaItonc. HcIaughcd a Iot atmy qucstions, and aIvays said
thatthc 'fundamcntaIs' ofLmbandavcrcvcrydimcuIt,andthat!vouId
nccdaIot oftimc, pcrhaps aIifctimc, tograsp thcm" (VcIho I975.IIO).A
typicaI profcssionaI ansvcrtruc cxpcricncc is vcrbaIIy aImost incom-
municabIc| ProfcssionaIs crcatc hcrmctic circIcs ofsharcd cxpcricncc.
Mario, onthcothcrhand, vasthcsorfofpcrsonthatinthcStatcsmght
bccaIIcdan "achicvcr," dcspitc, orpcrhaps bccausc oL ccrtaindisabiIitics.
Morc than a smattcring ofcducation tiItcd him in thc dircction ofthc
burcaucratization of thc tcrrciro. Hcrc his roIc as prcsidcnt, that is,
acknovIcdgcd hcad ofthc "matcriaI hicrarchy," and incidcntaIIy thc ac-
tuaI Icsscc ofthcpropcrty onvhich thc tcrrciro functioncd, cncouragcd
him to proposc thc "ruIc" (onc thinks hcrc ofCathoIic monastic ordcrs
|orccd by Romc to gcncratc ruIcs to curb thcir charismatic bcginnings)
|or routinizing thc tcrrciro mcdiums' bchavior. This took pIacc on
the heClsofthccxccsscsthatMariothoughtfoIIovcdPcdro'sinsistcnccon
the group' s making vorks to countcract Aparcida's dcadIy dcmanda.
Vc|ho'sdl ary for August ?O, ! 97?, documcnts thcbroachingby Mario o|
|hc"rule."
I|o PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
MarioarrivcdatthctcrrcirocarIy, vcIIbcforcthcscssionbcgan, and
immcdiatcIy confrontcd Pcdro. Thcy both sat on trcc stumps in thc
aItarroom. [SuchstumpsarcsymboIicrcminisccnccsofthc "naturaI"
charactcr ofthc supposcdIy ancicnt tradition-actuaIIy thc hrst
LmbandaritcsvcrcpcrformcdinMitcroi,acrossthcBayfromRio,in
thc carIy tvcntics-but CandombIc or somcthing Iikc it, such as
Katimbu and KabuIa, probabIy dcvcIopcd among thc sIavcs ofthc
PortugucscscttIcrsatthcvcry bcginningofcoIonization,inthccarIy
sixtccnth ccntury. jMario spokcinIoudtoncs, PcdrorcpIicdinaIov,
caImvoicc. MariohcIdapicccofpapcr-asymboIofIitcracy-inhis
hand.Hcsaid, "ThisisthcRuIc-itcontainsrcguIationsformcdiums.
Thcymustnotsmokc,arrivcIatc,andthcscssionmustcndattcnP.M.
"
[Pcdrohadkcptthcgroupup aIInightpcrformingvorkstofrustratc
thc dcmanda, hcncc mcdiums vho had daytimcjobs vcrc gctting
vorn out-thc subjunctivc mood vas bccoming indicativizcd, thc
symboIic "vorks" ofLmbanda vcrc bccoming rcaIIy Iaborious.j
Mariocontinucd. "You, Pcdro, mustimposcthatruIconthcmhcrc."
Pcdro rcpIicd. "! don't havc to say that. What ! say gocs anyvay. !
havcstartcdthrcctcrras, and !knovvhat !havctodo.YouarcvcII
avarc that vc arc in a statc ofdcmanda and must 'vork'." Mario
ycIIcdback, "! don'tvanttoknovaboutyourtcrras. Curbusi

cssis
righthcrc.ithcryouIaydovnthatruIcoryougctout.Youv:IIgct
out bccausc ! viII gct anothcr pai- or mc-dc-santo, for things arc
impossibIcasthcyarc."
Thc tvo got up, and thc pai-dc-santo startcd thc scssion vith thc
usuaI draving ofan orixa's symboI bcIov thc aItar in vhitc chaIk.
MarioapproachcdmcaboutsomcfacuItybusincssatthcLnivcrsity.!
couIdnotgraspvhathc saidfor !vastryingtohgurcoutvhatvas
happcningaroundmc. !rcpIicdrathcrIaconicaIIy, butvhcn!gIanccd
atthcaItar,!savabIazcofhrc.Amcdiumrantoputitout,puIIingoE
thcburning aItar cIoth. Ouc to thc hcat, an Lmbandist ncckIacc or
rosary,knovnas"guidc,"brokcinpicccsscattcringthcsmaIIbcadsaII
ovcr thc room. Thc mcdiums cd. Whcn thc hrc vas cxtinguishcd
thcy Iookcd at thc brokcn rosary vith fcar. Sonia, thc ncv IittIc
mothcr, said to mc, "Scc hov strangc it is! Whatcvcr couId havc
happcncd"Thcpai-dc-santo, Pcdro, unpcrturbcdbythchrc, hnishcd
draving his Lmbanda sign, stood i:p, and said. '^II this is bccausc
somconccamctothctcrrcirovithahothcad."[Thcconscnsusamong
mcdiums vas that thc hrc vas a sign ofvar bctvccn Mario and
Pcdro,inothcrvords,thatastatcofdcmandacxistcdbctvccnthcm. j
Aftcr this cpisodc a typicaI Sunday scssionbcgan. But an important
changc took pIacc. Mario rcccivcd his Pomba-Gira ("WhirIing
Oovc"), thcviId, gypsy fcmininc form ofx, and staycdvithhcr
untiIthccndofthcscssion.HccxpIaincdtomcaftcrvardsthatPcdro
askcd for hcr to "protcct thc gira" (thc scssion) . From that timc
onvard Mario's Pomba-Gira pIaycd a Icading roIc in thc scssions
[VcIho I975.67 -68j .
Thcmcdiumsnow began to take sides. Most of the ofce-holders in
the spiritual hierarchy supported Pedro, while a small group, known as
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I|I
"ManucI'sLittIc Gang," incIuding thrccmcdiums, asvcII as mcrc ducs-
paying associatcs, supportcd Mario, arguing that thc tcrrciro ought to
"havcordcr."Thcyvcrc aIso conccrncdthatthcmoncyPcdro andothcr
mcdiums had obtaincd from consuItations vith nonmcdiumistic cIicnts
shouIdbcaccountcdforanddividcdfairIyamongthcgroup.But,tothcir
surprisc, Mario supportcd Sonia, thcIittIcmothcr,vho shouIdhavc dcaIt
vith this, thc rcsuIt bcing that ManucI's LittIc Gang quit thc tcrrciro,
dccIaring that Mario vas "dishoncst'' and vantcd to "takc controI of
cvcrything himscIf" ! undcrstand thatManucIhad aIvays bccnMario's
rivaI,andhadaIargcdurabIcfoIIovingvhichhadaccompanicdhimfrom
thc tcrrciro in Bishop Strcct. !n thosc days Mario had bccn cIosc to
Aparcida and ManucI's gang had hopcd to bcncht fromhcr counscI in
thcncvcuItccntcr.But,inavay, Mariohadditchcdhcrinan attcmptto
fuIhIhisovnambitionsforIcadcrship.
Mariohadnovinanoddfashion,isoIatcdhimscIffromthcgroup.As
hc toId Yvonnc VcIho. "Thcy arc ignorant pcopIc totaIIy dominatcd by
Pcdro and scarcd ofthc dcmanda. But ! havc no fcar, for my guidcs arc
strong and! acuIturcdpcrson. ! amonahighcuIturaIIcvcIandhavc
nothing to Icarn from Pcdro. Thc group is obscsscd vith Icarning from
him. Thcy havc no conhdcncc in thcir ovn rcsourccs. Thcy arc onIy
sccurc vhcn thcy arc 'in santo' . Lnposscsscd thcy knov nothing. But !
can cvcn changc thc structurc of Lmbanda rituaI for thc bcttcr-not
bccausc ! havcmorc cuIturc, but aIso duc to thc intuitivc povcr ofmy
guidcs,vhoarcfromthcCricntaIIinc" (VcIho I975.I4O).Hc is hcrcrcfcr-
ringtothcinucnccofthcosophy andothcrAsian-bascdrcIigionsvhich,
asinCaIiforniaandothcrpartsofthcLnitcdStatcs,arcacquiringconsidcr-
abIcrcIigiousprcstigcviththcfaiIurcoftraditionaI)udco-Christiansym-
boIs and norms among, particuIarIy, thc young-and thc avcragc agc of
LmbandaadhcrcntsisinthcmiddIctvcntics. ForMario,thcmainthing
about thc "CricntaI Iinc" vas that it vas opposcdto thc traditionaI Iincs
IinkcdtoAfricainLmbanda.ThcIinc of"xs vithoutLight''vouIdbc
contrastcdbythoscintcIIcctuaIsorscmi-intcIIcctuaIsIikcMariovhohavc
rcccntIy takcn up thc manifoIdIitcraturc onastcrnrcIigions nov bcing
transIatcd into Portugucsc, vith HindulBuddhist thought, andvouIdbc
dcsignatcdas '^fricanvitchcraft" (for cxampIc,thcscvcn "dark" Iincsof
Quimbanda).
AIIkindsofstrangccvcntsfoIIovcd,vhich!viIInotvcxyouvith,
so abcrrant thcy arc to our scicnti5c tradition. vcn psychoanaIysts
bccomc uncomfortabIc confrontcdby fantasics thathavcbccomc cuItur-
3Ily standardizcd rathcr than cmcrgc in sccrccy from individuaIs undcr
controIIcd conditions. ! viII not mcntion thc various hrc ordcaIs Pcdro
and Mario imposed on one another, nor the constant posscssion of Mario
by his female gypsy guide. Sufce it to say that Mario's fnancial power
ove-r the property which provided the terrciro's material basis prevailed,
I|z PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
buthcvasvirtuaIIyabandoncdbyaIIthcmcdiumsthrccmonthsaftcrthc
tcrrciro hc sponsorcd bcgan, though rcmaining thc tituIar hcad ofthc
housc and yard. Thc notc ! rcaIIy vant to concIudc onis vhat sccms to
havc bccnhappcning in Mario's "mind" or "psychc," insofar as VcIho's
Iifchistorygivcsusacccsstothisobscurcdimcnsion.
Both Mario and Pcdro sccmto havc had unusuaIrcIationships vith
thcirmothcrs-afactnottobcignorcdinvicvofthc cIosc "stargroup"
rcIationship bctvccn a mac-dc-santo and hcr "chiId" in Lmbanda. But
vhiIcPcdro dupIicatcd his mothcr'sphysicaI paraIysis, Mario's conncc-
tion vith thc mothcr hc abandoncd to go to Rio from thc farm sccms
morccompIicatcd.
AIthough shc docs not mcntion his pIaccinthc sibIing ordcr, VcIho
tcIIsusthatMario vas oncofnincchiIdrcn-vhiIcPcdroapparcntIyhad
onIyafcv sibIings. Mariovcnt toIivcvith amothcr'sbrothcrvhcnhc
hrstmovcdtoRio.WomcnmcantaIotinhisIifc.Foratimchcstaycdvith
various fcmaIc cousins. Hc taught himscIf typing, shorthand, ngIish,
Frcnch,andpasscdaIIhis tcstsinmatricuIationcxccptmathcmatics.Math
nrstintroduccdhimtoLmbanda,oddIycnough,forafcmaIcfricndmadc
him consuIt a pai-dc-santo in LmbandainLaranjciras, a suburb ofRio.
This mantoIdhimthat "hchadthc grcat protcctionofCgum," andit so
happcncd that thc coIIcgc vhcrc hc vas to do his math tcst vas just
oppositcachurchdcdicatcdtoSt. Gcorgc-vhoisthcCathoIicmodaIity
ofCgum,godofvarandbIacksmithing.AccordingtohisaccountabIack
boy cmcrgcd fromthc church,just aftcrhchadIit a candIcto CgumlSt.
Gcorgc, and handcd him a shcct ofansvcrs to thc qucstions hc Iatcr
cncountcrcdinhismathcxam-vhichnaturaIIyhc passcd! Thisvasnot
cnough to dispcI Mario's skcpticism about Lmbanda, so hc toId VcIho,
but having said this hc vcnt straight onto spcak ofhis mothcr. Hcsaid
that itvas nov cIcartohimthatshcvas cIairvoyant. Asmcdiumspos-
scsscd by CabocIos or CId BIacks do, shc smokcd tvo chcroots cvcry
night, and sav "cvcrythingthat vas going tohappcn." ShcIovcdMario
bcstofhcrchiIdrcn,cvcnthoughhcstuttcrcd and did notIikc toridcor
hoc Iikchis brothcrs. Hc vas onIy tcn vhcn shc dicd. !t vas not Iong
bcforchcdrcamcdabouthcr. Shc satonthccdgcofhisbcdandgavchim
vhat hc thought vas advicc, but hc vas so scarcd hc couId ncvcr
rcmcmbcrit.Latcr,vhcnhcvasinRio, anLmbandistmcdiumtoIdhim
that his Iatc mothcr vas in a statc knovn as enostada, in thc tcchnicaI
vocabuIaryofLmbandaandsimiIar spiritistcuIts. This,initsIitcraIscnsc,
mcans "dcpcndcnt, Icaning against, proppcd up." !t mcant, so it vas
cxpIaincd tohim,thathcr spirithadbccomc "passionatc" (apaixonada) or
had "faIIcn in Iovc" vith him, and had bccomc "dcpcndcnt" on mattcr
(enostado na materia) . Ocpcndcncc (encosto) occurs vhcn a dcad pcrson's
spiritnccdssomcthing,cspcciaIIypraycrstoobtainIight |a) .Thcgnostic
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I|
componcnt in Lmbandais cIcarhcrc, as it is in thc distinctionbctvccn
xs vith and vithout "Iight." Thc Iiving pcrson onvhomit "fastcns
itscIf" isboth "confuscd" or "troubIcd" (atrapalhada) andhcIpcd (by spir-
ituaIadvicc)vhcninthisstatc.ButMariorcmaincdskcpticaIaboutsuch
intcrprctations,thoughhcvasshakcnvhcn, duringanLmbanda scssion
hc vas pcrsuadcd against his incIination to attcnd, a voman ncar him
"rcccivcdthcspiritofhismothcr,cricd,andsaidshcfcItthctastcofbIood
inhcr mouth," forhismothcrhaddicdofanintcrnaIhcmorrhagc. Mcv-
crthcIcss,hcstiIIhcIditaIItobc"buEooncry" (alhafada). "WhatvouId!,
astudcntofsocioIogy,bcdoingtobcIicvcinthatstu6"hctoIdVcIho.
Mario, atthattimc,vas amictcdbothbybcingcross-cycdandhaving
astuttcr. HchadbccnhospitaIizcdinAugust I97I foranopcrationonhis
right cyc, but vhiIc in bcd, rcccivcd "pinpricks" (a!netadas), a "spirituaI
varning"(aviso) thathcshouIdIcavc.Hcdidso,thcnconsuItcdAparcida,
vhovouIdIatcrbccomcthcmac-dc-santovchavcbccndiscussing. Shc,
or rathcr hcr CId BIack Woman, connrmcd that hc had a dcpcndcncy
from his mothcr and drcv it out (tirou o enosto). Sincc thc spirit vas
"sccking Iight," shcadviscdhimtoIight acandIc forhcrandmakc somc
praycrs. Fromthcnon, hisstuttcringdiminishcdandhcvasindistinctIy
bcttcr gcncraI hcaIth. Aparcida urgcdhim to "vork" in Lmbanda and
"vcar thc vhitc cIothcs" (a mark ofthc Lmbanda mcdium). Hcr CId
BIackWomanaIsoimprovcdhis cycsight,hctoIdYvonncVcIho.Though
unconvinccdthathisimprovcmcntvas ductosupcrnaturaIinucnccs,hc
bcganto scnsc strangcthings. ForcxampIc, vhcnhcvcnttoascssionas
hchadtakcntodoing,hccouIdnothcarasongordrumrhythmdcdicatcd
to anorixa(um ponto), vithoutfccIingtotaIIy "disconncctcd" (desliado), as
ifhc vcrc "in anothcr vorId." Hc vas "cxtinguishcd," "svitchcd oE"
(apagado). Latcr,hcacccptcdAparcida'sinvitationto"makcanobIigation"
in thc voods to thc CabocIo, or Rcd !ndian spirits. Whcn hc bcgan to
vatchavatcrfaII,hcbcgantofccIascnsationofcmptincss, asifhcvcrc
cntircIy Iost. Aparcida vas bcing riddcn by hcr CabocIo, Scrra Mcgra,
aftcr vhom thc tcrrciro vouId bc namcd, and "hc" caIIcd Mario and
pIaccd "his" handsonMario's. MariotoIdVcIho. '^tthatmomcnt ! sav
no morc . . . itvasthc hrst timc thishad happcncd tomc. ! didnotjust
'rcccivc' ,!sprangup(pulava). !fcItvibrations.!tvasIikcancIcctricshock.
Thc morc thc CabocIo scizcd hoId ofmc, thc morc !jumpcd. ! did not
controImyscIL ! fcII and bccamcbcsidcmyscIf" (VcIho I975.IOO). Aftcr
that hc bccamc a rcguIar attcndcr at thc scssions ofthc Bishop Strcct
tcrrciro,putonthcvhitccIothcs,andvithintvomonthsvas "rccciving
normaIIy"-notc that to rcccivc is cIassihcd as "normaI" bchavior in
Lmband

-|urthcr cvidcncc that thc cuIturaI symboIs and proccsscs of

Lmbanda substitutcinpcrsonso|ncuroticdisposition|orthcvcakncsso|
thc

cgo in mcdiating bctvccn thc id and rcaIity. Lndcr thc aIicnating

I|| PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
circumstanccsforthcpooranddispIaccdofurbanizationinaIandhithcrto
ruraIandpost-fcudaIitispcrhapsnotsosurprisingthatpcopIcvouIdhnd
suchmcansofcgo-rcinforccmcnt.ThisistruccvcnofthcBraziIianvhitc
uppcr cIasscs vho havc aIso bccnjoining Lmbanda groups in considcr-
abIc numbcrs, for thcy too arc cxpcricncing thc strcsscs ofrapid indus-
triaIization. Lmbanda is not a singIc-cIass or singIc cthnicity phc-
nomcnon.itcrosscsaIIsociaIstructuraItaxonomicIincs,aIthoughitsbasic
mcmbcrshipisdravnfromIovcr-middIccIassurbanitcs.BothSoniaand
Marina, forcxampIc, vcrc bcauticians, and, indccd,sthcrPrcsscI, from
CoIumbiaLnivcrsity,vhostudicdLmbandainSaoPauIo,foundthathcr
shortcst routc to an Lmbandist scssion vas to visit a hairdrcsscr's shop
andinquircbothfrom thc bcauticians and thc customcrs vhcrc thc ncxt
oncvouIdbchcId.WomcnusuaIIyoutnumbcrmcnbyaboutthrcctoonc
amongthcmcdiums,thoughpais-dc-santoarcaboutcquaInumbcrsvith
macs-dc-santo. Thcrc is somc stigma attachcd to maIc Lmbandists, in a
Iand that vorships machismo, but Yvonnc VcIho rcports that pais-dc-
santo arc morc frcqucntIy hctcroscxuaI, vith famiIics, than homoscxuaI.
Cfcoursc, aIImcdiums,oftcninthc courscofasingIcscssion, arcincor-
poratcd vith "cntitics" ofboth scxcs, and dispIay in thcir bchavior thc
attributcs ofmaIc and fcmaIc orixas. Morc oftbis prcscntIy, in thc casc
ofMario.
AsthcrivaIrygrcvbctvccnMarioandPcdro,prcsidcntandpai-dc-
santo, signihcant changcs occurrcd both in Mario's conduct and in thc
vay hc "rcccivcd" his guidcs. LndoubtcdIy, Yvonnc VcIho'sprcscnccin
thctcrrcirohadaninucncconthcsc changcs, andonMario'sscIf-imagc.
Asshcvritcs.
At hrst, Mario's attitudc vas humbIc cnough. Hc said thatsincchc
hadonIyaycar "insanto," hc didn't "undcrstanditvcII,thcbabaIao
(pai-dc-santo)isthconcvhocancxpIain mattcrsvcII." Hcconhdcd
scvcraI timcs that hc hadmany doubts about Lmbanda, and sought
tor psychoIogicaI cxpIanations ofthc facts. My prcscncc thcrc as his
profcssorinhibitcdhim inibia). Somctimcshc vouIdbcamuscd at
hisanomaIouspositionas socioIogystudcntandmcdiumatthc samc
timc. But, on thc othcr hand, my prcscncc undoubtcdIy hcIpcd to
incrcaschispovcrinthctcrrciro.)ustasLcdahadconhrmcdPcdro's
Icgitimacy aspai-dc-santo, s

dimyprcscncc ashisprssor

on-
hrm Mario's status as a utuvcrs:ty studcnt. Thc group apprcciatcd
this,but,ncvcrthcIcss,Mario's'having studicd' hadncgativcimpIica-
tions, foritcouIdmakchimproudand dcsirctoknovmorcthanthc
pai-dc-santo.ThcrcvasaconictbctvccnthcIattcr'scsotcricgnosis
and Mario's acadcmicknovIcdgc. Acrisis camcvhcn!intcrvicvcd
Mario on tapc, and committcd thc cthnographic gaEc offaiIig-to
inform Pcdro-vho vas charincd by vhat hc thought vas an
undcrmining ofhis ritua| authority. Mario nov bcan to condcmn
thc group as bcing "ignorant knov-nothings." Hcc|ittIdPcdro's
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I|
cxpcrtisc, saying that "vhcnyou'vcbccnadrummcrintcrrcirosfor
tvcIvcycars,youcan'thcIppickingupsomcknovIcdgcofthcmagic
(sic) ofthc tcrrciro." Hc, on thc contrary, had "morc cuIturc," his
guidcsvcrcfrom"thcCricntaIIinc,fromamorcadvanccdbranchof
cuIturc." Hcvas ccrtainthathccouIdbccomcthc chicfofatcrrciro
andcouId"modifythcstructurcofanLmbandarituaIforthcbcttcr."
!t must bc cIcar by this timc that Mario vas a highIy compctitivc
pcrson, dcspitc, orasAIfrcd AdIcrvouIdhavc argucd, onaccountofhis
disabiIitics, his stammcring, his poor vision. Cnc of ninc sibIings, his
mothcr's favoritc son, and obviousIythcmostintcIIigcntmcmbcrofhis
ruraIfamiIy, hc had sctout tobccomc a pcrsonofimportanccinthcbig
city. CIdcrvomcn,hismothcrandascricsofmothcrsurrogatcs,incIud-
ing Aparcida and pcrhaps Yvonnc hcrscI( pIaycd important roIcs in
dctcrminingthcdircctions takcnbybis carccr. ThcrcisobviousIymuch
ambivaIcncc in his attitudc tovards thcm. Hc had a probIcmin ridding
himscIfofhis mothcr's spirit "vho had bccomcdcpcndcnt'' onhim and
passionatcfor him. Shcrcprcscntcdpcrhaps, intcraIia, thc hoIdhis ruraI
background stiII cxcrtcd onhim. Mcxt, hc turncd to Aparcida forhcIp,
andvasnotcontcntuntiIhchadrcntcd ahouscforhcrInvhichtopIay
hcrroIcasakindofmothcr,amac-dc-santo.!nhisovnroIcofprcsidcnt,
compIcmcntaryandcquaItohcr,pcrhapshccouIdcvcnscchimscIfashis
surrogatc mothcr's spousc, thus fuIhIIing in Icgitimatc, cuIturaI disguisc
his CcdipaI vish. Aparcida's madncss, hovcvcr, quashcd that rcIa-
tionship. PovcrfuI fcmaIc hgurcs, hovcvcr, sccmcd ccntraI to his ovn
aspirations. AsvcshaIIscc, ifhc couId notcntcrinto arcIationsbipvith
onc, hchadthcroutcopcntohiminLmbandabcIicfandrituaIofidcnti-
fyingvith afcmaIcguidc. Thisturnsccms conncctcdvithhistacitdcci-
sionto abandonbis "urban, civiIizcd, univcrsity studcnt's"posc tovards
Lmbanda, and try to bcat thc pai-dc-santo at his ovn gamccsotcric
cuItic gnosis and tcchniqucs ofposscssion. Lct mc rcturn to VcIho's
narrativc.
!n thc carIy days ofthc ncv tcrrciro, Mario rcccivcd mostIy maIc
guidcs, for cxampIc. tvo CabocIos, namcIy thc Covboy (Boiadeiro)
)oaoMcnino("LittIc)ohn') andHisHonorScvcnStarsofthcast,an
CId BIack,PaiBcncdito ofAngoIa, aChiId Spirit, Pcdrinho da Mata
("LittIc Pctcr of thc Wood"), a Pomba-Gira Gypsy (ciana), caIIcd
SaIomc, Cgum Scvcn Stars, and an x, His Honor Scvcn Cross-
roads(ScuSctcncruziIhada).His "frontguidcs"(uias de.ente), that
is, his most important orixas, vcrc Xango and Mamac Cxum a
fcmaIc phaIanx commandcrin thcIincof!cmanja,MamacCxumis
rcprcscntcd on Lmbandist aItars as a vccpin voman, and as a
Christiansanta,asthcMatcrOoIorosaj .
MariocxpIaincd tomcthat in Lmbandathcrcarc scvcn cosmic
forcc or Iincs, and that thcrc aIvays cxists a duaIity, mascuIinc and
I| PART PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
fcmininc. ConscqucntIy, amcdium(maIcorfcmaIc) aIvaysrcccivcs a
"fcmnnc cntity" and a "mascuIinc cntity." Hc said that hc Iikcd to
rcccivc thc Covboy bcst, and at hrst this vas thc onc hc rcccivcd
most. Hc cxpIaincd. "WhiIc ! am an individuaI ofgrcat scnsibiIity,
indccd aImost ofa fcmininc scnsibiIity . . . ! hnd that ! havc vithin
mcatruIymascuIincforcc.ThisiscxtcriorizcdthroughthcCovboy
guidc,vithvhom!fccImostathomc . . . Thchrstguidctogivcmc
adviccvasthcCovboy,bymcansofadrcam. . . "
Hcsaidthatat this stagchchadno dcsirctorcccivcthcPomba-
Gira. "Shc is cxtrcmcIy fcmininc," hc said, "and ! did not fccI Ikc
rcccivinghcrvcII.But!vasstcadiIycomingtothcconcIusionthatit
vouId bc ncccssary for mc to rcccivc hcr morc oftcn. Mot onIy
bccauscofvhat shccouIddo for othcrsbutaIsobccauscofvhatshc
couIddoformcpcrsonaIIy." Hc didnotvant torcccivchcrbccausc
"automaticaIIy, ifshcisfcmininc, !bccomccEcminatc, andthat' sjust
thcprobIcm.MostpcopIcncvcrcomctosccmcasaman.Tcythink
ofmcascEcminatc,cvcnaftcrshchasgonc. . . andindccdshccauscs
a scrics ofdisturbanccs.)ustbccausc shcis vcry!cmininc, shc Iikcs
Ionghair.SimiIarIyshcIovcsjcvcIry. ShcvantscIothcs. Lasttimcshc
camc, shcordcrcdmctotakc oEthcshirt!hadfromthcPrcto-VcIho
and shcvounda cIoth aroundmybrcasts (meus peitos) ." ! askcdifthis
didnotconictviththcCovboy, sincchcvasmascuIincHcrcpIicd.
"ach forcc has its ovn modc ofbcing (manir de ser) . . . vhcn !
rcccivcthcCovboy!ammascuIinc,vhcn!rcccivchcr,!takconhcr
appcarancc. !f! didnotrcccivc acosmicforcc,hovcouId!fromonc
momcnttoanothcrchangcmyidcntity. . . "
Mario rationaIizcd his frcqucnt incorporation vith SaIomc by
pointingoutthatshcvasthconcvhoorganizcdthcIcsscrguidcs.Shc
musthavcbccnanuisanccforPcdro, sinccshcvouIdnotstopriding
hcr "horsc," Mario, throughoutancntirc scssion, andtricdto dictatc
thccourscofcvcntsinaamboyantvay.
As thcconictbctvccnMario andPcdro grcv, thcPomba-Gira
strippcdMarioofhisvhitcmcdium'sshirt,rcpIacingitbyarcdcIoth.
Hc vas obIigcd to buy a vinc gIass from vhich shc sippcd cham-
pagnc. Mcxt,hcboughtcarrings,braccIcts,andahcadcIothofcoIorcd
siIk, in vhich vcrc caught up, gypsy-styIc, innumcrabIc goIdcn
mcdaIs.Athrst,hisdancingvassuEandIimitcdinmovcmcnt,buthc
bcgantochorcographitmorccIaboratcIy. YvonncVcIhopicturcshim
forusvhirIing aroundinhis "giras,"vithIonghair, vrappcdinsiIk
cIoth,vithjingIingbraccIctsandcarrings.jWhcnpossesscd,hcspokc
inacuIturcdvoiccandvcrysIovIy, usingancducatcdvocabuIary,in
contrastviththcothcrPomba-Giras,vho "sputtcrcdanduscd crudc
Ianguagc."
Cnc day, vhcn Mario vas incorporatcd vith his Pomba-Gira,
shc askcd mc. "What diEcrcncc do you scc bctvccn this matcriaI
(materia) hcrc,thchorscinthctcrrciro andinthc(univcrsity)facuIty"
!rcpIicdthatthcyvcrctvodiEcrcntthings. ShcIookcdmcinthccc
and said. "You don't undcrstandin thc Icast. ThismatcriaIhcrc (t
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I|)
horsc) is thc samc, onIy it has a IittIc ofmc in it, a portion ofmy
pcrsonaIity." ! thcn askcdvhy shc onIy "dcsccndcd" in thc tcrrciro.
Shc rcpIicd. "This is my tcrra a pIay on vords, indicating both
"carth," vithimpIicationsof"naturc"as against "artihciaIity,"andthc
cuItccntcritscIq.Hcrc!cancomcandnooncisgoingto

cscarcdby
my matcriaI. Iscvhcrc pcopIcjust don't undcrstand. Hcrc is my
tcrra,my trucground, thcrc ! ncvcrfcIt athomc. ! vorkIikc this, as
yousccmcdoing,bccausc!fccIathomc" [VcIho I975.IO2-4j .
Much ofvhat ! vrotc i nthc hrst part ofthis papcr appIics hcrc.
CIcarIy,Mario,inhisPomba-Girapersona, isstatingthataIargcpartofhis
rcaI Iifc is in vhat ! caIIcd "thc subjunctivc mood" ofcuIturc, and that
much frccdomfromconstraint cxists inthc sociaI modcs toIcratcd thcrc.
Hcrc, too, cuIturc andpcrsonaIity arc in agrccmcnt, for BraziIian cuIturc
has oftcn bccn charactcrizcd as rich in gcnrcs ofcuIturaI pcrformancc,
invoIvingrcvcrsaIorinvcrsionofthc sociaI and poIiticaI structurcs. Fur-
thcrmorc,itisapointofhonorinCarnavaI, forcxampIc,thatoncshouId
cxprcssinpubIic onc's fantasics-indccd,thcPortugucsctcrmforaCar-
navaI costumc isfantasia. !n CarnavaI thcrc is a good dcaI of trans-
vcstitism.mcncvcnhavcsiIiconimpIantsinthcirbrcastsfor grcatcrvcr-
isimiIitudc. But thcsc rcvcrsaIs arc rcstrictcd to institutions dchncd as
fcstivity, pIay (incIuding thc compIcx symboIism associatcd vith socccr
matchcs), orthcmadncss(loucura) ofMardiGras. !nthcIifc ofcvcryday,
machismo prcvaiIs, postfcudaI and burcaucratic hicrarchics organzc thc
famiIy, busincss, industry, thc miIitary, and so on. RuIcs ofctiqucttc and
poIitcncssappcartoinvoIvcdistancing,thcrcvcrscofthcfrankIyintimatc
bchaviorfoundinthc subjunctivcmoodgcnrcs. Thisisbccauscthcrc arc
cIaboratc ruIcs for svitching fromindicativctosubjunctivcbchavior and
vicc vcrsa. RcccntIy much discomfort has bccncauscdin Sao PauIo and
Campinasvhcn"gays"formcdthcirovnsambaschooIsandbIocos dur-
ing CarnavaI and introduccd thcir scxuaI rcaIity into thathgurativc and
symboIic domain, thcrcby rcvcaIing it as a cuIturaI dcfcnsc-mcchanism
againstindicativcIyiIIicitimpuIscs.
At thcIcvcIofMario's psychosomatic"idiovcrsc''-touscThcodorc
Schvartz' stcrmfor "thcdistributivc aspcct ofcuIturc," orthctotaIsctof
impIicit constructs ofcach individuaI in a cuIturaI systcm, vc can, !
bcIicvc,sccinthcPomba-GiraasymbolicarchctypcvhichpropsMario's
vcakcgo-dcvcIopmcntincrisisandsoIvcs-atIcastforatimchisprob-
IcmsinrcIationtofcmininityandauthority. Cnccansaythathismothcr's
"dcpcndcncc" onhiminthcLmbandadiomrcaIIy rcprcscntshisdcpcn-
dcncc upon his mothcr, a dcpcndcncc on mothcr hgurcs vhich pro-
grcssivcIy is rcduccd as it is transfcrrcd from mothcr to rituaI mothcr
(Aparcida)totcachcr mothcr (Yvonnc) , untiIhc himscIf, asPomba-Gira,
I|8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
is transformcd into a kind ofanti-mothcr. Thc Pomba-Gira is thc "bad
vomanofthcvorId" as againstthcvirtuousnurturantprotcctrcssofthc
domcsticfamiIy. MariopcrhapscouIdonIyobtainhis indcpcndcnccfrom
his various "dcpcndcncics," notbybccoming fuIIy amanbutbybccom-
ing,inthcsubjunctivcmoodvhcrcfantasics arcobjcctivatcd, adiEcrcnt,
cvcnoppositckindofvomantothcscricsof"mothcrs."!tisaIsopossibIc
that his connivancc in thc "kiIIing," that is, cxpuIsion of his rituaI
"mothcr" (Aparcida) cxpcditcd his fcmininc idcntihcation, for idcntih-
cationoftcnfoIIovsthcIossofaIovcdobjcct.
But in achicving this partiaI rcsoIution ofhis pcrsonaI probIcms
MariosccmstohavcbccomcaIoscrinthcsociaIdrama,for, inthccnd,hc
drovc avay not onIy thcpai-dc-santo, Pcdro, butaIso aII thc othcrmcdi-
umsfromthctcrrciro,vhoscIcsscc, ofcoursc,hcrcmaincd.!nthctcrrciro
hc had thought tohavc foundhis star-group, his subjunctivc star-group,
butinstcadhcsuccccdcdinaIicnatingitsothcrmcmbcrs,pcrhapsbccausc,
morcthanthcothcrs,hchadbroughtintothcpubIic domaininthc sym-
boIicguiscofdcmandamanyofthcunconscious conictsofchiIdhoodin
thcBraziIianIovcr-cIass famiIythatvouIdhavc othcrviscIaindormant
in thc vorId of "indicativc-mood" groups to vhich thc Lmbandists
bcIongcd.
!havcnotgivcnyouabIov-by-bIov accountofthcdcmandavhich
dcvcIopcd bctvccn Mario and Pcdro, incIuding such cxotica as hrc-
ordcaIs and scIf-stabbings, sincc ! havc aIrcady ovcrburdcncd you vith
dctaiI. Sumcc it to say that in succcssivc scssions, thc hostiIity bctvccn
thosctvobccamccvidcnttoaII. !nthcrcIigioushicrarchy, Pcdro, though
hisjunor, vas Mario's "fathcr" (pai) . Thc group that bcganin dcmanda
cndcdindcmanda,andinaIIitsstagcs, itsctrituaI"parcnts"againstrituaI
"chiIdrcn." !nthc cnd, Pcdro andmostofthc othcrsIcft ostcnsibIy ovcra
hnanciaIissucSoniathcIittIcmothcrhadbccnahundrcdcruzcirosshort
aftcraddingupfccspaidbycIicntstomcdiumsforconsuItations. Shchad
oEcrcd torcpaythis sumfromhcr ovnpockct tothcjoint funds. Pcdro
vantcdaIIthcconsuItationfccstobcdividcdup amongthcmcdiumsand
not put in thc tcrrciro'sjoint account. SquabbIing arosc. Mario ordcrcd
thccxpuIsionofaIImcdiumsvhotookPcdro'ssidc. HccxpIaincdthisin
mysticaI tcrms, hc said that his main orixa, Cgum (St. Gcorgc) had
dcfcatcdthcdcmandaagainsthim, as St. GcorgchadsIainthcdragon. But
soonthctcrrciro hadtobccIoscddovn, for onIythcprcsidcntrcmaincd
vith oncvomanhcIpcr, a non-mcdium namcd ZiIda, Mario' scoIIcaguc
on thc univcrsity facuIty. Yvonnc hcrscI( by hcr ovn account, cIcarIy
tookthcsidcofthoscvhomMariocxpcIIcd. "Whcn!saidgoodbyctothc
othcr mcdiums, thcy obscrvcd that ! vas in thc grip ofcmotion, though
Pcdro's sistcr hcsitatcd to say so aIoud" (VcIho 1975:80). AnthropoIogists
UMBANDA IN RIO DE JANEIRO I|p
rarcIydcscribcthcirovnfccIings sohoncstIy, prcfcrringtoposcoftcnas
cognitivcmachincsforvhichthirdpcrsonIanguagcisappropriatc.
Hov, thcn, may an anthropoIogist, vorking in coIIaboration vith a
psychoanaIyst, handIc this kind ofdata vhich cIcarIy is )anus-faccd-
Iooking dircctIy at both discipIincs ! havc madc somc amatcurish sug-
gcstionsaIongthcIincsofpsychoanaIyticintcrprctationofportionsofthc
bchaviorobscrvcdbyVcIho. !knovthatthcscarcinadcquatc. !knovthat
!am capabIc, hovcvcr, ofhandIingthc sociaIand cuIturaI contcxts ofthc
dramas dcscribcd. CbviousIy, somc division ofIabor vouIdbcdcsirabIc.
SociocuIturaIsystcmsarc, aftcraII,atthcIcvcIofobscrvation,quitcdiEcr-
cntfrom, thoughintcrdcpcndcntvith,psychicaIormcntaIsystcms.Thcy
invoIvcdiEcrcnt kinds ofsustcntativc proccsscs andhavc diEcrcnt dcvcI-
opmcntaI mcchanisms. !ndccd! Iamcnt thc Iack ofadcquatc sociaIstruc-
turaI contcxtuaIization ofVcIho's tcrrciro in thc contcmporary BraziIian
socicty, vith its muItitudinous probIcms ofcIass stratihcation, cthnicity,
Iabormigration, urbanization, poIiticaIcontroI, and soon. And !vondcr
about thc typicaIity ofhcr group ofmcdiums. !s thc Lfc ofthc avcragc
tcrrciro rcaIIy as short as thrcc months ! vouId aIso havc dcsircd morc
informationaboutthccxtant sociaI structurc ofthcgroup, itsbasicorga-
nizing norms and pcrdurabIc rcIationships, and, in addition, its division
intotransicnt aIIianccs andfactions (informationonthcscisprovidcdbut
notsystcmatizcd),forbothpcrsistingstructuraIformsandrccurrcnttypcs
ofconict and scIf-scrvingintcrcsts tcnd to bc stcrcotypcd in thcrituaI
symboIism. McvcrthcIcss, ! stiIIrcgardhcr book asvcryncarIya tour dc
forcc. PsychoanaIysts couId makc a dccisivc contributionto thc study of
sociocuIturaI hcIds such as thcsc by cntcring into a vorking hcId part-
ncrship vith anthropoIogists. For cxampIc, our undcrstanding ofsuch
dramatispcrsonac as Aparcida, Mario,Pcdro, Sonia, Marina, Lcda, and
thcIikc,vouIdhavcbccnimmcasurabIycnhanccdifithadbccnpossibIc
tobringthcmrcguIarIyintocIincaIintcrvicvsituations,duringandaftcr
thccvcntsdcscribcd-cvcnthoughthccvcntsthcmscIvcsvouIdthcnhavc
takcn a radicaIIy diEcrcnt turn. Cnc vondcrs, of coursc, ifthc cvcnts
vouId havc foIIovcd thc coursc dcscribcd had Yvonnc VcIho not bccn
prcscntmostofthctimc!
FinaIIy, it has somctimcs bccn argucdby anthropoIogicaIIy oricntcd
psychiatrists suchasJ AdcoycLambo andAri Kicv thatpaticnts shouId
bc rcfcrrcd to traditionaI practitioncrs to compIctc thcir thcrapy, in
cuIturcsvhcrcsuchrituaImodcsofthcrapyarcstiIIagoing conccrn. But
VcIho'sdatashovthatvhcnPcdrovasinsistingthathismcdiumsshouId
pcrform vorks Iasting through thcnght scvcraInights a vcck to rcsist
and dispcI thc dcmanda Iaid on thc group by Aparcida, thcy aII had
probIcms in thcir daiIy vork and somc cxpcricnccd accidcnts bccausc
r,e PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
thcyvcrccxhaustcd. !nindustriaIizing socictics,itis cIcar that thcWcst-
crnnotionof"thcindividuaIin gcncraI" asthcsourccofrationaIchoicc
hasrcpIaccdthc corporatcgroupasthcrcsponsibIc, cvcncthicaIunit, and
thatitisnotrcaIIyfcasibIctoturnthccIockbacktocuIturaIformsthatarc
appropriatc to prcindustriaI and nonurbanizcd socictics. Thc cgo has to
achicvc its ovnstrcngth assistcdbythchndings ofarationaIIy oricntcd
cuIturc, it canno Iongcr rcIy on forms, cvcn as bcautifuIIy and potcntIy
numinous as thosc ofthc subjunctivc subcuIturc ofLmbanda, to kccp
ncurosisatbayorsubIimatcitintosociaIIyviabIcbchavior.
7
Process, System and Symbol
A New Antropologica Synthesis
j ust bcyond our prcscnt horizon, !
Iikc tothink, Iic thcOcIcctabIc !sIands. But ! thinkthat anthropoIogists
viII rcach thcm onIy ifthcy rcvcrsc thc proccss ofhssion into sub-
discipIncs, cach vith its avcsomcjargon, vhich has charactcrizcd thc
history of anthropoIogy in thc past dccadc or so, and movc tovard a
rcncvcdfusionvhichviIIIcadto discussionofananimatcdsortamong,
say, thc bioIogicaL ccoIogicaL structuraL scmiotic, scmioIogicaI, "ctic,"
"cmc," cthno-this and cthno-that, kinds ofanthropoIogists. Cur cxpuI-
sionfromvarious coIoniaIrcscarch dcns maybcan opportunity rathcr
than a Ioss. Wc can nov takc stock-and aIso asscss our rcIationship, in
thisbrcathingspacc,toothcrcntrcnchcdscicnccsandhumanitics.
AnthropoIogyshouIdnotinchfromIookingatcrcativcartandIitcr-
aturc in compIcx socictics, but aIvays as thcscrccct uponthc "tidcs of
history"vhichformthcirproccssuaIcontcxts.TcxtsnotonIyanimatcand
arc anmatcdbycontcxtsbutarcproccssuaIIyinscvcrabIc fromthcm.Thc
Reprinted with permission of Daedalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Discoveries and Interpretations: Studies in Contemporary Scholarship, vol. 1 , Summer
1 977, Doston, Massachusetts.
ISI
I]2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
arts arc gcrmanc to thccbbs and ovs ofhumanundcrstanding asthcsc
avakcn or fadc at givcn momcnts on thc scaIc of gIobaI history, thc
scicnccs shov anthropoIogy thc constraints ofthc human condition. !n
tcrms approvabIc by WiIIiam BIakc, vc osciIIatc bctvccn "singIc" and
"fourfoId"vision, butncithcrisinappropriatctous,cxhaustsus,orcannot
bcscriousIystudicd.
\' My pcrsonaI vicv is that anthropoIogy is shifting from a strcss on
conccptssuchasstructurc,cquiIibrium,function,systcmtoproccss,indc-
tcrminacy,rccxivityfroma"bcing"toa"bccoming"vocabuIary-but
vithatcndcrpcrpctuativcrcgardforthcmarvcIoushndingsofthoscvho,
tcachcrs ofthc prcscnt gcncration, committcd thcmscIvcs to thc discov-
crics of "systcms" of sociaI rcIations and cuIturaI "itcms" and "com-
pIcxcs."ThcvaIidIyncvncvcrncgatcsthcscriousIyrcscarchcdimmcdiatc
_ pastinanyscicncc,itincorporatcsitin"avidcrorbitofrccovcrcdIav." ` `
As TomKuhnand othcrshavcshovn,thc sociopoIiticaI situationin
anydiscipIincdhcId ofknovIcdgc, vhcthcr cIassihcd as a scicncc ornot,
cxhibits thc conicts ofproccssuaIity (as our !taIian coIIcagucs, IitcraIIy
transIating, put it). ActuaI pcrsons rcprcscnt thcorcticaI stanccs. CIdcr
pcrsons command strongcr positions in thc microcosmographia aca-
dcmica-pcrsonstraincdandvorkingvaIuabIyincarIicrpcriodsthanthc
prcscnt.Youngcrpcrsonsarcdoingthccxpcrimcnts, thchcIdvork. Para-
digmssupportcdbythc"goodoIdboys"arcchaIIcngcdbyncvfacts,ncv
hypothcscs groundcd in thcm. AnthropoIogy is prcscntIy cxpcricncing
thisstrcssrathcrsharpIy.
Thc discipIinc ofanthropoIogy undoubtcdIy sharcs this criscs vith
othcracadcmicdiscipIincs.To my possibIy naivcuropcancyc, strcsson
thcindividuaIasthcgrant-scckingunit,on"chapsrathcrthanmaps,"has
virtucs ccrtainIy, but it aIso makcs for thcorcticaI fragmcntation. And
bchinditisoftcnacovcrt,unhcaIthycoIIcctivism.Forccrtainofthcmajor
dcpartmcnts ofanthropoIogy in thc Lnitcd Statcsshova kinship to thc
city statcs ofantiquity. ach dcpartmcnt spcciaIizcs in a ccrtain kind of
anthropoIogy (cthnoscicncc, symboIic anthropoIogy, ccoIogicaI anthro-
poIogy, appIicd anthropoIogy, ctc.), and it vouId bc aboId studcnt vho
succcssfuIIyobtaincdsupportforvhathistutorsconsidcrcdan"advcrsary
position''intcrmsofhisgrantproposaIorthcsisrcscarch.
ThiscombinationofamythofindividuaIismand arcaIityofdcpart-
mcntaI thcorcticaI oricntation oftcn tcnds to crcatc for imaginativc stu-
dcnts thc cIassicaIBatcsonian doubIc-bind situation. Thcir bcst thoughts
maybctaboocdandthcirintcgrityundcrmincdby"city statc"shibboIcths
in thcvay ofconccpts and styIcs tovhich thcymustrcndcr at Icast Iip
scrvicc to obtain support from nationaIIy and IocaIIy prcstigious dcpart-
mcntaI facuIty. Studcnts oftcn sccm to suEcr from thc guiIt of "scIf-
bctrayaI"vhich pursucs thcm cvcn intothcir feldwork in |ar pIaccs. I
am sure th|s |s not an opt|maI cond|tion for feldwork. For thcy have to
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I]
proccssthcir hcIdvorkinto Ph.O. disscrtations acccptabIcbythcir spon-
soringdcpartmcnts.
CncrcmcdyvouIdbctoscckmcanstoovcrcomcthcovcrspcciaIiza-
tionofdcpartmcntsandthcatomismoffunding.Mypapcrindicatcsthata
ncv brcakthrough in anthropoIogy dcpcnds upon a scrious sustaincd
cEort by thc proponcnts of scvcrcIy scgrcgatcd subdiscipIincs (vho
bcstovonthcirstudcntsthccmbIcmsofthisscgrcgationas"profcssionaI
compctcncc")torcIatcthcbcsthndingsof thcirscparatcdycars.Thcmajor
fundingagcncics,thcMSF,M!MH,SSRC,FordFoundation,andsoforth,
shouIdbcapproachcdtoprovidcthcbasis forascricsof"summit'' mcct-
ingsamongthcIcadcrsofthcvariousmodcsof"anthropoIogizing." Monc
ofthc major think-tanks (PaIo AIto, Princcton, ctc.) has promotcd this
immcnscvorkofcoIIcctivcrccxivity. MotthatconfcrcnccsaIonccando
this, but thcy arc signaIs that thc rcconstitution of anthropoIogy at a
highcrIcvcIundcrthcacgisofproccssuaIismisundcrvay. Cthcrviscthc
ccntrifugaIdrift,indccd,thcsuicidaIsparagos, viIIgoonandon.
Thc dcvicc ofcncouraging rcprcscntation on thc facuItics ofccrtain
dcpartmcntsofaIIthcmajorsubhcIdsofcurrcntanthropoIogytcndstobc
apaIIiativcrathcrthanarcmcdyifitisnotcognizantIyandauthoritativcIy
rcinforccd by thc sharcd undcrstanding ofthc discipIinc that such spc-
ciaIization must bc accompanicd by authcntic intcgration undcr a major
paradigm vhosc Iincamcnts havc bccn indicatcd by thc acknovIcdgcd
crcativcIcadcrsofthctotaIdiscipIinc.
AIthoughitmaynotbcpossibIctopointtoadchnitivcbrcakthrough,
cxcmpIihcdby asingIc book or articIc, inthc pastdccadcorsoinvorId
anthropoIogy, onc can makc a fair casc for a gcncraI discipIinary drift
tovard a thcorcticaI synthcsis to vhich proccssuaI studics havc IargcIy
contributcd. Hovcvcr,proccssthcoryisnoIongcr Iinkcd, as inits carIicr
hcyday, vith L. GumpIovicz's notion (I963.2O3) that "man's matcriaI '
nccd is thcprimc motivc ofhis conduct'', it nov rccognizcs thc critica
importanccofmcaning and symboIing. Furthcrmorc,itsthcorcticaIfocu

isnov "anindividuaI andspccihcpopuIationstudicdinamuItidiscipIin

aryframcofrcfcrcnccandvithastrcssonspccihchumanbchaviorrathcr
thangcncraIizcdnormsoravcragcs"(BcnncttctaI. I975.I79).Proccsscsof
conict and compctition ofthc sociaIOarviniantypc, or ofcoopcration
(accommodation, assimiIation) modcIcd on Kropotkin' s zooIogicaI
"mutuaIaid,"arcnoIongcrrcgardcdasbcingatthcdynamiccorcofsociaI
dcvcIopmcnt. MatcriaInccdisnotrcjcctcdbutisrathcrvicvcd aspartof
"thcsimuItancousintcractionamongbioIogy, ccoIogy,andcuIture'vhich
somcanthopoIogistscaIIbioloical ecolo (BcnncttctaI. I975.!64).
!n thisjuncturaI anaIysis ofvarious systcms-not a systcms anaIysis
but,rathcr,an |a|crsystcmicanaIysiscuIturchastobcsccnasproccssuaI,
bccauscit cmcrgcs |n intcract|onand imposcs mcaning onthcbiotic and
IS4
PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
ecoIogicaIsystems(aIsodynamic)vithvhichitinteracts.lshouIdnotsay
it, forthisisto reifyvhatis,regardedprocessuaIIy, anendIessseriesof
negotiationsamongactorsabouttheassignmentofmeaningtotheactsin
_ vhich theyjointIy participate. Meaning is assigned verbaIIy throuyh
speechandnonverbaIIythroughrituaIandceremoniaIactionandisoften
storedinsymboIsvhichbecomeindexicaIcounters insubsequent situa-
tionaIcontexts.Buttheassignmentandreassignmentofmeaningmustbe
investigated as processes inthedomain ofresilience possessed by each
popuIationrecognizingitseIftobecuIturaIIyperduring.Forhumanpopu-
Iations areperiodicaIIy subjectedto shocks and crises, inadditionto the
strainsandtensionsofadjustmenttoquotidianchaIIengesfromthebiotic
and sociaI environments. These invoIve probIems ofmaintenance of
determinate institutionaI structures as veII as ofcreative adaptation to
suddenorpersistingenvironmentaIchanges,makingforindeterminacy. ([
ProcessuaI anaIysis has undoubtedIy gained from the phenome-
noIogicaI critique ofpositivist anthropoIogy. Whereaspositivist anthro-
poIogy heId that sociaI phenomena arequaIitativeIythe same as naturaI
phenomena, that the techniques ofanaIysis deveIopedinthe naturaI sci-
encesareappIicabIevithIittIemodi6cationto anthropoIogicaIinvestiga-
tion, and that anthropoIogy shouId strive to deveIop empiricaIIy based
theoreticaIpropositionsvhichvouIdsupportpredctivestatementsabout
sociaIphenomena,thephenomenoIogists,notabI Schutz,insistedthatthe
sociaI vorId is in many important respects cuIturaI construct,an \l
organizeduniverseofmeaningintheformofvhatHaroIdGar6nkeIcaIIs
aseriesoftypi6cationsoftheobjectsvithinit.Gar6nkeIfoIIovsSchutz
andHusserIintheirvievthatbynaminganexperiencedobject,theyare
reIatingbyitstypicaIitytopreexperiencedthingsofsimiIartypicaIstruc-
tures,andveacceptitsopenhorizonreferringtofutureexperiencesofthe
sametype(A.Schutz1962:285). Gar6nkeIarguesthatvhenamemberof
acoIIectivityaccountsforhisuniqueactionsheisatthesametimetypify-
ingthemin terms ofa framevork ofmeaning vhich he shares vith aII
other members. Tis framevork is vhat the phenomenoIogicaI sociaI
scientistscaII

e. Gar6nkeIarguesthateventhepracticaI,mun-
dane activitiesofmembers ofsociocuIturaI groups are reexive at the
common senseIeveI, becausethe sociaI existence ofamember'sexperi-
encescanbeestabIishedonIythroughtheirtypi6cation,throughtheeo;t
ofreIatingtheiruniquenesstothevorIdofmeaninggeneratedandtrans-
mitted by the group. For these schoIars Durkheim's famous attempt to

snc m and extern_ _that i_qjy_q_|_@gd_cc it@
ocessuaIa.le phenomenological anthropology, dcrcihcscol|ec-
\\
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL ISS
tive representations into the_p eaton

ns m seotiations to @aintaij or @or

ve tsociaI eani even,insomecases,tochangethec ,
structureL ommonsense. ;aty i

i
'
t
1!J,(
,brxscaII -
__(1974:40). Jqnr specicu to corporations, vbich he
regardsasmorereadiIy cIassi6abIethanmanynoncorporatestatuses,but
mc many stturaI-functionaIists, he regards as unprobIematicaI the
processes[yhichco;porationsand othersurfacestructurescomeinto
e, are maintained against disintegrative processes, and are con-
stamyteevalatedbyactors.SociaImeaningscannotbetakenforgrant

.
lt is notenoughtomaketaxonomies or inventories ofjuraI norms and
cuIturalvaIues, based on formaI statements by informants. Wc have to
deveIop strategies for ascertaining hov the actors deaI vith discrepant
norms. vhat aretheirstandards ofappropriateness,hovthey assess the
respective veighings ofstated and unstated ruIes, in sho
' "
ProcessuaIanaIysishasrecentIybeenconsiderabIyadvancedbySaIIy
FaIkMoore's EpiIogue toSymol an Politics in Comunal Ideolo (1976).,1
MooreproposesthattheunderIyingquaIityofsociaIIifeshouIdbecon-
sidered QJ oItblI,al;ute 1ndeunay'' buch mdete-

mnacyisonlypartiaIIyreducedbcuItureandorganizedsociaIIife, the
patterned aspects ofvhI ma nce at:d contain eIe-
ments ofinconsistency, ambiguity, discontinuity, contradiction, paradox,
andconmct(p.232) . Shegoes,infact,furtherthanSchutz,Gar6nkeI, and
other phenomenoIogicaI socioIogists, vho seem to 6nd some system,
vocabuIary, andsyntaxincommonsense. Heretheyshareviththestruc-
turaI-functionaIists some notion ofthe priority ofdetermnacy. Moore,
hovever, arguesthatevenvhereruIesandcustomsexist,indeterminacy
may be produced by the manipuIation ofthe internaI contradictions,
inconsistencies,andambiguitiesvithintheuniverseofreIativeIydetermi-
nateeIements(p. 233 )

o]

rn

not

permanen states. The seemingI xed is reaIIy the contmuousIy

ree .:inum
`` ---"~-~- -+-. - -*^ ! .. .- .- - ~ - ~ ~~ ~- . ,, _ _____=
nt,'' ;lthuyh teguIatizing processes continuaIIy transform it itio
organ;ed, r ys]n;zti fo;ms.Tese, howcver, never conpIeteIy Iosc
thcirindeterminacy,andcansIipbackintoanambiguousordismembered
condition unIessvigiIantIy attended. Moore caIIs the processesinvhich
pcrsonsarrangetheirimmediatesituations (and/or express theirfeeIings
and conccptions)byexpIoitingtheindeterminaciesofthesituationsorby
gcncratingsuch|ndetcrminacyorby rcinterpretingorrede6ningtherules
Ol rClat|Onships ' proccsscs o| situationaI adjustmcnt' " (pp 234 -5). A
I] PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
major advancc madc by Moorc in proccss thcory is hcr proposaI that
proccsscs ofrcguIarization and proccsscs ofsituationaI adjustmcnt "may
cach havc thc cEcct ofstabiIizing f changing an cxisting sociaI situation
orordcr."BothshouIdbctakcnintoaccountvhcncvcrthccompIcxrcIa-
tionships bctvccn sociaIIifcandthccontinuousIyrcncvcdvcb ofmcan-
ings vhichis cuIturc arc bcing anaIyzcd. Both typcs ofproccss contain
vithin thcmscIvcs thc possibiIity ofbccoming thcir schcmatic oppositcs,
forstratcgicsuscdinsituationaIadjustmcnt,ifoftcnrcpcatcd,maybccomc
part ofproccsscs ofrcguIarization. Pcr contra, ifncv ruIcs arc madc for
cvcry situation, such ruIcs cannot bc said to "rcguIarizc" and bccomc
cIcmcntsofsituationaIadjustmcnt.Thcproccssofcrcating"IcgaIhctions"
maypcrhaps bc rcgardcd as mcdiatingbctvccn proccsscs ofrcguIariza-
tionandsituationaIadjustmcnt(CvcnBarhcId I962.6O -64).
AcavcatshouIdbcintcrpoIatcdhcrc.!thassomctimcsbccnforgottcn
bythosccaughtupinthchrstcnthusiasmforproccssuaIismtha
@
roccss_s
intimatcIyboundupvithstructurcandthatanadcquatcanaIysisofsociaI
Iifc ncccssitatcs a rigoro
_
ation ofthc rcIation bctvccn

thcm.
HistoricaI hindsight oftcn rcvcaIs a diachronic prohIc, a tcmporaI struc-
turcincvcnts, butthis structurc cannotbcundcrstoodinisoIation from
thc scrics ofsynchronic prohIcs vhich composc thc structurcofa sociaI
hcId atcvcrysignihcantpoint ofarrcstofthctimcov. ProccssuaIstud-
ics, as Moorchasshovnus, donotrcpIaccarcscarchfocus onrcguIarity
andconsistcncy.Thcymay, hovcvcr, givcuscIucstothcnaturcofforccs
ofsystcmic maintcnancc cvcn as thcy shcd Iight on thc countcrvaiIing
forccs ofchangc. _ _a ] am ycI|jarc pJ(c
phcnomcnoIogicaIcritiqucofsulir

tionaIismthatitrcihcssociaI
+ m.I.ag
,

,_

mcnt that "thcrcquircmcnt for a socioIogicaI anaIysis ofthcprobIcmatic

charactcrofsociaIordcrisasuspcnsionofthcbcIicfinthcfacticityofthat
ordcr so as to conccntratc on thc routinc practiccs and proccdurcs of
intcrprctationby vhich mcmbcrs accompIish it inintcractionaI scttings"
(P. FiImcrct aI. I972. 2I). ButWaIsh'svicvthatvhatisimportant isnot -
formaI ruIcs but thc proccdurcs by vhich mcmbcrs dcmonstratc that
activiticsarcinaccordanccviththcruIcandthcrcforcintcIIigibIcsccmsto
mc to put too much strcss on vhat MoorcvouIdcaIIproccsscs ofrcg-
uIarization and not cnough on thc proccsscs ofsituationaI adjustmcnt,
vhichinccrtaincascsmaybringaboutashiftfromrcguIaritytoindctcr-
minacy.ThcrcismuchmcritinthcphcnomcnoIogicaIsocioIogists'argu-
mcntthatinaccounti,J

ci

1
j
t

=mbc:s
arcmait tJq pq ;IonI and thusmaking sociaIIifcacohcrcntand

rcc>
j
::+|:yn J wayt
_

t)rIincs t
occnstructcd naturc of
aII rcaIity-a vicv particuIarIy dcvcIopcd in thc vork o|GarhnkcI, |oI-
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I])
Ioving Schutz (vith HusscrI shadoving both!).But scicntists of"Man,"
anthropoIogistsin thc strict scnsc, musthnd "intcrcsting" notonIyvhat
GarhnkcIironicaIIytcrmsthc "unintcrcsting" "commonpIacc" cvcntsand
activitics in sociaI Iifc, invoIving constant ncgotiations about typifying
conductin cndIcss constructionsofcommon scnsc, but aIsovhatisgcn-
uincIyintcrcsting,cxtraordinary,rarc-"sparc, originaI, strangc." Pcrhaps
anthropoIogistsarcinabcttcrpositionthansocioIogistsinthisrcspcct,for
thcirhcIdvork is conductcdorhas bccn untiI rcccntIy-mostIy among
popuIationshaving somctimcs vidcIy diEcrcnt cuIturcs fromthcir ovn.
Thc common scnsc ofthosc vhom thcy study from thc outsct sccms
cxtraordinary thoughordinarycnoughtothcirsubjccts. SocioIogists, on
thc othcr hand, sharc undcrstandings vith thcir subjccts bccausc thcy
sharcthcircuIturcandhavc tovorkhardattransforming thc takcn-for-
grantcdintoafascinatingobjcctofstudy.AnthropoIogists,scnsitizcdfrom
thc outsidctothcaIicnncssofmany ofthc symboIs andmcanings sharcd
bythoscthcyinvcstigatc,oftcngoontodiscovcrvhatiscxtraordinaryby
anyrcckoning.ThcprofcssionofanthropoIogyhasinitsarchivcssomany
variant organizations ofcommonpIacc cvcryday activitics, cvcry onc of
vhich no doubt sccmingIy cxotic or bizarrc as apprchcndcd from thc
standpoint ofthc othcrs, that it is Icd to probcbcncath this surfacc Iaycr
ofrccxivity for proccsscs and mcchanisms ofa gcncraIIy human typc.
Frcnch structuraIism, vhoscIcading anthropoIogicaIcxponcntis CIaudc
Lcvi-Strauss, attcmptcdthis task.Bob SchoItchas succinctIy summarizcd
,
Lcvi-Strauss's argumcnt. "conscious, cmpiricaI, and cthnographic phc-
nomcna arc assumcd to bc thc concrctc and comparabIc rcaIizations of

unconscious,structuraI, andcthnoIogicaIsystcms.Thcsc,inturn, arcsaid '

tobcthcrcsuItsof ncuroIogicaI,cybcrnctic,andphysico-chcmicaIunivcr-
saIs.MotonIydocsstructuraIismasadiscipIincstandorfaIIonthcbasisof
this prcmisc, butit aIso providcs thcparadigmaticcIosurc for thc cntcr-
priscasavhoIc.ancncompassingmovcmcntfromthccmpiricaIdcscrip-
tion ofcthnographic modcIs on to thcir hnaI rcduction to unconscious,

comparabIc,andunivcrsaIstructurcs"obSchoItcI973.68O).
Tvo commcnts may bc madc hcrc. First, Lcvi-Strauss's datcs are
dravnfromcompIctcdtcxtssuch as mythsandcuIinaryrccipcs. Sccond,
thcncuroIogicaIandphysicochcmicaIbascsofhumanbchaviorarccIcarIy
notcxhaustcdbygcncticaIIyhxcdcnduringncuronaIpathvaysbuthavca
highpotcntiaIforinnovativcbchavior.vcnifthcrcarcinhcritcdgcnctic
structurcsofcognition,catcgoricsorcngrams,itisnotimpossibIcthatat
IcvcIsofmcntaIity at Icast as dccp thcrc is acapacityforpIastic, adaptivc,
andmanipuIativcbchaviorin rcsponsc tochangingcircumstancc. !nothcr
words, proccssuaI potcntiaImaybcprcconstitutcdin thcphysicochcmicaI
in|rastructurc. !nanycvcntboth structuraI and proccssuaIfoundationsin
. IS8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
bioIogyremainasyetunveri6ed.lvishonlytomakethepointthatveare
notheredeaIingvith a behavioraI surface cravlingvithprocesses con-
trastedvithdeepunconsciousstructures. lndeed,itmightbepossibleto
reversetheorderofdepthandregardthestructuresinferabIeincoIlections
ofmythsandkindredphenomenaasconvenientmeansoforderingcollec-
tiveexperiences arising from thecontestationofdeep processes ofreg-
ularization and situationaI adjustment. PhenomenoIogists might even
argue that structural arrangements (binary Iogic, split representation,
mediation, and the rest) provide boundary conditions qamt:g that
^
h__,]}|orgrantcd,.ed conceptions that make up the
actor'sstockofknovIedge, ecoIogicalsettings,commonIinguisticusage,
( andbiophysicaIconditions(A.CicoureI,seeFiImeretaI. I972.2I). From
thisperspectivethestructuraloppositionsandtransformationsdetectedby
Levi-Strauss in the concrete Iogic" ofmythical narratives may not so
muchprovide clues to fundamental cognitive constraints as represent a
convenient andsimplisticcoding ofitems ofcommonsenseknovledge.
We mustlookeIsevhereforintimationsofhumandepth.ltisherethatve
mustturnoncemoretotheinvestigationofprocesses,butnovtoproc-
esses heavily investedvithculturaI symbols, particuIarly thoseofrituaI,
drama,andotherpoverfuIperformativegenres.
Van Gennep vas the 6rst schoIarvho perceivedthat theprocessuaI
formofritualepitomzedthegeneralexperienceintraditionalsocietythat
sociallifevasasequenceofmovementsinspace-time,invoIving aseries
ofchanges ofpragmaticactivity and a succession oftransitions in state
andstatusforindividualsandculturalIyrecognizedgroupsandcategories.
CertainIyhevasaheadofhistime, otherinvestigativeprocedureshadto
bedeveIopedbeforehisdiscoverycouldbecomethefoundationofsaIient
hypotheses. He might be compared vith Hero of Alexandria, vho
describedthe 6rst knovn steamenginein I2OM.. LnIike]ames Watts's
modeInineteenhundredyearslateritperformednousefulvork, merely
causing a globe to vhirI, but not a vorld ofinvention to turn! Van
Gennep,afolkIorist, hadvhatheconsideredanaImostmysticaIinspira-
tionasheattemptedtoelicittheprocessualstructureoftvotypesofrite.
thosevhichmark,and,inindigenousthought,bringaboutthepassageof
anindividuaIorsociaIcategoryfromoneculturalstateorsocialstatusto
anotherinthecourseofhis,her,ortheirlifecycIe,andthosevhichmark
cuIturalIy recognized points in the passage oftime (6rst fruits, harvest,
mid-summer, nevyear, nev moon, solstice, orequinox) . Hefoundthat
rites de passage, vievedcross-cuIturalIy, hadthreeprincipaIstages.rites of
separation,margin(orlimen = threshoId),andreaggregation.Theduration
and compIexity ofthese stages varied according to type ofrite, though
initiatory rites tended tohave aprotracted IiminaI stage. Max Gluckman
hastakenvanGenneptotask|orstrcssingthemechanismso|ritualrather
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I]
thantherolevhichvhoIeceremoniesandspeci6critesplayintheorder-
ing and reordering ofsocial relations (GIuckman I962.
|
). Hovever,
descriptive social anthropology had notin van Gennep'stime provided
thehoIisticcharacterizationofsocialsystemsvhichvouldhavemadethis
possibIe, vhereas the coolness displayedbyDurkheimandhis schoolto
vanGennep'svorkmusthavediscouragedvanGennepfromattempting
torelatehisprocessualdiscoverytotheearlystructuraI-functionalistfor-
mulations oftheAnnee socioloique group. AmericanschoIarsvereamong
the6rsttonotethetheoreticalsigni6canceofvanGennep'sdiscovery.As
early as I9
|
2 . O. Chappell and C. S. Coon (I9
|
2) had attempted to
discuss his anaIysis ofrites ofpassage in a framevork ofequilibrium-
maintenance theory, and had addeda fourth category, rites ofintensi6-
cation,vhichhad astheirmaingoalthestrengthening ofgroup unity.
).W Whitingandl.L.ChiId(I953),FrankWYoung(I965),andSoIonJ
KimbalI(I96O), areamongthosescholarsvhohaveinrecentyearsseen
therelevanceofvanGennep'sformulationfortheirvorkinvaried6elds.
KimbaIl has noted hov van Gennep vent beyond his analysis ofthe
triadicprocessualstructureofritesofpassagetoaninterpretationoftheir
signi6cance for the expIanation ofthe continuing nature ofIife. Van
Gennep,continuesKimbaIl,believedthatritesofpassageviththeirsym-
boIic representation ofdeath and rebirth iIIustrate the principIes of
regenerative reneval required by any society (KimbaIl I968.II3). The
present author, stimuIated during his 6eldvork by Henri]unod's use of
van Gennep's interpretative apparatus for understanding Thonga rituaI
gunod I962 [I9I2 - I3j),cametoseethattheliminalstagevasofcrucial
importancevithregardto this process ofregenerativereneval. lndeed,
van Gennep sometimes called the three stages preIiminal, liminal, and
postliminaI, indicating that importance. But he never folloved up the
implicationsofhisdiscoveryoftheliminaIbeyondmentioningthatvhen
individualsorgroups areinaliminaIstateofsuspension, separatedfrom
their previous condition, and not yet incorporated into their nev one,
theypresentathreattothemseIvesandtotheentiregroup,requiringtheir
segregationfromquotidianIifeinamilieuhedgedaroundbyrituaIinter-
dictions. In I963, vhile avaiting a visa to live in America, suspended
bctveen cuItural vorlds, I vrote a paper, later to be pubIished in the
Proceedings i the American Ethnoloical Society fr I, vhosetitleexpresses
whatformeisthedistinctivefeatureofliminality.BetvixtandBetveen.
The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage" (I96
|
). Liminars, vhomay be
iuitiandsor novices inpassagefromonesociocuIturaI stateandstatus to
auother,orevenvhoIepopulationsundergoingtransitionfromonequad-
rautofthc soIar year to another in a great pubIic ceremony, are neither
hrc uor thcre",they arcbctvixtandbetveenthepositions assignedand
arraycdby law, custom,convention, andccrcmoniaIVanGcnncppointed
IC PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
tothemanysymbolsof birth,death,andrebirthfoundinthelimnalstage
inmanysocietiesandreligions.Butformetheessenceofliminalityisto
be found in its release from normal constraints, making possible the
deconstructionoftheumnterestingconstructionsofcommonsense,the
meaningfulness ofordinary life, discussed by phenomenological
sociologists,intoculturalunitsvhichmaythenbereconstructedinnovel
vays, some ofthembizarreto the point ofmonstrosity (fromthe actors'
ovn emc perspective).Limnalityisthedomainoftheinteresting,or
ofuncommon sense.Thisisnot to saythatitis totally unconstrained,
for insofar as it represents a de6nite stage in the passage ofan initiand
fromstatusAto statusB inaritualbelonging to atraditionalsystemor
sequenceofrituals,liminalitymustbearsometracesofitsantecedentand
subsequent stages. To use Robert Merton's terms, some symbols must
accordviththe manifest'purposesoftheritual(totransformaboyinto
aman,agirlintoavoman,adeadpersonintoanancestralspirit,etc.).But
othershavethelatenr'capacitytoelicitcreativeandinnovativeresponses
fromtheliminarsandtheirinstructors.Thestudyofmasksandcostumes
in AfricanandMelanesianinitiation rituals, vhether ofpuberty or into
secret societies, demonstrates theimaginative potential unlockedbylim-
inality,formaskers(representingdeities, arch-ancestors,territorialguard-
ian spirits, or other supernaturals) typically appear in liminal sites
sequestered from mundane life. Among the Ndembu ofZambia, for
example,themakishi, masked6gures,saidtobeancientancestors,ofave-
someshapeandpover, arebelievedbyboy novices secluded inthebush
camps duringtheMukanda ritesto spring fromtheblood-soakedsitein
the deepbushvhere theyhadrecentlybeen circumcised.Thevoodcar-
versvhocreatethemasks, thoughtheyportray alimitedrangeoftypes
(the Foolish Young Woman, the Crazy One, the Wise Old Chief the
FertilityBinder, etc.),displayaviderangeofpersonalaestheticinitiative
ingeneratingvariantforms.
ln other vords, thereis an aspect ofplay in liminality. Huizinga's
Homo Ludens (I955

938j) has sensitized anthropologicalthought to the

playelementintheconstructionandnegotiationofmeaninginculture,by
hisscrutinyofallkindsofplayingfromchildren'sgamestothedialectic
ofphilosophyandthejudicialprocess. Afterhim, playis a serious busi-
ness!Notallplay, ofcourse,isreserved,inanysociety, forliminal occa-
sionsinthestrictvanGennepiansenseofritualstages.lntribalsocieties,
children and adults play games in nonritual, leisure contexts. But the
serious games vhich involve the play ofideas and the manufacture of
religiouslyimportant symbolicformsanddesigns(icons,6gurines,masks,
sand-paintings, muralsin sacred caves, statues, eEgies, pottery emblems,
and thelike) are often, in traditional societies, reserved forauthentically
liminal times and places. ln Betvixt and Bctwccn" l invokcd William
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL 11
]ames'slavofdissociation'toclarifytheproblemofliminalmonsters~
sooftenpresentedthroughdierentmediatoinitiands.]amesarguedthat
vhena andb occurredtogether aspartsofthe sametotalobject,vithout
being discriminated,theoccurrenceofoneofthese, a, inanevcombina-
tion, ex, favors the discrimination ofa, b, and x from one another. As
William]ameshimselfputitinhisPrinciples o Psycholo: Whatis associ-
atednovvithonethingandnovvithanother,tendstobecomedissoci-
atedfromeither,andtogrovintoan objectofabstractcontemplationby
themind.Onemightcallthisthelavofdissociationbyvaryingconcomi-
tants (I9I8 [ I89Oj.5O6).Liminalmonstersanddragonsarecompounded
fromvariousdiscriminta, eachofthemoriginallyanelementinthecom-
mon sense construction ofsocial reality. ln a sense, they have theped-
agogical function ofstimulating the liminars' povers ofanalysis and
revealingto themthe building blocks fromvhich theirhitherto taken-
for-grantedvorldhasbeen constructed. Butinanothervaytheyreveal
the freedom, the indeterminacy underlying all culturally constructed
vorlds, thefree play ofmankind's cognitive and:maginative capacities.
Synthesis, as vell as analysis, isencouragedby monster construction! ln
many cultures, liminalityisoftenthesceneforimmolative actionvhich
demonstrates, usually subverbally, this innovative freedom. Symbolic
structures, elaboratelycontrived,areexhibitedtoliminars atmostsacred
episodes in the marginal rites, and are then, despite the time and labor
takentoconstructthem,destroyed.Shakespeare's cloud-cappedpalaces,
ashis masterofliminality, Prospero, declared, leavenot arackbehind.
Thefabricationsofliminality,beingfreefromthepragmaticsofthecom-
mon sense vorld, are baseless fabrics ofthis vision'~like Te Tmpest
itselfYetthe productsofritualand dramaticritualare surely not ineec-
tual~at leasttheysurvivein vays notaltogetherto beexpected. Hov,
then,shouldtheybeassessedinthetermsofsocioculturalscience?
Letme adverttotheecologicalanthropologicalconceptofresilience
mentioned above (A. P. VaydaandB.]. McCay I975.4).Thisholdsthat
ecologicalsystems (including thoseorderedbyculture) surviveinso far
astheyhaveevolvedtacticstokeep thedomainofstability, orresilience,
broad enough to absorb the consequences ofchange. Here ve are not
onlyoncemoreinthepresenceoftheconstantnegotiationofmeaningsof
thephenomenologicalanthropologists,andthemutuallymodifyingproc-
essesofregularizationandsituationaladjustmentelicitedbySallyMoore,
butvebeginto seetheevolutionary, and,indeed,meresurvival,valueof
theculturalcarvingoutbynegotiation, overtheagesofsapientdevelop-
ment,ofritualizedspacesandtimes,givenoverasmostsacred,privileged,
and invIolablemoments, to the manufacture ofmodels forbehavior and
conduct, cven if the cost is oftcntimes the production of veird and
cxtravagantforms.Evolutionarythcory,sinccDarvin,hasalvaysstrcsscd--- .
tz PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
the importance ofvariabiIity, as it permits a given species to adapt to
changing conditions, and seIection, at the zooIogicaI IeveI, is often for
variabilityratherthan forhomogeneity,vhichdemandsa singIeIimted
environment.AnthropoIogistssuchasMaIinovskiandLvi-Strausshave
aIvaysfoundthedistinctionbetveennatureandcuItureausefuIone, and
lshare theirconviction.lseeIiminaIity,intribaIsocieties,evenvhenthey
have inhabited a singIe ecoIogicaI environment for a Iong time by any
measure, astheprovisionofa cuIturaI means ofgeneratingvariabiIity, as
veII as ofensuring the continuity ofproved vaIues and norms. This is
done sometimes by mirror inversion ofmundane Iife, so that liminars
becomethesimpIeantithesesoftheirantecedentsecuIarseIves(thebun-
+IeofroIesoccupiedprerituaIIy).Thus,in many pubertyritesboys are
mvestedsymboIicaIIy vith feminine attributes, and girIs vith mascuIine
traits, on the vay fromjuniority to seniority in sociaI cIassi6cation, or
poIiticaI inferiors may be IiminaIIy endovedvith the marks ofpoIiticaI
authority (see Turner I969 for exampIes) . With increasing frequency,
hovever,inversiongivesvay,associetiesincreaseinscaIeandcompIexity,
totheIiminaIgenerationofmanyaIternativemodeIs.
Theprimacy ofpIay doesnot gouncontested, especiaIIyinsocieties
thathavebeenIong in onepIace andhavehadtimeto consoIidatetheir
com

isensestructuresintopIausibIesembIances ofnaturaIsystems.
ere,

mthedangerousreaImofchaIIengetoaIIestabIishedjuraI-poIiticaI,
kmship, and otherstructures, itis necessary, aboveaIL to maintain, even
throughtheIiminaIstage, astrongthreadofcommonsense-icaIIycon-
structedorder.Thisisoftenrepresentedbysacra, carefuIIyconceaIedand
seIdom reveaIed symboIs and con6gurations of symboIs, vhich are
exposedonIyonrareIiminaIoccasions.TheyrepresenttheaxiomaticruIes
andde6nitionsofthecuIture~usuaIIyonethathasbeenveIIconsoIidated
by continuous occupancy ofa singIe territory over a goodIy period of
time.lnsuchreIativeIyhomogeneouscuIturaIgroupsvhereunderstand-
ings are videIy and deepIy shared, the IimnaI periods ofrituaI have
episodesinvhichtheaxiomsandprincipIes vhich governmundaneIife
have soIemn representation in myths and symboIs vhich do not con-
traveneorcriticizethemundaneorder(asIudicconstructionsoftendo)but
presentit as basedin theprimordiaI cosmogonic process. Here rituaI is
IesspIaythanvork, andthecuIturethathas suchIiminaIity tends to be
nonreexive as veII as nonadaptive. Where reIigious systems and their
rituaIs arebackedbysuperiorpoIiticaIforceandpoverthey tend toIose
theirIudicinnovativenessandvariabiIity,forthesuccessofasingIeform
tendstoreducetheneedto carryastoreofaIternativeforms.Thatthis

ay e shortsighted is sedom

recognized, for cIimatic, geoIogicaI, or

histoncaIprocessesmaybrmg disastersandtraumas forvhichthesingIc-
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I
modeIrituaIsystem,representedbyasetofparadigmaticmythsandtheir
rituaI transIationinto action, mayprovideinadequatemodeIs formentaI
andphysicaIresponse. What, paradoxicaIIy, maybemorefunctionaIis a
cuIturevhichcarriesvithitovertimeastoreofseemingIynonfunctionaI,
even ridicuIous IiminaI schemata for behavior, in evoIutionary terms, a
repertoireofvariantdeepcuIturaImodeIs,oneofvhichmayprovetob
adaptive in drasticaIIy changed ecoIogicaI and biotic conditions. lt may
evenbesaidthatvhenstructure,intheFrenchcognitivesense,penetrates
thepartiaIIyIudicspace-timeofIiminaIity,imposingonitagrammarand
Iexicon''ofruIesfoundtobesuccessfuIinmundane,extrarituaIcontexts,
thesocietythusbesethassomuchthelessadaptiveresiIience.
AnotherfeatureofIimnaIityisthatitmaybesaidtocontainat Ieast
one, andprobabIymorethanone, metaIanguage.ThetermisGregory
Bateson's (I972), athinkervho, ifit can so becIaimedfor anyone, has
giventhesociaIsciencesanevvayoftaIkingaboutthephenomenaand
processesvestudy.BatesontaIksaboutapIayframevhichisinvoIvedin
theevaIuation ofthemessagesvhichit contains (I972.I88). He argues
thatinhumansystems ofcommunication, and aIsoin many nonhuman,
zooIogicaI systems, certain signaIs areemittedinreIations among actors,
vhichframethesubsequentproceedingsforavariabIe periodoftime,in
vhichcommumcationisnotdirectbutvhichisabouttheformsofcom-
munication used in the day-to-day processes ofensuring survivaI~in
mankind'scase, theproductivereIations andtheforms ofsociaI controI
guaranteeing their orderIiness and reIative freedomfromconict. Meta-
communicationisseIf-conscious,butpIuraIIyandcumuIativeIyseIf-con-
scious. lt is the vay a popuIation or group evaIuates its ovn routine
behaviors. Because it is coIIective and cumuIative it perhaps Iacks the .,
trenchancyofindividuaIcommentary,butcompensatesbyits positingof
generic thought against generic experience. Because it represents the
reexivityofmanyithasperforcetocIotheitseIfinmuItivocaI(suscepti-
bIeofmanymeanings)symboIs,andagainsttheunivocaIsignsinvhich
theIogicaIthoughtofgiftedindividuaIphiIosophersisexpressed.Wehave_
thepIuraIseIf-consciousnessofmenexperiencingandthinkingtogether
as against the singuIar seIf-consciousness ofa master craftsman ofcog-
nitivereexivity. PIuraIitybringsfeelingandviIIing (orexis) intotheact.
One might even argue that the founders ofmajor reIigions (vhose
adherents stiII canbe counted in hundreds ofmiIIions, objectiveIy~
hcnce scienti6caIIy~speaking) occupied a mediaI position betveen
tribaI(andpIuraI) reexivity andindustriaI(and singuIar) reexivity (as
rcpresented by the Western European thinkers), in that they spoke for
coIIcctivitiesandtheircommonsensevaIues,and,atthesametime,pro-
vidcd their critiquc, vhereas the Western phiIosophicaI tradition, Iosing
I| PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
muchof thcpIuraI,sociaIcomponcnt,spokcforthcindividuaI,cognitivcIy
Iibcratcd though orccticaIIy aIicnatcd, as against thc "damncd compact
majoritics"ofIbscn'sOr. StockmaninAn Enemy o the People.
!fIiminaIity in tribaI, traditionaI rituaI is a modc ofpIuraI, rccxivc,
oftcn Iudic mctacommunication (though containing thc countcrvaiIing
proccsscs and symboIs ofsystcmmaintcnancc), vc havc to askthc qucs-
tionvhcthcr it can bc satisfactoriIy ansvcrcd or not is anothcr sct of
qucstions for invcstigationvhat arc thc functionaI cquivaIcnts ofIim-
inaIityincompIcxsocictics,highonthcdimcnsionsofscaIcandcompIcx-
ity,vithcvcrincrcasingdivisionofIabor and spcciaIizationofcrafts and
profcssions,andvhcrcthcconccptofthcindividuaIas againstthcmassis
positivcIycvaIuatcd
Bcforcvccanansvcrthisqucstionvcmightconsidcrthcdistinction
bctvccn indicativc and subjunctivc moods of vcrbs-thosc cIasscs of
vords cxprcssing action, cxistcncc, oroccurrcncc (forvc arc conccrncd
|L
vith thc proccssuaI aspccts ofnaturc and cuIturc) . Thc indicativc mood
commonIy dcsignatcs thc cxprcssion ofan act, statc, or occurrcncc as
"actuaI",it asks qucstions of"fact'-in tcrms ofthc dchnitions oftcstcd
factsacccptabIcinthccommon scnsc vorIdofagivcnhumanpopuIation.
Whcrcthc subjunctivcmoodisfound, it tcnds tocxprcssdcsirc,hypoth-
csis,supposition,possibiIity.itmayormightbcso.!nitscxprcssivcrangc
itcmbraccsbothcognitivcpossibiIitics("hypothcscs" unprovcdthcorics
or propositions tcntativcIy acccptcd to cxpIain ccrtain facts or rcIations)
and cmotionaI oncs (though hcrc thc optativc mood might bc a bcttcr
appcIIation,bccauscitcxprcsscsvishordcsirc).nactcdfantasic

, suchas' `
rituaIandcarnivaIdisguiscs, probabIybcIonghcrc. Atany ratconcmight
cIassifyordinary, quotidianIifcasindicativc, cvcnmuchofccrcmoniaIor
rituaI. But onc vouId havc to rcckon IiminaI proccsscs s

bjunctivc or
optativc,forthcyrcprcscntalternatives tothcpositivcsystcmsofcconomic,
IcgaI,andpoIiticaIactionopcratingincvcrydayIifc.Butifthcindicativcis
"brcad,"mankind"docsnotIivcbybrcadaIonc."!tsccmsthatthcdiaIcctic
bctvccn is and may be, cuIturaIIycIaboratcdinto thc distinctionbctvccn
prc- andpost-IiminaI, onthconchand, andIiminaI,onthcothcr,formsa
continuous human sociaI proccss, invoIving bioIogicaI, ccoIogicaI, and
sociocuIturaIfactors,andmadcrccxivcbythcscarchformcaningraiscd
abovccommonscnsctoahighcrpovcr.
Thc grcat sociaI thinkcrs havcindicatcdadrift, trcnd, ordircctionin
cuIturaIhistory,vhich,vhcthcritmaybccaIIcdprogrcssivcorrcgrcssivc,
atanyratcindicatcsascricsofIincardcvcIopmcnts.HcnryMainchypoth-
csizcd a modaI shift "from status to contract," Ourkhcim a movc from
"mcchanicaI"to "organic"soIidarity, MarxandngcIspostuIatcd astagc
of"primitivc communism" subvcrtcd by thc dcvcIopmcnt ofproductivc
|orccs vhich gcncratcd c|ass oppositions around thc issuc o| propcrty.
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I]
Privatc propcrty, in its turn, gcncratcd thc notion ofindividuaIity and
cIcvatcd it to phiIosophicaI rcspcctabiIity, cvcn as it assurcd thc
impovcrishmcnt and aIicnation ofthcmasscs ofmankindvho hadno
propcrtyothcrthanthcir"Iabor-povcr"toputtouscincarningaIiving.
Thcyprcdictcd,in HcgcIian fashion, an aboIition ofprivatc propcrtyand
cIass ovncrshipofthcmcansofproductionbyarcgcncratcdcommunism
among thcpropcrtyIcss masscs, organizcdironicaIIyand diaIccticaIIy~
by thc vcry mcans ofproductionfrom vhich thc ruIing cIasscs dcrivcd
thcirprohts,vhich, dircctcdbyancIitccognizantofthcIavsofhistoricaI
dcvcIopmcnt, thatis, thcCommunistParty, vouIdovcrthrovthcinstru-
mcnts ofcIasshcgcmony, armyand poIicc forccs, and rcstorc at ahighcr
matcriaIIcvcIthcprimordiaIcommunismvhichvasmankind' sbcstprc-
cIassstatc.
MajorsociaIthinkcrshavcpositcdadcvcIopmcntaIscqucnccintypcs
ofsociocuIturaIsystcmsinvhichcmphasisshiftsfromthccoIIcctivity as
thc cEcctivc moraIunitto thcindividuaI. ThisisparaIIcIcdby a groving
strcss onachicvcdasagainstascriptivc status, andbyancvcrmorcprccisc
division ofIabor in thc domains ofcconomics and sociaI controI. Thc
obIigatorycomponcntinsociaIrcIationshipyicIdsto thcoptionaIorvoI-
|\
untaristic, status givcs vay to contract. Corporatc groups constructcd
on thcmodcIofkin tics arc rcpIaccd as cEcctivc sociaI ccntcrs ofaction
by associations ofthosc having Iikc intcrcsts. RationaI and burcaucratic
organization Iords it ovcr groups bondcd by tics to IocaIity. Thc city
prcvaiIs ovcr thc ruraI hintcrIand. !ndustriaIization has dccisivcIy spIit
vork fromIcisurc by its "cIocking in and out" dcviccs and has rcscrvcd
pIayforthcIcisurcsphcrcvhcrcinvorkiscompIcmcntcdorrcvardcd().
'
Oumazcdicr I962). RituaI vhich, particuIarIy in its IiminaI stagc, con-
taincdbothvorkandpIay(manytribaIsocicticsspcakofrituaIactivityas
vork, forccrcmonicsarcpartofthcongoingproccssofthcvhoIcgroup)
novbccomcsaIcisurcactivity. Morcovcr,itsIiturgicaIstructurcs acccntu-
atcthcsoIcmnandattcnuatcthcfcstaIaspccts, ascodcsformoraIbchavior
bccomcincrcasingIyintcrnaIizcdas "conscicncc." WhcnitIoscsitscapac-
ity to pIay vith idcas, symboIs, and mcanings, vhcn it Ioscs its cuIturaI
cvoIutionaryresiIicncc,rituaIccascs tobcancEcctivcmctaIanguagcorn
\'
agcncyofcoIIcctivcrccxivity.
Somc anthropoIogists, and

schoIars in adjaccnt hcIds, inucnccd by

dcvcIopmcnts in adjaccnt discipIincs, such as history and Iitcrary criti-
cism, arc bcginning to turn thcir attcntion to both thc foIk and high
cuIturc ofcompIcx socictics and civiIizations (C. Gccrtz, M. OougIas,
R. Firth,). Pcacock,B. Mycrho6 and R. Grimcs springrcadiIytomind).
!nthcscthcy hnd thatthcobIigatory rituaIsandrituaIizcdbondscharac-
tcristic ofcompIcx, ruraIIy bascd civiIizations havc bccn suppIantcd by
city-bascdassociationaIandprofcssionaI|inkagcs.Thcdismcmbcrmcntof
I PART I . PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
_ ritualhs,hovever,provedtheopportunityoftheaterinthehighculture
|
andcarnivalatthefolklevel. Amultiplicityofdesacralizedperform

atve

genreshaveassumed, prismatically, thetaskofpluralculturalreexivity.

Thesparagmos (dismemberment) ofmorliturgical systems, or, in some
\ I
cases,theirrelegationtotheperipheryofthesocialprocess,hasresul

edin
thegenesisand elaboration ofestheticmedia,eachofvhichtakesasits
pointofdeparture a component subgenreoftraditionalritual.Thus the
dramatic scenario~frequently theenactment ofasacrednarrative~nov
becomesaperformativemodesuigenerisbreedingamultiplicityofplots
l`
most ofvhich are far from sacred! Song, dance, graphic and pictural
representation,theseandmore,brokenloosefromtheirritualintegument,
becometheseedsofconcertmusic,ballet,literature,andpainting.lfritual ,
mightbecomparedtoamirrorformankind,itsconversionintoamulti-
plicityofperformativeartsgivesusahallofmagicmirrors,eachreecting
thereectionsoftheothers, andeachrepresentingnotasimpleinversion
ofmundane reality, but its systematic magni6cation and distortion, the
ensemblecomposingareexivemetacommentaryonsocietyandhistory
asthey concernthenatural and constructed needs ofhumankindunder _ __
givenconditionsoftimeandplace.
ThefragmentationofacollectiveIiturgicalvork,suchasritual,paves
the vay for thelabeling ofspeci6c esthetic vorks as theproduction of
individuals.But,infact,alIperformativegenresdemandanaudienceeven
as they abandonacongregation. Most ofthem, too, incarnatetheir plots
or scores in the synchronized actions ofplayers. lt is only formally that
these esthetic progeny ofritual maybedescribedasindividual creations.
Evensuchformsasthenovelinvolve apublishingprocess and areading
process, both ofvhich have collective and initiatory features. A great
opportunityisopeningupforscholarsinbothsocialsciencesandhuman-
itiesvhoareinterestedinthereexiveordialecticalrelationshipbetveen
common sense processes in the getting and spending" (biocultural-
ecological)dimensionsofsocioculturaIlifeandthepopularandhighper-
formative genresvhichcontinually scrutinize,criticize,subvert,uphold,
and attempt to modify the behavior ofthe personnel, their values,
activitiesandrelationships,centrallyconcernedviththemaintenanceand
management ofthoseprocesses, or vhich make statements, informs at
leastasbizarreasthoseoftribal limnality, aboutthequalityoflifeinth
societiesthey monitorundertheguiseofentertainment''~atermvhich
Iiterallymeansholdingbetveen,thatis,Iiminalizing.lnsteadofstudy-
ing socioeconomicprocessesinisolationfromthese magic mirrors, or
dramatic types as texts in vacuo, it is possible to envision a creative
collaboration among literary critics, anthropologists, sociologists, histo-
rians, art historians, philosophers, historians ofreligion, and other kinds
ofscholars, on the shared hcld of the relationship, say, betveen Noh,
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I)
Kabuki, Kyogen, Bunraku, andother]apanesetheatrical genres, andthe
social and cultural history of]apan at the time ofgenesis and in the
successive periods ofdevelopment and decline of these genres~alvays
vith the stress onthe reciprocal relationship betveensocialprocess and
dramaticmediumundervaryingconditionsoftimeandplace.Aformida-
ble undertaking? But a greatone. The same might be said ofdynamic
studies ofElizabethan and Stuart drama, Greek high and lov comedy,
the commediadell'arte, thetheaterofthe absurd, andthe theater ofcru-
elty, notmerely insocioculturalcontextbutinlivereexiverelationship
to the uctuant problems of their times~in terms of competent,
dynamic sociologicalandanthropological analysis, bothsynchronic and
diachronic.
ln a recent appraisal ofmodern social anthropology Sir Raymond
Firthhas commented onitsinvard-turning dispositioninthe sensethat
modern anthropology is concerned not solely vith the behavior ofthe
populationsinvestigatedbutmainlyvith their models forperceivingand
interpreting their materials and generating their behavior, vith their
modes ofthought, not modes ofaction (975.8). The positionthat l am
presenting, onthecontrary, stressesattentiontotherelationshipbetveen
modesofthoughtandofaction.Furthermore,ifmodelsaretobeconsid-
ered, lvoulddravonrecentvorkontherole ofmetaphorinassigning
meaning to socialbehavior, conduct, andaction, and argue that, atleast
implicitly, many socioculturalsystems,insofarastheymaybeconsidered
tobesystems, areoriented,throughthecumulativeeectoftheirperfor-
mative genres, to vhat l have calledroot pardims. Tese are not merely
cognitiveclustersofrulesfromvhichmanykindsofsocialactionscanbe
generated, but represent consciously recognized (though only on occa-
sionsofraisedconsciousness)cuIturaImodelsofanaIlusive,metaphorical
kind,cognitivelydelimited,emotionallyloaded,andethicallyimpelled,so
as to give form to action in publicly critical circumstances. Such root
paradigmsareoftenbasedongenerallyacceptednarrativesofclimaxesin
the careers ofreligious or political leaders, having thus an existential
rather than merely morally edifying character, and often emphasize the
primacy ofsocial over individual goals vhen choices appear betveen
thcseinextremesituations,tothepointofendorsingpersonalsacri6cefor
others.Keydecisionsinthelivesofreligiousfounders, suchasGautama,
Moses,]esus, andMohammed, andofpoliticalleaderssuchasLeninand
Gandhi,areportrayedasexemplarythroughaviderangeofperformative
gcnres,andformanalmostengrammaticcomponentofsocialization.Bio-
cultural anthropologists might regardthis stress on sacri6ce ofselffor
societyas possessing survival value at the transcultural species level.
WhenWC shftourperspcctivetothatofthepcrformativegenres,vemay
Nee these paradigmatic acts in terms ofsuch loadcd" valucs as supreme
\
I8 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
Iove,compassion, andheroism.ltmaybethatoutfututetaskasscientists
ofthe human condition is to estabIish a set ofconcepts occupying a
IiminaIgroundbetveenobjectiveestimationofvaIuesptomotingspecies
sutvivaIandsubjectiveresponsetostitringexempIi6cationsofseIf-sacti-
6ceforgtoupsurvivaI.
lfone is to be as boId as the editor ofDaedalus vouId have us in
assessingvhethetornotbreakthtoughs havehappenedin anthtopoIogy,
onevouIdhave to tecord that the potentiaIity fotamajotbteakthrough
exists today. lt may be that such a breakthrough is possibIe onIy inthe
Lnited States, for British, French, and other European and third vorId
anthropoIogy, pattIy through the Iimited number oftheir practitioners,
tendto bemorehomogeneous andcommittedto the pursuit ofagreed-
upon goaIs-sttuctutaIism and neo-Matxismin France, sophisticated
sttucturaI-functionaIism and conicttheotyin Btitain, andthepoIiticaI
evaIuationofaIIestabIishedmetropoIitantheoriesintheThirdWorId.ltis
onIyintheLnitedStatesthatathousandovershavetruIybIossomed
in a tigorous theoreticaI vay, because ofthe huge size and cognitive
individuaIismofthe subcontinent, vheteeachmajordepartmentmaybe
Iikened to anautonomous HeIIenic city state~vhete each, through the
diaspotaofits gtaduates, has animbus ofsateIIites, both individuaIs and
gtoups. The outcome has been that a numbet ofperspectives on the
human condition, each technicaIIy and theoreticaIIy ofexceIIent quaIity,
have sprung up in virtuaI independence of one anothet. One thinks at
once of cuItutaI anthtopoIogy, sociaI anthropoIogy, symboIic anthro-
poIogy, ecoIogicaI anthropoIogy, biocuIturaI anthropoIogy, phenome-
noIogicaI anthropoIogy, structutaIist anthropoIogy, biocuIturaI ecoIogy,
IegaIandpoIiticaIanthropoIogies,pIusthemanyhybtidizationsbetveen
anthropoIogy andothetschoIarIy approaches. anthtopoIogicaIIinguisucs
andethnographyofspeaking,theusesofsystemstheoryinatcheoIogicaI
reseatch, Marxist approaches in anthtopoIogy, appIications of the
socioIogyofknovIedgetoanthtopologicaIdata,andothers.
Mysuggestionisthat,insteadofvotkinginblinkers,anthropoIogists
andschoIarsin adjacentdiscipIines intetestedIncross-cuIturaI ptobIems
shouIdmakeanearnest(andIudic) attemptatmutuaIempathy~earnest
inthesensethatthediscipIinesmentionedabove,andsigni6cantothets,
mightbetreatedat Ieast as auni6ed6eIdvhoseunity mighthavesome
thing to do vith the systems theory viev that there are systems and
systemicreIauonssofundamentaIthattheyoccurinmanydierentIiving
and even inorganic phenomena. This vouId not be to reduce the dis-
tinctive features ofthediscipIines entering into the 6eId to some bIand
interactionaIaverage,butvouIdrespectthenaturaIindependenceofeach
vithintheir dynamic interdependcncc. ltvouIdalsoteptcscnt astruggIc
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL Ip
againstdiscipIinatychauvinism.FotexampIe,vuIgarMarxistsandothets
vho have pIaced theit faith in the ptimacy ofeconomic forces and reIa-
tions, couId not imperiaIisticaIIy cIaimthatvays ofthinking about and
appteciating man's reIationship to the cosmos and his felIovs vere, by
de6nition, atransmittedIoadof faIseconsciousness~falseatIeastuntiI
thedefeatofaIIadversatiesoftheproIetatiat.Rather,theyshouIdhoIdthe
evaIuationofthenatureandmagnitudeofproductiveforcesandthecon-
mctingcIassesresuItingftomthemasatIeastasprobIematicasideoIogy.
Why somuch,sofast,and sovastefuIlyempIoyed?TheperspectivaIviev
from the infrastructute may be at Ieast as faIse as any supetsttucturaI
cosmoIogy.Whatisrequiredisa6tm, schoIarIy, yetimaginativegrasp of
thetotaIphenomenaptoducedbyManaIiveandWomanalive.ltisstrange
thatboththe HegeIian and Marxist Iogics shouId conceptuaIize diaIectic
souncompromisingIyfromthepositive andstructuraIistpositionofthe-
sis. lt is not so much a question ofthe content of a process ofseIf-
transformation being made up ofopposing factors or forces as ofany
cognitiveorjutaIIynormativestructutationofhumanptocessesandreIa-
tionshipsencounteting, astheindicativeconfrontsthesubjunctivemood
inverbs,avirtuaIIyunIimitedtangeofaIternativevaysofdoingthingsot
teIating peopIe. Limits maybe set, ofcourse, by biotic orecoIogicaI and
oftenbyhistoricaIconditions. Butfot thediaIecticaInegationveshould
perhaps substitute liminality, a pIuraIity ofaIternatives rather than the
tevetsaIorinversionoftheantecedentcondition. Moreover,themototof
histoticaI diaIectic is not so much a matter of quantitive increments
cumuIating to a quaIitative change as deIibetate fotmuIations ofhuman
thoughtandimagination~oftenmadeinIiminaIsituations, suchasexiIe,
ptison, or even in an ivoty tovet-6tst ptesenting, and then perhaps
backedupbyorganizedaction,anevvision.LiminaIityisamajorsource
ofchangeratherthantheembodimentofaIogicaIantithesis.Scienceisnot
mocked~butthenneitherisart. lfvhathasbeendurabIyregardedasthe
intetesting by the infotmed opinion ofthousands ofyeats ofhuman
attentioncannotbeincotporatedinto the serious studyofmankind, then
thatstudyissuteIyinthe hands ofthe phiIistines-the bourgeois and
theboIshevik ofL H. Lavrence~vho vere sointent on securing by
|otce generaI assent to their opposed vievs on the nature ofmateriaI
ptoperty (onesaid ptivate shouIdbethebasicIabeI, theothet pubIic)
thattherichness andsubtIetyofhuman immateriaI cuIture(especiaIIy,
oncmight add, itsIiminaI constructions) escapedthisTveedIedum-and-
TcedIedeepaitofdedicatedmateriaIists.
, WhatisneededinanthropoIogyisvotkundettheaegisofawider orbit
.jjrecovered law in vhich speciaIists in its hithetto separate subdiscipIines,
blologlcal, ccoIogical, sociaI, and cuIturaI anthtopoIogy, utiIize systems

`
t)e PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
theoty to integtatetheitnds andteseatch ptocedutes in asingleneld,
sttess the ptimacy ofptocessual apptoaches, incotpotate what phe-
nomenologistshavetosayaboutthenegotiationofmeaning,andtemain
awateofthepowetfultoleofsociocultutal limina|ityinptovidingcondi-
tionsfotteuection,ctiticism,tapidsocialization,thepostulationofvatiant
modelsofandfotconductandsociaIotganization,andthetefotmulation
ofcosmologiesteligiousandscientinc.
\!
Signsoftenewedintetestinptocessualandsystemstheotyaboundin
thetecentlitetatute.lfoneglancesthtoughtheatticlesinAnnual Rie c
Anthropolo fot I975onends]aneF Collietwtiting.Iegalptocessesate
socialptocesses.Iaw. . .isanaspectofongoingsociallife," andsofotth,
andhetatticleispeppetedwithitems ofptocess"vocabulatyandwith
tefetences to the legal handling ofconuict as ftamed by etended-case
analysis(I975.I2I). E.A.HoebelintheUnitedStates(I954),followinghis
classical use ofthe casemethod (Ilewellyn and Hoebel I94I), andMa
GluckmaninBtitain(I955a)maybesaidtohavebeenamongthepioneets
ofptocessualanalysisthtough theit studies oflaw as social ptocess, as
Co|liet tecognizes. Fted J Plog in Systems Theoty in Atcheological
Reseatch" shows how ptocessual thought is inuuencing the new atch-
eology whete it is inttinsically l|nked to genetal systems theoty. The
intetestin genetal systems theotyin atcheologyhasbeeneptessedpti-
matily by 'ptocessual atcheologists' and has been a component ofthe
' systemicapptoach'thattheseatcheologistshaveadvocated"(I975.207).
A. P. Vayda and B.] McCay, in theit essay New Ditections in
EcologyandEcologicalAnthtopology" (I975.298 -99)ineectsuppott
SallyMoote's view thatptocessesoftegulatization, ptocesses ofadust-
ment, and the factot ofindetetminacy must be takeninto account in
studying sociocultutal populations, when they attempt to tescue the
notionofhomostasis ftomitspteviousassociationwithconceptsofstatic
equilibtia and unchanging systems. They cite Slobodkin as empha-
sizingthatsomeptopettiesofhomeostaticsystemsmustattimeschange
so as tomaintainothet ptopetties that ate impottant fot stayingin the
eistentialgame~. . . e. g.tesilienceandwhatmightbedesctibedasuei-
bleenoughto changeintesponsetowhatevethazatdsandpettutbations

comealong" (. 299. Sse --~

_
e ittu
j
ddenun
zJ!9~ .

is
+u.vfrs r.ctur.I-(nctin>sp-
.
t
P^99-9l9
machines.
! _ v
resent authot has fot some time ttied to analyze titual pto-
cessually in a numbet ofsettings, tanging ftom Aftican ttaditiona|
societies to medieval and modetn pilgtimages in sevetal universalistic
teligions. Ritual studies ledh|minto the analysis ofritual symbols and,
l ater, of social symbols i n general .
.
)i
.
Yl
_
?
f
.

.
n

stigation, which
i)

me
is concetned
p

tet

ti mw

ds

s

ociocultu tocesses utnet I97;[

- .J
~l
o

oum)ptoce

is not, __ iessence, as is commonly suppose

eutapop(t ocial onsetva

ismwhosesymbo

s mete

c

ough it my,

et cettam condi~

;t

le.Ra

des

itholdthegenetau
"
es

;iteofcultute
ansttuctute,patticularlyinitslitmnalstage.enc_yn

iag `
-

st
.. ~
als
.

t
"lr
wot estur

situation utnetI97.I9).

means,wethTutnetI98.29). , .
^
t .

ana
!! d embedseanin

tso[ ition,_ . s go tet:::d .t

0 I!>.

Th

s
_
mb
;

_
,

t

i

s so

taphotic/met

nymi

by t

en
`
(symbol-veh

cle)

m
signstltenbe no lik-Bcss. Signs ate almost alws otganized in
cIt_, wheteas ymbols, pattictlatly domt symbols
(wch pteside oveto anchot entite titual ptocesses), ate ,_
__mea

ns notab_lu_d, ng])tpqy th sa
fotevetyonewo agteesaa,ticulats;;iet (outwatdfotm")has
s.1evsigniedsbed bcollectiver.:J oId
ss. o_JaIs,.++,, _(
cigutiliing, one ofts , >Iau0ardzcdodcpfasso-
ciation to bting new concepts yitmits ma nt c orbItiietaphotical
tccorucmn)oby including it within a comple ofinitially ptivate
antaies. Such ptivate consttuctions may become patt ofpublic het-
ineneutics ot standatdized intetptetations ptovided that the semantic
manipulatothassuHcientpowet,authotity,ptestige,otlegitimacy(e.g.,he
may be a shaman, ptophet, chief ot ptiest) to make his intetptetation
stlck.PoliticalsymbolshavebeenanalyzedinsimilattetmsbyA. Cohen
( I 974), R. Fitth (I973), A. Iegesse (I973), and V Tutnet (I974), among
others.
Theanthtopologicalstudyofsymbolicfotms and ptocesses andthe
functions of symbolism has generally thrived in the past decade. Where it
h:s been infuenced by linguistics or structuralism the stress Ius been on
I]2 PART I : PROCESSUAL ANALYSIS
theeliciting ofabstract systemsofsymbols andmeanings fromcultural
products(myths,kinshipnomenclatures,iconographicforns,xT nota:-'
onotnes,tctson customs dravn from native informants by question-
,, naires, etc.) . Processualism, on theother hand, demands akindof6eld-
vork in vhich the investigator becomes involved vith central socio-
cultural
[
rocesses. He recognizes his ovnroleinocia!:tetatmn v
rm and tries to account for thebiases this may impart to his
subsequentanalyses. Symbolicanalysishererestsondatageneratedinthe
heat ofaction in ritual, legal, formal, informal, interpersonal, domestic,
ludic, solemn, and so forth, processes to vhich the anthropologist has
becomepartyandprivy. Suchdataarequitedierentfromthoseobtained
by astanceofdetachment. This stanceisbest forthe takingofmeasure-
ments(gardens,hutsizes)orthecountingofheads(villagecensus-taking),
butvorstforcomingtoanunderstanding(itselfaprocess)ofhov actors
perceive,generate,andnegotiatemeaning,usingvordsandsymbols.The
present author has suggested that there are natural units ofsociocultural
process,vhichtendtohave,Iikeravrites de passage, atemporalstructure,
vithsuccessivephasescumulatingtoatleastatemporaryresolution.The
duration,internalstructuring, andstyleofprocessualunitsareinuenced
by biotic, ecological, and cultural variables vhich must be empirically
investigatedineachpopulationundersurvey.Extendedcasehistoriesmay
containasequence ofseveralprocessualunits ofdierenttypes, ranging
fromthosevhichmaximizecooperationto thosevhich maximze con-
ict.Dierentkindsandintensitiesofsocialcontrolfunctionsarebrought
intoplay. Whatisrequiredisavorkablecross-culturaltypologyofpro-
cessualunits.Forit isintheanalysis ofthe social drama' (I957.9I -93)
and the social enterprise (Firth I964) that ve recognize the merit of
SallyMoore's comment. '^nanthropology exclusively focused on clear
regularitiesofform,symbol,andcontent,andtheirpresumedcongruence
(vhether 'structural,' 'cultural,' or 'processual' in orientation) is leaving
outfundamentaldimensions.Thenegotiablepartofmanyreal situations
liesnotonlyintheimperfect6tbetveenthesymbolicorformalleveland
thelevelofcontent,but alsointhemultilicit_oIIrnatw: . 30.maU-.
ingvithineach,vhichmay_, ;gp
,
u |tnter-
ndidualsorgroupsmayexaggeratethedegreof
otde ottliqua]ty oindeterminacy intheir situations for myriad rea-
sons (Moore I975.233). Hovtheydo this, andvhy, canbeascertained
only ifthe investigator has also become an actor in the 6eld ofliving
reIationships. There are risks in not staying aloot ofcourse, but the
acquisitionofknovledgehasalvaysbeenbesetbydangers,herephysical
asvellasintellectual!
In concIusion, it may be permissible to indulge in a fev personal
opinions and speculations. ClearIy, the great breakthrough or paradigm
PROCESS, SYSTEM, AND SYMBOL I]
shifthasnotyetoccurred,ifbyparadim vemean,vithThomasKuhn,an
acceptedexampleofactualscienti6cpractice-vhichincludeslaytheory,
applicationandinstrumentationtogethervhichprovidesthemodelsfrom
vhichspringcoherenttraditionsofscienti6cresearch(Kuhn I962.IO, 4I).
Buttherearesignsofconvergenceamonghithertoisolatedsubdisciples,as
mentionedabove.lfthesecanbeunitedinasinglevork,eitherbyasingle
mnd, or by a team ofinterdependent specialists, then the reexivity
among biological, ecological, social, and cultural anthropologists, sys-
temcally relating their concepts (and modifying them mutually in the
process)inrelationtoabodyofbothphenomenologicaIlyandempirically
generated data, may produce a paradigm comparable in its ovn vay to
those from vhich have sprung coherent traditions ofnatural science
research.Buttoachievethisgoalanthropologistsvillhavetosinkcertain
unimportantstructuraldierences,andprocessuallyachievearelationship
ofcommunitas vith one another, a relational quality offull unmediated
communication, even communion, betveen de6nite and determinate
identities. Such communitas vould essentially be a liminal phenomenon,
consisting ofa blend ofhumility and comradeship~such as one sees
among limnars in the ritual process in simple societies onthe edge of
thevorId.
PART TWO
Performance and Experience
o
Te Antropolog ofPerformance
oryears, lhavedreamedofaIib-
erated anthropoIogy. By Iiberated" l mean free from certain prejudices
that have become distinctive features ofthe Iiterary genre knovn as
anthropoIogicaI vorks," vhether these are 6eId monographs, com-
parative studies, or textbooks. Such features have incIuded. a systematic
humzng_ofthe h__q|_cts ofstudy, regarding them as the
bearersofanimpersonaIcuIture," orvax tobeimprintedvithcuIturaI
patterns," or as determined by sociaI, cuIturaI, or sociaI psychoIogicaI
forces," variabIes," or pressures" of various kinds, the primacy of
vhichisstiIIcontestedbydierentschooIsorcoteriesofanthropoIogists.
Briey, thisgenreapesnaturaIscienti6ctreatisesinstyIeandintention~
treatisesvhichreec tpermd ofvecenturiesvhich
in theWestisknovnasthe modern era." Themodernisnovbecoming
part ofthe past. ArnoId Toynbee coined the term postmodern," lhab
Hassan has givenit vide prominence, and a recent book, Perfrmane in
Postmodern Culture (I977) editedby theIateMicheIBenamou, attemptsto
giveitgreaterspeci6city.!donotIiketheseIabeIs,butitiscIeartomethat
there has been vhat Rchard PaImer, (in an articIe in theBenamou voI-
ume, Tovards a Postmodern Hermeneutics ofPerformance"), caIIed a
"postmodern turn" takeninrecentthinkingvhichishavingaIiberating
e0ectonar:thropoIogy,asonmanyotherdiscipIines.Premodern,modern,
I)8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
postmodern-thesearecrudeandineIegantterms forthenamingofcuI-
turaIerasofdisparateduration.ButtheymaygiveusapreIiminarypur-
chaseonthedataonperformancevhichviIIformthestapIeofthisessay.
PremodetnprentsadistiIIationorencapsuIation ofmanyvorId-
viewsandomoIogiesbeforeand,Iater,outsidethespeci6cemergencein
Westernconsciousness, about 6ve centuries ago, ofthe modernperspec-
tive. lndeed, the Sviss cuIturaIhistorian]ean Gebser hoIds that it vas,
quiteIiteraIIy,theriseofperspectivevhich,asPaImervrites,isthekeyto
modernity.HesummarizesGebser'sargumentasfoIIovs.
PerspectivespatiaIizesthevorId,itorientstheeyeinreIationtospace
inanevvay . . . itrepresentsa' rationaIizationofsight' (WiIIiamM.
lvins). . . . PerspectiveIeadstothefoundingofmathematicaIgeome-
try, vhich is the prerequisite for modern engineering and

odern
machinery. . . forsteadiIyincreasingnaturaIisminEuropeanpictoraI
representation (but aIso for its pureIy schematic and IogicaI ext

n-
sions) . . . bothare due to the grovth and spreadofmethods vhich
haveprovided symboIs, repeatabIe ininvariant for

for

epresent

-
tionofvisuaIavareness,andagrammarof perspectivevhichmadeit
possibIe to estabIish IogicaI reIations not onIy vithin the system of
symboIsbutbetveenthatsystemandthe forms andIocations ofthe
objectsthatitsymboIizes. . . thecombinationoftheabstractednessof
numbersassymboIsthatmeasure,vithperspective,avayofreIating
thosenumbersassymboIstothevisuaIvorId,Ieadstoasenseofspace
asmeasured, asextendingoutvardfromagivenpoint,uItimateIythe
vorId is measurabIe-epitomized in GaIiIeo's maxim, 'to measure
everythingmeasurabIeandtomakevhatisnotmeasurabIecapabI

of
beingmeasured'[thisattitudeisstiIIcommonamonganthropoIogists,
thus GeorgeSpindIerremarks in the book he edited, Te Makin q
Pscholoical Anthropolo (!978.!97-98),veveretaught.ifitappens
you can countit''j .ThespatiaIization ofvisionhas

etaphysicaIand
epistemoIogicaI impIicatio

s . . . the

overe

phasis o space a

d
extensiondividesthevorIdmtoobservmgsubectandaIienmatenaI
objects. . . vordsareseenas

mer

esign

frthemateriaI

b]ectsinthe
vorId. . . timeitseIfisperceivedmspatiahzedterms. . . itisregarded
as measurabIe, as a Iinear succession of present moments . . . the
perspectivaImodeImakesmanthemeasureandmeasurerofaIIthngs
. . . technoIogizedrationaIityharmonizesviththeprotestantethic~
God pIaces his bIessing on the ind-iduaIistic, competiti

erson
(impIicitIy maIe) vhoexercisesrestrntand represses de

nesmthe
interestofmore'rationaI'goaIs.poverandcontroI. . . History,per-
ceivedas astraightIinethatnevercircIesbackonitseIfbecomesthe
storyofman'sgraduaIseIf-improvementthroughtheexerciseofrea-
son[SpindIer !978.22-25].
WhatSpindIerdrevattentiontovasthemoderncIimatcof thought
invhichmyanthropoIogicaItrainingtookpIace. ltvasacIimatcinvhich
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I)p
academic discipIines had cIearIy de6ned boundaries vhich one trans-
gressedatone'speriI.boundaryambiguityvas,inMaryDougIas'vords,
a form ofpoIIution, much interdisciplinary vork vas regarded as an
abomination. Within anthropoIogy there vas a tendency to represent
sociaIreaIity as stabIe andimmutabIe, aharmoniouscon6gurationgov-
ernedbymutuaIIycompatibIeandIogicaIIyinterreIatedprincipIes. There
vasageneraIpreoccupatiovithconsistet:cyaudcongnence _ And-n
ts vere avare that there generaIIy are dif-
Tesc idnorms andreaIbehavior, mostoftheitm+eIs of
society andc Iture tended to be based upon ideoIogy

rather

than upon
soal-e |g)a;o accountthe diaIeticaIrelai\iIetveen
:hese. AIIthis foIIovsfromtheperceptionofreaIityinspatializedterms

',too,didthestudyofstatisticaIcorreIationsbetveensociaIandcuIturaI
variabIessuchasve6ndinG.P. Murdock'sSocial Structure (949).lnaII
this vork, as SaIIy Moore has pointed out in her book Law Process
(!978.36).WhetherideoIogyis seenas anexpressionofsociaIcohesion,
orasasymboIicexpressionofstructure,vhetheritisseenasadesignfora
nevstructureorasarationaIizationforcontroIofpoverandproperty,the
anaIysisismadeintermsof .t" (itaIicsmine).
During my 6eIdvork l became disiIIusioned vith the fashionabIe
stress on6t and congruence, sharedbyboth functionaIism and dierent
typesofstructuraIism. lcameto see asociaI systemor6eIdratheras a
set ofIooseIy integrated processes, vith some patterned aspects, some
persistences ofform, but controIIed by discrepant principIes ofaction
expressedinruIesofcustomthatareoftensituationaIIyincompatibIevith
oneanother.ThisvievderivedfromthemethodofdescriptionandanaIy-
sis vhich l came to caII sociaI drama anaIysis. ln fact this vas thrust
uponmebymyexperienceasa6eIdvorkerinthecentraIAfricansociety
oftheNdembuofNorthvest Zambia. lnvarious vritings lhavegiven
exampIes ofsociaI dramas and their anaIysis. More to thepoint for this
essay, since ve viIIbe deaIing vith the anthropoIogy ofperformance, l
vouIdIiketobringtoyourattentionamanofthetheater'sdiscussionof
my schema. He is Rchard Schechner, professor ofdrama at Nev York
Lniversity'sSchooIoftheArts, and directorofTePerformanceGroup,
an avant-gardetheatercompany. Ashe seesit (inthe chapter Tovards a
Poetics ofPerformance, Essas on Perfrmance Teory, I70I7, pages
20- !23).\itorTurneranaIyses'sociaIdramas'usintheatricaItermi-
noIogy to describeqbpm QI cisis siti;ations. Tbese situations~
arguments, combats, rites ofpassage~are inherentIy dramatic because
participantsnotonIydothings,theytryto show others what the are doin or
have done; actions take on a 'performed-for-an-audience' aspect. Erving
Godman takes amoredirectIyscenographic approachin using the the-
atricaI paradigm. He beIieves that aII sociaI interaction is staged~peopIe
I8o PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
preparebackstage,confrontothersvhiIevearingmasksandpIayingroIes,
use the main stage area for the performance ofroutines, and so on. For
both Turner and Goman, the basic human pIot is the same. someone
begins to moveto a nev pIace in the sociaI order, this moveis accom-
pIishedthroughrituaLorbIocked,ineithercaseacrisis arisesbecauseany
changein status invoIves areadjustment ofthe entire scheme, this tead-
justment is eected ceremoniaIIy-that is, by means oftheater. ln my
book, Drama, Fields, and Metaphors (pp. 37 -41), l de6ne sociaI drama as
unitsofaharmonicordisharmonicsociaIprocess,arisinginconictsitua-
ions (See aIso Chapter 9, pp. 215 -221; Chapter

and
iIo ue, p

p. 291
- '
con.eg1)
(
reac ofreguIarnorm-governed sociaIreIations,2)
1s1 uring vhich there is a tendency for the breach to viden. Each
IiccrisishasvhatI novcaIIIiminaIcharacteristics,sinceitisathresh-
oId(limen) betveenmoreorIessstabIephasesofthesociaIprocess,butitis
not usuaIIy a sacred Iimen, hedged around by taboos and thrust avay
fromthe centers ofpubIicIife. On the contrary, it takes up its menacing
stanceintheforumitseIfyng,asitvere,darestherepresentativesoforder
o grappIe vith it, 3)
;
Jr
;
;
;
;;
ranging from personaI advice and
nformaImediationorarbitrationtoformaIjuridicaIandIegaImachinery,
and,toresoIvecertainkindsofcrisisorIegitimateothermodesofresoIu-
tion, to the performance ofpubIic rituaI. Redress, too, has its Iimina
features, its being betvixt andbetveen, and, as such, furnishes a dis-
tancedrepIicationandcritiqueofthe eventsIeadingup to andcomposing
the crisis.ThisrepIicationmaybeintherationaI idiom ofthejudicia
process,rinthemetaphoricaIandsymbq.iomofarituaIprocess,4)
the nah`econsists either ofthe rtatiof the disturbed socia
rth

ci

aI rec
'
gnition and ation of1
[
repa
bl;
-s
"
Tii
etveenthecontejing,pzries.
~-~,>
FirstIetcommentonthe dierencebetveenmyuse oftheterm
rituaIandthede6nitionsofSchechnerandGomnan.By andIargethey
seemto mean by rituaIa standardizedunit act, vhichmay be secuIar as
veII as sacred, vhiI\ meaq_rfor[c pp

pe~of
RituaIorme,asRonaIdGrimesputsit,i_nsrgt_
perontraneeaIngmajorcIassi6cations,categories,andcontradictions
IcultutaIprocesses.ForSchechner, vhatlcaIIbreach, theinaugurat-
,
ingeventmasociadama,isaIvayseectedbyarituaIorrituaIizedactor
move.Thereis sometruthinthis. ForexampIe,inthevery 6rst sociaI
dramalpresentinmy bookonNdembusociaIprocess, Schism and Conti
nuity, a series ofsociaI dramas focused on one individuaI ambitious of
the pover and inuence that goes vith the oEce ofviIIage headman,
this protagonist, Sandombu, dramatizes" to others i n his ccctive
sociocuIturaI feld that hc is veary o| vaiting |or the oId headman, his
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE 8
mother'sbrotherKahaIi, todie,byostentatiousIyrefrainingfromgiving
himportions ofmeat appropriatetoKahaIi' sstatus, age, andreIationship
after he had kiIIed an anteIope. This refusaI to foIIov custom might be
regarded as a rituaIized act as veII as a transgression ofa custom vith
rituaIimpIications,forthedividingofasIainanimaIimpIiesthesharingof
sacredsubstanceheIdtoconstitutematriIineaIkinship. The symboIismof
bIoodhasastrongcorreIationvithmatriIineaIkinship,especiaIIyviththe
procreative aspect ofmotherhood, and there are many rituaIs connected
both vith matriIiny and the hunting cuIts vhich contain symboIs for
blood. But l vouId prefer the terms symboIic transgression'-vhich
mayaIsocoincidevithanactuaItransgressionofcustom, evenofaIegaI
prescription-torituaIintheframeofphase1 (Breach) ofasociaIdrama.
What is more interesting to me than the de6nition ofrituaI is the
connection estabIished by Schechner betveen sociaI drama and theater
andtheusemadeofthetheatricaIparadigmbyGomanandmyseIfFo-
Goman, aIIthevorId'sastage,thevorIdofsociaIinteractionanyvay,
andisfuIIofritualacts.Forme thedramaturgicaIphasebeginsvhencrises
ariseinthedaiIyovofsociaIinteraction.Thus,ifdaiIyIivingis akindof
theater, sociaIdramais a kind ofmeta-theater, that is, a dramaturgicaI
IanguageabouttheIanguageofordinaryroIe-pIayingandstatus-mainte-
nancevhichconstitutescommunicationinthequoudiansociaIprocess.In
othervords,vhenactorsinasociaIdrama,inSchechner'svords,tryto
shov others vhat they are doing or have done, they are acting con-
sciousIy, exercisingvhatCharIesHocketthasfoundtobeafeaturepecu-
Iiar to human speech, reectiveness orreexiveness, the abiIityto com-
municate about the communication system itseIf(Hockett 1960). This
reexivityisfoundnotonIyintheeruptivephaseofcrisis, vhenpersons
exert theirviIIs andunIeashtheiremotions to achievegoaIsvhichuntiI
that time have remained hidden or may even have been unconscious~
herereexivityfoIIovsmanifestation-butaIsointhecognitiveIy domi-
nantphaseofredress,vhentheactionsoftheprevioustvophasesbecome
thesubjectmatterforscrutinyvithintheframeprovidedbyinstitution-
aI forms and procedures-here reexivity is present from the outset,
vhether the redressive machinery be characterized as Iegal, Iav-Iike,
orrituaI.
You must have noticed hov Goman, Schechner, and I constantIy
stress process and processuaI quaIities. performance, movement

staging
pi,edIessiveacoo.-..scl:is,.+reIntegtation. To ,- d, :|i

stress is :|-postmodern turn'n anthropoIogy, aturnforeshadovedin

thropoIo: perhgs,butneveritstalthust.Thisturn
''^
J
"

s
- ' '
e
r~
ra
l
i

ati
, ,-apsl the
'0000 o|the essenceo
the modern.
I8z PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
AIthough thcrc is a major dicrcncc bctvccn Iinguistic and
anthropoIogicaIdchnitionsofpcrformancc,somcthingofthcchangcfrom
modcrn to postmodcrn vays ofthinking about sociocuIturaI probIcms
canbcaptIyiIIustratcdby considcringdmundLcach'srcccntattcmptto
appIy thc Iinguist's vocabuIary to mattcrs anthropoIogicaI in his articIc,
Thc !nucncc ofCuIturaI Contcxt on Mon-VcrbaI Communication in
Man'' (Hindc !977.32! -22). Lcachvritcs thatthcanthropoIogist'scon-
ccrn is to dcIincatc a framcvork ofcuIturaI competence in tcrms ofvhich
thcindividuaI's symboIic actions canbc sccn to makc scnsc. Wc canonIy
intcrprct individuaIperfrmance in thc Iight ofvhat vc havc aIrcady in-
.
fcrrcd about compctcncc, but in ordcr to makc our originaI infcrcnccs
aboutcompctcnccvchavctoabstractastandardizcdpattcrnvhichisnot
ncccssariIyimmcdiatcIy apparcntinthc datavhicharc dircctIy acccssibIc
to obscrvation.' , )pccd this compctcncc-pcr-
:
,
r

c

y(

d
g-!tIn 1 Y|
a

pIc, vc caII spcakingngIish." !tvasOcIIHymcsvhopointcd out thc
hiddcn Mco-Iatonism

or

Lcach'scssayjustquotcd.Hcisvriting(p. 58)ofthrccstagcsofidcaIiza-
tion''inouridcntihcationofthcravdata"ofIanguagc-bchavior. Firstof
aII," hc says, vc discount aII ' sIips ofthc tonguc,' mispronunciations,
hcsitationpauscs, stammcring,stuttcring,etc.; inshort,cvcrythingthatcan
bc dcscribcdas a 'pcrformancc phcnomcnon'." Hcthcn gocs on to dis-
count''(p.59)accrtainamountofthcsystcmaticvariationbctvccnuttcr-
anccsthatcanbcattributcdtopcrsonaIandsociocuIturaIfactors."
Thc postmodcrn t('' _I ;r>'U1...}10
cs
.
thp;''pcrfor

ancccrrorsandhcsitationphcnomc-
na" through crso n sq]Ituraacurs'`

o * tbscgrcgatin
cm'' ttanc'` ])@|
i
@ [}]
t
' `
c
9P
t
9
p

c
P
cn
'-
(nc

!
r

cc
'-

-'

ir

ci

aticaIstru

rc.

ro
cc

tton ot seIfH c

gc r rama, \uId.nov
T c to U c ccntcr O and hcrmcncuticaI attcntion .

t

cIIaI, contcxcpcn itu.cj:_

of

c
''' * +! l P7.
and
vouIdaIsopcrccivcgcnuincnoveIty, crtcncss, sabIctocmcrgcfrom
ccmcr!orm situation, from vhat Durkhcim in bu
bcstmoinct:t) caIIcd sociaI c6crvcsccncc,'' cxcmpIihcd for him in thc
g(:ctin _ Ouw~~8ymbO8 and n:eanings by thc aoi.: .::.e:, :|
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I8
pc
'
c

t
'_ {9
u
i
9,,hat vas oncc considcrcd
''contaminatcd," p orr:scuus,' impurc" is bccoming thc focus of
postmodcrnanaIyticaIattcntion.
With rcgard to thc structurc-proccss dichotomy mcntioncd carIicr,
vhich is simiIar, if not idcnticaI, to othcr oppositions madc by
anthropoIogists. idcaI norms-rcaIbchavior, mcchanicaI modcIs-statis-
ticaI modcIs, structurcorganization, idcoIogy-action, and so forth,
SaIIyMoorchasmanypcrtincntthingstosayinLaw Process.
Shcisavarcthat,asMurphyhasargucd, !tisthcvcryincongrucncc
ofour conscious modcIs, and guidcs for conduct to thcphcnomcna of
sociaIIifcthatmakcsthatIifcpossibIc"(Murphy !97!.240),butaIsoinsists
thatordcrandrcpctitionarcnotaIIiIIusion,noraII 'mcrc' idcoIogy, nor
aII hctivc schoIa Iy modcIs, but arc obscrvabIc [and ! vouId add oftcn
mcasurabIcj on a bchavioraI IcvcI, as vcII as in hxcd idcas" (p. 38). Shc
proposcsthatsociaIproccsscs shouIdbccxamincdintcrms ofthcintcr-
rcIationshipofthrcccomponcnts:thcproccsscsofreulrization, thcproc-
csscsofsituational atustment, andthcfactorofineterminacy" (p. 39).Thisis
rcaIIy arcvoIutionary movc onSaIIy Moorc'spartfor shcischaIIcnging
thc !dcaIist formuIations ofhcr prcstigious contcmporarics. Likc Hcr-
acIitus shc is insisting that thc cIcmcnts (in hcr casc, thc sociocuIturaI
cIcmcnts) arcincontinuaIuxandtransformation, andsoaIsoarcpcopIc.
LikcHcracIitus, too, shcis avarc thatthcrcis aIso astraintovards ordcr
andharmony, aloos, vithinthcvariabiIity, anintcnt, as)amcsCIncyputs
it (!972.5)to transformhumanvariabiIityfrommcrcchaosanddiscon-
ncction into signihcant proccss." This is, in c6cct, vhat thc rcdrcssivc
phascinasociaIdrama(thcproccssuaImicrocosm)attcmptstodo,andfor
vhat,incompIcxcuIturcs, thcIiminoidpcrformativc gcnrcs (scc Turncr
!982.20 -60)arcdcsigncd.
Moorc'scxpcricnccasapracticingIavycrundcrIicshcrvicvthat(p.
39) sociaIhfc.prcscntsanaImostcndIcssvarictyofhncIydistinguishabIc
situationsandquitcanarrayofgrossIydi6crcntoncs.!tcontainsarcnasof
continuouscompctition. !tprocccdsinacontcxtofancvcr-shiftingsctof
pcrsons, changing momcnts in timc, aItcring situations and partiaIIy
improviscdintcractions.stabhshcdruIcs, customs, andsymboIicframc-
vorkscxist,butthcyopcratcinthcprcscnccofarcasofindctcrminacy,or
ambiguity, of unccrtainty and manpuIabiIity. Crdcr ncvcr fuIIy takcs
ovcr, nor couId it. Thc cuIturaI, contractuaI, and tcchncaI impcrativcs
aIvaysIcavcgaps,rcquircadjustmcntsandintcrprctations tobcappIicabIc
to particuIar situations, and arc thcmscIvcs fuII ofambiguitics, inconsis-
tcncics, and oftcn contradictions." But Moorc docs not scc cvcrything
sociaI asamorphousorasunboundcdinnovationorIimtIcssrcintcrprcta-
tion. Shc sccsthatcommonsymboIs, customarybchaviors, roIc cxpccta-
tions, ruIcs, catcgorics, idcas and idcoIogics, and rituaIs and formaIitics
r&
4
PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
sharcd by actors do cxistandframc mutuaI communication andaction.
Butshc is cIaiming that thc hxingandframng ofsociaIrcaIityisitscIfa
proccssorasctofproccsscs.WhcrcasanthropoIogistsIikcFirthandBarth
havccontrastcdstructurc and proccss arth sccs proccss as a mcans of
undcrstanding sociaI changc), Moorc sccs structurc as thc cvcr-to-bc-
rcpcatcdachicvcmcntofproccsscs ofrcguIarization.Asshcvritcs(Moorc
978.40 -4).
Thc vhoIc mattcr contains a paradox. vcry cxpIicit attcmpt tohx
sociaI rcIationships or sociaI symboIs isby impIication arccognition
that thcy arcmutabIc. Yct at thc samc timc such an attcmpt dircctIy
struggIcsagainstmutabiIity,attcmptstohxthcmovingthing,tomakc
it hoId. Part of thc proccss of trying to hx sociaI rcaIity invoIvcs
rcprcscnting it as stabIc orimmutabIc or at Icast controIIabIc to this
cnd, at Icastfor a timc. RituaIs, rigidproccdurcs, rcguIar formaIitics,
symboIic rcpctitions ofaII kinds, as vcII as cxpIicit Iavs, principIcs,
ruIcs, symboIs, and catcgorics arc cuIturaI rcprcscntations ofhxcd
sociaI rcaIity, or continuity. Thcy rcprcscnt stabiIity and continuity
actcdoutandrc-cnactcd,visibIc continuity.Bydintofrcpctitionthcy
dcnythcpassagcoftimc,thcnaturcofchangc, andthcimpIicitcxtcnt
ofpotcntiaI indctcrminacy in sociaI rcIations. [Whcthcr thcsc proc-
csscs ofrcguIarization arc sustaincd by tradition or Icgitimatcd by
rcvoIutionary cdict and forcc, thcy act to providc daiIy rcgcncratcd
framcs, sociaI constructions ofrcaIity, vithin vhichj thc attcmpt is
madc to hx sociaI Iifc, to kccp it from sIipping into thc sca of
indctcrminacy.
But as Moorcpoints out, hovcvcr tight thc ruIcs,in thcir appIication
thcrc is aIvays a ccrtain rangc ofmancuvcr, ofopcnncss, ofchoicc, of
intcrprctation, ofaItcration, oftampcring, ofrcvcrsing, oftransforming"
(978.4). !nbricf vithin thc cuIturaI and sociaI ordcrthcrc is a pcr-
vasivc quaIity ofpartiaI indctcrminacy" (Moorc 978.49). Proccsscs of
situationaIadjustmcntinvoIvcboththccxpIoitationofindctcrminacicsin
sociocuIturaIsituationsandthc actuaIgcncrationofsuchindctcrminacics.
Cr thcy may bc conccrncd vith thc rcintcrprctation or rcdchnition of
ruIcs and rcIationships. By rcgarding a hcId ofsociocuIturaI rcIations,
vhich may incIudc nctvorks and arcnas as vcII as rcIativcIy pcrsisting
corporatc groups and institutions, as a pIuraIity ofproccsscs, somc of
rcguIarization (or relementation as Moorc [978] prcfcrs to caIIthcm. sc
pagcs2 -3, 8,2,29),othcrsofsituationaIadjustmcnt,Moorcproposcsa
modcIofsociaIrcaIity asbasicaIIy uidandindctcrminatc, thoughtrans-
formabIcforatimcintosomcthingmorchxcdthroughrcguIarizingproc-
csscs.Thisisaframcvork,"shchoIds, usabIcinthcanaIysisofparticuIar
situationsandthcirdctaiIcddcnoucmcnt, andcquaIIyusabIcinthcanaIy-
sis of Iargcr-scaIc phcnomcna such as institutionaI systcms" (Moorc
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE r&y
978.52). Shc varns that vhcthcr thc proccsscs arc unchanging or
changingisnotthc dichotomy proposcd. Proccsscs ofrcguIarization and
proccsscs ofsituationaI adjustmcntmay each [itaIics mincj havc thc c6cct
ofstabiIizing or changing an cxisting sociaI situation and ordcr. What
isbcingproposcdis thatthc compIcxrcIationship bctvccn sociaIIifcand
its cuIturaIrcprcscntationmaybc casicr to handIc anaIyticaIIy ifthc in-
tcrIocking ofproccsscs ofrcguIarization, proccsscs ofsituationaI adjust-
mcnt, and thc factor ofindctcrminacy arc takcninto account" (Moorc
978.52 53).
MyovnvorkformanyycarshadincIincdmcinasimiIarthcorcticaI
dircction.Thisdircctionistovardspostmodcrnvaysofthinking. CIcarIy
thc factor ofindctcrminacy has assumcd grcatcr importancc in today's
vorId. HistoricaI cvcnts havc pIaycd thcir part. vars, rcvoIutions, thc
hoIocaust, thc faII and fragmcntation of coIoniaI cmpircs. But scicntihc
dcvcIopmcntsinmanyhcIdshavchcIpcdtoundcrmincthcmodcrnvicvs
oftimc, spacc, mattcr, Ianguagc, pcrson, and truth. Proccsscs ofrcg-
uIarization arc stiII potcnt in poIitics and cconomics, capitaIistic and
sociaIistic burcaucracics andIcgisIaturcs stiII attcmpt to hx sociaIrcaIity.
!nthcscicnccsandhumaniticsvorkisstiII donc vithinthcconstraintsof
prcstigious paradigms" (in Thomas Kuhn's scnsc). !n thc poIiticaI mac-
rocosmsharp divisionscontinuctocxistfostcrcdby thcrcguIatoryproc-
csscs ofnationaIism and idcoIogy. McvcrthcIcss, thcrc is dctcctibIc an
cxtcnsivc brcakdovn ofboundarics bctvccn varIous convcntionaIIy
dchncdscicnccsandarts,andbctvccnthcscandmodcsofsociaIrcaIity. !n
sociocuIturaIstudicsthcspatiaIityofmodcrnthought, dcpcndcntonvhat
RichardPaImcr caIIs onc-pointpcrspcctivc," shovs signs ofgivingvay
to muItipcrspcctivaI consciousncss, a hcId vith scvcraI variabIcs. Thc
notionofsocicty asancndIcsscrisscrossingofproccsscsofvarious kinds
and intcnsitics iscongrucntvith this vicv. Timcis coming tobcsccnas
an csscntiaI dimcnsion ofbcit:g as vcII as muItipcrspcctivaI, no Iongcr
mcrcIyasaIincarcontinuumconccivcdinspatiaItcrms.
With thcpostmodcrndisIodgcmcntofspatiaIizcdthinking and idcaI
modcIsofcognitivcandsociaIstructurcsfromthcirpositionofcxcgcticaI
prccmncncc,thcrcisoccurring amajormovctovardsthcstudyofproc-
csscs, not as cxcmpIifyingcompIianccvith ordcviationfromnormativc
modcIs both ctic and cmc, but aspcrformanccs. Pcrformanccs arc ncvcr
amorphousoropcncndcd, thcyhavc diachronic structurc, abcginning, a
scqucncc ofovcrIappingbutisoIabIcphascs, and ancnd.Butthcirstruc-
turc is not that ofan abstract systcm, it is gcncratcd out ofthc diaIcc-
ticaI oppositions of proccsscs and of IcvcIs of proccss. !n thc modcrn
consciousncss, cognition, idca, rationaIity, vcrc paramount. !n thc
postmodcrn turn, cogmtionisnotdcthroncdbutrathcrtakcsits pIaccon
I8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
an cquaI footing vith voIition andahcct. Thc rcvivaI ofvhat has bccn
tcrmcdpsychoIogicaIanthropoIogy,"cxcmpIihcdinTe Makin q Psycho
loical Anthropolo cditcd by Gcorgc SpindIcr, is, in my vicv, not uncon-
ncctcdviththisvicvofproccssandpcrformancc, ofvhichthcunitsarc
totaIhumanbcingsinfuIIpsychoIogicaIconcrctcncss,notabstract,gcncr-
aIizcd sociocuIturaI cntitics, but cach, inThcodorc Schvartz's tcrm, an
idiovcrsc" vith his/hcr individuaI cogntivc, cvaIuativc, and ahcctivc
mappings of thc structurc ofcvcnts and cIasscs ofcvcnts" (SpindIcr
I978.4IO)inhis/hcrsociocuIturaIhcId.!fSchvartz'sformuIationsccmsto
bcdcrivcdfromthcproductsofproccsscsofrcgIcmcntation,andhcnccto
bc somcvhat abstract, thc notion ofidiovcrsc is a vaIuabIc onc, for it
postuIatcsthatacuIturchasitsdistributivccxistcnccasthcsctofpcrson-
aIiticsofthcmcmbcrsofapopuIation,"thusaIIovingforncgotiationand
disputcovcrvhatshouIdbcauthoritativc orIcgitimatcinthatcuIturc,in
othcr vords, for sociaI dramatic action (SpindIcr I978.423 -24) . As
Schvartz vritcs. ThcmodcIofcuIturcas a sctofpcrsonaIiticsdocsnot
prccIudc conict, rathcr thc incIusion ofthc dihcrcnccs as vcII as thc
simiIariticsamongpcrsonaIiticsinthccuIturcmakcs sociaIcoordinationa
ccntraI rcscarch probIcmimpIicdby thismodcI. OihcrcnccsmayIcadto
conict or compIcmcntarity. Thc pcrccptions ofcommonaIity or dihcr-
cncc arc thcmscIvcs construaIs vhich, at timcs, may mask thcir oppo-
sitc'' (SpindIcr I978.432).Thisvicv ofSchvartz's ofa cuIturc as consist-
ingofaIIthcpcrsonaIiticsofthcindividuaIsconstitutingasocictyorsub-
socicty, hovcvcr boundcd," is cntircIy consistcnt vith SaIIy Moorc's
proccssuaI position, sinccitaIIovs scopc for thc cocxistcncc ofproccsscs
ofrcguIarization (ovcraII sociaI coordination') and situationaI adjustmcnt
(con0ct," masking ofcommonaIity or dihcrcncc," and situational modcs
ofsociaIcoordination).SchvartzisaIsoavarcofindctcrminacy."
A givcn pcrsonaIity (thc individuaI' s vcrsion and portion of his
cuIturc)isnotncccssariIyrcprcscntativcinastatisticaIscnsc,noristhc
approximationto somcccntraItcndcncythcaspcctofcuIturcstrcsscd
by a distributivc modcI. Rathcr, this modcI cmphasizcs thc vhoIc
array ofpcrsonaIitics, thc constructs thcy bring to and dcrivc from
cvcnts,andthcirstructuringotcvcntsinconstruct-oricntcdbchavior.
CcntraIity (or typicaIity) vouId not ncccssariIy bc prcdictivc or (it
may cvcn bc ncgativcIy corrcIatcd vith) thc contribution ofa giycn
pcrsonaIityto thc structuring ofcvcnts. It is essential, then, to emphasize
that although individual personalities an their conitive-evaluative-qf ctive con
structs q exeriene are the constitutent q culture, the may be discreant and
coricted amon (and within) themselves or with central tendencies or confgur
ations in the overall population q personalities comprisin a culture or subculture
[itaIics mncj. SimIarIy thc constructs ofthc individuaI viII vary in
thc adcquacy vith vhich individuaIs anticipatc and conduct thc
courscofcvcnts(SpindIcr !978.432) .
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I8)
!fpcrformancc sccms thcn to bc a Icgitimatc objcct of study for
postmodcrn anthropoIogy, it sccms appropriatc thatvc shouId cxamnc
thcIitcraturcon typcs ofpcrformancc. Wc nccdnot conhncourscIvcsto
thc cthnographicIitcraturc. !fmanis a sapicnt animaI, a tooImaking ani-
maI, a scIf-making anmaI, a symboI-using animaI, hc is, no Icss, a pcr-
forming animaI,Homo perfrmans, not inthc scnsc, pcrhaps,that a circus
animaImaybca pcrforming anmaI, butinthc scnscthatmanis a scIf-
pcrforminganimaI-hispcrformanccsarc, inavay, riexive; inpcrform-
inghcrcvcaIshimscIftohimscIfThiscanbcintvovays.thcactormay
comc to knovhimscIfbcttcr through actingorcnactmcnt, or onc sct of
human bcings may comc to knov thcmscIvcs bcttcr through obscrving
and/orparticipatinginpcrformanccsgcncratcdandprcscntcdbyanothcr
sct ofhuman bcings. !n thc hrst instancc, rccxivity is singuIar though
cnactmcnt may bc in a sociaI contcxt, in thc sccond casc, rccxivity is
pIuraIandisbascd onthc assumptionthatthough, formostpurposcs,vc
humansmaydividcourscIvcsbctvccnWc andThcy,orgoandAItcr,Wc
and Thcy sharc substancc, and go and AItcr mrror cach othcr prctty
vcII-AItcraItcrsgonottoomuchbuttcIIsgovhatbotharc'
Whcn vc scan thc rich data putforthby thc sociaI scicnccs and thc
humanitics on pcrformanccs, vc can cIass thcm into sociaI" pcrfor-
manccs(incIudngsociaIdramas) andcuIturaI"pcrformanccs (incIuding
acsthctic orstagcdramas). As! saidcarIicr, thcbasicstuhofsociaI Iifcis
pcrformancc, thc prcscntation of scIfin cvcryday Iifc" (as Gohman
cntiucdonc ofhis books). ScIIisprcscntcdthroughthcpcrformancc of
roIcs,through pcrformanccthatbrcaksroIcs, andthrough dccIaring to a
givcnpubIicthatonchasundcrgonc atransformationofstatcandstatus,
bccn savcd or damncd, cIcvatcd or rcIcascd. Human bcings bcIong to a
spccics vcII cndovcd vith mcans of communication, both vcrbaI and
nonvcrbaI, and, inaddiuon, givcnto dramaticmodcs ofcommuncation,
to pcrformanccs ofdihcrcnt kinds. Thcrc arc various tyes ofsociaI pcr-
formanccandgenres ofcuIturaI pcrformancc, andcach has its ovnstyIc,
goaIs, cntcIcchy, rhctoric, dcvcIopmcntaIpattcrn, and charactcristic roIcs.
ThcsctypcsandgcnrcsdihcrindihcrcntcuIturcs,andintcrmsofthcscaIc
andcompIcxityofthcsociocuIturaIhcIdsinvhichthcyarcgcncratcdand
sustaincd. ButIctus takc aIookfor avhiIc at somcthcorics ofcommu-
nication, particuIarIy nonvcrbaI communication, bccausc thc gcnrcs vc
shaII study in this cssay, rituaI, carnivaI, thcatcr, spcctacIc, hIm, and so
forth, contain ahighproportion ofnonvcrbaI symboIs. MonvcrbaI com-
munication is a topic vhch forccs us to givc hccd to vhat cthoIogists,
primatcsocioIogists,andothcrscicntists ofanimaIbchaviorhavctosay. !
havcmyscIfaIvaysargucdforthcimportanccofbioIogicaIcomponcntsin
symboIism, sincc ! scc thc pIanctTcrra as csscntiaIIy a singIc dcvcIoping
systcm, bascd, in its vitaI aspcct, on ccIIuIar structurcs vhich dispIay a
I88 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
rcmarkabIc uniformity in dihcrcnt gcncra and spccics ofIiving things. !
am surcthat a bioIogist from outcr spaccvouIdhndthcvarious Tcrran
Iifc-forms to bc madc ofsimiIar stuh a pIanctary kinship group, from
bioIogicaI amocba to high-cuIturaI products Iikc thc vorks ofHomcr,
Oantc and Shakcspcarc, Lconardo andBccthovcn. Mankind dihcrs from
most othcr kinds" in thc dcgrcc ofits scIf-consciousncss, its cvoIving
rccxivity, madcpossibIc by Ianguagc and thc diaIcctic thcn madc man-
datorybctvccnIinguisticandbioIogicaImodcsofrcspondingtocnviron-
mcntsofvaryingkinds.
!nanarticIccntitIcd FormaIAnaIysis ofCommumcativcProccsscs"
(Hindc I977.3-35) , O. M. MacKay uscs thc information-systcm
approach"inordcrtoundcrstandvhatisgoingoninnon-vcrbaIcommu-
nication.HisdctaiIcdargumcntrcsuItsinasimpIcmodcI.
_goal-directed (g-d) _interpreted as g-d
Non-verbal signals
`non-goal-directed not interpreted as g-d
MacKay argucs that communication'' in thc strict scnsc onIy occurs
vhcnthcoriginatorofanonvcrbaIsignaIA's actionis goaI-dircctcdto a
rccipicnt B. Cnc must usc a morc ncutraI cxprcssion, hc argucs, vhcn
thcrcis no goaI-dircctcdncss orintcntion' (fromintendere arcum in, Latin
for to drav a bov at," impIying A's scIcction ofB as a targct'). For
cxampIc,vcmaysimpIy saythatB pcrccivcsvhatcvcr hc docsaboutA,
orthatinformationovsfromAtoB.HcgivcsscvcraIcxampIcs ofhov
to distinguish communication propcr frommcrc pcrccption or informa-
tionov. Supposc," hcsays, that inthcBoy Scouttcnt, A, poor fcIIov,
turnsouttohavcsvcatyfcct,B' sintcrnaIstatcofrcadincssisIikcIytobc
vcry dihcrcnt according to vhcthcr hc pcrccivcs A as an unsuspccting
suhcrcr oras oncvhoknovshis oIfactoryarmamcntand has thcaim of
stimuIatingBvithit'' (Hindc I977.2O).CnIythcsccondcascvouIdcon-
stitutccommunication. MacKaydistinguishcsbctvccnin such a way andin
order to. ForcxampIc, ancv-bornbabycricsin such a wa andin order to.
Latcr on, it may Icarn to cry in order to gct attcntion'' (Hindc I977.24).
MacKay cIaimsthathismodcIraiscsavhoIcscricsofscicntihcqucstions
forfurthcr rcscarch. !nthis casc, thc qucstionisposcdasto vhat arcthc
stagcsbyvhichthcbaby'scryinginsuchavay as" dcvcIopsintocrying
inordcrto" gct attcntion. Whatkinds ofbchavioraI situation mightbc
diagnostic ofthc prcscncc and naturc ofcvaIuativc fccdback upon thc
actionconccrncd. . . andsoon" (Hindc I977.24) .
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I8p
RobcrtHindchascriticizcdMacKay'smodcI,thoughmainIyfromthc
vicvpoint of an cvoIutionary bioIogist. Thcsc scicntists havc (Hindc
I977.88) tcndcd to focus on thc distinction bctvccn bchavior vhich
appcars to havcbccomc adaptcdin cvoIution for a signaI function, and
thatvhich docsnot . . . [Butj bchavior adaptcd for asignaIIingfunction
mayormaynotbc' goaI-dircctcd'tothatcnd.!ndccd,somcsuchbchavior
maybcgoaI-dircctcd in a scnsc, but tovards broadcasting signaIs rathcr
than tovards ahccting thc bchavior ofa particuIar individuaI. Furthcr-
morc, bchavior vhich is goaI-dircctcd tovards ahccting thcbchavior of
othcrsmaybcidiosyncraticandnotadaptcdthroughproccsscsofnaturaI
scIcctiontothatcnd." McvcrthcIcss,MacKayissayingsomcuscfuIthings
about human communication vhich may bc appIicd to pcrformancc
thcory.
!fvc takc into account thc Frcudian modcI according to vhich
humanpcrsonaIityconsistsofscvcraIdihcrcntiatcd,butintcrrcIatcdstruc-
turcs (e.g id, supcrcgo, cgo), invoIving unconscious, prcconscious, and
consciousIcvcIsofavarcncss, vc may conjccturcthatnonvcrbaI signaIs
maybcgoaI-dircctcdbyunconscious id vishcs and dcsircs ofthc scndcr
and intcrprctcd cithcr consciousIy or unconsciousIy by thc rcccivcr in
tcrmsofsomcintcrnaIgoaIcritcrionofhis/hcrs. SimiIarIysignaIsmaybc
cmittcd fromthcsuperego, or normativc-prcscriptivc systcmofthc scndcr
to a rcccivcr vhomayintcrprct thcm at thc cognitivc-pcrccptuaI or eo
IcvcI-or at thc unconsciousIcvcI by id or superego structurcs. Thcrc may
aIso bc conictvithinthc pcrsonaIity ofthc rcccivcr ovcr thcintcrprcta-
tionofthc nonvcrbaIsignaIonbothIcvcIs andinandbctvccnthc struc-
turcs. A voman's smIc mght bc intcrprctcd, for cxampIc, by a maIc
rcccivcr as atonccpoIitcncss, invitation, andtcmptation,vith thc consc-
qucntprobIcmas to vhichvas rcaIIy intcndcd, and ifsovhatsignaIto
cmit in rcsponsc. Hov nonscnsicaI, cvcn arch, thc communication
cnginccring"typcjargonsounds!
SociaIandcuIturaIpcrformanccisinhnitcIymorccompIcxandsubtIc
than thc nonvcrbaI communication ofanimaIs. !ts mcssagcs arc through
both vcrbaI and nonvcrbaI mcdia, and its vcrbaI mcdia arc varicd and
capabIcofcommunicatingrichandsubtIcidcasandimagcs.Thismaybca
goodopportunity to discuss somcofthcapproachcsvhich!havcfound
uscfuI as conccptuaIundcrpinningforthcanaIysisoftypcsand gcnrcs of
pcrformancc.
!n thc hrst pIacc, thc Wcstcrn anthropoIogicaI tradition has movcd
vcII avay fromthc studyofvhat O. H. Lavrcncc caIIcd man aIivc," or,
bcttcrtoday, manandvoman aIivc." !t sharcd thc Wcstcrnpassionfrom
PIato on, (cvcn somc aspccts ofHcracIitus, his backing ofthc Logos, for
cxampIc) |or cxpIanation via modcIs, framcs, paradigms, compctcncc,
IC PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
Ians, bIuerints, reIiminary reresentations, hyotheticaI or styIized
reresentations. Inractice,thiswayofthinkingrestsonthereaIoIiticaI
owerofe6ectingwhatonerooses,making one's archetypes work by the
ef ctive application c frce. The Western hiIosohicaI tradition~PIato,
AristotIe, Descartes, HegeI, Kant, to name but a few, and aII the
anthrooIogicaIstructuraIisms~ishookedonthisbeIiefinredetermined
orderings. Inmyview thereissuchathingas naturaI" or sociaI" Iaw,
communitas rests on Buber's I-Thou and essentiaI We." Extreme indi-
viduaIism onIy understands a art ofman. Extreme coIIectivism onIy
understandsmanasaart. CommunitasistheimIicitIaw ofwhoIeness
arisingoutofreIationsbetweentotaIities.ButcommunitasisintrinsicaIIy
dynamic, never quite being reaIized. It is not being reaIized reciseIy
because individuaIs andcoIIectivitiestry to imose their cognitive sche-
mata on one another. The rocess ofstriving towards and resistance
againstthefuI6IIment ofthenaturaIIawofcommunitas necessitates that
the unit ofhistory and ofanthrooIogy (which takes into account the
sociocuIturaI schemata) and aIso the unit oftheir anaIysis is drama, not
cuIture or archive. And certainIy not structuraI reIationshi. Structure is
aIways anciIIary to, deendent on, secreted from rocess. And erfor-
mances, articuIarIy dramatic erformances, are the manifestations ar
exceIIenceofhumansociaIrocess.
In saying these things I reveaI myseIf an adherent ofthat eis-
temoIogicaI radition which stresses what WiIheIm DiIthey caIIs Iived
exerience[F_ iIthe_expericohere
eenentonthe@ti@ _ ct

vitiItismadeuofnotonIyourobservationsandreactions,butaIso
(; yjqniotknowIedge, whichiscognitiveinessence)of
mankid, exressednotonIyin custom andtraditionbut aIso ingreat
vfart.ThereisaIivingandgrowingbodyofexerience, atradition
ofcommunitas, so to seak, which embodies the resonse ofour whoIe
coIIective mind to our entire coIIective exerience. We acquire this
wisdomnotbyabstractsoIitarythought,butbyarticiationimmediateIy
orvicariousIythroughtheerformancegenresinsociocuIturaIdramas.
IwiIInowcaIIattentiontothedistinctionbetweensuchstaticmodeIs
forthoughtand actionas cosmoIogies, theoIogies, hiIosohicaI systems,
ethicaIsystems, andideoIogies, andwhatDiItheycaIIsaWeItanschauung.
The formerarestatic,theIatter isdynamic. And since DiIthey insiststhat
exerience is equaIIy woven from the three strands ofthought, feeIing,
and wiII, aWeItanschauung has, Iike a rism, a triIe struc:urc Ths tt
cnsiss mstofa Jltbild, thatis, a body ofknowIedge and beIiefabout
whatiscognitiveIytakentobethereaIworId", secondIy, onthisisraised
aset ofvaIuejudgments exressing the reIationoftheadherents to their
wor|d and thc meaning (Bedeutur) which thcy hnd in it. (DiIthcy sccs
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE II
vaIueasdominantIyformedbya6ect.)ThrdIy, thisset,inturn,suortsa
moreor Iess coherentsystemofends, ideaIs, and rinciIes ofconduct,
which are the oint ofcontactbetweenthe WeItanschauung andraxis,
thesociocuIturaIinteraction,makingitaforceinthe deveIoment ofthe
individuaI, and, through him, ofsociety at Iarge. This Iast comonent
reresents the action ofthe wiII, the connative asect ofsystematized
exerience. The oint is that for DiIthey th
.
is not a
ermanent, 6
^
d (ructure oteternaI ideas tut itIreesents at any
give

PI
'

s
pl
cInsoIutiono Ie." Mc ss .
, , `
tosthsteriesandaradoxesthatsurroundthegreatcrises
ofbirth,mating, anddeath,theseasonaIround, anditseriIsofdrought,
ood, famine, and disease, the endIess battIe ofman's rationaI activity
against the forces and necessities ofnonhuman nature, the neverending
task ofsatisfying with Iimited means his unIimited aetites, the ara-
doxes ofsociaI controI in whch a erson's or grou's IoyaIty to one
Iegitimate cause, or moraI rinciIe, automaticaIIy renders them disIoyaI
to others equaIIy vaIid~in summary, the whoIe mystery ofhumanity in
theworId. WeItanschauungen, then, arebuiItu asmuchontroesason
reasons,asmuchonmetahorsandsynechdochesasonconcets.Whatis
unknownisguessedatontheanaIogyof theknown,whatisunInteIIigibIe
isexIainedonthe anaIogy oftheinteIIigibIe. ButWeItanschauungenare
continuaIIy subject to revision, their ersoni6cations and metahors are
much more mutabIe than cognitive constructs. Their forms di6er as the
coIIective exeriences underIying them di6er, in ways conditioned by
cIimate,toograhy, history, technoIogicaIinvention, andbythegeniusof
rareindividuaIs. I am sumcient ofa cuIturaI Darwinist to suose that
there is a kind ofcometition among WeItanschauungen, whereby the
6ttestsurviveandareseIectedtoreceivedetaiIeddeveIomentatthehands
ofsuccessive generations. ParticuIar eriods ofhistory and articuIar
cIustersofsocietiesandnationsbecomedomnatedandcharacterizedbya
articuIarWeItanschauung.
B(_schauungen, !ike aB oIschatmotivatshn
ete o(
eIta geest st1h)eemodes.

Thesearvbathe

I

Western CiviIization," for thesethree categorieshaveariseninthatcuI-

turaItradition.MevertheIess,IetusbearwithhmawhIe, forhsdscrim-
nationsroceedfromoneof themostcreativemindsinsociaIscience.
Theground cording to Duthy, rct cn two opositc
types ofre0ection, mankind is a reexivc secies, as l have so often
insistcd.Thc6rst is thosc rcgu|abutmO$ty ncontrollablcproccsscs oC

I2 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE

7 '
bo

te

caI

ith which
"
e aII h

e to

come

.

s

t

o

s a

s
c
i
tt
e

,o..-. and unexpectcd accdcnts are due to the agency ofinvisibIe,
transhuman owers or beings, and in each WeItanschauung the idea of
such owers is graduaIIy eIaborated by mythoIogicaI fantasy and the-
oIogicaIsecuIation. Since, soDiIthey argues, aWeItanschauungmustgive
meaningtotheracticaIIife,the question ariseshowwe aretoorder and
systematize our reIations with these unseen owers. In SaIIy Moore' s
terms means mustbefoundtoreduce the indetermInacy oftheir action
andtoreguIarizetheirreIationswithus.Therefore,saysDiIthey,rimtive
societies generate over time a system ofsymboIic ideas and ractices, a
rituaIsystem,whicheventuaIIygivesriseto andcomesunderthecontroI
ofagrouorcIass ofriestIy reguIators. DiItheyfurthersuosesthatas
societiesincreaseinscaIeandcomIexity somethingIikethenotionofan
inner Iife" deveIos and individuaIs ofgenius, shamans, rohets, and
mystics emerge who beginto deveIo a reexive system of doctrine
which reinterrets traditionaI rituaI and mythoIogy in terms ofinner
exerience. Today anthrooIogists wouId demur. They beIieve that
shamans, and other tyes ofinsirationaI reIigious seciaIists, are more
rominentinhunting andgatheringsocieties,consideredsimIer, thanin
societies with weII deveIoed agricuIturaI systems, in which caIendricaI
cuIts, suervised by riests, and with cognitiveIy weII-deveIoed cos-
moIogies are domInant. However, DiIthey is correct in suosing that
rohets, shamans raised to a higher ower tend to emerge when reIa-
tiveIystabiIizedagricuIturaIsocietiesareseriousIythreatenedbyoIiticaI
andcuIturaIchange.Mystics, ontheotherhand,mayemergeinresonse
tothegrowingbanaIityofrituaIisticactioninweII-bondedsocietieschar-
acterizedby the absenceofvariety, Iet aIone change, overmanygenera-
tions. Viewed from the reIigious standoint, auu_ _the
meangofvisib[estobedete_edyitsreIationtoa.un
worId Q oic
ace and dcveIon:cnt, t i l--.-...;that indivdua1s
andgrous,throughcuIticobservancesandsoIitaryrayerandmeditation
shouId 6nd meaning and vaIue to be derived from messages credibIy
transmItted from the unseen worId through various media. rophecy,
visions, aaritions, mIracIes, heroic acts offaith such as martyrdoms,
divination, augury, and other extraordinary rocesses and henomena.
EthicaIstandardsarebeIievedtoberomuIgatedbyinvisibIeowers,they
areutbeyondtherangeofhumanwisdomandcreativity.
DiItheyconsidersthatthe@eti__ arti|

ygp]gwhichcanbe
detected in many Wc|tanschauungcn, is not onIy dicrcnt from thc
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I
reIigious, but aIso antitheticaItoit.Theartist tries tounanif in
termsofi
.'
er

t
ethou htsand
___, +,,.

.,,.+u,_@

-+_ ..Y.._____ ____

assionsandurosesofhumanbeings,andthereIationshisintowhich
they entervith on another and vith the naturaI worId rovide or the
artistasucientbasisfron:yhicbto

yiyI:emeaningof].HeisaIert
t s,notmereIysight, anditisinintenseandcomIexsensory
codesthatheattemtstogiveerformativereaIitytothatmeaning. Heis
oftena6erceoonentoftheory,articuIarIycognitivetheory. Hescorns
tocontributetohiIosohy.Yet, forananthrooIogist,giventoinference,
a WeItanschauung is fairIy easiIy inferrabIe from esthetic roduction.
Esthetics, incomIex cuItures, areervadeq_ee

_.ThestyIe and
content ofnoveIs,Iays, and oems reveaIwhat Geertz has caIIedmeta-
sociaI commentary. InIiterature ofaII tyes writers directIy or through
theircharactersroIiferateinreexive generaIizations,whichnevertheIess
sto short ofcognitiveIy eIaborated theories.Thestraintowards system,
aradoxicaIIy, seems to bestrongestinreIiterate orbareIy hterate agri-
cuIturaIcuItures, andintheheadsofsohisticatedIiterateurbanizedindi-
viduaIs ofWestern high cuItures. Artists tase their readers or viewers
withworkswhichtheIattertret as tp prpest:tioiofrcaIi
\hh Ihey

comparewiththerestoftheirexerienceandarecompIIed to
rr| 9
ng
,.=1moIVeItanschauung, one
;y, caves cIosct to |be _g ie t]]grpund o1 aII vaIid
knowIedge.
dIng toTIthey,thc hiIosophedir|pinboth the man of
reIigion andthe artist.

His great aimis toeIicitfroeeience.s

ofconcets and univers

. i,
AI os

iIosohs have ben, as

anthrooIogists wouId assert, cuIture bound," their goaI is to know, if
ossibIe,aIIthatistobeknown, andtohndforthatknowIedgeaIogicaIIy
exact and vaIid foundation. To this end, articuIarIy since Kant, tIiey
engageinanendIesscriticism,whosegoaIistoreduceeveryexerienceto

its constituent factors and to trace every roosition to its uItimate

ground, neverrestingtiIItheyhavereIatedaIIfactsto anuItimatereaIity,

aII knowIedge to ahighest truth, and aII vaIue to a sureme good.
&
ideasarederivedfromeverypossibIesource,incIudingreIigionandart,as
u
a
t
i

a
ie
b
ca

systemwhosestructurendproertiecanIehebca d
stabIeseForDiIt, tbissciee

ics,andsohyarewhatheregardse s
cvcryItansct, \ roosc to transIate these
cpistcmo|gica|mcdiaintocu|tura|mcdia,thatis, suchinstitutionsasrituaI,
c+miva|,thcatcr,|itcraturc,h|m,spcctac|c,andtcIcvision.
Iq PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ButDiIthey,withhisCetmanassionfotcIassi6cation,andhisscien-
tist'sdtiveto comatative study, toceeds to cIassify WeItanschauungen
intothteetyes.PetsonaIIy, ItegatdthistaxonomicftenzyofDiIthey'sas
acuItute-bounddeniaIofhisownttueosition,asweshaIIsee.fotwhat
he sees asseatatetyes ate oftentocesseswhichhave di6etent chatac-
tetistics at di6etent times. MevettheIess, his tyes ate usefuI heutistic
devices, heIing us to 6nd outwayinto anew sociocuItutaI 6eId." fot
DiIthey, WeItanschuungen may be cIassihed into thtee btoad tyes. I)
naturalism; 2) the idealism c feedom; and3) objective idealism. MatutaIismsees
thectitetionofthegoodIifeeithet inpleasure otpower, bothtegatdedby
DiIthey as tetesentingtheanimal side ofhuman natute. InteIigion this
tetesents anassettion ofthe cIaims ofthewotIdandthe esh and to-
cIaimsatevoItagainstothet-wotIdIiness, even,insomeinstances, against
teIigionitseIfastheeitomeofothet-wotIdIiness. Inatt,natutaIismtakes

the fotmofteaIism," theictutins as it is thought

a)[y ;yi ,g_|gjp_ lts useinIitetatute mh
distinguished ftom hiIosohicaI ReaIism, which is, of coutse, the doc-
ttine that univetsaIs ot absttact tetms ate objectiveIy actuaI (hete the
oosed tetm wouId be MominaIism which assetts that univetsaIs and
absttacttetmsatemetenecessitiesofthoughtotconveniencesofIanguage
and thetefote exist as names onIy and have no genetaI teaIities cotte-
sonding to them) . fotDiIthey, though, teaIismin att tends tomanifest
thedatkfotcesofassion,thetebyexosinghighetideaIsandtinciIesas
iIIusotyot evenhyoctiticaI. At the hiIosohicaIIeveI, DiIthey tegatds
natutaIism as a view ofthe wotId as a mechanicaI system comosed of
eIementsaIIofwhichatecIeatand distinct,thatis, mathematicaIIy detet-
minabIe. ThenatutaI wotId, known and exetienced scienti6caIIy, is aII
that exists, thete isno suetnatutaI ot sitituaI cteation, conttoI, ot sig-
nihcance.Thisviev saysDiIthey,maybeheIdasadocttineofthenatute
ofteaIity~inwhichcaseitisbettettetmedmatetiaIism~whichexIains
thought, wiII, and feeIing onIy in tetms ofmattet, that is, whatevet
occuiessaceandisetcetibIetothesensesinsomeway, eithetditectIy
ot by means ofinsttuments. It may aIso be heId, mote cautiousIy as a
methodoIogicaI tinciIe, as in the case ofPositivism, estabIished by
Auguste Comte, andstiII, au fnd, inuentiaIinthethinking ofthesociaI
sciences.HetehiIosohicaIthoughtisheIdtobebasedsoIeIyonobserv-
abIe,scientihcfactsandtheitt

Iationstooneanothet,secuIationaboutot
seatch fot uItimate otigins is htmIy tejected. MatutaIism, in DiIthey's
sense, is associated with sensationaIisminhiIosohy, the beIiefthat aII
knowIedge is acquited thtough the senses, the abiIity ofthe btain and
netves to teceive and teact to stimuIi. In ethics MatutaIism is eithet
heJcn|s||t~thatis,itconceivesthatIeasute,vatiousIytegatdedintetmsof
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE I]
the hainess ofthe individuaI ot ofsociety, is thetinciaI good and
toet aim ofaction~ot teaches liberation thtough enIightenment and
the desttuctionofiIIusion~faIseetcetions, concetions, otintetteta-
tions,atticuIatIyunscientihcnotionsandtescientihctejudicesetsist-
ing thtough ttadition. In his Introduction to Wltanschauunslehre, DiIthey
mentions Democtitus, Ptotagotas, Eicutus, Luctetius, Atistius,
HuIme, feuetbach, Buechnet, MoIeschott, andComte as tetesentatives
ofthishiIosohy(KIubackI9I4 -36.75- II8) .
ThesecondtyeofWeItanschauung,theideaIismoffteedom,isbased,
DiItheyteIIsus,onoutinnetexetienceoffteewiIIandwasthecteative
concetionofthemindofthehiIosohetsofAthens."Thisintettetsthe
wotId in tetms ofpersonality; its exonents ate etvaded to the tis of
theit hngetsbytheconsciousnessoftotaIIydisagteeingwithnatutaIism"
(KIubackI9I4 -36.6I,62).Theitbasictemiseisthattheteexistsinmana
motaI wiIIwhichwe canknow to beftee ftomhysicaI causation, this
wiII is bound, not hysicaIIy but motaIIy, and thetefote fteeIy, to othet
wiIIsinasocietyofmotaIetsons. fotmanyoftheseideaIistsoffteedom
theteIationsbetween these etsons isheId to deend uon an absoIute,
ftee, etsonaI agent, in othet wotds, Deity, Cod. In teIigion, this
WeItanschauung aeats astheism, inatticuIat, Chtistiantheismwhete
the fundamentaI temise ofnatutaIism, that ex ni
hi
lo nihil ft, nothingis
madeftom nothing," that is, somethin, fot examIe, is etetnaI, is contta-
dicted by the docttine ofcteation ex nihilo. In att, and this is what has
ettinence fotoutIatetstudy ofmodetndtamaftom an anthtooIogicaI
etsective, the ideaIism offteedom emetges as the concetion ofthe
wotId as a theatet ofhetoic action," fot examIe, in the wotks of
CotneiIIeandSchiIIet. CotneiIIeIikedtosetuhistoticaIIyttuebutsut-
tising situations that fotced a numbet ofchatactets into action and in
whichtheindividuaI,thtoughhishetoicandmagnanimousdecisions,his
heinousctimes,othistenunciations,toveshisowetsofttanscendency.
CotneiIIe favotedwhatiscaIIed the ethics ofgIoty," bywhichtheheto
convinceshimseIfandseekstoconvinceothetsofhisseIf-ossessionand
suetiotityofsitit.fteedomofthewiIIaeatsintheeIucidationofthe
heto's innet conicts as weII as gteatfeats wheteby he tties to teconciIe
his wiII and his assions in otdet to achieve his goaI. Some hetoes
tationaIizetheitmotiveswhiIeactinginbadfaith~asoutceofitony. fot
SchiIIet the attist's toIeis to show the motaI gtowth oftheindividuaI
ittedagainstthenecessitiesofteaIity.TheideaIismoffteedomotetson-
aIity, in DiIthey'sview, deveIoed inhiIosohy ftomtheconcetionof
teason as a fotmative owet in Anaxagotas, PIato, and AtistotIe, to the
medievaI concetion ofa worId govetnedby the etsonaItovidence of
Cod,andthenceinKantand fichte totheideaofasuetsensibIewotId of
Ip PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
vaIues,whicharereaIonIyinandfortheinhnitewiIIwhichositsthem.
DiIthey hnds among its modern reresentatives Bergson, the Meo-Kan-
tians,andtheragmatists.
The third tye ofWeItanschuung, objective ideaIism, is based, says
DiIthey, ona contemIative and a6ective attitude to exerience. We read
ourownfeeIingsandmentaIactivitiesintotheexternaIworId,regarding
it as a Iiving whoIe which continuaIIy reaIizes and enjoys itseIfin the
harmony ofits arts, we hnd thedivineIife oftheWhoIeimmanentin
every art, and rejoice to hnd ourseIves insymathy with this Iife. This
WeItanschauung, he goes on, emerges in the Pantheism ofIndian and
Chinese reIigion, in art its most notabIe exonent is Goethe. The eis-
temoIogy ofthisthirdtye ofhiIosohy Iays emhasis oninteIIectuaI
intuition"~the intuitive gras ofthe whoIeness ofthings. DiIthey hnds
(amIes ofit in Stoicism, in Averroes, Bruno, Sinoza, Leibnitz,
Shaftesbury,ScheIIing,HegeI,andSchIeiermacher.
" "'
DiIthey argues inDie Drei Grundfrmen der Systeme in der ersten Ha!s I
]ahrhunderts ( 1959 [ 1921 ]) that the history ofrecent hiIosohy can be
described and eIucidated in terms ofa conict between the three tyes.
Since WeItanschauungen are more thanmereIy cognitive structures, but
arewaysofIookingattheworIdandIife,inwhichcognitive,a6ective,and
voIitionaI eIements are bound together and aIike are rimary, they are
seIdomfoundintheir ure form, oftenhybridize, andmustbeseized as
Iivedexerience.
But I do not want to become invoIved in DiIthey's hiIosohicaI
secuIations inthis essay, onIy to give you a notion ofhow his generaI
aroachtocuIturaIdynamicsrovidessomereinforcementformyviews
ontheanthrooIogyoferformance.AsIinsistedearIier,thetruIy son-
taneous" unit ofhuman sociaI erformanceisnot roIe-Iaying sequence
in aninstitutionaIized or cororate grou" context,it is thesocial drama
which resuIts reciseIy from the susension of normative roIe-Iaying,
andinits assionate activity aboIishes theusuaI distinction between ow
andreection, sinceinthesociaIdramaitbecomesamatterofurgencyto
become reexive about the cause and motive ofaction damaging to the
sociaI fabric. It is in the sociaI drama that WeItanschauungen become
visibIe,ifonIyfragmentariIy, asfactorsgivingmeaningtodeedsthatmay
seemat hrst sight meaningIess. The erformative genres are, as it wer,
secreted from the sociaI drama and in turn surround it and feed their
erformedmeaningsbackintoit.
The sociaI drama is an erution from the IeveI surface ofongoing
sociaI Iife, with its interactions, transactions, recirocities, its customs
makingforreguIar, orderIy sequencesofbehavior. ItisroeIIedbyas-
sions, comeIIed by voIitions, and it overmasters at times any rationaI
considerations.YetreasonIays amajorroIcin the settIcment o|disutcs
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE Ip)
which take the sociodramatic form, articuIarIy during the redressive
hase~thoughhereagainnonrationaIfactorsmaycomeintoIayifrituaIs
areerformed (erformancehere beinginterms ofreguIarizingrocess)
toredressthedisutes.

'.
c

.'

'
ni

e
Ithey caIIedIivedexe

isiscIearIyshowninthecharts|-J.::
sociaI drama. AIthough aII these sychoIogicaI rocesses coexist during
everyhaseofasociaIdrama,eachhaseisdominatedbyoneortheother.
IndetaiIed anaIysis it wouIdbeossibIe to demonstratehow the verbaI
and nonverbaI symboIic codes and styIes emIoyedby the actors corre-
sond to some extent with the rimacy of a articuIar sychoIogicaI
tendency. For examIe, in the hrst hase~Breach~a6ect is rimary,
though an eIement ofcognitive caIcuIation is usuaIIy resent, and the
transgressor'swiII to assert ower or identity usuaIIy incites the wiII to
resisthisactionamongreresentativesofthenormativestandardwhichhe
hasinfringed.ThestageofCrisisinvoIvesaIIthreeroensitiesequaIIy, as
sides are taken and ower resources caIcuIated. Quite often, however,
whenasociaIheIdis dividedintotwocamsorfactions,onewiIImanifest
initswordsanddeedsthemoreromanticquaIitiesofwiIIingandfeeIing.
ne thinks immediateIy ofthe American CiviI War, the American and
French RevoIutions, the ]acobite rebeIIions of 1715 and 1745, and the
Mexican Insurgentiaof1810. AIItheseare onthe scaIe ofmacrooIitics,
butmystudies ofmcrooIiticaIsituations directIy amongthe Mdembu,
and indirectIy from anthrooIogicaI Iiterature, indicate that a simiIar
dichotomy exists on the smaII scaIe order. As mentioned, a cognitive
emhasistingessociaIattemtstoremedydisorder,thoughhrstwiIImust
beaIiedtoterminatetheoftendangerouscontextationinCrisis.Cogni-
tionreignsrimariIy injudiciaI and IegaI redressiveaction.Wheresuch
action faiIs, however, to command sumcient assent, wiII and emotion
reassert themseIves. This reassertionmay roceed in oosite directions.
ntheonehand,theremaybereversiontoCrisis, aIIthemoreembittered
by the faiIure ofrestitutive action. nthe other hand, there may bean
attemttotranscendanorderbasedonrationaIrinciIesbyaeaIingto
that orderwhichrests on atradition ofcoexistence among the redeces-
sorsofthecurrentcommunity, whethertheseareconceivedasbioIogicaI
ancestorsorbearersofthesamecommunaIvaIues.Thiskindofordering
isbetterregarded as the crystaIIization of jointexerience,handeddown
in striking or otent cuIturaI forms and symboIs, and bears rather the
characteroforexis(feeIingandwiIIing)thanrationaIIanning.Thuswhen
|cgaIrcdrcssfaiIs, grousmayturntoactivitieswhichcanbedescribedas
"ritua|izcd,"whethcrthcse"rituaIs"areexressIyconnectedwithreIigious
bcIics or not. Anti-reIigious statcs and socictics havc thcir rcdrcssive
Ip8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ceremonies,sometimesinvoIvingubIicconfessionbythoseheIdreson-
sibIeforbreachingthenormsortransgressingthevaIuesofsocietaItradi-
tion. LegaIactionitseIf ofcourse, isheaviIyrituaIized.Butinthesemore
fuIIy rituaIized rocedures what is being introduced into situations of
crisis isthenonrationaI, metahoricaIIy organic" orderofsocietyitseIf
feItratherthanconceivedastheaxiomaticsourceofhumanbonding. Itis
thesociaIwiII."TheotencyofrituaIsymboIsisweIIrecogmzedbythe
antagonistsinthehase ofCrisis. InDramas, Fields, and Metaphors, I show
hovintheMexicanInsurgenia, HidaIgoseizedthebannerofurLady of
GuadaIuetoraIIy theeasants,whiIeViceroyVenegasofSainendowed
ur Lady ofRemedios with a 6eId marshaII's baton to strengthen the
IoyaItyoftheeoIeofMexicoCity.
In the 6naI stage, the Restoration of Peace, which entaiIs either a
reestab|ishment ofviabIe reIations between the contending arties or a
ubIicrecognitionofirrearabIeschism, cognitivecriteriatend to come
uermostagain,ifonIyinthesenseofarationaIaccetanceofthereaIity
ofchange.EverysociaIdramaaIters, inhoweverminscuIeafashion, the
structure (by which term I do not mean a ermanent ordering ofsociaI
reIationsbutmereIyatemorary mutuaIaccommodation ofinterests)of
the reIevant sociaI heId. for examIe, oositions may have become
aIIiances,andviceversa.HighstatusmayhavebecomeIowstatusandthe
reverse.MewowermayhavebeenchanneIedintonewauthorityandoId
authority have Iost its Iegitimacy. CIoseness may have become distance
and vice versa. formerIy integraI arts may have segmented, formerIy
indeendent arts may have fused. Some arts might no Ionger have
beIonged to the heId after a drama's termination, and others may have
enteredit.SomeinstitutionaIizedreIationshismayhavebecomeinformaI,
some sociaI reguIarities become irreguIarities or intermittencies. Mew
normsandruIes mayhavebeengeneratedor devised duringtheattemts
to redress conict, oId norms may have faIIen into disreute. Bases of
oIiticaIsuortmayhaveaItered.ThedistributionofthefactorsofIegit-
imacy may have changed, as did the techniques (inuence, ersuasion,
ower, etc.) forgainingcomIiancewith decisions. Theseconsiderations,
andmanymore, have to berationaIIyevaIuatedby the actorsina sociaI
drama, in order thattheymay take u the threads ofordinary, reguIar,
custom- andnorm-boundsociaIIifeoncemore.
fromthe standoint ofreIativeIy weII-reguIated, more or Iess accu-
rateIy oerationaI, methodicaI, orderIy sociaI Iife, sociaI dramas have a
IiminaI"orthreshoId"character. TheIattertermisderivedfromaGer-
manic base which means thrash" or thresh," a Iace where grain is
beatenoutfromitshusk,wherewhathasbeenhiddenisthusmanifested.
ThatiswhyinmyhrststudyofsociaIdramasinMdembusociety, Schism
and Continuity, I described the sociaI drama as a Iimited area oftrans-
parencyonthcothcrwiscopaqucsur|acc o|rcgu|ar, uncvcntt| socia| |i|c.
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE Ipp
In the sociaI drama Iatent conicts become manfest, and kinshi ties,
whosesignihcanceisnotobviousingeneaIogies,emergeintokeyimor-
tance. . . Throughthe sociaIdramaweareenabIedto observethecruciaI
rinciIes ofthe sociaI structure in their oeration, and their reIative
dominance at successive oints intime" (Turner I957.93). Manifestation,
toreverttothe thrashing"metahor, isthe grain" and husk" ofsociaI
Iife,ofthevaIuesandantivaIues,ofthereIationshisofamityandenmity,
which are reveaIedinthe oftenassionateactionofthe sociaIdrama, and
thegrain'ofmanfestationthusbecomesartofacommunity'sreexive
store,itsknowIedgeofitseIfstoredinthebinsofIegaIrecedent,common
knowIedge,andevenrituaIsymboIism~ifthedramaisredressedbyrituaI
means.
LetmemakethesimIeointagainthatIregardthesociaIdrama"as
theemiricaI unit ofsociaIrocessfromwhichhasbeenderived, andis
constantIybeingderived,thevariousgenresofcuIturaIerformance.ne
hase ofthe sociaI dramainarticuIar deserves attention as agenerative
source ofcuIturaI erformances. This is the Redressive Phase, which, as
we have seen, inevitabIy invoIves a scanning ofand reection uon the
revious events Ieading u to the crisis that has now tobedeaItwith. I
havementionedIegaIandjudiciaIrocesses ashavinganimortantIace
here and that these are often highIy formaIized and rituaIized. As SaIIy
Moore andBarbaraMyerho6utitinSecular Ritual (1977:3): CoIIective
rituaIcanbeseenasaneseciaIIydramaticattemttobringsomearticu-
IarartofIifehrmIyanddehniteIyintoorderIycontroI. ItbeIongstothe
structuring side ofthecuIturaI/historicaIrocess." Since Iawisconcerned
with orderIy controI, IegaI and reIigious rituaI have much in common.
nedi6erenceisthatinIawcognitiverocessesassumeriority, whiIein
reIigion orectic rocesses revaiI, though both have simiIar rocedures
invoIving reetition, conscious acting", styIization (as Moore and
Myerho6utit.actionsorsymboIsusedareextraordinarythemseIves,or
ordinary ones are used in an unusuaI way, away that caIIs attention to
them and sets them aart from other mundane uses" [I977.7j), order
(coIIectiverituaIisbydehnition anorganizedevent,bothofersonsand
cuIturaI eIements, having a beginnng and an end, thus bound to have
someorder. Itmaycontainwithinitmoments oforeIementsofchaosand
spontaneity, but these are in rescribed times and Iaces," [Moore and
Myerho61977:7]); evocativeresentationaIstyIeofstaging" (coIIective
rtuaIsareintendedtoroduceatIeastanattentivestateofmnd,andoften
an even greater commtment ofsome kind," [Secular Ritual 1977:7]), and
havcsociaImessage"andmeaning."
These formaI characteristics ofcoIIective ceremony or rituaI" are
Hcar|y transferrabIc to other gcnres, and are shared with, for examIe,
thcatcrand gamcs.Lawandrc|igiousritua|,secnasaair,however,canbe
distinguishcd |romothcrkinds o|pcr|ormativc gcnrcs, Mycrho0argucs,
zoo PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
in the area ofmeaning ande6ect." Shesees coIIective ceremony (Iaw-
rituaI) asacontainer, avehicIethathoIdssomething. It givesformtothat
which it contains~for rituaI is in art a form, and a form which gives
meaning(byframing")toitscontents.TheworkofrituaI(andrituaIdoes
work," as many tribaI and ost-tribaI etymoIogies indicate) is artIy
attributabIe to its morhoIogicaIcharacteristics. Its mediumisart ofits
message.Itcancontain'' aImostanything,foranyasectofsociaIIife,any
asect ofbehaviororideoIogy, may IenditseIftorituaIization, as theIate
Professor S. F MadeI argued in Nupe Reliion in I954 (. 99). And as
Myerho6oints out, onceanevent orerson orthing has been utinto
therituaIformandmoderecognizedbyagivencuItureithasatradition-
Iike e6ect' whether erformedfor the hrst or thousandth time" (Moore
andMyerho6I977.8).Shedescribessuchaonce-and-onIyevent,agrad-
uation ceremony in an urban sociaI center for the aged. The graduation
combines many eIements from the severaI cuIturaI backgrounds ofthe
members to make a unique comosite (bricoIage") . . . Though er-
formedonIyonceitissuosedto carry thesameunreectiveconviction
asanytraditionaIreetitiverituaI,to symboIizeforthearticiantsaIIthat
they share in common, and to insist to them that it aII hts together by
uttingittogetherasoneerformancc'(MooreandMyerho6I977.8 -9).
HereIwouIdtakemiIdissuewithMyerhostermunreective."IwouId
seesucharituaI,whichthecontextofherbookshowstohavebeenitseIfa
haseinacommunaIsociaIdrama,asinvoIvingrtection ontheastmyths
andhistory ofthegrou' scuIture QudaismandYiddishkeit) .The tradi-
tion-Iike" ceremony was,intermsofherownanaIysis, ane6orttohave
that ast make sense in thesituauon oftheir ecuIiar coIIective resent"
(MooreandMyerho6I977.9).
BothreIigious rituaIandIegaIceremony aregenres ofsociaIaction.
They confront robIems and contradictions of the sociaI rocess,
dimcuIties arising in the course ofsociaI Iife in communities, cororate
grous, or other tyes ofsociaIheIds.They are concernedwithbreaches
ofreguIar norm-governed reIationshis, invoIving actionofthe sortwe
wouId caII in our cuIture crime, sin, deviance, o6ense, misdemeanor,
injury,tort, damage, andsoforth. Inadditiontotheredressofimmediate
issues,thereconciIiationoftheartiesinvoIved, and,inextremecases,the
condign unishment, eIimination, or ostracism ofinverterate o6enders,
IegaIandreIigiousrituaIsandceremoniesarewhatMoorecaIIsadecIara-
tion against indeterminacy" (Moore and Myerho6 I977.I6). Through
"form and formaIity they ceIebrate man-made meaning, the cuIturaIIy
determinate, the reguIated, the named, and the exIained. . . . RituaIis a
decIarationofformagainst indeterminacy,therire indeterminacyisaIways
resent in the background ofany anaIysis ofrituaI. Indeed thcre is no
doubt that any anaIysis o| sociaI Iitc must takc account o| thc dynamic
rc|ation bctwccn thc |ormcd and "thc i ndctcrminatc" (Moorc and
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE zoI
Myerho6I977:I6- I7). fcourse,whatissociocuIturaIIy indeterminate
maybebioIogicaIIy, even sociobioIogicaIIy determinate, oranindetermi-
natehaseofsociaIrocessmayresuItfromcontradictionbetweenrinci-
Ies or ruIes, each ofwhichwouIdroduce systematic sociaI actionifit
wereconcededanunimededvaIidity.Thusbeingagoodsoi'maymean
being a bad citizen," iffamiIy IoyaIty obstructs civiIjustice. Whenwe
examine some IceIandic famiIy sagas we wiII seehow confused states of
a6airs,crisesofconscience,arisefromsociostructuraIcontradictions.
MycontentionisthatthemajorgenresofcuIturaIerformance(from
rituaItotheaterandhIm) andnarration(frommythtothenoveI)notonIy
originateinthe sociaIdramabutaIsocontinuetodrawmeaningandforce
fromthe sociaI drama. Iuseforce" hereintheDiItheyan sense. forhim,
Krq, force" meant something di6erent in the humanistic studies from
what it means in naturaI science. Inthe human studies, force means the
inuence which any exerience has in determining what other exeri-
ences shaIIsucceed it. Thus amemory has force insofar as it a6ects our
resentexerienceandactions.AIIthefactorswhichtogetherIeadutoa
racticaIdecisionare forces, andthedecisionitseIfis aforceinsofar asit
Ieadstoaction.Thiscategory,soconceived,isanexressionofsomething
weknowinourownIives. InnaturaI science, DiItheyargues,itisdi6er-
ent. There the concet offorce is not drawn from exerience ofthe
hysicaIworId,butrojectedintoitfromourinnerIife, anditisboundu
withtheidea ofIawsofnatureandhysicaInecessity,towhichthehuman
studies o6ernoaraIIeI. Inother words, inthenaturaIsciences force" is
used metahoricaIIy, in hysics the dehnition offorce as the form of
energy that uts anobject atrest into motion or aIters the motion ofa
movingobject''derivesuItimateIyfromhumaninnerexerienceofacting
vigorousIy and e6ectiveIy, of controIIing, ersuading, or inuencing
others.
Thusthe force" ofa sociaI dramaconsistsinitsbeinganexerience
or sequence ofexeriences which signihcantIy inuences the form and
functionofcuIturaIerformativegenres. SuchgenresartIyimitate" (by
mimesis), therocessuaIformofthe sociaIdrama, andtheyartIy, through
reection, assign meaning"toit.WhatdoI mean''bymeaning"here?I
am awareoftheformidabIe ambiguities ofthisterm, and ofthecontro-
versiessurroundingit.To mean'is,initssimIeIexicaIdehnition,tohave
in mind, tohavean oinion, tointend, anditderivesuItimateIy fromthe
|ndo-Euroean base maino-, from which are derived, C E. maenan, and
GCrmanmeinen, aIIofwhichsignify tohaveanoinion."BroadIyseak-
ing, a meaning" is what is intended to be, or infactis, signihed, indi-
catcd, rc|erred to, or understood." But in the context ofthe humanistic
studics, I wou|d prc|cr to Iook at the term, again inuenced by DiIthey,
somcwhat as |o||ows. I |a givcn human co| lcctivity scans its rcccnt or
mcrc distant history~usua||y through thc mcdiation o|rcprcscntativc
zoz PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
6gures, such as chronicIers, bards, historians, or in the IiminaI Iens of
erformativeornarrativegenres~itseekstohndinitastructuraIunityto
whosetotaIcharactereveryast,cuIturaIIystressed, coIIectiveexerience
hascontributedsomething.IfthereIevantagentsofreexivitygofurther
andseektounderstand*andinterret(deuten) thestructuraIunityoftheir
ast sociaIIife,toexIoreindetaiIthecharacterandstructureofthewhoIe
and the contradictions made by its various arts, we must deveIo new
categories to understand the nature oftheir quest. neis meaning, which
DiItheyemIoysintwoways.Thehrstdehnesthemeanin ofaartasthe
contributionitmakestothewhoIe."ThewhoIe"herewouIdseemtobea
comIexofideas and vaIues akin to CIi6ord Geertz'snotionsofworId
view" (itseIfakinto DiIthey's Jltbild) and ethos (or moraI system) . The
resuItant character of the whoIe is aIso said to ossess meaning"
(Bedeutun) orsense (Sinn).
DiItheythrowsinforgoodmeasurethecategoriesofvalue (Wert) and
end (Zweck) orgood (Gut), andrcIatesthemaIongwithmeanin tothethree
structuraI attitudes ofconsciousness" cognition, a6ect, and voIition,
mentionedearIier.Thus,thecategoryofmeaning arisesinmemor, inconi
tion ofthepast (i.e. meaning is cognitive, seIf-reexive, oriented to ast
exerience, and concernedwith negotiating about ht' between resent
andast,asthehenomenoIogicaIsocioIogistsIikeGarhnkeIandCicoureI
mightsaytoday).Thecategoryofvalue arises,accordingtoDiIthey, domi-
nantIyfromfeeIingora6ect,thatis,vaIueinheresintheqf ctive enjoyment
ofthepresent. The category ofend (goaI orgood) arises from volition, the
ower orfacuItyofusingthewiII, whichrefersto thefuture. Thesethree
categories, saysDiIthey,areirreducibIe,Iikethethree structuraI attitudes,
andcannotbesubordinatedtooneanother.
MevertheIess, for DiIthey, vaIue, end, and meanng are not ofequaI
vaIueinsofar astheymayberegarded asrinciIesofunderstanding and
interretation. He dehnes vaIue, for examIe, as beIonging essentiaIIy to
an exerience ina conscious resent. Such conscious resence, regarded
ureIyasresentmoments, totaIIyinvoIvestheexerience.Tisistrueto
the extent that the resent moments have no inner connectionwith one
another, at Ieast ofa systematic, cognitive kind. They stand behind one
anotherintemoraIsequence, and, whiIethey maybecomared as vaI-
ues" (havingthesameeistemoIogicaIstatus),theydonotform,sincethey
are quintessentiaIIy momentary, qua vaIues, transient, anything Iike a
coherentwhoIe,iftheyareinterconnected,theIigaturesthatbindthemare
*Dilthey uses the term rstehen, around which numerous methodological and theoretical
controversies have raged since the late nineteenth century, especially when it has been
contrasted with the German term, Wissen, "knowing, acquaintance," which is conceived as
denoting a form of conceptual activity peculiar to the physical sciences but which
sociological positivists believe is also applicable to the data of the social sciences.
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE zo
ofanothercategory.AsDiItheyseesit, FromthestandointofvaIue,Iife
aearsasaninhniteassortmentofositiveandnegativeexistence-vaIues.
It is Iike a chaos ofharmonies and discords. Each ofthese is a tone-
structurewhich hIIs a resent, buttheyhave no musicaI reIation to one
another."DiIthey'sview ofvaIuehenomenadi6ers,markedIy, ofcourse,
fromthatofmanycontemoraryscientists.RobinWiIIiamssumsutheir
osition quite weII. It seems aII vaIues containsomecognitiveeIements
. . ., thattheyhaveaseIective ordirectionaIquaIity, andthattheyinvoIve
some a6ective comonent . . . When most exIicit and fuIIy conce-
tuaIized, vaIues become criteria forjudgment, reference, and choice.
When imIicit and unreective, vaIues nevertheIess erform qthey
constituted grounds for decisions in behavior" (WiIIiams 1968:283).
WiIIiamsdoesnotanaIyzesohneIyasDiIthey,hegivesvalue cognitiveand
conative attributes which DiIthey reserves for other categories. The
advantageofDiIthey'sosition,itseemstome, residesinthearticuIating
(asweIIasreexiveandretrosective)characterheassignstomeanin. The
category ofend orgod, for examIe, shares the Iimtation ofvalue, and,
indeed,forWiIheImDiIthey,deendsuonit.ItcanshowIifeasaseriesof
choices between ends, but hnds no unity in this sequence of choices.
OItimateIy, itisonIythecategoryofmeaning thatenabIesusto conceive an
intrinsic qf nity between the successive events in li, andaIIthatthecategoriesof
vaIue and end can teII us is caught u into this synthesis. Moreover,
DiItheyteIIsus,sincemeaningissecihcaIIybasedontheconitive attitude q
memory, andhistoryismemory,"meaningisnaturaIIythecategorymost
roertohistoricaIthought" (DiIthey 1927:201 -2, 236). IwouIdadd, to
socio-rocessuaIthoughtaIso.
Mow I see the sociaI drama, in its fuII formaI deveIoment, its fuII
hase structure, as a rocess ofconverting articuIar vaIues and ends,
distributedoverarangeofactors,intoasystem(whichmaybetemorary
orrovisionaI)ofsharedorconsensuaImeaning.Teredressivehase,in
which feedback is rovided by the scanning mechanisms ofIaw and
reIigiousrituaI,isatimeinwhichaninterretationisutuontheevents
Ieadingutoandconstitutingthehaseofcrisis.Herethemeaningofthe
sociaIIifeinformsthearehensionofitseIf,theobjecttobearehended
entersintoanddeterminesthe arehendingsubject.SocioIogicaIandan-
throoIogicaIfunctionaIism,whoseaimistostatetheconditionsofsociaI
cquiIibrium among the comonents ofa sociaI system at a given time,
cannotdeaIwithmeanin, whichaIwaysinvoIvesretrosectionandreex-
ivity, aast, ahistory. DiIthey hoIds that the category ofmeaningis aII-
pcrvading inhistory. The storyteIIer, at the simIestnarrationaIIeveI, for
cxamIe, "gains his e6ectby bringingout thesinicant moments inaro-
ccss. Thehistoriancharacterizes men at signi6cant, turningointsin Iife
(L:|cos+eoJag eo~what I wouId caII "criscs") as fuII of meaning, in a
dchnitc eBect of work or a human bcing uon thc gcncraI dcstiny hc
20
4
PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
recognizes the meanin ofsuch aworkorsuch ahumanbeing" (DiIthey
1927:234) . Meaning istheonIy categorywhich grass thefuIIreIationof
the art to the whoIe inIife. Inthe category ofvalue, or againin that of
good oren, some asect ofthis art-whoIe reIation is ofcourse made
visibIe,butthesecategories are,asDiItheyinsists, abstractandone-sided,
and,hehoIds,wecannotthinkofthemwithouthnaIIyencounteringsome
brutefact,someemiricaIcoexistenceofexeriences,whichthesecatego-
riesdonotheIustoresoIveintoaIivingwhoIe.Itisatthisointthatwe
shouId invoke the comrehensive category ofmeaning, a category by
dehnitionincIusive,IayinghoIdofthefactorsmakingforintegrationina
given situation or henomenon, and the whoIe, the totaI sociocuIturaI
henomenon, becomes inteIIigibIe, ofwhich vaIue and end were but
asects.MeaningisarehendedbyIookingbackoverarocessintime.
We assess themeaningofeveryart oftherocessbyitscontributionto
thetotaIresuIt.
Meaningis connected with the consummati o{p;pccs_
bounduwit

--
e
.9
ea
P
ng
.9` -.,, .
givenfactocesscannotbeassesseduntiIthewhoIerocessisast.
Thus,tbc meamngofa man's1in, atidmcaH `momcm init, bccomc
manifesttoothersonIywhenhisIifeis ended. Themeanng ofhistoricaI
rocesses, forexamIe,civiIizationaIrocesses suchasthedecIineandfaII
oftheRomanemire,isnotandwiIInotbeknownuntiItheirtermnation,
erhasnotuntiItheendofhistory itseIf ifsuchanendtherewiIIbe. In
other words, meaning is retrosective and discovered by the seIective
action ofreexive attention. This does not, ofcourse, revent us from
makingjudgments, both quick and studied, about the meaning ofcon-
temoraryevents,butevery suchjudgmentisnecessariIyrovisionaI,and
reIative tothe momentinwhichit is made. It rests artIy onthe ositive
and negative vaIues we bring to bear on events from our structuraI or
sychoIogicaIersective,andfortheendswehaveinmindatthetime.
Theencounterofast andresentinredressiverocessaIwaysIeaves
oen the questionwhether recedent (Moore's rocesses ofreguIariza-
tion') or the unrecedentedwiII rovide the terminaI meaning" ofany
robIem situation. At every moment, and eseciaIIy in the redressaI of
crises,themeanngoftheastisassessedbyreferencetotheresent, and
oftheresentbyreferencetotheast,theresuItantmeaningfuI"decisio
modihesthegrou'sorientationtoorevenIansforthefuture, andthese
inturnreactuonitsevaIuationoftheast.Thusthearehensionofthe
meaning ofIife is aIways reIative, and invoIved in eretuaI change. Of
course, cuIturaI devices, such as reIigious dogmas, oIiticaIconstitutions,
suernaturaIsanctionsandtaboosagainstbreakingcruciaInorms,attemt
to hx orcrystaIIize meaning, but, as we said earIier, these are subject to
maniuIationandamendment.
V
Experience and Performance
Towards a New Processual Athropology
n my rofessionaI Iife as an an-
throoIogist, theterms fcIon' and structure" have had aImost taI-
ismanicvaIue.Bothareborrowings fromotherdisciIines.functionfrom
bioIogy and mathematics, structure from architecture, engineering, and
Iinguistics. I amnotgoingto Iinger onIains ofcontentionIitteredwith
somany broken sears.Toomuchtimeis wasted onnegativeoIemics. I
wouIdIike to revive our abidinganfhrooIogicaI concernwithexeri-
ence." We have not borrowed this term from other human studies, it is
ecuIiarIy ourown. IthasIongbeen thejest ofanthrooIogists that heId
exerience"equaIsourritedeassage."Butthisremarkisnometahor,
it describes a true sychoIogicaI assage from one way ofseeing and
understanding to another, a assage not vouchsafed to those who hoId
hard to the vaIues, meanngs, goaIs, and beIiefs they have grown u to
thinkofasreaIity.FewothersarerofessionaIIycommittedtoenteringthe
|ifcstream ofconsecihcs with di6erent, often deeIy di6erent, cuIturaI
traditions for a considerabIe stretch of time, during which they are
cnjoinedtorenderthemseIvesvuInerabIetothetotaIimactnotjustofthe
othcr cuIturc but of the intricate human existences of those they are
"hircd" to study." Good" heIdworkers are those who are reared to
havc good "tris," that is, suscnd as far as ossibIc thcir own sociaI
2U
zo PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
conditioningin order to have sensory and mentaIknowIedge ofwhat is
reaIIy haening around and to them. Ifthey oen themseIves in this
way~andIearningnotonIytheIanguagebutaIsothenonverbaIcodes of
communication askey to theoeningrocess~theymayweIIbetrans-
formedby6eIdworkexerience.MotaIIexerienceistransformative,did
not J S. EIiot write. to have the exerience but miss the meaning?"
'
ExeriencemustbeIinkedwitherformancefortheretobetransforma-
tion.Meaningisgeneratedintransformativerocessasitsmainfruit.But
whatdoI meanbytheseterms?
Isusectthatmostofthosewhohavereadmywritingsregardmeas
essentiaIIy an ethnograher, a describer ofarticuIars, who is, never-
theIess, given to making occasionaI generaIizations~one ofmy favorite
critics wouIdsaycvergeneraIizations~fromthesets ofdataIhave studied
(Mdembu rituaI and oIiticaI rocesses, Gisu circumcision rites, iI-
grimagesinMexicoandIreIand,andsoon).SomeofthesegeneraIizations
seem to have been found usefuI~even outside anthrooIogy~but the
criticismremainsweII-foundedthat Ihave not set outsystematicaIIythe
eistemoIogicaIfoundationsofmyinferences.TheIaintruthisthatIam
rejudicedagainstsystem-buiIding, thoughseducedbyit.theeIeganceof
asumma entrances,withaIIIogicaIIoohoIes cIosed,eachartcrafted to
sustainthewhoIe,thewhoIeahierarchyofconsistentIyinterreIatedIogicaI
eIements, who couId resist the temtation to make ofaII he knows or
might conceivabIy know such acrystaIIine ediface? But I am not reju-
dicedagainstattemtsto6ndthesystematicinnature andcuIture.Every
societyhasitssetsofinterreIatedideas, rinciIes,rocedures, norms,and
the Iike. But the Iife, the animating force, the source ofvitaIity that we
exerienceasbioticand sociaIbeings continuaIIy destroys and createsaII
tyes ofsystems, rendering even the most aarentIy marmoreaI and
enduring ofthem, even the oIdest rocks, rovisionaI, evanescent, and
oen-ended. A commonhumandeIusion isthatthe very-sIowIy-chang-
ingisthetimeIess~even,cognitiveIy, theaxiomatic. fearofchangeisthe
motherofthestructuraIistgods. Change, forthem,isaniIIusion,amatter
ofaIteringagiven setofobjectsin agrou, amatterofermutationnot
mutation.Death,theterminationofIifeforstructuraIists, isina sensethe
IegisIator ofIife. for Iife is essentiaIIy transitionaI, it asires to aIter, to
modify, to transform. bioIogicaI evoIution is its changing series of
footrints in the rocks (mereIy sands) oftime. It onIy seems to be
reetitive because organisms are brief and conscious organisms, our-
seIves,denyourbrevitybyadoringgeneraI,universaI,and"eternaI"Iaws.
But it is the Iust for Iife that drives us to roose such Iaws in the hrst
Iace.asMietzchewrote,"Aile Lust will Ewikeit."
Iam, therefore,infavorofbuiIdingIifeandtheexerienceofIifeinto
anydisciIinedaccountofhumanaEairs,whcthcrinarticuIarsocicticsor
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY zo)
concerningwhatisknownaboutoursecies generaIIy. Besurethat Iam
noiconocIastinthis,forIIovetheiconicsystemsandsystematiciconsthat
the incessant doing and thinking ofmy own kind have imrinted and
Iandscaedonminds.EachisacIue, asign, ofasecies-secihcinteriority
wecanfathominnootherwaythanthroughitsmostwidesreadandits
rarest manifestations, its tooIs and customs, its oems and imagings, its
raxisandhiIosohy. ItrequiresaMoses,aBuddha, a]esus, aHomer, a
Dante,andaShakeseare,toreveaItouswhathasbeeninsideusaIIaIong.
We are a secies whose members must heI one another to understand
whatitisthatourseciesis]r,whatitmeans. EachindividuaIexeriences
IifetoobrieytocommunicatetohiscoevaIsandsuccessorstheconscious
}tives ofthatexerience~though somehavemorefuIIy thanothers
the gift ofenetrative communication.ButweIearn fromeachother not
mreIy howtosurvive,oorIyor sumtuousIy, buthowtohndmeaning
i

oursinguIarIives andinourintersubjectiveIifewiththosewhoseIife-
sansoverIaourown.We IearnthatitisnotmereIyafuIIbeIIyorawarm
skininwinterorabIissfuIcouIationthatmakesforafuIIIifebutaIsothe
abandonment (sacrihce") of ersonaI goaIs for the sake ofsignihcant
others (sometimes known as Iove") which makes for satisfaction, even
whenweknowthatourownuniqueIifehastobesnuEedoutforthesake
ofafamiIy, acIan, atribe, anation, areIigion, or some simiIarimage of
ongoinghumanitasr our secies, "meamng" is entwinedwithinter- .
subjectivity, how wno feeI, and desire one another. ur means of
communication (Ianguages, cuIturaI codes) are saturated, whether we
know this or not, with the exeriences ofour rogenitors and forerun-
ners. But these codes can never bere-exerienced unIessthey are eri-
odicaIIy, oratIeastoccasionaIIy,er]rmeJ. We havetotrytore-exerience
in erformance, whether as rituaI, festivaI, theater, or other active
modaIities ofreIigion, Iaw, oIitics, or art, as best we can, the sociaIIy
bequeathed sarksofIivesnowbioIogicaIIy extinguished. TuIes, rubrics,-
commandments, codes, reguIationsIieheavyonus,unIess`wecanrender
them resiIient once more in the heat ofsociaI action, transformed into
guideIines rather than dogmas. (In LincoIn's sense. the dogmas ofthe
guietastareinadequatetothestormyresent".)
Dilthey' s "Structures ofExperience"
obSchoIte,inahnestudyofCIaudeLevi-Strauss'structuraIanaIy-
s s( 1 973: 692), ointedoutthatthemaindiEerencebetweenstructuraIism
md hc:omcnoIogyordiaIccticsis cIcar. "forstructuraIism,inteIIectre-
Odc raxisnot vicc vcrsa." Hc citcs]can PouiIIon's summary o|thc
paradigmatic diBcrcnccs. "ForLcvi-Strauss, [anthroo|ogyj is aqucstion
zo8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ofdiscovering 'mentaI circuits,' universaI Iaws about the functioning of
thesiritwhich,inthe6naIanaIysis, wouIddeenduoncertaincerebraI
mechanisms,inshort,itisaquestionofhndingthematterbehindmanand
notafreedominhim.neisthereforedeaIingwithtworadicaIIyoosed
concets ofthe reIation ofconsciousness to reaIity. for Sartre, con-
sciousnessofoneseIfand ofthings discoversitseIfinraxis and, forthis
reason,itisanunderstandingofreaIity.diaIecticsisconstitutive.forLevi-
Strauss, consciousness, whether ure inteIIectorracticaI consciousness,
has no such riviIege, it thinks it understands the reaI, but its truth is
mereIy functionaI. reasonisaIways constituted. Inthehrst casethereIa-
tionshitothereaIisbeforemeandthereaIiscontemoraneouswithme,
inthesecondthisreIationshiisbehindmeandthereaIisIesstheobjectI
think than the condition ofthe fact that I think it. In the hrst case the
reIationshiis estabIishedbyraxis,nthe seconditisreveaIedbystruc-
ture"(SchoIte1973:692 -93).
SeveraIcommentsareinorderhere. Intheastdecademany discov-
eriesaboutcerebraIfunctioninghavebeenmadethroughneurobioIogicaI
research (see . 249 -89; aIso d' AquiIi et aI. 1979 and Konner 1982).
AIso,anundeniabIeamntyexistsbetweenstructuraIismasdehnedabove
andwhatPauIRicoeur( 1963:9) has caIIed "aKantianunconscious,"thatis,
"acategoricaI,combinatoryunconscious."RicoeurquaIihesthisbyoint-
ingoutthat,unIikeKant'snotionofmnd,thestructuraIunconsciousis"a
categoricaI system without reference to a thinking subject, that is why
structuraIism,qua hiIosohy,deveIosakind ofinteIIectuaIism[whichisj
thoroughIy anti-reexive, anti-ideaIist, and anti-henomenoIogicaI. This
unconscioussiritmayaIsobesaid [to be] homoIogoustonature,erhas
itevenisnature"(SchoIte 1973:647). Sincethis"seIf-objectifying,system-
atic-reIationaI, andsynthetica priori inteIIect" (SchoIte 1973:647) isheIdto
beaneuroIogicaIandunconsciousentity,itremainsanunrovenassum-
tion untiI very much more detaiIed exerimentaI work has been done
whichisaimedatdiscIosingreIationshis,forexamIe,betweenthefunc-
tionaIbisymmetry and asymmetry ofbrainorganizationandercetion,
cognitive and Iinguistic rocesses, emotion, and ersonaIity. My hnaI
commentonPouiIIon'ssummationofGaIIo-structuraIism~thatittriesto
discover universaI Iaws about the functioning of the sirit (I'esrit
humaine), which arethemseIves deendent on thenature ofthecentraI
nervous system, thus constitutingthewhoIerojectasasortoftranscen-
dentaImateriaIismstandingKant'stranscendentaIideaIismonitshead, as
it were~wouId be that such an am is truIy to restrict anthrooIogicaI
research to texts, artifacts, and mentefacts, roducts ofhuman activity,
ratherthan man and woman aIive, theroducersofsuch forms. It is thus
concerned with tiderows rathcr than tidcs, the Iimits reached by human
cncrgics at the momcnt o| thcir cxhaustion, not thosc cncrgics in |u|I
roduction.Thcscscts o|roductsarcthcnrobcdinthchoc o|Bnding
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY zop
inthemimIicit systems ofruIes. The troubIeisthat this sortofanaIysis
resuoses a corse, and the "Iimit or outward bound o| Energy"
(WiIIiamBIake) somehow becomestheIawgiver, deathrevaiIs over Iife,
entroyaIwaysincreasesandavaiIabIeenergydiminishesinacIosedsys-
tem,the"universe'' ofhumancuIture. Whether or notthisvisionofthe
futiIityofaIIendeavorwiII uItimateIy rove correct,itfaiIstoaccountfor
the dynamic comIexities ofcuIturaI exerience discovered by heId
anthrooIogistsandformingthestaIeoftheirenterrise.
Levi-StrausshasaIwaysbeenhrmIyoosedtoexerience,whichhe
seems to confound with that vuIgar emiricism whichis based onrac-
ticaI exerience without reference to scientihc rinciIes. In Tristes
Tropiques, for examIe, he damns henomenoIogy for assuming "a con-
tinuity between exerience and reaIity . . . To reachreaIity wemust hrst
reudiate exerience, even though we may Iater reintegrate it into an
objectivesynthesisinwhich sentimentaIityIays noart." nemightask
here why exerience shouId necessariIy invoIve "sentimentaIity." BIake,
forexamIe, thought ofexerience as contrastedwith "innocence." ne
sometimeswonderswhetherLevi-StraussisthesentimentaIisthere,when
he raises rimtive cuItures for their "harmony" and "cooIness,'' whiIe
civiIizedsocietiesarereressive,exIoitive,and"hot."HeIooksback,with
Rousseauesqueromanticismtoanage of"innocence,'' whichresumabIy
wouId be favorabIy contrasted with our "entroic" Ioss ofinnocence. It
wouIdseemthathis"quarreIiswithTimeatIast,andHistoryitswayward
chiId,"bothofwhomare"cheerfuIIydismantIingmiIIionsandmiIIionsof
structures and reducing their eIements to a state in which they can no
Iongerbeintegrated"(Levi-Strauss 1955:397). Sincemost"tribaI"or"re-
industriaI" societies remain for us in the "structurabIe" forms ofeth-
nograhicreortsortextsdictatedtoWesternethnograhersbythemost
inteIIigentof"nativeinformants,'' andnotintheformofreortsofsociaI
dramas,extendedcasehistories,Iife-histories ofindividuaIs, biograhies,
autobiograhies,orchronicIeso|cuIturaIIystressedastevents,itisossi-
bIe for structuraIists to osit a goIden age, or rather crystaIIine age of
structuraI forms, reosing on universaI rinciIes of rationaIity, and
hence, as Geertzwrites, "in thegreat tradition offrench moraIism, of
virtue." The many-IeveIIed messiness ofhuman sociaI Iife may notbe a
"faIIen"state.However,afteraII,itmaybe|ife,Ieben, elan vital, behaviorthat
resonds more faithfuIIy tothe true characterofthe centraInervoussys-
tcm (fuII as it may be ofstiII unused evoIutionary otentiaI) than the
cerebraI modeI of the structuraIists resonds to the Iaws they hnd
"bcneath" or "behind"IinguisticandcuIturaIsymboI-,sign-,andsignaI-
systcms.
Lcvi-Strauss has dismissed thc distinction between Geistes
wlssethafen, usua|Iy transIatcd as "human studics"oddIy cnough, thc
Gcriwn word was oriina|Iy a trans|ation o|]ohn Stuart Mi||'s "mora|
2IC PART I I . PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
sciences" ~and Naturwissenschqften, naturaI sciences, as mythicaI" and
irrationaI" (!967.!6). As we have seen, he refers to found his own
methodonanaturaIisticbasis."Butthosearoachesthat stressdynam-
ics,rocess,andmeaning-for-manhaveanawkwardhabitofnotremain-
ing dismissed by French thought-structuraIists." The negIect to which
Durkheim'sAnnie Socioloique schooI subjectedvanCenne has not been
continued by the worId community ofschoIars in the human studies."
Rather his death" at the hands ofthe structuraIist sacrihcateurs" has
roven mereIy a hase in his iminaI regeneration and uItimate reag-
gregation" to the worId ofcreative schoIarshi. A simiIar hay fate
shouIdbefaIIthede facto originatorofthedistinctionbetweenthehuman
and naturaI science studies. I refer, ofcourse, to WiIheIm DiIthey,
described by R. C. CoIIingwood, who areciated but faiIed to com-
IeteIy understand him (as an anmrooIogist will be abIe to do) as the
IoneIy and negIected genius" (!977:!7!). Life'' (Leben) and exerience"
(erleben, IiteraIIy, Iivingthrough"), arekey concetsinDiIthey'sattemt
torovide an eistemoIogicaI and methodoIogicaIbasisfor ahumanistic
science ofthe individuaI and the intersubjective sociocuIturaI domain.
DiItheyremained oosed toanyaroachthatabstracts fromthe given
continuities ofIife, as whenhereferredto HusserI, with whominmany
ways he agreed, as a true PIato, who hrst concetuaIIy hxes the things
that become and ov and then adds the concet ofow" (quoted by
Ceorg Misch !957.cxii). When I hrst encounteredDiIthey' swork some
6veorsoyearsagoitbecameIaintomethatherewasahiIosoherwho
hadvitaIizingmessagesforananthrooIogywitheringonthestructuraIist
vine. CommentatorsinEngIish onDiIthey' sworkhavebeenfew asyet.
Mostofthem~HerbertHodges, H.P.Rickman,RudoIhMakkreeI, and
Richard H. Brown, for examIe~have been hiIosohers. TransIations
have been rare. Hodges' exceIIent book, The Philosophy o Wilhelm Dilthe
( !952) , is eered with transIated extracts and arahrases from
DiIthey's Collected Urk (Gesammelte Schrien [hereafter GS foIIowed by
voIume and age numberj), which now amount to seventeen voIumes.
WiIIiamKIuback transIated GS (VIII.22O -26), which he entitIed The
Dream" forhisbook,Dilthe's Philosophy o Histor (!956.!O3 -9). Stehen
A. Emery and WiIIiam T. Emery transIated GS (V.339 -4!6) for their
bookTe Essence o Philosophy (!969).AnunknowntransIatorcontributeda
range ofseIections from GS (VII) to the bookedited and introduced by
H.P. RickmanentitIedPatter Meanin in Histor: Touits on Histor and
Society (!962). Fredric]amesontransIated GS (V.3!7-3!)as JheRiseoI
Hermeneutics" (!972.229 -44). WiIIiamKIuback andMartinWeinbaum
incIuded atransIation ofGS (VIII.75 - !!8)intheir bookDilthe's Philoso
phy o Existence (!957). ). ). KuehI transIated GS (VII.2O5-2O) as Thc
OnderstandingofOthcr Pcrsons and Thcir Lifc-Exprcssions"in Theories
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2II
o Histor: Readins in Classical and Contemporar Sources, edited by Patrick
Cardiner (!959). MakkreeI incIudes many transIations from the Collected
Urks in his comIex,stimuIatingargumentforthecentraIityofDiIthey's
aesthetic writings and their hiIosohicaI imIications for his theory of
history. Ihave the Collected Urs athandfor transIations, butmy own
knowIedgeofCermanisinsumcienttoexIoreindetaiIthehistoricaIand
Iiterary case studies which aroach most cIearIy to anthrooIogicaI
modesofanaIysis.TheGesammelte Schri fen cryouttobetransIatedinfuII.
their imact on sociaI thought wouId be resounding. In !976, H. P.
Rickman edited, transIated, and introduced the widest seIection of
DiIthey' sworkyet,butcIearIythewhoIeoeuvremustbemadeavaiIabIein
EngIish.
MevertheIess, enough DiIthey has Ieaked into EngIish, and he has
beenweIIenoughinterreted,toenabIemetomakeaIausibIecasewith
its aidforananthrooIogy ofexerience"inmeDiItheyansense,modi-
6edsomewhatbyrecentanthrooIogicaIresearchincuIturaIerformance
andsymboicaction. InDiIthey' stheoryofknowIedgethereisnoa priori.
HodgesexIainshisositionveryweII.
AIIthought-structuresariseoutofexerience,andderivetheirmean-
ingfromtheirreIationtoexerience.Thereisno timeIessworId" of
meanings, or essences, or rationaI rinciIes, there is no cIear-cut
distinction, such as is drawnby the Cerman Meo-Kantians, or the
ItaIianMeo-ideaIists, or CoIingwood, between therationaIIeveI of
exerienceandtheirrationaI,thesirit"andthesyche,thereisno
metahysicaI subject' or transcendentaI seIf" such as is found in
orthodox Kantianandost-Kantiantheories of knowIedge. There is
onIy the human being, the mind-body unit (pschophysische Einheit),
IivinghisIifeininteractionwithhishysicaIandsociaIenvironment,
andoutofthisinteractionaIIexerienceandaIIthoughtarise(Hodges
!952:XVIII -XIX).
LikeananmrooIogistinthe6eIdDiItheybegins,sotoseak,in media
res. He makes the obvious oint that wefeeI and think immediateIy we
|ive through" (erleben) our own thoughts and feeIings, exerience them
dircctIy. But experience is not, as the structuraIists assert, invertebrate,
assigned its reaIity," so to seak, by conformity to a coherent set of
i ntcIIectuaIrinciIes.DiItheywritesofstructuresofexerience." These
arc not cognitive structures, though they contain thinking. They aIso
i nvove emotions and voIitions, in other words they are structures of
act|on. ItisimortanttorcaIizethatforDiItheyanErlebnis, anexerience,
is not an immediate, seIf-encIosed unity since it carries within it direct
rc|ationswiththcpast. neErlebnis isdistinguishabIefromanotherinthat
|| h 8pccihc|unctioninrc|ationtothcIifcofanindividuaIoragrouas
d who|ccvcry cxpcric
"
cc is a part oawho|c. As wc sba||scc, cxpcri-
2I2 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ence is contrasted with Iife" (leben) inbeing inherentIy structuraI, nota
ow ofehemeraImoments (MakkreeI I979.388). As MakkreeI writes.
"[Erlebnis] istruIytemporaIandyetitcontainsadynamcstructuraIunity
whichaIIowsthemomentaryvaIueofthepresent to become ameaningfuI
presence" (I979.389).HecitesDitheytothee6ect.
The quaIitativeIy determinate reaIity which constitutes Erlebnis is
structuraI. To besure, itowsintimeandisexerienced as sequen-
ciaI, [but the concretej temoraI reIations init can be arehended.
That whichis reserved as aforce inthe resent, receives thereby a
ecuIiarcharacterofresence(Prisenz). AIthoughitconstitutesaov
Erlebnis is a dynamic unity, and this not onIy objectiveIy, but inour
consciousness(GS VI.3I5).
MakkreeIcommentsthatErlebnis, wheninterretedasaresence,"is
abIeto structureIifewithouthxingit."Atensionis setu inany given
exerience between the determinate character ofwhat is heId to be the
ast~regarded as a source ofthe reaIity ofthe resent (Iike the roIe of
ancestraI sirits in tribaI reIigion)~and the indeterminacy ofthe future,
whichkeesoentheossibiIitiesinreIationtowhichthesignihcanceof
Erlebnis wiII change and makes it subject to reinterretation (MakkreeI
I979.39O).WhatischaracteristicofeachErlebnis isextendedbyDiItheyto
thenature( lsen) ofman,whichhedecIarestobebestimmt-Unbestimmbares,
thatis, something determinate but nondeterminabIe, enduring but not
6xed" (MakkreeI I979.39I). AsDiIthey himseIfuts it. ImIicit inthis
isthat any change incororatinginuences fromwithout onthe centraI-
ized context ofIife is at the same time determined by this Iife itseIf"
(GS VII.244).
Thought, ofcourse,hasaroIetoIayintherocessuaIstructuringof
exerience, and it is in connection with thought that the di6erence
between Kantianism and Lvi-Straussian structuraIism and DiIthey's
aroachbecomes cIear. Hodges is a reIiabIe guide here. Kantianism, he
says,beginsbydeducing" therinciIes ofthought as thea priori forms
ofaIIossibIeexerience,andthendecIaresobjectstobereaI"orobjec-
tive''insofarastheyformacoherentsystemwithintheserinciIes.vert-
Iy or imIicitIy, Levi-Strauss and his structuraIist foIIowers takethe same
osition. DiIthey, aswehave seen, makes Iivedexerience" therimary
reaIity, andhnds,Hodgeswrites(I952.65)thereaIityevenoftheexternaI
worIdintheIivedexeriencesofactionandreactionwhichsignaIizeour
dynamicinvoIvementwiththenot-seIf Tought enters in, o course, but only to
clari fy and interate what is given in lived exerience" (itaIics mine). DiIthey
himseIfcIaimedthathisconstantaimwastoestabIishatheoryofknowI-
edgeonreaIist or criticaIIyobjectiveIines", and in so oing, incontrast
wththeidcaIisticdoctrineofrcason, I ddnotgobacktoana priori o|thc
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2I
theoreticaI understanding or ofracticaI reason, founded on aure seIf
buttothestructuraIreIationsinthementaI(pschischen) system,whichcan
beactuaIIyointedto(die aufzeibar sind)" (GS VII.I3n.).Thought,forhim,
istheinterreterofIivedexerience" (Hodges I952.66).
During my hrst heId exerience," which is recorded in my book,
Schism and Continuity in an 4ican Society (I957),IcanseenowthatIwasa
DiItheyanaIIaIong.PerhasthiswasartIybecauseIhad, riorto heId-
work,encountereddiaIecticsthroughMarx, thenthrough HegeI, as weII
asearIierfromKierkegaard,whoaIsogavemesomegroundinginwhatI
afterwards found was existentiaIhiIosohy." But it shouId notbe for-
gottenthatDiItheybynomeansrejectedmanyasectsofositivismand
emiricism,bothofwhichstrongIyinuencedtheBritishanthrooIogicaI
tradition known as structuraIism-functiona|ism." Heinsistedthatwhat
couId be objectiveIy described and quantihed shouId be objectiveIy
describedand quantihed. Butaddedto thisrequirement,eseciaIIyinthe
study ofhistoricaI and sociaI data, was the need to exIorethe interior
structures ofexerience, how an event or Iinked series ofevents was
receivedby our consciousness. At resent, I wiII not raise the Freudian
critiqueofDiIthey, thatheignores the forces atworkintheunconscious
syche.IwiIIsayinassingthat,eseciaIIyinhisworkonaesthetics,and
in the study ofwhat he caIIs objecuvated mind (objectiver Geist) and
exressions" (Ausdrucken), IiteraIIy what has been squeezed or ressed
out," thatis ofsubjective and inter-subjectiveexerienceas acommem-
orabIeresuItant ofsomekey Iived through" exerience, DiIthey recog-
nized the saIience ofunconscious exerience. Indeed, from his ersec-
tive,itismainIythroughtheinterretation,andIatercomarativestudy-
Ieading to exIanation~of such "cuIturaI" exressions that we can
deveIo a vaIid sychoIogy. Introsection by individuaIs is notenough,
sincereressionbIockso6fromeventhemosthonestseIf-araisaI Iarge
areas ofthe sychicaI system. Such areas, however, become visibIe,"
objectivated, in human mentifacts and artifacts, to the scrutiny ofthird
arties, uninvoIved as they are in the emotionaI causes oftheir authors'
reressions. When sociaIunits~grous, communities, consociations~sig-
nihcantIymodify tradition, generate a new tradition, squeeze out' and
authenticateanewsymboIshaedbyanewmetahorwhichenIargesthe
bounds ofmeaning" (a term we shaII consider in detaiI), unconscious
rinciIesareaIso at work, asweII asreconscious ones. These, too, are
avaiIabIe tothatretrosectiveanaIysis(akinto DiIthey' sNacherleben, re-
cxcriencing,restoringtheast") whichwasforhimthehighesttaskof
understanding." Nacherleben must notbeconfused, as somehaveconfused
it,with cmathy," atermusedbyAmericananthrooIogistsmeaningthe
ab|ityto share in another'scmotions or feeIings. For DiIthey, re-exeri-
cncing invoIvcs ntcrretaton, and intcrrctation invoIvcs Iacng an
2Iq PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
Erlebnis insociocuIturaIandindividuaIsychicaIcontextwhenseekingits
meaning retrosectiveIy. This is how DiIthey rendered Kierkegaard's
maxim. we Iive forward andunderstandbackwards." MakkreeI under-
stands DiIthey to be saying that whereas Iife and exerience move on
intothefuture,ourattemtstounderstandthemIeadbackintothehistor-
icaIast''(MakkreeI I979.328).
DiIthey'snotionscamethenasheadystu6toananthrooIogistwhose
cIoseassociationwiththe |ife" ofanMdembuviIIageIedhimto formu-
Iate the major unit ofsociaI rocess he observed as an internaIIy seg-
mented sociaI drama." SociaI Iife aeared to him as an aIternation of
dramatic"andnon-dramatic"sequencesofevents,thewhoIeamounting
tothatstriofsociaI exerience" directIyaccessibIetotheinvestigator~
who was himseIf directIy and indirectIy, an actor" inthe dramas, and a
articiantinthesmootherassagesofsociaItime.
CIearIy sociaI dramas are a sub-category ofErlebnisse, de6ned by
DiIthey as thatwhichinthe stream ofIifeforms aunity inthe resent
becauseithasaunitarymeaning. . . Goingfurther,onemayaIsocaIIeach
encomassing unity ofarts ofIife bound together through a comon
meaning for the course ofIife an 'exerience'~even when the severaI
arts are searated from each other by interruting events" (R. Brown
I978.42). According to Brown, Erlebnis suggests neither mereIy exeri-
ence (for which the conventionaI German term is Erahrun), but the
invoIvementin,theIivedexerienceofsomewhoIeunitofmeaning~as,
for examIe, a work ofart, a Iove a6air, a revoIution'' (I978.4I), and, I
wouIdadd,asociaIdrama.
Before I discuss sociaI dramatistic anaIysis inthe Iight ofDiIthey's
thought, I shouId further attemt to cIarify DiIthey's formuIation, a
structureofexerience." DiItheyhadthe characteristicWesternthinker's
reoccuationwithtriads (forinstance,ego,id, suerego,binaryoosi-
tion + mediation, thesis, antithesis, synthesis, roduction, distribution,
consumtion~truIyDumeziIisnotmocked!).newayofgrasingwhat
hemeansbyErlebnis isby thereIationsamongthree sets ofterms, eacha
triad.Theseare. meaning (Bedeutun) orsense(Sinn), vaIue(Wert), andend
(Zweck) or good (Gut); ast, resent, andfuture, andcognition, a6ect, or
feeIing, andvoIition, describedas structuraI attitudes ofconsciousness."
Putbriey, thecategoryofmeanin arisesinmemor, inconition ofthepast, .
andiscognitive, seIf-reexive,orientedtoastexerience,andconcerned
withwhat henomenoIogicaI socioIogists might caII negotiation' with
theht"betweenresentandast. Thecategoryofvalue arisesdominantIy
fromfelin, that is, itinheresin the cf ctive enjoyment ofthepresent. The
categoryofend (goaIor good) arisesfromvolition, the oweror facuIty of
using the wiII, which refers to thefuture. These three categories, says
DiIthey, areirreducibIe, asarethe structuraIattitudes, and cannotbesub-
ordinatcd to onc anothcr. MakkrcH, indccd, takcs Rickman to task |or
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2I]
making meaning" their commondenominator" (I979.38I). OItimateIy,
it isonIythecategoryofmeanin that enabIesusto conceive an intrinsic
amnitybetweenthesuccessiveeventsinIife, andaIIthatthecategoriesof
vaIue and end can teII us is caught u into this synthesis" (Hodges
I952.273).
Erlebnisse maybeindividuaI or sociaI (intersubjective). We shaIIcon-
siderthereIationshiostuIatedbyDiItheybetweenersonaIexerience,
autobiograhy biograhy, and history resentIy. Here I want to make
tentativeIinkagesbetweenDiIthey'smodeIandtherocessuaIstructureof
sociaI drama. Like Erlebnisse, sociaI dramas are oen-ended, not her-
meticaIIyseaIed.they referto antecedent dramas, andtheir denouements
areneverquiteconcIusive.MevertheIess,sociaIdramas,sincetheyiminge
uon ubIic attention, do have distinguishabIe beginnings~though in
cuIturesmarkedbyextremeoIiteness,itmaybeonIytheirmemberswho
candetectthem. TyicaIIy, asociaI drama has fourhases, each ofwhich
hasitsownstyIe,temo,andduration,thoughthesevarycross-cuIturaIIy
asweIIaswithineachsociety,betweendi6erentkindsofgrousandIeveIs
oforganization.
Phase I. The 6rst hase is Breach ofreguIar norm-governed sociaI
reIations,signaIedbythe infractionofaIaw, aruIe, acontract, acode of
etiquette, in fact, any reguIation for action authorized by the grou or
community. Such a breachmay be remeditated and deIiberate, Iike the
BostonTea Party or amiIitary invasion. r it may be a sontaneous or
uncontroIIabIe act, an unwitting word by a diIomat, a crime passionel, a
border exchange ofrie-6re. Whether it is a erformative utterance, a
chanceword, oranact ofcaIcuIatedvioIence,ifthe sociaIcircumstances
arerie"fordrama,thenexthasebegins.
Phase Z. Crisis foIIows breach as other persons and subgrous take
sidesfororagainstthe ruIe-breaker. factions becomevisibIeorarenewIy
formed. CoaIitions are made. Reresentatives oftradition or Iaw and
order" try to seaI o6 the breach before it sreads wideIy enough to
threaten the grou's structuraI or cuIturaI survivaI. faction Ieaders use
various stratagems andIoys"torecruitfoIIowersand stigmatizeoo-
nents. Attemts aremade to settIeoId scores. for sociaIdramas, asmen-
tionedabove,arenotisoIatedeventsbutfoIIowothersinvoIvingsubstan-
tiaIIythesamesetsofreIations,withoverIaofersonneI. CrisisisusuaIIy
one ofthoseturningoints or moments ofdanger and susense whena
truestateofa6airsisreveaIed,wheniIIusionsarediseIIedandmaskstorn
o6or madeimossibIe to don. Itis a test ofthe strength ofIoyaIty and
duty. Ifcrisis ersists, ersons have to take sides in terms ofdeeIy
cntrenched moraI imeratives and constraints, often against their own
interests or rediIections. for many it can be akey Iearning exerience,
but it can drivc others to dcspair. Sincc thc "reciprocaI vioIence" (to use
RcnCGlrard'stcrms),vcrba| and/orhysica|, rc|cascdin crlslstcndstobc
zI PART I . PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
contagious,thosewhocIaimtoIeadthegrouseektoaIyredressiveand
adjustive mechanisms toend the crisis, enaIize, disciIine, orotherwise
unIshroveneace-vioIators, reconciIecontending arties, assign com-
ensationto those su6ering Ioss in crisis, and, aboveaII, to restore con-
hdenceinthemeanings,vaIues, andgoaIsdehningthegrouasaerdur-
ing sociocuIturaI entity. Sometimes Ieadershi Ioses its Iegitimacy and
eithernewersonneIseektoreIacetheoIdorrevoIutionariesfocustheir
actiononrestructuringtheoIiticouraIorder.
Phase J. But ifthe majority ofits membersindicate that the existing
sociaI order andits ideoIogicaI or cosmoIogicaI suorts are stiII deeIy
meaningfuI for them, it is IikeIy that they wiII accet the arresting of
contestative action roosed or imosed by oIiticaI, IegaI, or reIigious
authorities, as weII as the inauguration ofredressive rocesses and ro-
cedures. These may be institutionaIized, formaI, and ceremonious, or
informaI, ersonaI, and advisory. A greatrange ofredressiverocedures
areavaiIabIe,fromsecuIarto sacredrituaI,fromsociaIIysanctionedforce,
di6useridicuIe, toriestIycurse and anathema. Whatisimortant about
Phase 3 isits refexivity. Init thedIsturbed sociaIgrou turnsbackuon
itseIf and whether its seIf-scrutiny be through the judiciaI rocess in
courts ofIaw or divination into urortedIy magicaI or suernaturaI
causesofsociaIuheavaI, anattemtismadetoassignmeanin towhathas
haened, to articuIate events in a way thatmakessense. This is where
DiIthey'sviewshave been heIfuI to me, articuIarIyhis notionthat the
category ofmeaningcandojusticetoatemoraIcontinuum" (MakkreeI
!979.382). YouwiII recaIIthat, for DiIthey, vaIue is deeIy imIicatedin
the resent, and unIike theAmerican socioIogicaI sense ofthe term, is
dominatedbyfeeIing, whereas goaI, end, orurose areoriented to the
futureandareessentiaIIyvoIitionaI.
neofDiIthey'sbest-knownpassagesishisformuIationofthenature
ofvalue. ItisfromtheCollected Wrks ( GS VII.2OI-2) .
FromtheersectiveofvaIue,Iifeaearsasaninhniteassortmentof
ositive and negative vaIues ofexistence (Daseinwerten). It is Iike a
chaos ofharmonies and discords. Each ofthese is a tone-structure
(atternofchord)thathIIsapresent moment,butthesechordshaveno
musicaIreIationshi to oneanother. The category ofendor urose
which arehends Iife from the ersective directed towards the
future, deends uonthat ofvaIue. From it, too, the totaIity ofbfe
(Zusammenhan des Lebens connectedness,hangingtogether-nessof
assing one's Iife") cannot be constructed. For the reIations ofur-
oses (ends) to one another are restricted to those ofossibiIity,
choice,andsubordination.
Life,inotherwords,canbeviewed,fromthisstandoint,asaseriesof
choicesbetweenends, or,aIternativeIy, asthesubsumingofeverythingto
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY zI)
a singIe end~in the hrst instance, nounity, no interdeendence, canbe
foundinthesequenceofaIternatingchoices,inthesecond,thecomIexity
ofIife,incIudingitsambiguityandtherobIemofcometing,equaIIyIicit
choices,isreduced.wiIIanddesirerevaiI,notmeanin. DiItheygoesonto
saythatonythecategoryofmeaningovercomesthemerejuxtaosition
andthemeresubordinationoftheartsofIife" (.2O2).
MakkreeIcommentsthat forDiIthey the vaIuecategorygivesatoo
disersedview ofreaIity. ThroughevaIuationwemayenjoytherichness
ofexerience(andareciateitsmuItiIicity)butIoseanysenseofunity.
Te variety ofIife can onIy be heId together by a nexus ofmeaning"
(I979.38I -82). Ifone adots DiIthey' s standoint, one can indeed see
thatinthecontext ofsociaIdrama,Phase2, Crisis, isindeeda chaos of
harmonies and discords . . . with no musicaI reIation to one another."
Each erson, arty, and factionstrivesto maximize its gratihcations," to
advance its owninterests, and to minimize andretard thoseofits oo-
nents. Each certainIy has its own uroses~rimariIy that ofsecuring
ower and/or authority, but aIso ofestabIishing Iegitimacy~and means
are devised~tactics, strategies, Ians~to attain their ends, but each is
bIind,sotoseak,tothetotaIdomainofinterdeendentinterestsofwhich
itis aart. DiIthey consistentIy dehnes meaning as areIationshiwhich
arts haveto awhoIe.Tushe sees meaning asintrinsicaIIy structured,"
sinceitimIiesa circumference, boundedness, internaIartition, and the
uItimate asweIIasimmediateconstraintsindigenoustosuchacondition.
Meaning, we have aIso seen, is connected with a reexive reIation
betweenimmediate, Iived-inexerience andastexerience, whichmay
taketheformoferetuatedcustoms,Iaws,andothercuIturaIinstitutions,
that is, Ausdricken, exressions" ofobjectivated mind." r the res-
ence"oftheastinthemeaning-assigning,andeventhemeaning-gener-
ating (semiogenic?) contemorary situationmay be reresented not by
coIIectivereresentations,"butmoreuidIybythememories oftheIiv-
ingasthey attemttoreIateresentdeedto accetabIe recedent. InIaw,
the redressivemachineryofthejudiciaIrocessstrikingIy iIIustrateshow
meanIngfuIness" is systematicaIIy imosedinaretrosectiveframing of
eventsonthecrisisthatroducedthem,therebyrenderingitinteIIigibIeto
the arties invoIved and hence manageabIe. Its disrutive otentiaI has
been,sotoseak,defused.).WPeItasondehnesthejudiciaIrocessas
asetofinterreIatedrocedures androIesfordeciding disutesbyan
authoritativeersonor ersonswhosedecisionsarereguIarIyobeyed.
ThedisutesaretobedecidedaccordingtoareviousIyagreeduon
set ofrocedures and in conformity with rescrIbed ruIes. As an
incidcnt, or consequence, of their disute-deciding function, those
who decidc make authoritativestatements ofhowthe ruIes are tobc
apIicd,andthesestatcmcntshavcaroscctivegcnera|izedimacton
zI8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
the behavior ofmany besides the immediate arties to the disute.
Hence the judiciaI rocess is both a means of resoIving disutes
betweenidenti6abIe and seci6edersons and arocess for making
ubIicoIicies(I968.283).
ThejudiciaI rocess, then, sifts me chaos ofositive andnegative
existence-vaIues," that is, by the cross examination of witnesses, and
throughitsjudgesbringstobearthevariousnormscurrentinasociety, its
IegaIast,"onavarietyofdisutes,eachofwhich,asMaxGIuckmanhas
often argued, isotentiaIIyunique. Thejudges'taskisto give whatthey
consider to be 'ustice"~wemightcaIIit meaning" inthe resent con-
text~in the case before themby seIecting and combining ruIes drawn
fromawidereertoireandaIyingtheminterms ofacuIturaIIy accet-
abIeIogic.AarentIydisaratearts"arecarefuIIyarticuIatedtoforma
systemofmeaningaIicabIetothedisute.Ingivingdecisionsthathave
a rosective generaIized imact on the behavior ofmany besides the
immediatearties to thedisute," thejudges formuIateasetofnew ends
forthegrouatIarge.
AII societies have somekind ofjudiciaI rocess, butoftenitcoexists
with reIigious and magicaI rocedures for resoIving crises. Wherever
invisibIe, transhumanbeings and/or owers are regarded as the 6rst and
6naI causes oferceivedhenomena and rocesses, such entities may be
regarded as cruciaIIy invoIved in sociaI dramas, both as causes of
untowardeventsandasroviders ofremediesforthem,ifaroachedby
theroer cuIturaI means~incIuding divination, rituaI,rayer, sacrihce,
seIIs,andothermagicaIrocedures.
Inmyown 6eIdwork among the Mdembu ofZambia, I found that
judiciaI mechansms tended to be invoked where conmct was overt and
rationaIinvestigationintothe motives andactionsofthe contending ar-
ties was obviousIy ossibIe. RituaI mechanisms (here divination into the
hiddenmotivationsofwitchesorancestorsirits,foIIowedbytheerfor-
mance ofrituaIs of amiction to exorcise famiIiars or Iacate ancestraI
wrath)tendedtobeemIoyedwhenconictwasatadeeerIeveI. ften
deeconictsurfaced as death or severeiIIness,beIievedtobedueto the
secret, maIevoIent action of Iiving witches. IIIness was regarded as
ancestraIunishmentfordiscordin the community. IIIness, accident,bad
Iuck at hunting, reroductive disorders, and death are aII symtoms of
hidden,moraIdisordertowhichwhatweregardasthenaturaIorder"is
sensitiveIyresonsive.PartofthetotaIrituaIrocess,incIudingdivination
by various means, such as the use ofaaratus and symboIicobjects and
mediumistic trance, and the ubIic confession of secret grudges before
imrovised shrines, invoIves retrosective and reexive scrutiny ofthe
actions ofthose cIose to the dcccased or sick erson. This amounts to
cstabIishing a sort o|taIIy or invcntory of thc current IcvcI of covcrt
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY zIp
divisiveness ofthe grou. RemediaI action, oftenin the form ofconciI-
iatorymovesbetweenhithertoveiIedantagonists,"orattemtstoremove
grudges,may takeIaceintheaftermathofrituaIerformance. InsmaII-
scaIesocieties,withaIimtedeconomicbase,thereisracticaIsenseinW
H.Auden'swemustIoveoneanotherordie."AhighdegreeofotentiaI
cooerativenessandreadinesstosharehassurvivaIvaIue.
In most sociaI systems, the basic structuring rinciIes (caste, cIass,
age- and sex-categories, ruIes ofsuccession andinheritanceand theIike)
arediscreant,even,atcriticaItimes, contradictory. Itiswhentheycannot
bejudiciaIIyorrationaIIyresoIvedthatonemostoften6ndsreIigio-mag-
icaI rocedures and redressive mechanisms deIoyed, ways ofassigning
meaning to actions which seem aII the more uzzIing because they are
initiated and conducted by men andwomen who are sure thatthey are
actingnotonIyinteIIigentIybutaIsomoraIIyandvirtuousIy,andyet, the
grouistornbystrife| ItseemsthateveryhumansociaIgrouhasitsown
sociaI unconsciousness," beIow the IeveI of its rationaI controI and
knowIedgeofcause-and-e6ect.ThedeveIomentofcross-cuIturaI,cross-
temoraI,andtrans-societaIcomarative studieshashadtheaimofover-
coming to some extent the emc and IuraI subjectivity ofsingIe grou
introsection. Marx, for examIe, hoed to eIicit the generaI Iaws of
motion'' underIying successive formations ofsociety" by his vision of
radicaIcontradictionbetweentheforcesofroduction'andthereIations
ofroduction' at certain nodaI oints" ofhistoricaI deveIoment. He
attained this vision after carefuI historicaI and comarative studies of
majorsociocuIturaIsystems. ItisossibIe, however, that undertheinu-
enceofnineteenth-centuryrejudicesdrawnfromoIiticaIeconomyand
bioIogy, he faiIed to notice that the forces ofroduction," controIIed
tyesandsourcesofenergyandthetechnoIogiestheyenergize,arethem-
seIvesimregnatedwithmeaning,"withtheconstant,creativestruggIeto
reIateasttechnicaIdesigns,Iayouts,bIuerints,Ians,rojects,charts,and
so on, to ney unrecedented sociaI and ersonaI cocmcevoked often
by technoIogicaI change itseIf The new exerience has cognitive, aEec-
tive, andconative asectsandstrivestobe articuIated inverbaIand non-
verbaI codes (incIuding the erformative arts). Hence the characteristic
Western'' dichotomy between economic base" or substructure" and
ideoIogicaI suerstructure" mayin the endrovetobesomewhat mis-
Ieading in an exhaustive comarative ersective. For the tooIs may be
chargedwithideas"andtheideasimagedintechnicaImetahors.
To rcturntoourstudyofsimIergrous.rituaImechansmsareoften
caIIeduonwhenthecausesofsociaIcrisisseemtobebeyondthescoeof
IcgaI arbitramcnt or commonsensicaI adjustmentofanytye.Theinvisi-
b|cowcrsarchcIdrcsponsibIe,andsincetheycannotbebroughttocourt,
thcymustbccxorciscd,pIacatcd,orgivcnsacrihccs.ThisincvitabIybrings
22C PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
the cosmoIogicaI system into the sociaI drama, the attemt to assign
meaningintermsofmythsandscrituresconcretizedanddramatizedin
rituaI rocesses. Current troubIes are rituaIIy reIated to root aradigms
embedded in etioIogicaI myths concerning the origin ofhuman fraiIty,
divisiveness, aggressivity, and remedies assigned for these by God, the
gods, ancestors, rimordiaIIawgiversor other categories ofauthoritative
and often numinous entities. In a sense, the etty IocaI quarreIs are eIe-
vatedtotheIeveIofristine,generativeeventsandrevitaIizetheowersof
such events. The resent troubIes are, so to seak, dehistoricized, and
given semiternaImeaning. Moteverykindofredressive or curative rit-
uaI, ofcourse, exemIihes or contains the whoIe cosmoIogy, but each
refers to that art ofit which is considered to confer meaning on the
events constituting the grou'sorindividuaI'samiction. Certain gods or
sirits seciaIize in certain troubIes or aiIments. Certainmyths describe
thehabitsofcertaindemonsandhowtodeaIwiththem.Inmanyartsof
AfricaitisthoughtthatifnaturaIdisasters,rangingfromindividuaIiIIness
to Iague, strike whiIe a grou or community is 6IIedwith suressed
interersonaItensions,thebreaches inhysicaIorderare symtomaticof
sociaI and moraI disorder, and hence can onIy be deaIt with by rituaI
means.
Phase 4. AfterthedeIoymentofIegaIorrituaImechanismsofredress,
thereiseitherreversiontocrisis (Phase2) oraccetanceofdecisionsmade
bythoserecognizedasIegitimatereresentativesofthegrou.FuIIacce-
tanceentaiIstherestorationofeace,ofnormaIreIations."Thegroucan
now go aboutitsusuaIbusiness oncemore, gettingandsending,beget-
tingandroducing.IfsomesignihcantsgmentdoesnotaccetthesettIe-
mentroosed,itmaysIito6fromtheoriginaIgrou, andsettIeor set
u sho" eIsewhereunderanew setofruIesorafreshconstitution.This
may be on the scaIe ofa few viIIagers moving a few miIes from their
former site orthe exodus ofan entire eoIefrom a nationaI territory. I
havecaIIedthishasere-intration or recoition i irremediable schism.
TherecanneverbeacomIetereIicationofthesociaIstatebeforethe
sociaI drama decIared itseIf Former aIIies may have become oonents.
MewaIIegianceswiIIhavebeenmade. Factionsmayhaveshiftedsizeand
ower.LeadersmayhaveIostorgainedIegitimacythroughtheirdeedsin
the drama. Loversmayhave discovered they arenoIongerorhavenevr
beenIovers.Formersourcesofauthorityorowermayhavebeeneroded,
new resourcesmayhavebeentaed,withnew Ieaders to controIthem.
The seeds ofanew sociaI dramamayhavebeensown, eveniuthe soiIof
theresoIutionoftheresentcrisis.Mothingremainsermanentinhuman
a6airs. What the functionaIists caIIed equiIibrium" is no more than a
transientbaIanceofower,orevenamomentofgeneraIexhaustion,arest
between confrontations. MevertheIess, some sort ofsociaI "cIimax" has
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY 22I
beenattained, or better, achieved, sincemuch time, e6ort, andingenuity
have gone into the resoIution ofcrisis. In African societies, the fact of
cIimax of outcome is sometimes ceIebrated by a rituaI which enjoins
coIIaboration on the rinciaI adversaries in the antecedent drama. The
roundofexeriencethatisasociaIdramaisthuscomIeted.
Te Meaning of "Experience'
Exerience" is a word with a tenacious edigree in Western ety-
moIogy. I am weII aware ofthe dangers oftracking a word back to an
earIiereriodinthehistoryofaIanguage,orasitaearedinsomeaIIied
or foreign Ianguage from which it may have Iong ago been borrowed.
Manywords,andmorethanwords,amxes,hrasesandotherforms,have
undergone strange changes inthe wear and tear oftime, even reversaIs,
which eoIe Iike Freud, attunedto the ambivaIences ofmeaning, have
attributedtothedriveswhichconsciousIyformuIatedkeytermssostren-
uousIy reressed. So we hnd that our word I," to game or sort,"
derivesfromtheAngIo-Saxon tostrikeorcIa,'
,
henceplea, ahght,a
battIe." Gregory Bateson mighthave been gIad ofthis reversaI. PIay is
now a rituaIized, not a IethaIbattIe. But exerience," Iike Iove," goes
back, without many modihcationsinconnotations, to anIndo-Euroean
root, Iove" totheIndo-Euroeanbase|a|h~whenceaIsoIibido," Iief"
Iust' ,exeriencetoper, orpar, toattemt,venture,risk."
LetmehrstquoteWebsterandinterIardcomments.Webstertracesthe
noun from MiddIe EngIish through Id French to the Latin termEx
perientia, to which the modern AngIo-American senses, triaI, roof
exeriment'areaIIocated.Websterassignshvemajormodernmeaningsto
exerience. The hrst is the act ofIiving through an event or events.
ersonaIinvoIvementinorobservationofeventsastheyoccur.
Both traditionaI facets ofanthrooIogy are here engaged. articia-
tionandobservation~science"foranthrooIogistsinvoIvesboth,butwe
areseIdomfatedhonestIytoencountertheirmutuaIinvoIvement.Exeri-
ence is, therefore, from its incetion ambiguous, being in ow" with
intersubjective events and yet being detached from" or out ofow"
with them. ur ambiguityis, inaway, irresoIubIe. To beIoyaI, existen-
tiaIIy, aramountIy, and a6ectiveIy, to the grou we study (and exeri-
ence"mostvividIy, erhasmorethanwehaveeverexeriencedournataI
societies),istodeartfrom,evenbetray,"thecomarativestancewehave
adoted as cross-cuIturaI sociaI scientists." To be IoyaI to the Western
Euroean modeI ofobjective comarison, is often to deny what we,
immersedsomctimesforyearsinthe other" cuIture,havecometoknow
o|itsindcfcasib|cuniquct\css.Excricnccas Iivingthrough" aneventor
zzz PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
events takes us back, before henomenoIogy or existentiaIism in their
deveIoed modern forms, to WiIheIm DiIthey, who, though unaware
ofevencontemorary deveIomentsinthehistoryoftheconcetofcuI-
ture by Boas and his foIIowers, nevertheIess was concerned not onIy
with Iived through" exerience, but aIso withitserduringobjecti6ca-
tions," thosehanded-downinscribed forms we now caII comonents of
cuIture."
Thesecondsenseofexerience,"accordingto Webster,is anything
observedorIived through." This is DiIthey'smeaning, aIready discussed
earIier.
Webster'sthird senseofexeriencehastwoarts.neisaIIthathas
haened to one in his Iife to date," and the other, everything done or
undergonebyagroup, eoIeingeneraIetc."
Exerience cIearIyinvoIvesbiograhy, Iife-history, case-history, and
IocaI, tribaI, nationaI, and unversaI history. The anthrooIogist's heId-
workhastobesensitivetothesemodesofreectionuonindividuaIand
cororateexerience.HemustaIsobeawareofthenarrativestructuresof
thesegenresinhisowncuIturaItraditionifhewishestocommunicatethe
modesofothertraditionstoWesternschoIarsandscientists.
Webster'sfourth dehnitionraises therobIemofhowtocoIIectIife-
historyandhowtoevaIuateautobiograhyevenmoresharIy. "Efct ona
erson ofanything or everything that has haened to him, individual
reaction toevents,feeIings,etc."
SeveraI anthrooIogists have recentIy aid considerabIe attention to
thecoIIectionofersonaI documents inthe 6eId, onethinksimmediateIy
ofBarbara Myerhou PauI Rabinov Renato RosaIdo, and Vincent Cra-
anzano, whoinhis book, Tuhami: Portrait o a Moroccan ( 1980:8 -9), had
theseaImostDiItheyanremarkstomake.
Liketheautobiograhyandthebiograhy, theIifehistoryandthecase
history areIiterary genres, and, as such,they shae aarticuIarre-
seIectedrangeofdataintoameaningfuItotaIity.Theyreectnoton|y
the more suer6ciaI concerns ofa articuIar historicaI eoch or a
articuIartraditionbut aIso, and more imortantIy, themorefunda-
mentaIattitudestowardandevaIuationoftheerson,oftime,nature,
thesuernaturaI,andinterersonaIreIations. . . Thecasehistory,Iike
thebiograhy, resents aview ofthe subjectfromtheersectiveof
a

outsider,itbearstheimress ofanarratorwhomayevenernut
htmseIftheIuxuryofobjectiveIy"anaIysingandevaIuatinghissub-
ject.TheIifehistory,Iiketheautobiograhy, resentsthesubjectfrom
his own ersective [here I wouId say, the subject's subjunctive
mood"ofseIf-araisaI,themoodofdesiringandfeeIing, andas-if"
which often revaiIs over his indicative mood," his concern with
factuaIityj . It di6ers from autobioraphy in that it is an immediate
resonse to a demand osed by an ther and carries within it thc
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY zz
exectationsofthat ther. Itis,asitwere, doubIy edited. duringthe
encount

r itseIfa

d during the |iterary (re)-encounter. Mot onIy do

the se

thc qu

st

ons
.
osed by the ther reect certain generic
exectatmns wtthm hts own cuIture but the very question ofIife
history itseIfmaybe an aIien construct for the subject and cause in
hima|ienatingprise de conscience (awakeningtoconsciousness).
Webster's hfth dehnition ofexerience" aIies directIy tothean-
throoIogist'sownexerience. (a) activitythatincIudestraining,observa-
tionofractice,andersonaIarticiation,(b)theeriodofsuchactivity,
(c)knowIedge,skiII,orracticeresuItingfromthis."
AnanthrooIogist'straining,|ikerehearsaIfortheubIicerformance
ofa Iay, shouId erhas incIude some rearation for the exerience of
6eIdwork. Ihavesuggested eIsewhere thatart ofthe trainng ofheId-
workers might incIude deriving Iayscrits from the best descritive
ethnograhies,referabIy ofsociaI dramas (ofthe sort, forexamIe, re-
sentedbyMa|inowskiinCrime and Custom), andencouragingthetrainees
to enactthem, asfar asossibIeusingthesymboIs, seechidioms, tech-
noIogy, dress, insignia, and so forth, ofthe cuIture to be visited. The
kinshi, oIiticaI, economc, and rituaI roIes occuied by indigenous
actorsinthesociaIdramashouIdbecarefuIIydesignedinaccordancewith
the best ethnograhies avaiIabIe. Te meaning ofactions and events for
membersofthecuIture,itsvaIuesandends,shouIdbeunderIined. Sucha
Iay~orforeIay,"ifyouIike~suchare-exeriencewouIdbevaIuabIe,
evenifitturnedoutthat actuaIheIdworkeventuaIIycaIIedinto question
themeaning"ofthewhoIeerformance.AttheveryIeast,otentiaIheId-
workerswouIdbegintogroe,inamorethancognitiveway, towardsan
exerientiaI or insideview" ofthe other cuIture.TheywouId aIso Iearn
something about reexivity, since they wouId be Iearning about them-
seIves andtheirownvaIueandmodes ofassignngmeaningevenasthey
attemted to gras and ortray those ofthe other grou. What DiIthey
caIIs a reaI transosition' ofmnds~one way in which he dehnes the
term Verstehen, understanding, comrehension," one's mind engaging
another'smind,"IatertakenubyMaxWeberinaratherdi6erentsense~
shouIdnotbeseenastheI-It objectivity"ofthenaturaIsciences,butasan
intersubjectivereIationshibetweenIandThou.
But vaIid knowIedge of others is not to be won mereIy through
introsection (the if-I-were-a-horse-what-wouId-I-do-when-con-
fronted-with-a-tence" aroach). Moris it gained by some direct meta-
physicaI communication, some mysticaI articiation, with the mind,
conscious or unconscious, ofthe ther. DiIthey anticiates modern an-
throo|ogyinseeingthatknowIedgeofothers(andhence,asLevi-Strauss
has so rightIy said |or years about human cognitivc structurcs, ofour-
22q PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
seIves) is best achieved through exegesis ofthe objecti6cations," the
exressions," theAusdricken ofthatothermind, exressions that canbe
foundinthesociohistoricaIworId,theworIdofIaw, oIitics,art,reIigion,
ofIanguageandgesture,andarticuIarIyfortheheId worker,oftheshared
communityofexerience initsIiving (andhencemicrohistoricaI) asect.
ItwouIdgreatIyassistthedeveIomentoftheanthrooIogyofexerience
ifheId workersketinmindtheossibiIity ofscritingthesociocuIturaI
actions encomassing theminto scenarios reroducibIeinthe cIassroom
ordramaworksho.
DiIthey's ossibiIity ofintercuIturaI reexivity, though a sustained
focus on enetrating another mentaIity by interretation ofits cuIturaI
exressions,restsontwoassumtions.neistheabidinganthrooIogicaI
ostuIate ofthe sychoIogicaI unity ofhumankind. sychoIogicaI dif-
ferencesbetweenouIations are ofdegree notkind. Thesecondisthat
mentaIcomonentsareIinkedincomIexwaystocuIturaIexressionsso
thatwemayIearnmoreaboutourown mindsfromthem thanbyintrosec-
tion, fortheseexressions exressunconsciouscontentsoften deniedto
ersonaIintrosection. DiIthey arguesthatunderstanding ( Verstehen) ro-
ceedsfromIived-throughexeriences.AIivedexerienceisabasicunitof
meaning having its inner attern ofconnected eIements. rstehen is a
rocess, ahermeneuticcircIing,whereby the essentiaIrecirocaIinterac-
tion ofthe arts and the whoIe ofthe Iived exerience, the Erlebnis, is
hnaIIygrased.
PerhasthisisnomorethantosaythatknowIedgeiscontextuaI,and
thatunderstandingisarocessofcIarifyingandextendingorexanding
thecontextuaIreIationshisofthemeaningunitunderstudy, madeuasit
isbothofobjectihcationsandimmediateintersubjectiveexeriencesofthe
!-Tou, Essential H tye. Here I wiII reeat what I said in discussing
Craanzano's Tuhami, that heIdworkers shouId focus their rofessionaI
attention far more than they have hitherto done on erformances, nar-
rative,Iifehistories,casehistories,biograhies,and,indeed,ersonaIdoc-
uments ofaII kinds. To Iay or re-Iay meaning-units ofa dynamic
cuIture,itssociaIdramasandoIiticaIcauses ce?bres, isamodeofverstehen,
ofintercuIturaIunderstanding.Itis,too,aformof"exeriment," aterm,Iike
exerience," derived fromthe Latin exeriri, to try, test." Here we need
notsIavishIy foIIow the modeI ofeighteenth-century naturaI science. By
exerimentI mean something moreIike the modern exerimentaI the-
ater." The di6erences between exerimentaI anthrooIogy and exeri-
mentaItheaterare,however,imortant.TheformerdoesnotIeaveanyof
the sociaI factors which intIuence what haens imIicit, taken for
granted, unmeasured. Before such anthrooIogicaI exerimenting is
undertaken, each form ofsociaI reIationshi and the structure ofeach
grou and subgrou invoIvedhas been carefuIIy dcscribcdand ana|yzcd.
A NEW PROCESSUAL ANTHROPOLOGY 22]
HowfarrinciIesoforganizationare indeendentof or deendenton,
one anotherhasbeenassessed. There is no shirking ofstatements ofthe
obvious,thereIevantdemograhicandecoIogicaIarametersofthemean-
ing-unit under investigation, and the Iike, since, as GIuckman wrote in
Politics, Law an Ritual (1965:302): the robIem ofexIaining what is
obviousisoftenthemostdimcuItinscience."Thus,to beexIicitandto
Iabor at accurate dehnition means avoiding in one reIiminary charac-
terization ofthe heId setting the evocative and metahoricaI devices and
troes ofthe Iaywright and noveIist. This awareness oftyicaIity and
reetitivenessisaIwaysthebackgroundofanyattemttoscritandenact
sociaIdramas.
Desite thesenecessary emiricaI andositivistmethodsintrinsicto
the anthrooIogy ofexerience, theanthrooIogy ofexerience is aIso
sensitive to evidences, as in works of art and reIigion, ofexressions
(Ausdriicken) ofwhathavevariousIybeencaIIedeak-exeriences,"oetic
visions, exeriences ofwhat the exeriencers sometimes caII a higher
reaIity," or mysticaI exeriences. TheIifethatis Iivedthrough" in such
exeriences and even in those humbIer kinds associated with what
CsikszentmihaIyiandMacAIoonhavecaIIedow"iserhasuncatur-
abIeinany exression."TruIytoexerienceistoknowwirhoutsaying,"
though aradoxicaIIy such knowIedge ressesinsistentIy out to the Iight
ofcuIturaIday.SiIencemothers eIoquence. neofthebestexressions of
thisaradox, orcreative doubIe-bind, isaoemofKabir's (transIatedby
RobertBIy)towhichBarbaraMyerho6recentIydrewourattention.
ThereisnothingbutwaterinthehoIyooIs.
Iknow, Ihavebeenswimminginthem.
AIIthegodsscuItedofwoodorivorycan'tsay aword.
IknovIhavebeencryingouttothem.
TheSacredbooksoftheEastarenothingbut words.
IIookedattheircoversonedaysideways.
WhatKabirtalks ofisonIywhathehaslived through.
IfyouhavenotIivedthroughsomething,itisnottrue.
Thefactremainsthatsomeexressionsaremore re-IiveabIethrough"
than others. bjectihcations of great artists, hiIosohers, or rohets
seem to have a caacity to make the hearer or reader re-exerience the
crcator's exerience, are more Iimid to Iife's inner movement. Conse-
quentIy, any anthrooIogy of exerience must take such utterances
scriousIy, notdismissingthemto some structured, eIite cuIture." Vision
o|tcn aImost immediateIy converts into simIe concreteness without
mcdiatirgIcvcIs ofdecIining abstraction. Aoet'sintuitionmaybemore
avai|abIctoacasant thantoahiIosoher.We maybetter 6ndourwayto
"intc||igiblcs"through "scnsibIcs"thanthroughconccts.
22 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
A continually repeated word of the naturallanguage is worthy of this
kind of attention, though with caveat that etymological shifts of meaning
may deform or denature supposedly original stem-meanings. So, what
have been the etymological vicissitudes of experience, highly suspect in
purist cognitive circles?
Scholars trace the word right back to the hypothetical Indo-European
base per "to attempt, venture," whence the Greek, peira, xego, "experi
ence," whence we also derive "empirical," and the Old English,faer, "dan
ger," from which we derive our modern word "fear." More directly,
"experience" derives, via Middle English and Old French, from the Latin
exerientia, denoting "trial, proof experiment," and is itself generated from
experiens, the present participle of experiri, "to try, test," from ex
"out"+base per as in peritus, "experienced," which is, of course, related to
periculum, "danger" or "peril." Etymologists like Skeat relate the Greek
peirao, 1EL Q&w, "I try" to perao, xego,"I pass through." If culture is really
to be regarded as the crystallized secretion of once living human experi
ence, (which is still capable ofliquefaction back into similar if not identical
lived-through experience under favorable conditions, like the reputed
miracle ofSaintJanuarius' dried blood), then we may perhaps see the term
"experience" in its connotational penumbra at least, as preconsciously, if
not unconsciously, linked with rites de passage, with danger, with "faring"
or travel and "ferrying," its Anglo-Saxon form, and with "fear" and
"experiment," which is, of course, "test, trial, the action of trying any
thing, or putting it to proof" (Oxford English Dictionary). Thus, experi
ence is a journey, a test (of self of suppositions about others), a ritual
passage, an exposure to peril, and an exposure to fear. Does this not sum
up to something akin to fieldwork, even to pilgrimage, which is, again
etymologically, a journey "through fi elds" (per agros), a peregrination?
Anthropological fieldwork surely deserves its very own kind of exeriential
theor, its own edifice of practical, yet poetical, knowledge.
1
Ima
g
es of At-Temporat
An Essay in te
Antropology ofExperience
he jagged, cacophonous title of
this essay must jar on ears expectant of a disquisition on immortality. By
"anti-temporality," I denote that which is opposite in kind to being tem
poral, that is, pert lining to, concerned with, or limited by time. By "time"
I provisionally accept the frst definition ofered by the Oxford English
Dictionary: '^ limited stretch or space of continued existence, as the
interval between two successive events or acts or the period through
which an action, condition or state continues: a fnite portion of 'time' ."
Here, however, I would detect a certain ambiguity in the phrase, "interval
between two successive events or acts," for such intervals may, in many
societies, be culturally detached from natural or logical sequentiality and
formed into a domain governed by anti-temporality. Here the very defin
ition of time implies its opposite. Indeed, I will argue that human cultural
time, which is history, can only proceed meaningfully by generating, by
cultural fat, rituals and other genres of cultural performance, which deny
quotidian systems of measuring or reckoning the passage of time any
Reprinted from the Harvard Theololca/ Re11(ew 75 (2):243 -65.
zz8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
existential grounding. "Time" itself as all dictionaries attest, is a multi
valent term. For example, it can be regarded as unbounded, an indefinite,
continuous duration, "the measure of changeable things" as Aristotle said,
or as in Robert Blair's Grave, "Think we, or think we not, Time hurries on
With a resistless, unremitting stream." Here time is evanescence itself,
unsystematized, often "implacable," even "insupportable," as Baudelaire
wrote of "life," which he sometimes saw as antithetical to the poet's
vision. But time may also be seen as a period in the existence or history of
the world; an age, epoch, or era. For example, Mircea Eliade's illud tempus
refers to a mythical, cosmogonic time when the manifest cosmos took
shape in a succession of events, waves, vibrations, or divine acts and deeds.
This was the .rst time, the primavera of the world, when its conditions,
instrumentalities, and powers were laid out, as it were, in their pristine
vulnerability yet naked puissance. Eliade has argued, persuasively, that
major' rituals, viewed cross-culturally, aspire to annihilate measurable
temporality, and evoke, in order to reinstate, that generative time ofbegin
nings, to draw on its unfailing, unstinted, and ineradicable efcacies, to
redress the failures of the present "time," to purify it of its stains, sins, and
stigmata, and to restore the primaveral past as paradigmatic reality. For
getting of declension from, pollution of the constitutive cosmogonic
time, is characteristic of the religious narratives central to many cultures.
Yet most cosmogonies intimately involve the chaos from which they
are often deemed to have come. Chaos is the confused, unorganized state
of primordial being, wanting in order, sequence, organization, or predict
able operation, which is often thought to "precede" (if precedence is possi
ble in pretemporality) cosmos, though as such mystics as Eckhart and
Boehme have asserted in the Western tradition, in a way entirely unex
plained, "a will to manifestation," and hence, I suppose, order, "arises in
the abyss," in the timeless time before time. The cosmogonic motive has
never been explained-why there should have been an embryonic (and
this very term implies temporality) Logos in Chaos escapes the greatest
intellects, including Aquinas-though Boehme sees the impulse by which
"the Nothing became Something" as Love, which should be adored rather
than understood, a matter of revelation rather than comprehension, the
true first Mover, that moves Dante' s "Sun and the other stars," the
uncaused Cause.
I am an anthropologist, not a theologian or a mystic, and make no
claim to understand such high matters. I have done feldwork among
African villagers and Mexican and Irish countrymen, with some brief
glances at the rituals of Brazilian and Japanese townsmen. I have read quite
widely in anthropological descriptive literature. From these direct and
surrogate experiences I have developed some working hypotheses given
probability by experimental and comparative evidence, if not conclusively
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY zzp
established, after the manner of natural science, as a set of laws. Some of
these bear on the subject of anti-temporality. In the frst place, I conceive
human life to be dominantly social life and to be fundamentally in flux, in
motion. That is, human beings are not smoothly nude, enclosed subjec
tivities, but from conception are prepositional entities, projecting lines and
plugs and covered with sockets, metaphorically speaking, which represent
potential relationships: with, against, into, for, of among, inside, outside,
above, below one another. In brief men and women come into existence
connected with, opposed to, or disconnected from one another: "I-Thou is
the frst word uttered"; "no man is an island"; "we are all members of one
another," both as members of natural species and Erik Erikson's cultural
"pseudo-species." Thus, we tend to form groups, whether by ascription
through kinship and neighborhood, or by choice, through friendship or
common tasks or interests. But groups are neither simple nor enduring:
they are composite, consisting ofleaders and led, factions, segments, coali
tions of sub-groups, dividing and uniting with reference to ever-chang
ing issues and interests. Members leave them; recruits join them. The
prepositions change over time: those we are "with" or "for" today may
become those we are "against" or moving "away from" tomorrow. Time
makes friends foes, foes friends, lovers indiferent, divorces spouses and
espouses divorcees. Groups split, like cells in nature, and splice with the
splinters from other groups. Our sociability is mutable though we yearn
for permanence. We also seek to rest our restless minds in meaningfulness.
Later we shall consider some of the implications of bonding and dissever
ing through language, which for human beings has superceded genetically
implanted instinct as the ground of attraction and repulsion. For, through
language, we impute meaning to fux and endeavor to order and border
indeterminacy. This is never fully successful for, as Sally Falk Moore has
written: "Order never fully takes over, nor could it. The cultural, contrac
tual, and technical imperatives always leave gaps, require adjustments and
interpretations to be applicable to particular situations, and are themselves
full of ambiguities, inconsistencies, and often contradictions" (Moore and
Myerhof 1975:220).
As an anthropologist, I have to resist the temptation to foreclose the
issue even by means of the most enlightened solutions handed to us in the
traditions of the great salvation religions. I have to ground what I will say
in my own feld experience and that of my fellows who for varying
periods of time have dwelt among members of cultures other than their
own and have been professionally as well as personally committed to try
to understand their lives and persons and the flow and ebb of their mutual
relationships.
It has been a fact of my experience in many societies, including our
OWD, that the life of perdu ring groups is punctuated, de temps en temps, by
zo PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
what I have called "social dramas." Time, that is to say, does not fow
together altogether evenly, uneventfully. Would that it did, for I am not a
combative, polemical person! If life on earth replicated Dante's Paradiso I
would be content. I am not molded after Dostoevsky's "underworld
man'' with the "cynical and sneering face." Yet I cannot, corrupted by
science, reject what is most evident. What is most clear is that all social
groups, including monasteries, ashrams, and dojos, let alone university
departments and university committees, give birth to social dramas,
"tensional irruptions," as my friend, the Polish sociologist Stanislaw
Andrzejewski, once called them.
Kurt Levin, the psychologist, divided social "time" into "harmonic"
and "aharmonic" phases. The aharmonic phases, I have found, respond
well to Aristotle's paradigm for tragedy. Empirically, though, I have found
them fairly regularly to have four phases, the acts of the social drama (see
Chapter 9, pp. 214 -221). They often begin with a visible breach in one
of the major expectable regularities of group living. This may be deliber
ate, or it may be spontaneous, such as a criminal or passionate outbreak, or
perhaps a cry of outraged virtue against persistent injustice. Whatever the
motive, the group has to take cognizance, for the breach or norm takes
place in some visible, public arena, "cannot be hid," and challenges its
main assumptions of unity and continuity. The second phase "crisis,"
represents a turning point in group living, a moment of choice, in which
sides must be taken-even abstention from choice is a "position'' -and
conflict is apt to be contagious. Factions emerge, whether traditional or
new-born round an unprecedented issue, coalitions are formed, scape
goats pointed to, degrees of opposition-from harsh words to physical
violence-are mooted and/or resorted to; if things are left to themselves
the crisis may manifest that ultimate dichotomous cleavage which thinkers
from Zoroaster to Marx saw as the problem confronting all human
attempts at group unity, empirical or metaphysical.
The third phase begins when those considered representative of the
unity and continuity of the group-whether religious, political, economic
or familial, or all combined-use their authority and legitimacy to isolate
and constrain the spreading conflict within the bounds of law or religion
or both. Here unity puts forth all its strength against the breach of norm
promulgated by the peace-disturber and judges the case according to
traditional legal standards, exonerating or penalizing the parties not only
by those standards but also in accordance with the judges' assessment of
contemporary reality which can always modify and elasticize standards.
When law proves to be inadequate because the contending parties can
convincingly appeal to cultural principles that are logically contradictory,
though equally upheld, magical and even religious procedures (ranging
from ordeal and divination to complex rituals propitiating ancestral spirits
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY zI
or deities) may be prescribed, in which members of the conficting parties
are enjoined to cooperate, having in preliminary rites purifed their hearts
or, as many societies say, livers of animosity towards one another.
Religion, in the mode of faith, flies toward unity, despite material causes
that deny it. But historical religions beget doctrinal terms which inflexibly
determine modes of unity and exclude those who fnd themselves, for a
variety of causes, unable to accept them. Here culture, as discriminatory,
would seem to reject the unity of nature, if indeed, the inter-breeding
capability of diferent human stocks would indicate natural afnity.
The third phase of social drama, that is, application of legal or
religious means, in formal fashion, to the persons and issues of crisis, may
succeed or fail in its endeavor to restore peace or at least equilibrium to
social relationships in the group, however large or small, from family to
international community. Success or failure is, of course, of equal ana
lytical relevance. Success indicates that despite individual or subgroup
critiques, the center can hold; failure demonstrates that the extant "struc
ture" is rejected deeply by present experience of social reality. Both are
diagnostic of"the human condition'' in a given space-time continuum.
The fourth and last stage of this "strange eventful [yet all too familiar]
history" is the outcome, whether this be some attempt to restore or recon
stitute the group, the community that has been lacerated, even broken, by
those who have denied its perduring meaningfulness,or an acceptance of
its splitting, even its spatial severance. Obviously, when human beings
gaze upon other human beings, unmasked by pressured events, nothing
can afterwards be quite the same, with regard to relationships, as it was
before the social drama began. Perhaps Blake wrote truly when he said,
"In heaven the art of living is forgetting and forgiving," but usually on
earth, living together is more "the art of die possible." People are now
aware of what was hidden before, but they also know that they must
continue to cooperate if the group is to continue, economically politically,
or in other ways, and that new terms must be created in which this
cooperation can be carried on realistically. Every social drama entails a
loss of innocence, compensated for by a gain in experiential knowledge.
To be honest, let us look at our own lives. Do we not, even freed from the
constraints of kinship, incumbent upon our tribal brothers, feel deeply,
libidinally, or aggressively committed to some group, whose values and
norms frame our own sense of self our own feeling of identity? Even
recluses, or hermits, are such through disappointments, or perhaps see
themselves as members of an ideal society, absent from earth, and an
invisible church. Let us call such a group, whether it be the local philatelic
society, a set of close friends, even a university committee, our personal
"star group." For many the star group may afectively replace the elemen
tary family, the family in which one was raised. For that very reason its
22 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
internal relationships, particularly those of authority and control, become
highly ambivalent and emotionally charged beneath the surface of man
ners and civility, and are liable to manifest themselves periodically in
social dramas. Voluntary associations may become tightly closed commu
nities for their "star groupers." Rituals are devised to call a halt to crisis,
redress wrongs, air grievances, find remedies that enable the group to
continue.
I must admit that I fnd the third phase of social drama, redressive
ritual and symbolic action, the most interesting one, for in it I fnd the
seeds of practically all those ramifying genres of cultural performance that
"wage contention with their time's decay," to cite Shelley. In pre-industrial
societies, what we in the West have come to distinguish as the "natural"
order, the "social" order, and the "moral" order, are often perceived as a
single order, and when a social drama arises it may well involve events,
such as the sickness or death of group members, which we would regard
as irrelevant to the pragmatic issues at stake. Just as the apparition of
Hamlet' s father's ghost indicated that "something is rotten in the state of
Denmark," so does the coincidence of what we call "natural disaster" with
social confict (for example, competition for high ofce, chieftainship or
village headmanship) indicate in many pre-industrial communities the
arousal of the puntive wrath of ancestral spirits against the dissension of
their living descendants who are thus spurning the heritage of unity and
order bequeathed to them, or the hidden presence of lethal witchcraft
directed by the living against the living, often close kinsmen against close
kinsmen-the "nearer in blood, the nearer bloody," as Shakespeare
declaimed in Macbeth. I have often observed complex rituals performed
during the third phase of social dramas during which, in incidents of
divination, confession, exhortation, and prayer, it was clear that the com
munity was thoroughly and seriously examining its corporate sel Hid
den grudges and tensions were being brought to light, related by the
elders and sages to models of ideal behavior, and, as the ritual process
continued, reconciliation was being sought between the living and the
ancestors, and among the living themselves. Ritual was at once a process of
plural reflexivity, an inventory of the current state of social relationships,
and an attempt to assign meaning to untoward events. At the social level it
was an endeavor to purify relationships of envy, jealousy, hate, undu
possessiveness, grudges.
Social structure is provocative of competition and conflict, even as it
restrains its public expression. Social and political systems contain ofces,
high, medial, and low; chains of command; bureaucratic ladders. There
are systems of promotion, rules, and criteria for status elevation and deg
radation, laws concerning the protection, disposal, transference, and
inheritance of property, and succession to public ofce. There arc social
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY 2
controls over sexuality and reproductive capacity, rules governing mar
riage and prohibitions on incest and adultery. In this many-leveled,
ordered, and sanctioned feld, individuals may fnd it hard not to envy
their neighbor's good fortune, covet his ox, ass, lands, or wife, strive with
him for ofce, compete with him on the promotion ladder, become greedy
or mserly, or succumb to despair at their own lack of success. But when a
member of say, a Central or East African village group riddled with
conflict was stricken down by illness-and the victim was usually not one
of the main antagonists but an innocent member, perhaps a child, at any
rate some kind of scapegoat-and his/her afiction was divined as
ancestral wrath against the total community's divisiveness or as the malig
nancy of a witch in one or another of its contending factions, ritual was
performed for which a cardinal rule was that the entire group had to
cooperate, as ofciants or congregation, in the healing process. This meant
not only external purifcation, by lustrations and prayers, but also cleans
ing of the heart/liver by public confession of grudges against community
members. By such means the ancestral shades might be placated and per
suaded to remove the afiction. Ritual also involved remembering the
ancestors, and, indeed, restoring the past, to some extent and selectively, a
past which had once been or they had supposed to have been their present.
In many pre-industrial societies, cosmogonic myths, or fragments
thereof may be recited or enacted during such "rituals of afiction," as I
have called this genre to distinguish them from rites of passage, seasonal
celebratory rites, rites of intensifcation, and other modes of worship or
veneration. In rituals of afiction, there is a strong element of reflexivity,
for through confession, invocation, symbolic reenactment and other
means, the group bends back upon itself so to speak, not merely cog
nitively, but with the ardor of its whole being, in order not simply to
remember but also to remember its basic relationships and moral imper
atives, which have become dismembered by internal confict. We do not
have here a dispassionate moral stocktaking of the community's joint and
several declensions from an objective set of ethical standards, though
clearly such a stocktaking is a component in the ritual process. But it
would be more correct to think of a ritual of afiction as a passionate
attempt to heal the breaches caused by social structural confict and com
petition and by egotistical or factional strivings for power, influence,
wealth, and so forth by reviving feelings of an underlying bedrock commu
nitas, a generic human relationship undivided by status-roles or structural
oppositions, which is also vouched for by myths and histories stressing
the unity and continuity of the widest group to which all belong by birth
and tradition. Here a culturally structured social antistructure, an anti
temporal stretch of ritual time, opposes and ameliorates the divided, all
too temporal world of institutionalized social structure, recognized as
2q PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ncccssary,ifpoIityandcconomyarctovork,butscnscdaIsoasthcforkcd
rootofaIIsociaIsundcrings.
Bricysummarizingthc argumcnt so far, thcn, vcrcgardthcsociaI
proccssvithinagivcncommunity,frompairorfamIytonationandcvcn
intcrnationaI hcIds ofintcrdcpcndcncc, commcrciaI, profcssionaI, or
poIiticaI, asthatvhichmovcs throughundramatic and dramatic pcriods,
harmonic and disharmonic phascs. Thc sociaI dramais an isoIabIc pro-
ccssivc form, procccding from brcach, through crisis, thcn attcmptcd
rcdrcss, to its cIimax or satiation in rcncvcd cquiIibration ofkcy rcIa-
tionships or thc sociaI rccognition ofirrcmcdiabIc schism. Cfcoursc,
thcrcisnoccrtitudcconccrningthcoutcomc,faiIurctorcdrcsscanrcani-
matc crisis. !n situations ofrapid, cspcciaIIy catastrophic sociaI changc,
rcdrcssivc dcviccsmaysimpIy faiI, sIncc conscnsus about mcanings, vaI-
ucs,andgoaIs-rcIigious,poIiticaI,orcconomicmayhavcbrokcndovn,
and muItipIc idcoIogics, hcrcsics, and outIooks may mobiIizc substantiaI
groups against thc banncrs oforthodoxy and tradition. Such situations
may prccipitatc radicaI structuraI rcforms, and cvcn rcvoIution, vhcn
basicmodcsofframingarcrcformuIatcd,andhcnccncvmcansofrcdrcss
arcauthoritativcIydccrccd.
But in thc majority ofprc-industriaI tribaI socictics, this kind of
brcakdovn ofrcdrcss docs not occur, though thc intrusion and subsc-
qucnt ovcrIordship ofadvanccd socictics can prccipitatc thosc criscs in
tribaI socictics vhich gcncratc miIIcnarian movcmcnts, attcmpts to
rcvitaIizc traditionaIbcIicfs andrcIationships, somctimcs by syncrctizing
vhat arc pcrccivcd as thc povcrs of thc conqucrors' rcIigion vith thc
chthonianpovcrsofthcconqucrcdIand. But,myargumcnthcrcsupposcs
arcIativcIy hrmIy framcdtribaIordcr, invhichthcthirdphasc ofsociaI
dramasrcguIarIy cmpIoys divination andrituaIsofaMictionasmcansof
rcdrcssingorrcsoIvingcrisisbyassigningacccptcdcosmoIogicaImcaning
to cvcnts ofIocaI or scctionaI signihcancc. Such rituaIs oftcn posscss,
thoughinbricfcrand truncatcdform, thcstructurcofvanGcnncp'srites
de passage: (1) ritcs ofscparation dctaching thc rituaI subjcct from quoti-
dian, sccuIar rcaIity, andoftcninvoIvingsymboIs ofkiIIing and dcath, (2)
ritcsofmarginorIimcn,oftcninvoIvingthcsubjcct'ssccIusioninaspcciaI
hut, shcItcr, or cavc, vhcrc formcr ruIcs no Iongcr appIy and ncv oncs
rcmaininabcyancc, astatcatonccIibcratingandtcrrifyingforthcsubjcct,

vhoisaIsoaninItiandintocuIticmcmbcrship,and(3) ritcsofrc-aggrcga-
tion, in vhich thc subjcctis rcturncd to thc mundancrcaIm, rcstorcdto
hcaIthandintcgrity.SinccthcvhoIccommunty,particuIarIythosccIoscst
tothcsubjcctbykinship, amnity, fricndship, orsharcdintcrcsts,notonIy
participatcs in thc rituaI ofamictionbut aIso, in varying mcasurc, must
obscrvc taboos on cating ccrtain foods and on scxuaI activity, it may bc
said to sharc thc subjcct's passagc from iIIncss to hcaIth, |rom soIitary
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY 2]
ncar-dcath to sharing again thc communaI Iifc proccss. ! am aIIoving
myscIfin this taIk thc Iuxury ofbroad gcncraIization sincc in various
books and papcrs ! havcIaborcd aImost obscssivcIy ovcr vhat WiIIiam
BIakc caIIs thc minutc particuIars," minutcIy obscrvcd cthnographic
dctaiIsofsociaIandsymboIicaction.
RituaIs of a6Iiction spring fairIy immcdiatcIy from contcmporary
conicts.Thcyarc,inascnsc,obIIqucIyrcmcdiaI.ButothcrtypcsofrituaI
arcprophyIactic, gcncricaII-purposcattcmptstoforcstaIIconictsarising
fromthcdcadIysins ofmcncntrappcdinandcontroIIcdby sociaIstruc-
turc.VanGcnncpbroadIydistinguishcdthrccmajortypcsofrituaIinprc-
industriaIsocictyofvhichthcthirdvouIdincIudcrituaIsofaMiction."
HccaIIcdhiscIassihcation
rhythmic inthc scnsc thatitbcginsbyconsidcringthchumanhfc, thc
principaIobjcctofourintcrcst,fromitsbcginnIngtoitscnd, thcnthc
cycIc ofthc ycar, and IastIy thc manifcstation ofvarious activitics
divcrging in dircction yct aII radiating from Man as thc ccntcr of
cncrgy. Thisrhythm,vhichis rcctiIincarin thc hrstdata scrics, thcn
cycIic inthcsccond, is aItcrnatinginthcthird. Forhcrc thc actionis
dircctcd from subjcct to objcct, thcn rcbounds back from objcct to
subject(vanGcnncp 1937, quotcdinBcImont 1974:98).
Van Gcnncpishcrc,infact,distinguishingbctvccnthoscritcsofpassagc
vhichmarkthcnodcsofindividuaIdcvcIopmcntinanyhumanIicfrom
bcginning to cnd, varying chronoIogicaIIy from cuIturc to cuIturc, but
markingchangcsofstatandstatus,fromvomb totomndthoscritcs,
vhich oftcninvoIvc popuIar fcstivaIvithdramatizcd status, gcndcr, and
agc rcvcrsaIs, and RabcIaisian cmphascs on cataboIism and fccundity,
vhich mark nodcs in thc gri;)ucycIcor caIcndar such as soving,
hrst fruits, and mainharvst fthc stapIc crop, oin thc soIsticcs, orthc
intcrscctionofsoIar,Iunar,nd/orVcnusiancycIcs. hefcr-
ringtohumandcvcIopmcnaQg, on.mdvoarc)
byqpt, }q_ g(zgg) gs gyoIs matcriaIizcd

as
r_p)n(in ms, mqin- yqIcs, ripg uttcran(c, gcsrc,

an
c-movcmc hQyQ s!0py and 4n)thcr 0 f
sacraIcommuncation-or a(Iast asmuch2$ thc cdcrs dcsircnovs to
|wi t|inocy oir itiatio Somc ofns arc

vhat ,atoand HandcIman caII _ ; akin.t_

t

tdcricd

omthatportionofsignIhcantsociaIcxpcri

ncc

transm:ttcdand Icarncda rathcr than fromthc cmcrgcncc mto

subjcctivc avarcncss ofgncticaIIy transmttcd discrctc numinous struc-
turcs, unknovabIc in thcmscIvcs, but cIothcd Iikc caddi-y Iarvac in
|orms dcrivcd |rom pcrsonaI cxpcricncc. As Aphroditc vas born |rom
sca-|oam, suchsymboIic typcsarcgcncratcd |romIimnaIity,thcy arc its
z PART I . PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
markcrs rathcr than its symboIs, so to spcak. Thcy do not stand for"
IimnaIity,thcyconstitutcit. HandcIman, considcringthcarrayofIiminaI
symboIs cross-cuIturaIIy-thc masks, costumcs, paintings, myths, and so
forthuscs capitaI Icttcrs to rcprcscnt symboIic typcs, distinguishing
thcmthus frommundancinstanccs ofthosc typcs. Thus vchavc CHIEF,
SHAMAN, TRICKSTER, MAIDEN, CLOWN, MOTHER, HERO, VILLAIN, SAINT, ANGEL,
ENEMY, REDEEMER, HEALER, PROPHET, FOOL asagainstIovcr-cascinstanccsof
thcsc typihcations. Hc argucs that, shouId such symboIic typcs cscapc
from thcir IiminaI habitat, thcy vouId gcncratc aroundthcm a hcId of
sociaI rcIations and cuIturaI cxpcctations hIIcd vith numinosity, thcy
vouIdimposcuponindicativcrcaIitythcirsubjunctivcpotcncy. Supposc,
saysHandcIman, apopc,asymboIictypcofcoronation,vcrctovaIkinto
onc'sIccturc room. WouIdhc not produccthcrc a sct ofdispositions and
attItudcsofanidiosyncraticandautonomoussort, aImostrcgardIcssofthc
rcIigious or anti-rcIigious amIation ofthoscprcscnt SophocIcs' tragcdy
Oedipus at Colonnus, indccd, dcrivcd its tcnsion from thc bIindcd,cxiIcd
king's rcsistancc to bccoming a symboIic typc, agenius loci. His compIcx
individuaIhumanityrcsiststhistransmogrihcation.
ButIiminaIityisnotvhoIIy conccrncdviththctransmissionofsacra.
!t is aIso, cvcn in tribaI rituaI, a timc outsidc timc in vhich it is oftcn
pcrmittcdtopla viththcfactorsofsociocuIturaIcxpcricncc,todiscngagc
vhatismundancIy conncctcd, vhat,outsidcIiminaIity, pcopIcmaycvcn
bcIicvc to bcnaturaIIy andintrinsicaIIy conncctcd, and tojointhc disar-
ticuIatcd parts innovcI, cvcnimprobabIc vays. vcn in soIcmn ritcs of
passagcandfarmorcincaIcndricaIfcstivaIsandcarnivaIsitisconsidcrcd
IicittofooIaroundviththcfactorsofcuIturaIconstruction,Iibcratingthc
signihcrsfromthc signhcd, hIIingthcIiminaI sccncvith dragons, mon-
stcrs, caricaturcs, fantasics madc up ofcIcmcnts ofcvcryday cxpcricncc
torn out ofcontcxt and improbabIy combincdvithothcr disruptcdcIc-
mcnts. AItcrnativcIy, thc ordinary, thc cxpcctabIc, is distortcd. Human
hcads, Iimbs, gcnitaIia arc monstrousIy cnIargcd or unnaturaIIy dimin-
ishcd,IcavingthcrcstofthcbodyofnormaIsizc.Suchdcviccsarcuscdfor
mocking, critiquing, dctaching thc group from sobcr, normaI, indicativc
ordcrings,andsubvcrtingthcgrammarsofthcirarrangcmcnts.
Thusvchavc tvo kinds ofanti-tcmporaIity. thc pcrcnnaIIy sacrcd,
rootcdpcrhaps inthcprimordiaI manifcstation ofthcctcrnaI, gcncrativc
unmanifcst, thc Logos, that vas in thc bcginning," but vas Son ofthc
bcginningIcssfathcringviIItomanifcstatIon,thcpcrcnniaIIysacriIcgious,
humanfrccdomtorcsistandcvcntransgrcssthccuIturaIIyaxiomatic,thc
mostsacrcdtcxts,thcmighticstruIcrsandthcircommandmcnts.
Thisantinomiancgg,vhichcontainsbothIavandfrccdom,isrituaI's
tribaIform, but, as socictybccomcsmorccompIcxandincrcascsin scaIc,
vithancvcrmorcrcbncdandspcciaIizcddivisionofIabor, itcracksopcn
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY z)
anddischargcs a sccuIarizing progcnyofpcrformativc gcnrcs, somccoI-
Icctivc in inspiration, othcrs authorcd and craftcd byknovnand namcd
individuaIs. (' .
RituaI, in tribaI socicty, rcprcscnts

::ot, obscssionaI conccrn vith

mus:c, smgmg,hc prcscntation ofcIaboratcIy vorkcd objccts, such as

masks, shrincs,triptychs, vaII paintings, body paintings, scuIpturcd or
carvcdforms,cIaboratc costumcs,nakcdncss, vhichasMirccaIiadchas
pointcd out, cmbodics thc magico-rcIigious strcngth ofvomcn, vhiIc
mcn cnhancc thcir magico-rcIigious potcntiaIitics by disguising thcm-
scIvcs, by masking, dancc forms vith compIcx grammars and vocabu-
Iarics ofbodiIy movcmcnts, gcsturcs, hngcr movcmcnts, and faciaI
cxprcssions. As socicty incrcascs in scaIc and compIcxity, and as mind
incrcasingIy bccomcs thc substructurc ofthc gcncration offorccs and
rcIations ofproductions, stranq___b[ q,r(orn1rom
_ _-|e W ritUand g(

foIkandhigh cuIturaIthcatcr, musicaIcomposition,cpic,baI-

Iad, and n painting, scuIpturc, architccturc, gcnrcs ofdancc,
incIuding baIIand mqrris-dancing, opcra, sports and athIctics, stcm-
mIngfromsacrcdbaIIgamcsandfuneraIgamcs, gamcsofchanccdcvoIv-
ing from divination, miming, cIovning, circus pcrformancc in gcncraI,
tumbIingandjuggIing,postmodcrncxpcrimcntaIthcatcr, andthcvarious
cIcctronicgcnrcs,hIm,tIcvision, androckoncrts.rIc-

c,
t

.!""...''"'"""""'" ""!"':-''-"'''"n""-.. .,t'" _. .

Imost s hrtorn, and thc oIdcst forms ofthcatcr havc much in
commonvith rituaI. Thcatcr, though, brcaks thc unity ofthc congrcga-
tion vhich is rituaI's charactcristic pcrformativc unit, convcrting totaI
obIigatory participation into thc voIuntary vatching ofactors by an
audicncc. Such duaIism and distancing crcatc thcpossibiIity ofcritiquc.
Thc vhoIc group is not so dircctIy invoIvcd in thc inncr and outvard
transformationofonc ormorc ofits mcmbcrs,throughthcinvocationof
supcrnaturaIpovcrs,fromoncstatcof invardandsociaIbcingtoanothcr.
Rathcr, thcgods and hcrocs thcmscIvcs, asin Grcck and)apancsctragcdy
and comcdy, may bc turncd to ambiguity, and thc possibiIity ofsub-
junctivccvaIuationofvhatvastribaIIymostsacrcdandbcyondqucstion
maybcaIivcIyitcmonthccuIturaIagcnda.
AsananthropoIogist! amuncasy at somuchgcncraIization. Lctmc,
thcrc|orc, givc a dctaiIcd cxampIc ofthc prcscncc ofanti-tcmporaIity in
CricntaI thcatcr. Ouring a visit to )apan in 1981, l hcard a |ascinating
lccturcby Pro|cssorGunji ofthcMationaIThcatcro| )apan, on thc roots
o|such gcnrcs as M, Bunraku (Puppct Thcatcr), and Kabuki in Shinto
z]8 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
ritual and cosmology, but it is not with these that I would begin. Two
fascinating papers by Farley Richmond (1980; Richmond and Richmond
1980) make cogent use of van Gennep's and my analyses of rites of
passage, and are concerned with Kutiyattam, one of the oldest forms of
theater in India, traceable back to the tenth century A.D. Richmond does
not, as I would have done, place a specifc performance in its social,
cultural, and political processual contexts in a well studied community.
But he presents us with a symbological analysis of a transitional form
between ritual and theater which has held its own for a thousand years.
The plays-on mythical and epic themes-are written in Sanskrit and
Prakrit, languages known and understood by a only a few priests and
scholars who witness the performances. The local language Malayalam is
incorporated into the show by the clown character (Vidusaka) who
improvises and expounds on the text at great length.
He speaks in a relatively realistic manner in contrast to the other
characters who chant their verses and dialogue according to pre
scribed rules of execution. The actors use a highly complex system of
gesture language to interpret the text; however, the meaning of this
language too is known to a very few spectators. The eye and facial
movements are also highly stylized, removing the form further from
the understanding of the layman (Richmond 1980:2).
You will recognize in this opposition between actors and clown the
opposition typical of ritual liminality in initiations between the peren
nially sacred and the perennially sacrilegious, between illud tempus and the
scandalous news of the day. This is how Richmond describes the clown:
Ancient texts . . . describe him as a hungry Brahmin, friend and
companion of the chief character, having a hump back, protruding
teeth, and a bald head with a long strand of hair. He carries a crooked
stick and walks with a limp.
In the course of time the Kutiyattam actors have taken this fgure and
expanded his role to that of a central character in the dramas in which
he appears. They have done so at the expense of the text but to the
sheer delight of the audience . . . According to tradition, he must
recite in Sanskrit, repeat the words of his hero companion in Prakrit
and enlarge upon their meaning in Malayalam. Armed with the tool
of direct communication with the audience, the clown has been
invested with unusual power. It is said he may criticize members of
the audience, as well as society as a whole, with impunity . . . so
powerful is his license that even kings have restrained themselves
from taking ofense at his remarks. One of the highpoints of a . . .
performance is his satire on the aims of Hindu life. In four successive
evenings he holds forth entirely alone upon the stage, often improvis
ing for six hours at a stretch, wittily chastising society and prominent
individuals with his barbed invectives. Because of his freedom to
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY z]p
criticize all members of society, regardless of their social rank and
caste, the audience experiences a unique sense of communitas. In this
the clown serves as a leveller of society. It is no wonder then that the
clown role may be played only by the eldest and most respected
members of the actor community (who, incidentally, belong to a mar
ginal . caste called Cakyars . . . the mother being of one caste and
father of another, whose line was traditionally carried on as a result of
a plea to the king to allow them to adopt children who were illegiti
mate, born of a union of a Brahmin woman and a non-Brahmin man).
A quick wit, excellent grasp of Sanskrit literature, Hindu philosophy,
and religious practices, and perception of the weaknesses and foibles
of mankind are necessary accomplishments before an actor dares
assume the role . . . We have an in-between fgure who mediates
between the world of the play and the world of reality, given the
utmost license to criticize, and given the power to pollute absolutely if
its power is challenged (Richmond 1980:11 - 12, 13).
The clown pollutes, apparently, by removing his headdress; this brings
the performance to an abrupt halt, polluting the entire temple in which it
takes place. You may say that the clown's role hardly exemplifes the anti
temporality of the liminal domain, since it involves detailed commentary
on the conduct and mores of contemporary personages. Nevertheless this
commentary is really what Geertz would call a "meta-commentary" since
it takes place within a frame which, as we shall see, is basically religious
and composed of cosmological symbols. The clown is what we have
earlier called a "symbolic type" and has something numinous about him.
He sees history sub specie aeternitatis, an eternal vision not without rough
humor, reminding us ofPuck's gleeful aside to Oberon: "Lord, what fools
these mortals be." The illusions of time are judged by eternal truth, the
cosmic as comic.
The contrast between time and anti-time is quite clear when we look
at the setting, the theatrical space, the costumes, and the actors in Kutiyat
tam. Performances are set in temple theaters (kuttambalam) situated in front
and to the right of the main shrine within the precincts of Hindu temples.
Such temple theaters, as the Richmonds make clear, are patently micro
cosms, sacred structures replicating the eternal cosmos.
The kuttambalam is considered an aa or limb of the vastapurusa or
'personage' of the temple. Let us examine the word vastaurusa. The
vastapurusamandala is a ritual diagram or plan which guides the form or
existence of a sacred place-in this instance the Hindu temple and, by
extension, the kuttambalam. The diagram (mandala) is not an archi
tect's blue print. It is not a ground plan to be followed during con
struction. Rather, it is a yantra. Professor Stella Kramrisch, in her
scholarly opus, The Hindu Tmple, defnes the word yantra as a "geo
metrical contrivance by which any aspect of the Supreme Principle
may be bound to any spot for the purpose of worship." This sense of
-
"binding" or "tyii1g down" is J theme which is played upon with
2qC PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
many variations in respect to space and time. The word vastu means
site or residence. In the context of the word vastapurusamandala it means
boundaries of existence, boundaries of space, the boundaries of an
ordered universe, the boundaries, in this instance, of the temple or
kuttambalam. As the universe is the outward manifestation of the
Divine Essence, so is the temple, and by extension, the kuttambalam,
the outward form of the Divine Cosmic Essence, Purusa. Who is
this Purusa? The Purusa of the Rig Uda is the creator god. In the
Brahamanas he is known as Prajapati. In a famous hymn to Purusasakta
we are told how the world was fashioned by the gods by sacrificing
this primordial giant. The sun sprang from his eyes, the moon from
his mind; from his breath the wind sprang forth and Indra and Agni
from his mouth. The four castes (varnas) too are equated to parts of his
enormous being-the brahmins to the head, the kshatriyas to the arms,
the vaishyas to the thighs and the shudras to the feet. The universe was
thus created and both cosmic and social order came into being at this
sacrifce. Purusa/Prajapati is the thirty-fourth god, he who contains all
the others in his being. He is all there was, is, and will be. Tus he is
both the sacrifcer and the sacrifced, the victim and the god. Through
sacrifce he brings into being the cosmos. Through death, there is life.
The humblest and the most exalted of Vedic sacrifces recreate this
great death and birth of the cosmos. When, out of chaos, violence, and
sacrifce the universe comes into being, it takes on shape and becomes
ordered, and out of the vast nothingness, space is circumscribed. So
also the building of a temple theatre and the performance of the
Kutiyattam. But these sacrifces, that original moment and act of crea
tion is captured (Richmond and Richmond 1980:1 -3).
You may have noticed how, in a complex metaphorical way, the cos
mogony implicit in these arrangements of sacred and theatrical space (the
two overlap) is homologous with the movement of the social drama from
the phase of crisis to that of redress, when indeterminacy is reordered.
Here the contemporary unruliness is directly connected to primordial
chaos and redress to cosmos construction. An appropriate setting for a
play which mediates between immemorial sacred tradition and contempo
rary social reality! I do not want to deploy here the full range of the
Richmonds' argument that the Kutiyattam performance "is regarded as a
visual sacrifce in honor of the deity and the stage charged with cosmic
signifcance." They have gone into great detail: for example, relating the
squareness of the stage to the Hindu notion that "totality is symbolized as
'four-squared'," and that the square,
with its four directions of North, South, East and West, encompasses
the cyclical movement of the rising sun in the East and its setting in
the West. . . . Therefore the square stage is a microcosm of the uni
verse. The gods and the planets have their abode here. On the ceiling
of the stage their image is carved. They take their residence there,
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY 2qI
protecting the stage and the performance, ensuring that the "visual
sa

rifce" (chakshu

aagna) will be completed without interruption. On

this stage, the action of gods, demigods, demons, and heroes, person
ag

s of the three worlds, is played out. In the center of the ceiling

resides Brahma, out of whose creative power and life force, the uni
verse came into being (Richmond and Richmond 1980:3 -5).
The actors wear costumes that are
non-realistic in appearance. Oddly-shaped crowns, peculiar bustle
lik

skirts, red-striped jackets, makeup of greens, yellows, black and
white, are some of the most striking visual impressions that meet the
eye. As representatives of the cosmic world, a world peopled by gods
andemons, of mythological kings and their retinues, a world in
wh

ch men can fly, demons can change their shape at will, a world in
which supernatural powers and insights are commonplace, a world
we mortals cannot enter, it is no wonder that the characters dress in
apparel that looks totally diferent from that which we wear. There is
no attempt made to recreate a specifc historical period either, for the
characters are beyond the concept of time and space-they are cosmic
fgures, fgures not of this profane world (Richmond and Richmond
1980:7).
Lest we should think this South Indian genre of cultural performance
exotic, let us recall our own electronic attempts in flm and television, in
the so-called "science fction' and "horror movie" genres, to body forth
just such liminal "worlds" of gods, demons, shapeshifters, and curiously
clad o

cosmeticized people. I do not need to dwell on the etymological
link between cosmetic and cosmos. The Kutiyattam actor transforms him
self into a cosmic being by the application of skillfully arranged cosmetics.
As is often the case in folk drama, the stage has no scenery, in contrast to
Western dramatic realism where almost every item of property or scenery

akes a specifc statement about the characters and places them in a given
time frame. Kutiyattam is not set in historic time, but the "timeless time"
of the drama is created by the actors by means of manifold conventions.
For example, images of time and space are conveyed by actors to the
audience through a symbolic gesture-language. Thus, in a traditional per
formance, a passage of dialogue is repeated three times.
First the actor chants te Sa
J
skrit lines and executes the stylized
gestur

s
.
for each word, mcludmg nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives,
prepositiOns a
t
d s
?
forth. Then the gesture text is repeated with a
marked reductlon H tempo and an exaggeration of eye movements
and facial expressions. All this is done to the accompaniment of the
drums. The passage is chanted once again with gesture accompani
ment. What would take only a few minutes to recite in western real
istic theater often requires more than half an hour to perform in
Kutiyattam. By freing the spectacle of historical reference points, o|
2q2 PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
realistic detail, of the drama of everyday life, the Kutiyattam takes on
epic proportions assuming a scale appropriate to the cosmic world
(Richmond and Richmond 1980:8).
I see that I have dallied overlong over this case study, which in many
ways exemplifes other South, South-East, and East Asian types of theater.
Clearly, Kutiyattam is the firstborn child of ritual, perhaps even a younger
sibling. Nevertheless, though still oriented to the sacred, it is already (as
Jane Harrison might have said) an "exhibition,'' "something shown,'' an
emergent from true ritual liminality, which engrosses its participants exis
tentially, catching them into the inner momentum of a society' s life.
Already there is an element of voyeurism, an increase in reflexivity,
especially in connection with the hypertrophy of the vernacular clown,
and the split between actors and audience. Cognitive detachment is grow
ing: the spectators witness divine, demonic, heroic, and anti-heroic deeds
and their denouements; they are no longer kinetically engaged in them.
The ritual fow is broken; the possibility of questioning and even rejection
is being mutely mooted.
As theater becomes increasingly separated from its ritual and cos
mological moorings, it will become less transformative, less initiatory,
more a presention of models which are expected to revivify fdelity to the
religious meaning they convey. But what T. S. Eliot calls "the shadow" has
already fallen between "the experience" and "the meaning." Certainly the
clown scofs, lampoons, and judges people's foibles, crimes, sins, and folly
from the perspective of the ideal model. But his license to criticize moves
the principle of criticism into the wings of the action. Unthinkable though
that might presently seem, the model itself may be doubted. Truly, he
comes dangerously near to doing this. According to the Richmonds,
at one point he parodies the four aims of Hindu life (urutharsas) by
misconstruing them to be license for overindulgence rather than self
control. He identifes them as enjoyment of sexual pleasure, gorging
oneself on food, making oneself averse to sexual pleasure after having
enjoyed it, and rendering service to the king and making money by
doing so. On one day alone, he requires eight to nine hours to elabo
rate on the numerous types of hosts in Kerala, on the preparation for
cooking various delicacies of diferent communities. He compares oe
dish to a beautiful woman and proceeds to devour it with relish
(Richmond and Richmond 1980:9).
The clown is obviously a symbolic type, and hence timeless. He is
partly the voice of the cosmology which frames his action, condemning
the foibles of the time, casting down the mighty, and at the same time
representing what Mikhail Bakhtin might have called "the people's sec
ond world," the racy and earthy folk meta-commentary on Home> hier-
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY 2q
archicus. He represents a sort of sacred secularity, whose ridiculing of
solemn pretension by "stunning unpretension'' (to borrow Emily Dickin
s

n's

rase) has something imaginative and poetic about it, escaping

1dact1c1sm and moral hauteur. As has been said about kyogen, the tradi
twnal farces of Japanese drama, inserted in performance between aristo
cratic No plays which they often parody, the Kutiyattam clown seems to
state that laughter is lord over all, beginning with the bucolic but extend
ing ultimately to embrace humankind.
It is perhaps time to recapitulate the argument: Social dramas or
"dramas of living" (Kenneth Burke) are simultaneously expressions of
conflict in corporate groups or groups that aspire to assign meaning to the
untoward
_
events by relating the problems of temporality to anti-temporal
cosmolog1cal schemata, to legal standards and precedents, or to perennial
commonsense often operating through ridicule. The third, redressive
phase of the social drama, which continues to exist as a cross-cultural,
trans-temporal, processual mode, since it is semiogenetic, "meaning
assigning," and confct-resolving, contains primordial modes of cultural
performance, ritual, and judicial processes, which, over time, as societies
ecome more complex, larger in scale, with specialized institutions, ramify
mto genres whose direct connection with the social drama becomes
increasingly attenuated. In tribal, nonindustrial societies, social dramas
a

d their redressive means are context-sensitive; in complex societies,

ntual, theater, and performances are no longer context-sensitive; in the
sense of local community context, however, they may be sensitive to the
larger macrosocial cont
_
e

ts-political, familial, economic, and ideologi

al. The germ of reflex1v1ty always present in the social drama develops
mto theology and jurisprudence in the perduring primary genres, to some
extent impoverishing their performative aspects. But with industrializa
ti

.
urbanization, spreading literacy, labor migration, bureaucracy, the
dlVlSlon of the leisure sphere from the work sphere, the growth of the
market and money economy, the cleavage in each of us between the
coosng
_
"individual" and the structurally ascribed "persona," the profes
slOnalizatlOn of the arts, the former integrity of the orchestrated religious
gestalt th

t once constituted ritual has burst open and many ramifying

performat1
:
e genres have been born from the death of that mighty opus
deorum hommumque. Such genres ofindustrial leisure would include theater,
ballet, opera, flm, the novel, printed poetry, the art exhibition, museum
dis

lays, classical and rock music, carnivals, processions, folk drama,

maJor sports events, and dozens more. Sparagmos, the dismemberment of
Or

he
_
us

has been accompanied by secularization. Traditional religions,
theu ntuals denuded of much of their former symbolic wealth and mean
ing, hence their transformative capacity, persist in the leisure sphere but
have not adapted well o modernity, save at the cost of relinquishing their
2qq PART I I : PERFORMANCE & EXPERIENCE
healing and inspiriting numinosity. Modernity perhaps means, inter alia,
the exaltation of what I have called culture's "indicative mood."
But in what some have seen as the "post-modern turn," there are signs
of a return to subjunctivity and a rediscovery of cultural transformative
modes particularly in some forms of theater. I have vividly in mind a
performance of Euripides' Bacchae I saw in Japan which was directed by
Tadashi Suzuki, which combined traditional ritual and dramatic kinetic
and oral "languages" with the innovative use of alternate Japanese and
English dialogue by a Japanese and American cast. Pentheus, the doubting
and eventually dismembered king, was played in English. Cadmus also
spoke his lines in English, as did a messenger. Dionysius was played in
Japanese by Kayoko Shiraishi, a widely acclaimed actress of genius, who
also played Agave, Pentheus' mother. The Bacchae themselves had no
dialogue, and the chorus was half and half English and Japanese. A
reviewer, writing under the initials D. R., for the Tokyo Japan News (14
September 1981), wrote, quite justly, that
the astonshing conversations in Japanese and English create a height
ened sense of theater which is as rare as it is impressive. The two
characters understand each other, but. we understand only one of
them. One is a mortal and the other is a deity. If we do not under
stand, say, Japanese, the deity is really god-like in his incomprehen
sibility. If we do not understand English, the all-too-human ruler is
even more human in his agonized attempts to make us understand. It
works either way, or both, and the result is perhaps the kind of ritual
theater that Euripides had in mind . . . . total incomprehensibility
makes for boredom, but half incomprehensibility keys us up, awakens
our sense of wonder, makes us give all our attention-in short creates
ritual theater. The director knows this very well: music, processions,
dances, declamations and that very special sense of the inexorable
which is perhaps what Greek drama was originally about.
Thinking the production over, I wondered whether perhaps the Cath
olic rejection of Latin and the Anglican muting of King James' biblical
' English may not be remedied by a post-modern turn towards combining
the archaic with the modern languages or dialects in liturgy-not simply
assigning the modern language to the resacralized clown (who is now seen
'
as a legitimate model for religious action in various Christian denomina- .
tions), as in Kutiyattam, but putting temporality (including signifcant
moments of Church history) into living dialogue with anti-temporalty,
through the alternate use of signifcant liturgical languages. At any rate the
dismemberment of traditional religious ritual may be a prelude to its
creative re-membering, which is not merely the restoration of some past
intact, but setting several formative "pasts" in living relationship, through
symbolic action, to our fullest experience of the present.
IMAGES OF ANTI-TEMPORALITY 2q]
Ritual must recover much of what it has lost to its multiple progeny,
the many genres of cultural performance, which in the frames of play and
entertainment have in fact often been entrusted with the refexive, eval
uative, redressive, and semiogenetic tasks once undertaken by religious
ritual. In complex cultures with developing electronic media it might be
possible to view the ensemble of performative and narrative genres, not as
a single mirror held to nature, but as a hall of mirrors. Today we can draw
our metaphors from science. In the December 1980 issue of the Scientic
American, David Emil Thomas shows how the mirror image is not always a
faithful reflection, but can be inverted, its handedness reversed, or dis
torted in other ways by such forms as plane, convex, concave, convex/
cylindrical, concave/cylindrical, saddle, or matrix mirrors, while images
can be reflected from one to another of these varied types. In similar
fashion the multiple performative genres bounce the "real world" prob
lems, issues, and crises of our social dramas-from political causes ce?bres
to marital and familial disputes-from one to another, giving diverse
images, transformed, magnifed, refracted in terms characteristic of each
,
genre, then flashed on to another better able to scrutinize other aspects of
those problems, and so forth.
A complex social process may require complex forms of performative
self-scrutiny. In this hall of mirrors, which has its origin perhaps in the
third stage of social drama, though varyingly elaborated in diferent
cultures, the reflections are manifold, distorting, dwarfng, bloating, dim
ming the faces peering into them, provoking not merely thought, but also
strong emotions, and perhaps the will to change. The flaw, the ugliness,
may be in the mirror, the means through which we represent the world
and ourselves in order to evaluate them, inducing people to fnd perhaps
simpler and clearer cultural modes of reflecting experience.
But, in any case, it seems that there is a dynamic relation between
social drama and the ensemble of expressive cultural genres, such that
each, to quote Ronald Grimes, is the "dialectical dancing partner" of the
other. What is unconscious and implicit in one may be conscious and
explicit in the other, and perhaps humankind may only advance in under
standing, and hence also even technically and organizationally, by fully
recognizing this yin-yang type of dynamic interdependence. If one
defnes "immortality" as "that which is destined to persist through the
ages," this "dialectical dance" between event and cultural mirrorings may
be called "immortal." The difculty here is that humankind has found a
sure way to terminate itself by means of Weaponry derived from its sour
knowledge of nuclear fssion and fusion, for matter is easier to probe to
the root than spirit and can be put to baser uses. Thus, the "immortality of
man" may be delusory, not only individuals but the species may be mortal,
a word equivalent, as the dictionary tells us, to "Iutman."
z| PART I I : PERFORMANCE & E XPERIENCE
Eternity or eternal life is another matter-or is it? Here I must lamely
admit that in considering the mechanisms of the human social and cultural
dramas, I have omitted the meaning-content of the ritual process as it is
utterly manifest in many religions. The complex temporality of all the
social and cultural processes I have been discussing demands a moment of
experienced eternal life as its cogntive and ontological counterstroke, the
factor constructive of processual meaningfulness. And here I will con
clude with a salto mortale, a leap of faith, which you may construe, accord
ing to your varied lights, as a coda, a non sequitur, or a capstone of my
argument. In the tradition of positivist anthropology in which I was
raised, the reading of Friedrich Von Hiigel was considered worse than
pornography. But now I will venture to conclude with a paragraph from
his book Eternal Li: A Study q Its Implications a Applications. You may
deduce from it my secret thoughts about what I have openly said:
Eternal Life, in the fullest thinkable sense, involves three things-the
plentitude of all goods and of all energizings that abide; the entire
self-consciousness of the Being Which constitutes, and Which is
expressed by, all these goods and
>
energizings; and the pure activity,
the non-successiveness, the simultaneity, of this Being in all It has, all
it is. Eternal Life, in this sense, precludes not only space, not only
clock-time-that artifcial chain of mutually exclusive, ever equal
moments, but even duration [here Von Hugel glances at Henri
Bergson, whom in so many ways he deeply admires], time as actually
eperienced by man, with its overlapping, interpenetrating successive
stages. But Eternal Life precludes space and clock-time because of the
very intensity of its life. The Simultaneity is here the fullest
expression of the Supreme Richness, the unspeakable Concreteness,
the overwhelming Aliveness of God [perhaps, in a nontheistic setting,
like Zen Buddhism, one could speak of satori here, the sudden
enlightening flash that this, here, is the Great Eternity, or as William
Blake might have put it in our Western way, jlove
the pdwiQ.. l! of'Ie/
'
.th gpgzpy _ _ d1.alism; and is at
the opposite pole
t
rom all empty unity, all mere being-any or all
abstractions whatsoever (von Hiigel 1912:383) .
In the general anti-temporality or contra-temporality or meta-tem
porality of social dramatic redress, the continuous sense of limitation and
inadequacy, the frustratedness of historical experience, are often intuite
as the very means in and through which historical humankind apprehends
increasingly (but only if he opts to do so) the counterstroke of simul
taneity, spontaneity, infnity, and pure action of that quintessence of anti
temporality which has been called absolute timelessness, Eternity.
PART THREE
Te Bran
11
Body Bran, and Cutre
he present essay is for me one of
the most difcult I have ever attempted. This is because I am having to
submit to question some of the axioms anthropologists of my genera
tion-and several subsequent generations-were taught to hallow. These
axioms express the bele!hUll. | n Lhaios!hcresult o.socia
co.r.iti_
:

f;d
vvery great deal of it is, but gradually it has been
borne home to me that there are inherent resistances to conditioning. As
Anthony Stevens has written in an interesting book which seeks to recon
cile ethological and Jungian approaches: ''ny attempt to adopt forms of
social organization and ways of life other than those which are characteristic
i our species must lead to personal and social disorie
n
tation" (italics added;
Stevens 1982:24). In other words, our species has distinctive features,
genetically inherited, which interact with social conditioning, and set up
certain resistances to behavioral modifcation from without. Further,
Robin Fox has argued: "If there is no human nature, any social system is as
good as any other, since there is no baseline of human needs by which to
judge them. If indeed, everything is learned, then surely men can be
taught to live in any kind of society. Manis at the mercy of all the tyrants
Reprinted with permission of the Joint Publication Board of Zeeme| Re|[|ei c
rlitirc,vol. 1 8, HO. 3 (September 1983).
2]C PART III: THE BRAIN
who think they know what is best forhim. Andhow canhe Iead that
they arebeing inhumanifhe doesn'tknow what being humanisin the
6rstIace?" (fox1973:13). neofthosedistinctivehumanfeaturesmaybe
aroensitytotherituaIizationofcertainofourbehaviors, fromsmiIing
andmaternaIresonsivenessonwards.
..ofRitualization
In]une 1965, Itookartinadiscussionon rituaIization ofbehavior
inanimaIsandman' organizedby Sir]uIianHuxIeyfortheRoyaISociety
and heId~erhas aroriateIy~in the Iecture haII ofthe ZooIogicaI
Society ofLondon, neartheMa inTerraces, wherethemonkeysreveI.
The hardcore" oftheconference consisted ofzooIogistsandethoIogists,
HuxIey, Konrad Lorenz, R. A. Hinde, W H. Thore, Desmond Morris,
M M. CuIIen,F W Braestru,I.EibI-EibesfeIdt,andothers. SirEdmund
Leach,Meyerfortes, andIsokeuforBritishanthrooIogyinde6ning
rituaI,butbyno meansasunanmousIyastheethoIogistsdidinde6ning
rituaIization. ther schoIars reresented other disciIines. sychiatrists
incIudedErikErikson, R.L Laing, andG. Morris Carstairs. SirMaurice
BowraandE.H. Gombrich soke abouttherituaIizationofhuman cuI-
turaIactivities, dance, drama, andart.BasiIBernstein, H.EIvinandR. S.
Peters discussed rituaI in education andDavidAttenborough shared his
ethnograhic 6Ims on the Kava ceremony in Tonga and Iand-diving in
Pentecost,MewHebrides.
ThenonethoIogists generaIIy acceted Leach's ositionthat it can-
notbetoostrongIyemhasizedthatrituaI,intheanthrooIogist'ssense,is
in no way whatsoever a genetic endowment ofthe secies" (Leach
1966:403). I tookuno ubIicositionat thattime, since Iwas secretIy,
even guiItiIy imressed by ge ethoIo_sts' de6nition o rituaIization'

whichse,(qtrikc hp;sig;cIationo!wi::anrituaI,sued upby

' l : -!]

'" .!
a
9!P'Y!
ma
i!tI9)@(|
a-
'
(pnofep(ionaIIy

notivated bebavioj,undertI:eteocressureo|

naturaIseIectionsoas,(a)toromotebctteat:doreunambi:oussgnaI
I
!
h Io ,Io:ra- andinter-seci6caIIy, () to serve as moreemcient
stimuIators orreIeasers ofmoreemcientatternsofactioninotherindi-
viduaIs, (c) to reduce intra-seci6c damage, and (d) to serve as sexuaI or
sociaI bonding mechanisms" (HuxIey 1966:250) . ActuaIIy, much of
HuxIey'sdehnitionisbetteraIIedanaIogicaIIytothosestyIizedhuman
behaviors we might caII communIcative," such as manners, decorum,
ceremony, etiquette,oIitedisIay, the ruIesofchivaIry (whichinhibitthe
inictionononeanotherofdamagebyconsecihcs) than torituaIroer.
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE 2]I
IiuspbIcatIons have suggested that ;t vas a tranir
t!
a!i
!
e pe pcereveaIingmajorcIassincatIons,cagories, andcontra-
dictit:sofcuIturaIrocesses."IntheseresectsitmIghtconceivabIyfuIhII
fourth function, that ofserving as sexuaI or sociaI bonding
mehanisms,"bytransformingsociaIand_rs_onII(e-cycs(bi|initia-
tion,aarriage,death)intooccasionswheresymboIsandvaIuesreresent-
ingtheunityandcontinuityofthetotaIgrouwereceIebratedandreani-
mated. The cuIturaI rituaIs which seem most to embody something
resembIing HuxIey's de6nition of rituaIizationre seasonaI, agri-
cuIturaI, fertiIity, nerary,

and eaIin

ony, becat:setheymake exIicit

the interdeendence ofeoIe wiu ir hysicaI environments and
bodies" (Grimes 1982:34). But as I havewritten eIsewhere, rituaI)s !
necessariIy astion ofsociaI conservatism, its,symboIs do not mereIy
o:c:scherished sociocuIturaIvaIues.Rather,throughtsIimnIQc-
esses, ithoIdsthegenerating source ofIute strcture. Hence,by l
d tirituaIassociatedt;oci

(ransitipn.
:

W
le
.
ceremny is

nked
with sociaI states. Performances of mtuaI are dtstmcttve hases m the
sociaIrocess,whereby grousandindividuaIs adjusttointernaIchanges
andadattotheirexternaIenvironment.
eyer fortes, inuenced by Sigmund freud, de6ned rituaI at the
Lonon conference as rocedureforrehendingthe occuIt, thatis, hrst,
forgrasingwhatis,foraarticuIarcuIture,occuIt(i.e.,beyondeveryday
humanunderstanding,hidden, mysterious)intheevents andincidents of
eoIe'sIives, secondIy, forbindingwhatis so grasedbymeans ofthe
rituaIresources and beIiefs avaiIabIeinthat cuIture, and thirdIy, forthus
incororating what is grased and bound into the normaI existence of
individuaIs and grous" (fortes 1966:411). This formuIation might weII
identifysychoanaIyticaIcIinicaIrocedureasrituaIrocess.fortesmakes
hisfreudianamIiationquitecIearwhenhegoesontowritethat_
0 . `!P99
d
9P.9|9[P
s
7-
o

I
7
t

ic

I
se;ise) forces ofindividuaI action and existence, and their sociaI equiv-
s, the irreducibIe factors in sociaI reIations (e.g., the mother-chiId
nexus, at one end ofthe scaIe, the authority ofsociety at the other). By
bringingthem,suitably disguised, orsymboIizedintangibIemateriaIobjects
andactions,intotheoenofsociaIIife,rituaIbindsthemandmakesthem
manageabIe''(itaIicsadded,fortes1966:413).
OnIike Leach, fortes sees rituaI more as the handIing ofotherwise
unmanageabIe ower than the communication ofimortant cuIturaI
knowIedge. for fortesirreducibIe ambiguities and antinomies aremade
vsibIe andthus accessibIeto ubIic andIegitimatecontroI~aosition to
which withimortantuo d 6c ions I myseIfhave subscribed g ]_
Lea t en:phsis;nrtI `s coiti

c and cI;ibcatoy. As he writes,

-
|
. '.'1l |I
(I' \ ' ' ,
it s chatact

fm

t)and mythicaI sequences in timitive

society:hatthetsIaimtobe_)p(uI+ting

tbc.c,rcar:onofthc
andthatthis actofcteationismythoIogizedas$ Iist ofnames attachedto
\ \.'= '' ..
~

etsons,Iaces,ammAs,andthmgs.ThewotIdiscteatedbythetocessof
cIassi6cationandtheteetitionofthecIassihcationofitseIfetetu
knowIedgewhichit incototates"(Leach 1966:405). RituaIsuuIticoded
=
suasionandtheethoIogistsintheitconcetoftituaIizationottituaIIayin
the emhasis ofthe fotmet on tituaI as Ieatned, cuItutaIIy ttansmitted
behaviot, inttinsicaIIy Iinked with the deveIoment ofIanguage, and of
theIattet on tituaI as geneticaIIy togtammed behaviot with imottant
nonvetbaIcomonents.
The Neurobiology of the Brain:
Culturetype and Genotype
Theyeats assed. I continued to tteattituaI essentiaIIy as a cuItutaI
system. MeanwhiIe exciting new hndings wete comng ftom genetics,
ethoIogy, and neutoIogy, atticuIatIy the neutobioIogy of me btain. I
foundmyseIfaskingastteamofquestionsmoteotIessaIongthefoIIow-
ing Iines. Can we enIatge out undetstanding ofthe tituaI tocess by
teIatingittosomeofthesehndings?AftetaII,canweescaeftomsome-
thingIikeanimaItituaIizationwithoutescaingoutownbodiesandsy-
ches,the thythms andsttuctutes ofwhichatiseontheitown?AsRonaId
Gtimes has said, They ow with otwithout outconscious assent, they
ate utteted-excIamations ofnatute and out bodies" (Gtimes 1982:36). I
aIsoaskedmyseIfmanyofthequestionstaisedbyRaIhWendeIIButhoe
inhisattoftheinttoductiontothe Setembet 1983:213 issueofZygon
eseciaIIy, foIIowingEdwatdC WIson,whatisthenatuteoftheaIIeged
chain," andhowIongisit,bywhichgeneshoIdcuItutaIattetns,incIud-
ing tituaIattetns, to usethe idiom ofsociobioIogy, on Ieash"?This, it
seemedtome,iswhetetheneutobioIogyofthehumanbtainbeginstobe
teIevant.
We shaIIhave occasionto Iook at the hndings ofPauI MacLean, the
neutoanatomst, againIatet, butsomething shouId be said now about his
wotk on what might be caIIed atchaic" sttuctutes ofthe human btain.
His eatIy wotk deaIt with what is caIIed the Iimbic system, an evoIu-
tionatiIyancientattofthebtainconcetnedwiththeemotions,ctadIedin
ot neat the ftinges of the cottex. In a 1949 aet he suggested that the
Iimbic system is the majot citcuit that wouId have to bc nvoIvcd in
sychosomaticdiseases, such asgasttointcstinaIuIcctscauscdby social or
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE 2]
sychoIogicaI sttess, a now wideIy acceted hyothesis sinceithasbeen
demonsttatedthatthissystemconttoIs theituitaty gIandat thebase of
thebtainandtheautonomicnetvous systems, whichintutnconttoI the
visceta" (Konnet 1982:147). He futthet toosedin 1952 that the ftontaI
Iobes ofthe cetebtaI hemishetes, shown to be the seat ofthe highest
humanfacuIties, suchasfresiht and concern fr the consequences and meanin q
events, mayhave these functions and othets by virtue q intimate connections
between the .ontal lobes and the limbic system" (itaIicsadded,Konnet 1982:147).
HeteweseethatthehighestandnewestottionofthecetebtaIcottexhas
bynomeansdetacheditseIfftomanancient, timitive"tegion,butfunc-
tionsasitdoesteciseIybyvittueoftsteIationshitotheoIdemotionaI
citcuitty" (Konnet 1982:147) . Latet, WaIIe Mauta, a ceIebtated neu-
toanatomst, has tefetted to the ftontaI Iobes as the neocottex ofthe
Iimbicsystem" (Mauta 1971:167 -87). As MeIvin Konnet concIudes.]ust
asothetattsof thecottexhavebeenidentihedasthehighestteott-and-
conttoIcentetsfotvision,heating,tactiIesensation,andmovement, sothe
ftontaI Iobes have emetged as the highest teott-and-conttoI centet fot
theemotions" (Konnet 1982:147). Thus evoIutionatiIytecentand atchaic
attetns ofinnetvationintetatticuIate, and the fotmetisIiant to condi-
tioningwhiIetheIattetisquitetesistant.
PauI MacLean'swotk, and teIated studies byjasonBtown, taisethe
question neatIy fotmed by Buthoe. What is the toIe ofthe btain as an
otgan fotthe atotiate mixing ofgenetic and cuItutaI infotmationin
thetoduction ofmentaI, vetbaI, ototganicbehaviot?Buthoe taises fut-
thetimottantquestions.To whatextentistheIowetbtain,incIudingthe
Iimbic system and its behaviot (to continue the metahot) , on a vety
shott Ieash" undet the conttoI ofthe genotye? (Konnet uses the tetm
geneticaIIyhatdwited.")Inothetwotdsisgeneticinhetitanceadehnitive
inuence hete? The cotoIIaty wouId seem to tun as foIIows. To what
extent is the uet btain, eseciaIIy the neocottex, which is the atea
tesonsibIein mammaIs fotcootdinatonand fothighetmentaIabiIities,
on a Ionget Ieash in tetms ofconttoI by the genotye ot genome, the
|undamentaI constitution ofthe otganism in tetms ofits heteditaty fac-
tots? Does sociocuItutaIIy ttansmitted infotmation take over conttoI in
humankind and, ifso, what ate the Iimits, ifany, to its conttoI? Does the
gcnotyetakeaetmanentbackseat,andissociaIconditioningnowaIIin
aII?TheictutethusbuiItufotmewasofakindofdual control Ieadingto
what Buthoe caIIs a seties ofsymbiotic coadatations between what
m ght bccaIIedcuItutetyes and genotyes. MacLean'shyothesisabout
the anatomicaI teIations ofthe ftontaI Iobes to theIimbic system is cet-
tain|y suggcstvc hetc. SubscqucntIy, MacLeanwent futthet and gave us
hi s mt:dHo|the "ttuncbran."(AswcshaIIscc|atct,J. P. Hcnryand l. N.
StCphCns[ 1 977) have argucdthatthe domnantor|c|tccrcbra|hemisphere
2q PART I I I : THE BRAIN
represents a fourth and phylogenetically most recent system peculiar to
our species.) According to his model, MacLean sees us as possessing three
brains in one, rather than conceiving of the brain as a unity (see Fig. 1).
Each has a diferent phylogenetic history, each has its own distinctive
organization and make-up, although they are interlinked by millions of

interconnections, and each has its own special intelligence, its own sense
of time and space, and its own motor functions (MacLean 1976). MacLean
postulates that the brain evolved in three stages, producing parts of the
brain which are still actively with us though modifed and inter
communicating.
The frst to evolve is the reptilian brain. This is the brain stem, an upward
growth of the spinal cord and the most primtive part of the brain, which
we share with a vertebrate creatures and which has remained remarkably
unchanged throughout the myriads of years of evolution. In lizards and
birds this brain is the dominant and controlling circuitry. It contains nuclei
which control processes vital to the sustenance of life (i.e., the car
diovascular and respiratory systems). Whereas we can continue to exist
without large portions of our cerebral hemspheres, without our reptilian
brain we would be dead! What MacLean did was to show that this "struc-
MCMAMMALIAM
!_. 1. MacLcan's thrccbrains[a|tcrMacLcan I 73).
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE 2
ture" or "level," as some term the reptilian brain, whether in reptiles, birds,
or mammals, is not only concerned with control of movement, but also
with the storage and control of what is called "instinctive behavior" -the
fixed action patterns and innate releasing mechanisms so often written
about by the ethologists, the genetically preprogrammed perceptual
motor sequences such as emotional displays, territorial defense behaviors,
and nest-building. According to ]. Brown, reptilian consciousness at the
sensory-motor level is centered on the body itself and not diferentiated
from external space; yet it constitutes, I suppose, a preliminary form of
consciousness. The reptilian brain also has nuclei which control the
reticular activating system, which is responsible for alertness and the
maintenance of consciousness. It is a regulator or integrator of behavior, a
kind of trafc control center for the brain. Reptiles and birds, in which the
corpus striatum seems to be the most highly developed part of the brain,
have behavioral repertoires consisting of stereotyped behaviors and
responses: a lizard turning sideways and displaying its dewlap as a theat,
or a bird repeating again and again the same territorial song. I am not
suggesting that mammals have no such behavior-clearly many have
much-but rather that birds and reptiles have little else.
MacLeans "second brain" is the one he calls the paleo-mammalian or
"old mammalian brain." This seems to have arisen with the evolution of
the earliest mammals, the monotremata, marsupials, and simpler placentals
such as rodents. It is made up of those subcortical structures known as the
midbrain, the most important components of which are the limbic system,
including the hypothalamus (which contains centers controlling homeo
static mechanisms associated with heat, thirst, satiety, sex, pain and plea
sure, and emotions of rage and fear), and the pituitary gland (which
controls and integrates the activities of all the endocrine glands in the
body). The old mammalian brain difers from the reptilian brain generally
in that it is, as the neuroanatomist James Papez defines it, "the stream q
felin," while the older "level" is the "stream q movement." The hypo
thalamic and pituitary systems are homeostatic mechanisms par excellence;
they maintain normal, internal stability in an organism by coordinating
the responses of the organ systems that compensate for environmental
changes. Later, we shall refer to such equilibrium-maintaining systems as
"trophotropic," literally "responding to the 'nourishing' (troph mainte
nancc of organiC' systems," "keeping them going," as opposed to the
"ergotropic" or aroused state of certain systems when they do "work"
(er,Ron), "put themselves out," so to speak These trophotropic systems, in
Stevens' s words,
not on|y maintain a critical and supremely sensitive control of hor
monc |cvc|s hormoncs, otcoursc, being substanccs tormcd in somc
organ o|thc body, usua||y a g|and, and carricd by a body uid to
z] PART I I I : THE BRAIN
another organ or tissue, where it has a specific efect] , but also balance
hunger against satiation, sexual desire against gratification, thirst
against fuid retention, sleep against wakefulness. By this evolution
ary stage, the primitive mammalian, the major emotions, fear and
anger, have emerged, together with their associated behavioral
responses of fight or fight. Conscious awareness is more in evidence
and behavior is less rigidly determined by instincts, though these are
still very much apparent. The areas concerned with these emotions
and behaviors lie in the limbic system, which includes the oldest and
most primitive part of the newly evolving cerebral cortex-the so
called palaeocortex . . . . In all mammals, including man, the midbrain is
a structure of the utmost complexity, controlling the psychophysical
economy and many basic responses and attitudes to the environment.
An animal deprived of its cerebral cortex can still find its way about,
feed itself slake its thirst, and avoid painful stimuli, but it has
difculty in attributing function or "meaning" to things: a natural
predator will be noticed, for example, but not apparently perceived as
a threat. Thus, accurate perception and the attribution of meaning
evidently requires the presence of the cerebral hemispheres (Stevens
1982:264 -65).
The neo-mammalian or "new mammalian' brain, the third in MacLeans
model, corresponds to "the stream of thought' proposed by Papez and
achieves its culmination in the complex mental functions of the human
brain. Structurally, it is the neocortex-the outer layer of brain tissue or that
part of the cerebrum which is rich in nerve-cell bodies and synapses.
Some estimate there to be 10,000 million cells. Functionally, it is responsi
ble for cognition and sophisticated perceptual processes as opposed to
instinctive and afective behavior.
Further questions are triggered by MacLean's model of the triune
brain. For example, how does it fit with Freud's model of the id, ego, and
superego, with Carl Jung's model of the collective unconscious and arche
types, with nco-Darwinian theories of selection, and especially with
cross-cultural anthropological studies and historical studies in com
parative religion? One might further ask with Burhoe: to what extent is it
true that human feelings, hopes, and fears of what is most sacred are a
necessary ingredient in generating decisions and motivating their imple
mentation? This question is connected with the problem of whether it is
true that such information is necessarily filtered through the highly genet
ically programmed areas in the lower brain, the brain stem, and the limbic
systems. Further questions now arise. For example, if ritualization, as
discussed by Huxley, Lorenz, and other ethologists, has a biogenetic foun
dation, while meaning has a neocortical learned base, does this mean that
creative processes, those which generate new cultural knowledge, might
result from a coadaptation, perhaps in the ritual process itself of genetic
and cultural information? Wc also can ask whether the neocortex is the
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE z])
seat of programs largely structured by the culture through the transmis
sion of linguistic and other symbol systems to modify the expression of
genetic programs. How far, we might add, do these higher symbols,
including those of religion and ritual, derive their meaning and force for
action from their association with earlier established neural levels of ani
mal ritualization? I will discuss this later in connection with my field data
on Central African ritual symbols.
Hemispheric Lateraization
Before I examine some recent conjectures about the consequences for
the study of religion of a possible coadaptation of cultures and gene pools,
I should say something about the "lateralization' (the division into left and
right) of the cerebral hemispheres and the division of control functions
between the left and right hemispheres. The work of the surgeons P.
Vogel, J. Bogen, and their associates at the California Institute of Tech
nology in the early sixties, in surgically separating the left hemisphere
from the right hemisphere to control epilepsy by cutting the connections
between the two, particularly the inch-long, quarter-inch-thick bundle of
fbers called the corpus callosum, led to the devising of a number of tech
niques by R. W Sperry (who won a Nobel Prize in 1981), Michael
Gazzaniga, and others, which gained unambiguous evidence about the
roles assumed by each hemisphere in their patients (see Fig. 2). In 1979, an
important book appeared, edited and partly authored by Eugene d' Aquili,
Charles L Laughlin, and John McManus and entitled Te Spectrum q
Ritual: A Bioenetic Structural Analysis. In an excellent overview of the liter
ature on ritual trance from the neurophysiological perspective, Barbara
Lex summarizes the fndings of current research on hemispheric later
alization. She writes: "In most human beings, the left cerebral hemisphere
functions in the production of speech, as well as in linear, analytic thought,
and also assesses the duration of temporal units, processing information
sequentially. In contrast, the specializations of the right hemisphere com
prise spatial and tonal perception, recognition of patterns-including
those constituting emotion and other states in the internal mlieu-and
holistic, synthetic thought, but its linguistic capability is limited and the
te

poral capacity is belie

ed absent. Specifc acts involved complementary

shtfts between the functions of the two hemispheres" (Lex 1979:125).
Howard Gardner, following Gazzaniga, suggests that
a

bi
'
rth we arc all split-braineindividuals. This may be literally true,
smce the co

pu callo

um whtch
.
connect

the hemispheres appears to
be nonfuncttonal at btrth. Thus, H early hfe, each hemisphere appears
z]8 PART I I I : THE BRAIN
Left hemisphere
Right hemisphere
_ Corpus
callosum
Fig. 2. The corpus callosum seen from above after partial removal and
dissection of both cerebral hemispheres (from Stevens 1982).
to participate in all of learnng. It is only when, for some unknown
reason, the left side of the brain takes the lead in manipulating objects,
and the child begins to speak, that the first signs of asymmetry are
discernible. At this time the corpus callosum is gradually beginning to
function. For a number of years, learning of diverse sorts appears to
occur in both hemispheres, but there is a gradual shift of dominant
motor functions to the left hemisphere, while visual-spatial functioqs
art presumably migrating to the right. . . . The division of labor
grows increasingly marked, until, in the post-adolescent period, each
hemisphere becomes incapable of executing the activities that the
other hemisphere dominates, either because it no longer has access to
its early learning, or because early traces have begun to atrophy
through disuse (Gardner 1975:386).
D' Aquili and Laughlin hold that both hemispheres operate in solving
problems "via a mechanism of mutual inhibition controlled at the brain
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE z]p
stem level." The world "is approached by a rapid functional alternation of
each hemisphere. One is, as it were, fashed on, then turned of; the second
flashed on, then turned of The rhythm of this process and the predomi
nance of one side or the other may account for various cognitive styles
[one thinks of Pascal's contrast between '['esprit de geometrie' and '['esprit de
fnsse' ] , from the extremely analytic and scientifc to the extremely artistic
and synthetic" (d'Aquili and Laughlin 1979:174). These authors and Lex
then make an interesting attempt to link the dual functioning of the
hemispheres with W R. Hess's model of the dual functioning of what are
termed the ergotropic and trophotropic systems within the central ner
vous system, as a way of exploring and explaining phenomena reported in
the study of ritual behavior and meditative states (Hess 1925). Let me
explain these terms. As its derivation from the Greek ergon (work) sug
gests, ergotropic is related to any energy-expending process within the
nervous system. It consists not only of the sympathetic nervous system,
which governs arousal states and fight or flight responses, but also such
processes as increased heart rate, blood pressure, sweat secretion as well as
increased secretion of catabolic hormones, epinephrine (a hormone
secreted by the medulla of the adrenal gland, which stimulates the heart
and increases muscular strength and endurance), and other stimulators.
Generally speaking, the ergotropic system afects behavior in the direction
of arousal, heightened activity, and emotional responsiveness, suggest
ing such colloquialisms as "warming up" and "getting high." The
trophotropic system (trophi, in Greek, means nourishment-here the idea
is of system-sustaining) includes not only the parasympathetic nervous
system, which governs basic vegetative and homeostatic functions, but
also any central nervous system process that maintains the baseline sta
bility of the organism, for example, reduction in heart rate, blood pressure,
sweat secretion, pupillary constriction, as well as increased secretion of
insulin, estrogens, androgens, and so on. Briefly, the trophotropic system
makes for inactivity, drowsiness, sleep "cooling down," and trancelike
states (Gellhorn and Kiely 1972).
Developing the work of Hess, d' Aquili and Laughlin propose an
extended model, "according to which the minor or nondominant hemi
sphere [usually the right hemisphere] is identified with the trophotropic or
baseline energy state system, and the dominant or major hemisphere
[usually the left] that governs analytical verbal and causal thinking is
identifed with the ergotropic or energy-expending system" (d'Aquili and
Laughlin 1979:175). They present evidence which suggests that when
either the ergotropic or trophotropic system is hyperstimulated, there
results a ''spillover" into the opposite system after "three stages of tuning,"
often by "driving behaviors" employed to facilitate ritual trance. They also
usc the term "rebound" from one system to the other; they fnd that when
the
-
left hemisphere is - stimulated beyond a certain threshold, the right
zo PART I I I : THE BRAIN
hemisphere is also stimulated. In particular, they postulate that the rhyth
mic activity of ritual, aided by sonic, visual, photic, and other kinds of
"driving," may lead in time to simultaneous maximal stimulation of both
systems, causing ritual participants to experience what the authors call
"positive, inefable afect." They also use Freud's term "oceanic experi
ence," as well as "yogic ecstasy," also the Christian term unio mystica, an
experience of the union of those cognitively discriminated opposites, typ
ically generated by binary, digital left-hemispherical ratiocination. I sup
pose one might also use the Zen term satori (the integrating fash), and one
could add the Quakers' "inner light," Thomas Merton's "transcendental
consciousness," and the yogic samadhi (Mandell 1978:80).
D'Aquili and Laughlin believe that though the end point of simul
taneous strong discharge ofboth the ergotropic and trophotropic systems
is the same in meditation and ritual, the former begins by intensely stim
ulating the trophotropic system through techniques for reducing thought
and desire in order to maintain "an almost total baseline homeostatis"
(d' Aquili and Laughlin 1979:176). This results in "spillover" to the
ergotropic side, and eventually to strong excitation of both systems. Rit
ual, on the other hand, involves initial ergotropic excitation. The authors
have previously speculated that causal thinking arises from the reciprocal
interconnections of the inferior parietal lobule and the anterior convexity
of the frontal lobes, particularly on the dominant, usually left side, and is
an inescapable human propensity. They call this brain nexus "the causal
operator" and claim that it "grinds out the initial terminus or frst cause of
any strip of reality" ( d' Aquili and Laughlin 1979:170). Tey argue that
"gods, powers, spirits, personifed forces, or any other causative ingre
dients are automatically generated by the causal operator" ( d 'Aquili and
Laughlin 1979:170). Untoward events particularly cry out for a cause.
Hence "human beings have no choice but to construct myths to explain
their world," to orient themselves "in what often appears to be a
capricious universe." Cause-seeking is "inherent in the obligatory func
tioning of the neural structures." We are, indeed, back, via neurobiology it
would seem, to Aristotle's "frst cause that is uncaused" or "Prime Mover
unmoved"! We humans cannot do otherwise than postulate frst causes to
explain what we observe. They write, "since it is highly unlikely that
humankind will ever know the first cause of every strip of realty
observed, it is highly probable that humankind will always create gods,
powers, demons, or other entities as frst causes" (d'Aquili and Laughlin
1979:171).
Myths present problems to the verbal analytic consciousness. Claude
Levi-Strauss has made us familiar with some of these problems: life and
death, good and evil, mutability and an unchangeable "ground of being,"
the one and the many, freedom and necessity, and a few other perennial
"posers" (Levi-Strauss 1 963, 1 963, and 1 964). Myths attempt to expl ain
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE zI
away such logical contradictions, but puzzlement remains at the cognitive
left-hemispherical level. D'Aquili and Laughlin argue that ritual is often
performed situationally to resolve problems posed by myth to the analytic
verbalizing consciousness. This is because like all other animals, man
attempts to master the environmental situation by means of motor behav
ior, in this case ritual, a mode going back into his phylogenetic past and
involving repetitive motor, visual, and auditory driving stimuli, kinetic
rhythms, repeated prayers, mantras, and chanting, which strongly activate
the ergotropic system (d'Aquili and Laughlin 1979:177). Ergotropic excit
ation is appropriate because the problem is presented in the "mythical"
analytical mode, which involves binary thinking, mediations, and causal
chains arranging both concepts and percepts in terms of antinomies or
polar dyads. These are mainly left-hemispheric properties and connect up,
in the authors' view, with the augmented sympathetic discharges men
tioned earlier: increased heart rate, blood pressure, sweat secretion, pupil
ary dilation, increased secretion of catabolic hormones, and so on. If excit
ation continues long enough the trophotropic system is triggered too, with
mixed discharges from both sides, resulting often in ritual trance. Lex
writes that "driving techniques [also] facilitate right-hemisphere domi
nance, resulting in gestalt, timeless, nonverbal experiences, diferentiated
and unique when compared with left-hemisphere functioning or hemi
sphere alternation" (Lex 1979:125). One solution, if it can so be termed, of
the Sphinxian riddles posed by myth, according to d' Aquili and Laughlin,
is that "during certain ritual and meditation states, logical paradoxes or the
awareness of polar opposites as presented in myth appear simultaneously,
both as antinomies and as unifed wholes" (italics added; d' Aquili and
Laughlin 1979:177). There is an ecstatic state and a sense of union, brief in
ritual, prolonged in meditation, where culturally transmitted techniques
and intense personal discipline sustain the peak experience. One is aware
of paradox, but rejoices in it, reminding one of Soren Kierkegaard' s joyous
celebration of the paradox of the cross as the heart of Christianity.
The problem therefore is resolved in d' Aquili and Laughlin's view not
at the cognitive, left-hemispheric level but directly by an experience
which is described by the authors as inefable, that is, literally beyond
verbal expression. Presumably the frequent embodiment or embedment
of the myth in the ritual scenario, either verbally in prayer or song, or
nonverbally in dramatic action or visual symbolism, continues to arouse
within the ritual context the "cognitive ergotropic functions of the domi
nant hemisphere" (d' Aquili and Laughlin 1979:177). If the experiences of
participants have been rewarding-and ritual devices and symbolic
actions may well tunc a wide range of variant somatic, mental, and emo
tional propensities in a wide range of individuals (amounting to the well
known redundancy of ritual with its many sensory codes and multivocal
symbols)-faith in the -cosmic and moral orders contin0d in the myth
zz PART I I I : THE BRAIN
cycle will obviously be reinforced. A. J. Mandell argues in "Toward a
Psychobiology of Transcendence" that "transcendent consciousness, sug
gested by William James to be the primary religious experience, is a
neurochemically and neurophysiologically defnable state, an imperturba
ble hypomania . . . . blissful, empathic, and creative" (Mandell 1978:1).
Play
It is clear that all this refers to the serious work of the brain, as distinct
from "play." Full ergotropic, left-lemisphere behavior tends to be dra
matic, agonistic behavior. I am not too happy about some authors' ten
dency to localize mental functions somewhat specifcally in cortical
regions rather than in interrelational networks, but there does seem to be,
broadly speaking, something in the division of labor between the hemi
spheres, in the diferent work they do. The term "ergotropic," as we have
seen, is derived from the Greek ergon, "work" and tropos, "a turn, way,
manner." It represents the autonomic nervous system in the mode of work,
as a sympathetic subsystem, whereas the trophotropic system (from the
Greek trophe "food, nourishment'') represents the autonomic nervous sys
tem in the mode of sustentation, as a parasympathetic subsystem responsi
ble for producing a balance of functions and of chemical composition
within an organism. This, too, is a kind of difused work, less focused and
mobilized, less intense than the ergotropic functions. But where does
"play" play a part in this model? One seldom sees much mention of play in
connection with brain neurophysiology. Yet play, as we have seen in the
previous essay, is a kind of dialectical dancing partner of ritual and eth
ologists give play behavior equal weight with ritualization. D'Aquili and
Laughlin hardly mention the word.
The hemispheres clearly have their work to do, and the autonomic
nervous system has its work to do. The one makes for social dramas, the
other for social routines. Whether normally functioning or intensely stim
ulated, the components of the central nervous system seem to have clearly
assigned, responsible, interdependent roles to perform. One might specu
late that at the neurobiological level play might have something to do with
the sensitization of neural structures of an interface type, like the limbic
system at the core of the brain, which is known to be intimately associated
with the expression of emotion, particularly with the experience of plea
sure, pain, and anger. We will return to this later.
As I see it, play does not ft in anywhere particular; it is a transient and
is recalcitFant to localization, to placement, to fxation...a joker in the
neuroanthropological act. Johann Huizinga, and Karl Groos before him,
dubbed it a free activity, but Huizinga, Roger Caillois, and many after-
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE z
wards have commented on the enclosure of playing within frames of
"arbitrary, imperative, and purposely tedious conventions" (Caillois
1977:189). Playfulness is a volatile, sometimes dangerously explosive
essence, which cultural institutions seek to bottle or contain in the vials of
games of competition, chance, and strength, in modes of simulation such
as theater, and in controlled disorientation, from roller coasters to dervish
dancing-Caillois' "ilinx" or vertigo. Play could be termed dangerous
because it may subvert the left-right hemispheric regular switching
involved in maintaining social order. Most defnitions of play involve
notions of disengagement, of free-wheeling, of being out of mesh with
the serious, "bread-and-butter," let alone "life-and-death," processes of
production, social control, "getting and spending," and raising the next
generation. The neuronic energies of play, as it were, lightly skim over the
cerebral cortices, sampling rather than partaking of the capacities and
functions of the various areas of the brain. As Don Handelman and
Gregory Bateson have written that is possibly why play can provide a
metalanguage (since to be "meta" is to be both beyond and between) and
emit metamessages about so many and varied human propensities, and
thus provide, as Handelman has said, "a very wide rae of commentary
on the social order" (Handelman 1977:189). Play can be everywhere and
nowhere, imitate anything, yet be identifed with nothing. Play is "tran
scendent" (to use Edward Norbeck's term), though only just so, brushing
the surfaces of more specialized neural organizations rather than existing
apart from them or looking down from a godlike height on them. Play is
the supreme bricoleur of frail transient constructions, like a caddis worm's
case or a magpie's nest in nature. Its metamessages are composed of a
potpourri of apparently incongruous elements: products of both hemi
spheres are juxtaposed and intermingled. Passages of seemingly wholly
rational thought jostle in a Joycean or surrealist manner with passages
flleted of all syntactical connectedness. Yet, although "spinning loose" as it
were, the wheel of play reveals to us (as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has
argued [Csikszentmihalyi:1975]) the possibility of changing our goals
and, therefore, the restructuring of what our culture states to be reality.
You may have guessed that play is, for me, a liminal or liminoid mode,
essentially interstitial, betwixt-and-between all standard taxonomic
nodes, essentially "elusive'' -a term derived from the Latin ex for "away"
plus ludere, "to play"; hence the Latin verb eludere acquired the sense of"to
take away from someone at play," thus "to cheat'' or "to deceive." As such
play cannot be pinned down by formulations of left-hemisphere think
ing-such as we all must use in keeping with the rhetorical conventions of
academic discourse. g_ ;t__|, on n.r ft!i.9Q, nq s it
. !l 'rely vegetative, nor is it just "having fun"; it also has a good deal o
(
crgotropic and agonistic aggrcssivity in its odd-jobbing, bricol(e style. As
z| PART I I I : THE BRAIN
Roger Abrahams has remarked, it makes fun of people, things, ideas,
ideologies, institutions, and structures; it is partly a mocker as well as a
mimic and a tease, arousing hope, desire, or curiosity without always
giving satisfaction (Abrahams:pers. comm.). It is as much a refexive inter
rupter as an inciter of what Csikszentmihalyi has described as fow states.
Like many Trickster fgures in myths (or should these be "antimyths," if
myths are domnantly left-hemisphere speculations about causality?) play
can deceive, betray, beguile, delude (another derivation ofludere "to play"),
dupe, hoodwink, bamboozle, and gull-as that category of players known
as "cardsharps" well know! Actually, Walter Skeat derives the English verb
. "play" itself from the Anglo-Saxon pleian, "to strike or clap"; the Anglo
Saxon noun plea means not only "a game, sport," but also, commonly, "a
fght, battle" (here again with ergotropic implications).
Play, as stated earlier, draws its materials from all aspects of experi
ence, both from the interior milieu and the external environment. Yet, as
Handelman writes, it has no instrumental potency; it is, we might put it, a
"shadow warrior," or Kagemusha; (see Akira Kurasawa's flm, Kagemusha) .
For this very reason, its range of metacommunication is great; nothing
human escapes it. Still, in its own oxymoronic style it has a dangerous
harmessness, for it has no fear. Its lightness and feetingness protect it. It
has the powers of the weak, an infantine audacity in the face of the strong.
To ban play is, in fact, to massacre the innocents. If man is a neotenic
species, play is perhaps his most appropriate mode of performance.
More than that, it is clear, as Konner points out, play is educative. The
most intelligent and long-lived mammals have developed it most fully
the primates, the cetacea, and the terrestrial and aquatic carnivores. "It
serves the functions of exercise, of learning about the environment and
conspecifcs, and, in some species, of sharpening or even acquiring funda
mental subsistence and social skills." Opportunity for observation of a
task in the frame of"play" while or before trying to do it has been "shown
to improve the rate oflearning it in a number of mammals in experimental
settings" (Konner 1982:246 -47). Play, then, is probably related to the
higher cerebral centers-not forgetting its connection also with arousal
and pleasure-particularly in rough and tumble games, where the limbic
system is clearly engaged. Yet serious violence is usually controlled objec
tively and culturally by rules and subjectively by inhibitory mechans,s
of perhaps a diferent type from the Freudian superego or ego-defense
mechanisms, although perhaps play does defend consciousness from some
of the more dangerous unconscious drives.
Finally, play, like other liminal phenomena, is in the subjunctive
mood. What does this mean? The subjunctive desig
n
ates a verb form or set
of forms used in English to express a contingent or hypothetical action. A
contingent action is one that may occur but that is not likely or intended.
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE z]
Subjunctivity is possibility. It refers to what may or might be. It is also
concerned with supposition, conjecture, and assumption, with the domain
of "as-if" rather than "as-is." (Hence, there must be a good deal of left
hemispheric activity in play, linguistic, and conceptual activity, but done
for its own sweet sake.) ''s-is" refers to the world of what culture recog
nizes as factuality, the world of cause and efect, expressed in the "in
dicative mood" -which indicates that the denoted act or condition is an
objective fact. This is par excellence the world of the left cerebral hemisphere.
The world of the right hemisphere is, nevertheless, not identical with the
world of play either, for its gestalt grasp of things holds for it in the sense
of a higher reality, beyond speculation or supposition. Play is a light
winged, light-fngered skeptic, a Puck between the day world ofTheseus
and the night world of Oberon, putting into question the cherished
assumptions of both hemispheres, both worlds. There is no sanctity in
play; it is irreverent and is protected in the world of power struggles by its
apparent irrelevance and clown's garb. It is almost as though the limbic
system were itself endowed with higher intelligence, in a kind of car
nivalesque reversal of the indicative situation.
However, since play deals with the whole gamut of experience both
contemporary and stored in culture, it can be said perhaps to play a similar
role in the social construction of reality as mutation and variation in
organc evolution. Its fickering knowledge of all experience possible to
the nervous system and its detachment from that system's localizations
enables it to perform the liminal function ofludic recombination of famil
iar elements in unfamiliar and often quite arbitrary patterns. Yet it may
happen that a light, play-begotten pattern for living or social structuring,
once thought whimsical, under conditions of extreme social change may
prove an adaptive, "indicative mood" design for living. Here early theories
that play arises from excess energy have renewed relevance. Part of that
surplus fabricates ludic critiques of presentness, of the status quo, under
mning it by parody, satire, irony, slapstick; part of it subverts past legit
imacies and structures; part of it is mortgaged to the future in the form of
a store of possible cultural and social structures, ranging from the bizarre
and ludicrous to the utopian and idealistic, one of which may root in a
future reality, allowing the serious dialectic of left- and right-hemi
spherical functions to propel individuals and groups of individuals from
earth to heaven and heaven to earth within a new indicative mood frame.
But it was the slippery Trickster who enabled them to do it, and he/she
modestly, in Jacques Derrida's ludic words, "erases the trace."
The experiments of James Olds and Peter Milner, at the California
Institute of Technology from 1953 onwards, on stimulating by implanted
electrodes the hypothalamus of the brains of rats, including the parts
radiating from the hypothalamus like spokes (neural pathways to the
z PART III : THE BRAIN
oIfactory and Iimbic systems, the setaI areas, amygdaIa, etc.), seemto
have abearing on the Ieasures ofIay, butI have notfoIIoweduthis
avenueofinquiry(OIds 1976).
Further Questions on the Brain:
Religion, Archetypes, and Dreaming
Byindirectionsweseekoutdirections.ThisIongdigressiononhemi-
shericaI IateraIization,Iay, andcuIturaIsubjunctivitybringsmebackto
some ofBurhoe's questions that have been vexing me. How does this
ictureofbrainfunctionngandofthecentraInervoussystemaccordwith
distinctive features ofthe varied reIigious systems that have survived to
this ointin time and exerted aradigmaticinuence onmajor societies
and cuItures? Here we couId rohtabIy comare Eastern and Western
reIigions and theirvariations. Can somebedescribed as emhasizing in
their cosmoIogies, theoIogies, rituaIs, meditativetechniques, iIgrimages,
and so on, right-hemshericaI roerties or Ieft-hemshericaI dom-
nance?DosomeemhasizerituaIswhiIeothersstressmodesofmeditation
andcontemIationastheir centraIrocessesofworshi?Againhowdoes
thisictureht withdescritions ofthevarieties ofreIigiousexerience
thathavebeennotedbyWiIIiam]amesandhis successors?WouIditbea
fruitfuIenterriseto fosterexerimentaIworkonthevariedgeneticand
exerientiaI structurings ofhuman brains which might throw Iight on
asects ofreIigious exerience andmotivation?We wiIItake abriefIook
Iaterinthsessayatsomeinteresungguessworkby]ungiansinreIationto
thisrobIem. ConverseIy, canweiIIuminate,throughcross-cuIturaIcom-
arison, the caacity ofcuIturaIIy shaed systems ofrituaI, symboIs,
myths,andrationaIstructurestoroduceviabIetyesofreIigiousexeri-
ence in the geneticaIIy varied ouIation ofbrains? Here much more
detaiIed descritive work in the study ofdiEerent kinds ofrituaI in a
singIereIigioussystem,asweIIascrosscuIturaIandtranshistoricaIstudies
ofrituaIsystemsisimerative.Somanyquestions,sofewanswers.Butwe
canonIydofruitfuIresearchifwehrstasktherightquestions.
MaturaIIy, the hndings ofneurohysioIogists have rovoked many
secuIations from members ofother disciIines not directIy concerned
with the brain and its workings. The notion ofthe triune brain ro-
oundedbyMacLean,forinstance,hasencouraged]ungiansychoIogists
tocIaimthataneuroIogicaIbasishasbeenfoundforthecoIIcctiveuncon-
scious and its archetyes. One ]ungian, Anthony Stevens, has been
imressed by the work ofP. FIor-Henry and ofG. E. Schwartz, R. ].
Davidson,andF Maer(FIor-Henry 1976; Schwartz,Davidson,andMaer
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE z)
1975). The Iatter showed that humanemotionaIresonsesaredeendent
onneuronaIathwaysIinkingtheIimbicsystemofthemidbrain(the oId
mammaIianbrain)witharietaIandfrontaIareasoftherighthemshere.
FIor-Henry found that this whoIe comIicated right-hemisheric/Iimbic
aEectionaIsystemisunderthesurveiIIanceandcontroIoftheIeft,Ireeat,
ofthe le frontaIcortex.This Iends additionaItestimony to theviewthat
the Iefthemishere (via the corus caIIosum or the Iarge cabIe ofnerve
hberswhichconnectthetwo cerebraIhemsheres, functioningto trans-
mit information between the hemisheres and to coordinate their
activities) can reress or inhibit the activities, eseciaIIy the emotionaIIy
tonedactivities (whicharethevitaIconcernofsychiatrists), oftheright.
Inmy discussion ofthe ossibIe neuronaIbaseofIay, you wiII recaII, I
guessedat aconnectionbetweenthemidbrainandhumanuerbrain. If
FIor-Henry is correct in suosing a Ieft-hemishere inhibiting eEect,
mghtnottheroensitytoIayresuItfromatemoraryreIaxationofthe
inhbitory eEect, erhas through the focusedcuIturaImeans offramng
andarousaI?
AIIthisIeads Stevensto secuIateratherinterestingIyabout thereIa-
tionshi ofvarious sychicaI rocesses recognized by deth sychoIogy
towhatisknownabouttheneurohysioIogyofthebrain.HisviewsaIso
bear on the quesuons I have been raising about the ossibIe nature of
reIigion as at once a suergenetic and a suerindividuaI agency deveI-
oed fromthe coadatation or integration oftwo semiautonomous sys-
tems. These are, in Burhoe's terms, hrst, basic genetic information and
its bioIogicaI exression, articuIarIy in the Iower IeveIs ofthe brain,
whose genetic rograms are not sovery diEerent from those in roto-
human homnids, and, second, the secihcaIIy human generation ofa
Iiving sociocuIturaIsystemwheretheIearningowersoftheuerbrain
radicaIIy modify the commonhuman gene ooI, resuItinginenormous
cuIturaIandhenoticaIvariation, thatis, variationinmanifest charac-
teristics. Sve "VhiIe it may weIIIe that sychic rocesses
beIpngng.mI) pp::I'Feconscious roceed in the right
heinsI:cre, it seems r

habIethat

rt n g,,3;
4})
s
}
t(,ift
@ g? IaI iatin a a
name,uust havc thHr onaI substrateIocaed

inthe phyIogeneticaIIy
muchoIderartsofthebrain"(Stevens1982:265 -66).
, .

i
''
t

rmi
''
oIog
F
(according to tevnss dehnition) are innate n::rchic
yossessing thc caacity to initiate, controI, and mediate the common
bchavioraI characteristics and tyicaI exjeriences ofaII human beins
i rrcsectiveofcuIturaIdierences' (Stevens 1982:296). ]unghimseI(who
rcjccted thc view that humankind was a bIank sIate or a tabula rasa on
z8 PART I I I : THE BRAIN
whichexeriencewasrenataIIy (thatis,exeriencebeginsinthewomb,
andcommunicationbetweenMotherand chiIdcorreIateswiththedeveI-
omentofneuronaIathwaysinthefetaIbrain [seeTreuarthanI947])and
ostnataIIy inscribed, heId that our secies is born with numerous re-
disositionsforerceiving,feeIing,behaving,andconcetuaIizinginar-
ticuIarways.Asheutit.
|@ |p=nexetience,norwouIdexeriencebeossibIeataII
withouttheinterventionofasubjectiveatitude. Whatisthis subjec-
tive atitude?tyjqIss pf Inntc.psy,cc.strU
vich aIIows man tohaveexerIences ofthiskinq. Thusthe whoIe
nature ofthe human maIe resuoses woman, both hysicaIIy and
sirituaIIy. Hissystemistunedintowomanfromthestart,justasitis
rearedforaquitede6niteworIdwherethereiswater,Iight, air, saIt,
carbohydrates, etc. The form ofthe worId into which he is born is
aIready inborn in him as a virtuaI image. Likewise arents, wife,
chiIdren, birth, and death

are inborn in him as virtuaI images, as

sychicatitudes.Thesea priori categorieshavebynatureacoIIective
character, they are images ofarents, wife, and chiIdren in generaI,
andarenotindividuaIredestinations. [Thisiserhas]ung'scIearest
formuIation ofwhat he means by archetyes.] We must therefore
think ofthesc imagsas Iacking in soIid content, hence as uncon-
scious. They onIy acquire soIidity, inuence, and eventuaI con-
sciousness in the encounter with emiricaI facts which touch the
unconscious atitude and quickenitto Iife. They are, in a sense, the
deositsofaIIourancestraIexeriences, but theyarenot the exeri-
encesthemseIves"QungI972.ara.3OO).
!
t
!9!Y
e

s
|
ectiveI
) in such tIng}[, dr-,

w ipoetry,ttirigand_

ctiveIyin suchcoIIeiy ;ere-

sentations as myths, rituaIs, and cuIturaI symboIs~and in many other
m

od

aIities.
]

_ |,, _ (
t
!
e

!
e, teFe

ninearche
}Y _
p

theGod

cetye, theHero rchetye,tIeMothcrarchetye, theMas-

cuIine archete, the Wise Id Man archetye, using caitaI Ietters to
distinguisI: t erii from the identicaIIy named roIes occuied by actuaI,
historicaIindividuaIs.
Stevens thinks it isimossibIetoIocateanyofthe archetyes inany
reciseneuroIogicaIfashion. Eachmusthave anextremeIy comIexand
wideIyramifyingneuroIogicaIsubstrateinvoIvingmiIIionsofneuronesin
thebrain stemand Iimbic system (the instinctive or bioIogicaI oIe)and
both cerebraI hemisheres (the sychic or sirituaI oIe)" (Stevens
I982.266).Qq wy__s|]ugianpsychoIogist, 'rgucsthatit
is the right hemishere i}principaIIyprocesses archetypa compo-
nents, since, |ung's concets ofarchetye, coIIective unconscious, and
s,mnI are more cIoseIy associated with the use ofthe imagery, gestaIt,
andvisuosatiaIcharacteristicsofrighthemisheric|unctioning"(Stcvcns
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE zp
I982.266).RossiaIsoinsiststhat, aIthough the archetyeisanimrintor
attern~erhas atrace"~whichexistsindeendentIy ofthe conscious
ego,itconstantIy comesunderIefthemishericrocessingintheformof
words, concets, andIanguage.Butwhenthishaensthearchetyes,he
writes, taketheircoIorfromtheindividuaIconsciousnessinwhichthey
haento aear" (Stevens I982.266). Thusthey are, soto seak, suer-
6ciaIIy denatured and cIothed in the vestments rovided by individuaI
memoryandcuIturaIconditioning.
Itisbecause ofthe dimcuIty oftransIating right-hemishericaIroc-
esses into the IogicaI, verbaI formuIations ofthe Ieft brain that some
emIssions into ego consciousness ofarchetyaI images are erceived as
numinous, awesomeandmysterious, oruncanny, reternaturaIIy strange.
TheyseemtobecIadinrimordiaIauthority undeterminedby anything
known or Iearned. Henry and Stehens consider that bothhemsheres
are abIeto suress communicationfrom the Iimbic system (Henry and
Stehens I977).We haveseenhowtheIefthemisheremayinhibitcom-
municationfromtheright.HenryandStehensbeIievethatsychicheaIth
and ersonaIity integration deend as much onthe maintenance ofoen
communicationbetweenIimbicsystemandcortexasoninterhemisheric
communication. They suggest that the neurohysioIogicaI function of
dreaming is to faciIitateintegration ofrocessesoccurringintheIimbic
system with those ofthe cerebraI hemishere. This wouId 6tweII with
]ung's views as weII as with the French sIee exert MicheI ]ouvet's
6ndingsthattheIowvoItage,highfrequencyEEGwavescharacteristicof
dreamingsIeeoriginateinthebrainstemandsreaduwardthroughthe
midbraintothecortex~erhasbringinginformationfromvarious Iev-
eIsoftheunconscious_ouvet I975).Perhas dreamsketherituaIsym-
boIs I have anaIyze|, are Iamnated, cctig mic Iayers, as they
move from brain stem through Iimbic system to the right hemishere
beforehnaIrocessingoreditingbyIeft-hemishericrocesses.
Te Composite Brain
and the Bipolar Symbol
Thesehndings are interesting when reIated to my heIdwork among
theMdembu, amatriIineaIsocietyofnorthwestZambia,duringtheI95Os.
IdiscoveredthatwhatIcaIIeddomnantorivotaIsymboIsintheirrituaI
processeswerenotonIyossessorsofmuItiIemeaningsbutaIsohadthe
rocrtyofoIarization.ForexamIe,atreewhichexudedamiIkywhite
IatcxwasthcdominantsymboIofthe girIs' ubertyrituaI(thenovicewas
|aidundcr aconsccratcd "mi|ktrcc" and wracdin abIankct, whcrc shc
.

2]O ' PART I I I : THE BRAIN

had to lie motionless throughout a whole long day while initiated women
danced around her and the tree). The whole milk tree site, almost mise-en
scene was called iwilu, which means "place-of-dying," for it was there that
she died from her childhood. At this point she was separated from her own
mother, who took a minimal part in the ritual. But the milk tree (mudyi)
was intimately connected with motherhood. I pieced together its many
meanings from talking to many informants during many performances at
which my wife and I were present, and have written about this research in
several books, including Te Frest c Symbols and Te Drums c Afiction
(Turner 1967 and 1968). Briefy, the milk tree was said to "be'' (more than
merely to "represent') mother's milk, lactation, breasts, and nubility, at
what could be called the physiological or orectic pole of its meaning.
"Orectic" is a term used by philosophers, and was formerly quite popular
among psychologists, meaning "of or characterized by appetite or desire."
But the milk tree also "was" the matrilineage of the girl novice; it was
where "the ancestress slept, where they initiated her and another
ancestress and then another down to the grandmother and the mother and
ourselves the children. It is a place where our tribe (muchidi) began-and
also the men in just the same way" (urner 1968). Thus it was more than a
particular matrilineage; it was the principle of matriliny itsel It was even
the whole Ndembu nation, one of whose distinctive features was its
matrilineal organization. At some episodes of the long complex ritual, the
milk tree was also said to stand for women and for womanhood. Another
meaning, indexical rather than iconic, represented the milk tree as the
relationship between the novice and her own mother in that place and at
that time. It indicated that the relationship would be transformed by the
performative action, since the daughter was no longer a dependent child
but would become, like her mother, a married woman after the ritual
seclusion and the coming-out rites were over and was potentially a
mother hersel I called this more abstract set of meanings the normative
or ideological pole, since it referred to principles of social organization,
social categories, and values.
Te milk tree also has other denotations and connotations, but it has
struck me recently that these layers of meaning might well relate to what
is being discovered about the functions of the brain. The orectic pole,
referring to physical mothering and lactation, and charged with desire
the novice's desire to be fully a woman, the desire of the mature women to
add a recruit to their number, the desire of a lineage for replenishment, the
future bridegroom's desire for the novice (represented by the insertion of
an arrow presented by the bridegroom into the ground among the roots of
the milk tree) and many other modalities of desire-the orectic pole, then,
surely has some connection with the functions of the limbic system, the
old mammalian brain. This system MacLean calls the visceral brain
because of its close connections to control centers for drive and emotion.
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE ' 2]I
Structures in the limbic system are believed to be the sites of action of
many psychotropic drugs, including antipsychotic tranquilizers (e.g., thor
azine) and hallucinogens (e.g., LSD). In the ritual itself with its powerful
drumming and insurgent singing in which the women lampoon and
deride th
e
men, we observe ways of arousing the ergotropic system and
the left-hemispheric functions of critical linear thought. We can also see a
triggering of the right-hemispheric apprehensions of pattern and holism
by fnally including the men in the ritual action and making them part of a
scenario in which the novice is borne of to a newly made seclusion hut on
the margin of the village, where she will undergo liminal instruction by
female elders for many months, before "coming out' in a ritual which is
also the precursor ofher marriage.
Clearly, too, the normative pole of meaning including the references
to matriliny, womanhood, tribal unity and continuity, and the mother
child bond, has connections with upper brain activities involving both
hemispheres. One might speculate that the Jungian archetype of the Great
Mother and the difculty, resolved among the Ndembu by prolonged and
sometimes painful initiation ritual, of separation from the archetypal
power of the Great Mother are in some way connected with the milk tree
symbolism and with the ritual behavior associated with it. It is interesting
to me that a dominant symbol-every ritual system has several of them
should replicate in its structural and semantic make-up what are coming
to be seen as key neurological features of the brain and central nervous
system.
Concusion
Does the new work on the brain further our species' self-understand
ing? Clearly an extreme ethological view of human society as rigidly
genetically determined is as uninformative as an extreme behaviorist view
of the human brain as a tabula rasa written on by experience. According to
the extreme ecologists, we are "innately aggressive, acquisitive, national
istic, capitalistic, and destructive" (Rose 1976:351). Some of them announce
our doom by overcrowding or urge the space race as a means of channel
ling aggressiveness. Some even give veiled approval to limited war or
natural population control by drought, famine, or plague, as the means of
securing ecological balance. While B. F Skinner would modify and adapt
us by environmental manipulation, reminding me irresistibly of H. G.
Wells's Frst Men on the Moon in which the Selenites (the original Moonies),
an insect species, were quite literally shaped by biological and psychologi
cal techniques to perform the labor appropriate to their caste, some ethol
ogists wou|drgue that ourgenetics tbmn us, despite ouri ntelligence and
2}2 PART III: THE BRAIN
will to survive. Regnarkr, not Walden II, will be the end of history.
Hence the vogue for doom talk about such inevitabilities as ecocide,
population explosion, and innate aggressiveness. Surely, a middle path is
possible. Cannot we see those modalities of human perception and con
ceptualization, te lower brain and the upper brain, the archaic and recent
systems of innervation as having been for at least several millions of years
in active mutual confrontation?
It seems to me that religion may be partly the product ofhumanity's
intuitions of its dual interiority and the fruitful creative Spirit generated
by the interplay of the gene pool, as the Ancient of Days, and the upper
brain, as Logos, to use the intuitive language of one historical religion,
Christianity. The Fuioque principle (the Spirit proceeding from the Fater
an the Son), Western Christians might say! Since culture is in one sense,
to paraphrase Wilhelm Dilthey, objectivated and crystallized mentality
(Geist), it may well be that some cultures reinforce one or another semi
autonomous cerebral system at the expense of others through education
and other modes of conditioning. This results in conflict between them or
repression of one by anoter, instead of free interplay and mutual sup
port-what is sometimes called love.
As you can see, I have been asking questions and making guesses in
this paper rather than coming up with answers. My career focus mostly
has been on the ritual process, a cultural phenomenon, more than on brain
neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. But I am at least half convinced that
there can be genuine dialogue between neurology and culturology, since
both take into account the capacity of the upper brain for adaptability,
resilience, learning, and symbolizing, in ways perhaps neglected by the
ethologists pur Sat, who seem to stop short in teir thinking about ritu
alization at the more obviously genetically programmed behaviors of the
lower brain. It is to the dialectic, and even contradiction at times, between
the various semiautonomous systems of the developed and archaic struc
tures of innervation, particularly those of the human brain, that we should
look for the formulation of testable hypotheses about the ritual process
and its role as performing noetic functions in ways peculiar to itself, as a
sui generis mode of knowing.
Let me conclude by reassuring those who may have obtained the
impression that all I am saying is that ritual is nothing but the structure
and functionng of the brain writ large, or that I am reducing ritual to
cerebral neurology, that I am really speaking of a global population of
brains inhabiting an entire world of inanimate and animate entities, a |
population whose members are incessantly communicating with one
another through every physical and mental instrumentality. But if one
considers the geology, so to speak, of the human brain and nervous sys
tem, we see represented in its strata-each layer still vitally alive-11ot
BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE 2}
dead like stone, the numerous pasts and presents of our planet. Like %I
Whitman, we "embrace multitudes." And even our reptilian and pt
eomammalian brains are human, linked in infnitely complex ways to thr
conditionable upper brain and kindling it with their powers. Each of U8 r
a microcosm, related in the deepest ways to the whole life-history of thAt
lovely deep blue globe swirled over with the white whorls frst pho
tographed by Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong from their primitive
space chariot, the work nevertheless of many collaborating human brains.
The meaning of that living macrocosm may not only be found deep
within us but also played from one mind to another as history goes on
with ever fner tunng-by the most sensitive and eloquent instrument of
Gaea the Earth-spirit-the cerebral organ.
12
Te New Neurosociolog
n the course of writing these
essays, as you have seen, I fell under the spell of the recent exploding
research on brain neuroanatomy and neurophysiology and became inter
ested in their implications for the study of ritual. I will go on to discuss
theories and theorists of myth, to relate myth to ritual, and finally to link
both to that set of concepts I have developed over the years under the
general label of social drama. I am postulating that there are human uni
versals in brain and nervous system, that total neuronic apparatus so
sensitively responsive to the immediate situation we find ourselves in, so
ready to be inscribed with the engrams of growing experience, and yet in
its archaic parts and functions on such a short genetic leash, uniting and
opposing ethological ritualization and cultural ritual in a dance of circum
stance. Here !would go part of the way with the Gallo-structuralists such
as Levi-Strauss but deny what some would call their "left-hemispheric
imperialism," as we shall see. There are other brains within the brain than
the "dominant hemispheric." And I will also postulate, moving from neu
rology to culturology, that there are certain modes of human behavior,
social dramas, found in all historical periods and in all societies at a given
time, which are isolable, divisible into clearly marked phases, and can be
N
h
own to be the dynamic matrices, not only of ritual in the simpler
societies, but of theater in societies of greater scale and complexity, and
i ndeed of many other genres of cultural performance.
+7J
276 PART I I I : THE BRAIN
I dissented from Edmund Leach's definition of ritual as merely a
"communication code," or as merely "potent in itself in terms of the
cultural conventions of the actors but not potent in a rational-technical
sense." I took the view that "potency" may have much to do with the
subjective states of those involved in it, and there may be a great deal of
sense in those definitions which take into full account not only habits,
conventions, and rationality-though these are obviously important-but
also the willing, desiring, feeling, afect, and intentionality of those
engaged in ritual processes. I also mentioned E. d' Aquili and C. Laughlin's
suggestion that the linkage of certain areas in the parietal and frontal
regions of the left cerebral hemisphere, more specifcally the inferior par
ietal lobule, the anterior convexity of the frontal lobes and their reciprocal
connections, might be described as "the causal operator." What they are
saying, in efect, is that human beings are "programmed" or "wired" to
seek causes for any signifcant, more or less isolable "strip ofbehavior" or
sequence of events, be it in nature, culture, or the self, such as Aristotle's
Flrst Mover and Flrst Cause, and so forth. From this, they argue, arises the
"birth of the gods" and the postulation of invisible or supernatural causes,
God, deities, spirits, demons, witchcraft, or impersonal "power," to
account for efects whose physical causes at a given epoch cannot be
determined by rational or pragmatic or scientifc means. Societies generate
cosmogonic myths which state authoritatively how the known classifed
universe came into existence and what its frst and fnal causes are. As
d' Aquili and Laughlin (1972:161) put the matter: "Man has a drive,
[termed by Roy Rappoport, "the cognitive imperative"] to organize unex
plained external stimuli into some coherent cognitive matrix. This matrix
generally takes the form of myth in nonindustrial societies and a blend of
science and myth in western industrial societies." But myths sometimes
exose paradoxes without sufciently explaining them to anyone's rational
satisfaction.
The point I wish to make here is the rather simple one that rituals are
not, in general, simply the direct conversion of mythic narratives into
bodily action and dramatic dialogue, though these narratives may be in
gredients of a complex ritual process. Rituals, in a sense, oppose myths, in
those cultures where both cultural genres are well developed, for there are
cultures with both elaborately developed, others with much of one anq
little of the other, and others still with poor development of both. Rituals
oppose myths because they posit an existential solution to problems which
the left hemisphere, which is a substrate for much more than the causal
operator (for example, linguistic ability, conceptualization, the perception
of linear and temporal order, the perception of antinomies) fnds itself
intellectually unable to resolve. Here a distinction should, perhaps, be
drawn between the liturgies of the historical, universalizing religions, in
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY 277
their "high culture," "Great Tradition' modalities, and the rituals of nonin
dustrial, "folk" or "little tradition" religions. Liturgies, despite their literal
Greek meaning of "public services to the gods," from Ieos, laos, "people"
plus ergon, "work," have indeed tended to be the translation into modes of
symbolic action, if not of the myths, at any rate of the doctrines and
dogmas logically and hence left-hemispherically derived from creation
stories and foundation narratives of the deeds and words of founders,
prophets, disciples, and frst disseminators of major religions. Tey are
often elitist, literate constructions translated into what, from the view
point of religious leaders, may represent "appropriate" symbolic actions.
In other words, many liturgical actions lie under the sway of left-brain
"imperialism," as some perhaps over-enthusiastic converts to right-brain
"creativity" have called it. Not all liturgical actions, of course, may be so
characterized because the ritual process tends to "come up from below," in
the gestures, litanies, music, dramatic episodes, gospel singing, and chant
ings that perfuse and sometimes creatively undermine attempts to convert
doctrines into doings.
Yet myths, especially creation and origin myths, should not be consid
ered entirely as the products of left-hemispherical thinking, clothed in
right hemispherical imagery, the implicit position of the earlier struc
turalists. As all now know the great French anthropologist Claude Levi
Strauss opposes the notion, put forward in particular by Levy-Bruhl, but
shared to some extent by Max Muller, Ernst Cassirer, and Henri
Frankfort, that the human capacity for thinking has evolved from (even
replaced) a "prelogical" or "subjective," or as Levy-Bruhl would have said,
"primitive" mentality, to a rational, objective, modern one, grounded in
reality-testing and scientifc experiment. Levi-Strauss, and here I would
go along with him, argues, that primitives and civilises alike, think "natu
rally" in the same way. Universal human thought, pensee sauvage, thus
replaces the evolutionist doctrine of progress from mentalite primitive to
mentalit civilisee. The content of a culture's knowledge depends, of course,
on the degree of technological and scientifc development, but, so Levi
Strauss argues, the "savage" mental structure which can be disengaged
from the palpable integument of what often seem to us, in the West,
bizarre modes of symbolic representation-as in myth-is identical with
our own Western mental structure. As Leach once put it, the same digital
logic is responsible for Telstar, the communication satellites, and the cos
mogonic myths of the Australian aborigines. We share with primitive
humankind, Levi-Strauss holds, the same mental habits of thinking in
terms of binary discriminations or oppositions; like them, too, we have
rules governing the combination, segregation, mediation, and transforma
tion of relationships and ideas. Thus we can fnd in the myths of Aus
tralian aborigines or ancient Sumcrians the same types ofbinary thinking
' l

278 PART I I I : THE BRAIN
and its mediation that underlie computer construction and programming.
The main diference between the paleo-Hegelian myth-making aborig
ine and the modern scientist, according to Levi-Strauss, is that uncon
scious process in the former is conscious in the latter, and is applied by the
scientist to diferent subject-matter, in his case to the material world. This
position prompted Paul Ricoeur to characterize Levi-Strauss's position as
"Kantanism without a transcendential subject." Others have spoken in
this connection of a "Kantian unconscious," that is, a "categorical, com
binatory unconscious." Ricoeur argues that, unlike Kant's notion of mind,
the structural unconscious is "a categorical system without reference to a
thinking subject." Perhaps the subject is, as Leach has suggested, a gener
alized esprit humaine. Yet, in a sense, both Levy-Bruhl and Levi-Strauss are
correct. Here we may revert once more to work on the neuroanatomy of
the brain. Ever since Sperry did his Nobel Prize-winning research on
commissurotomy, the split-brain operation which severs all direct connec
tions between the two hemispheres of the forebrain, as pointed out in an
earlier essay, there has been a growing food of research on the functions
of the left and right cerebral hemispheres, and, indeed, on the relationship
between components of the archaic brain (brain stem and limbic system)
and the developed human upper brain. Previous to this research, it was
thought that the right hemisphere was unspecialized and subordinated to
what was called the "dominant' left (in most right-handed and even in
about half ofleft-handed individuals). But, as Barbara Lex (1972:125) puts
it: ''mple evidence, carefully garnered from study of normal individuals,
as well as of patients in whom the cerebral hemispheres have been sur
gically disconnected by transection of the intermediary neural structures
(the corpus callosum and anterior commissure), documents the existence
of two distinct modes of thought. Bogen summarizes the impact of these
new fndings: 'Our present recognition is that the hemispheres are not as
much "major" or "minor" as that they are complementary, and that each
hemisphere is capable of thinking on its own, in its own way. ' " Many
tests have shown that while the left hemisphere is better at using language
and making logical deductions, the right hemisphere is better at perceptual
and construction tasks, such as map-reading, block design, and picture
comprehension. The right is also better at holistic or confgurational per
ception, such as one uses when recognizing a face (certain lesions in the
right hemisphere lead to the condition known as prosopagnosia, inability
to recognize faces, Greek prosopon), which may, however, merely be the
sign of a genetic difculty in making fine discriminations. The right can
synthesize fragmentary sensory information into complete percepts, rec
ognizable sensations received by the mind through the senses. The left
brain is much more adept at analyzing and breaking down information
into temporal sequences. Computers tend to be modeled almost
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY 279
exclusively on left hemispherical properties, it would seem. So far the
other brain regions have not been replicated. Can we anticipate a com
puter with a complex limbic system? The Russian neurophysiologist Luria
contrasted the left hemisphere's sequential processing with the simultaneous
perceptual processing of the right. Some researchers mark the diference
by calling those who operate under the dominant infuence of the left
brain "divergent'' thinkers-whose ranks would include those who stress
specifc details and how tings difer from one another-botanical tax
onomists, for example. There is some clinical evidence that the "obses
sional" or "compulsive" type of personality, nose down to detail, could be
associated with hypertrophy ofleft hemispheric activity. The right-hemi
spherically dominant types, to the contrary, tend to seek out universal
characteristics, common denominators, underlying the immense phe
nomenological richness of nature and culture. Obviously in normal
human beings both sides continuously collaborate, but these emphases are
in the long run palpable and visible in accurate biographies. Thinking is
thus not solely a function of the left-hemisphere, but is, to paraphrase L
H. Lawrence, "a brain in its wholeness wholly attending."
Musical appreciation, which calls on Gestalt perception rather than
logical analysis-except, notoriously in the case of musicologists-is
linked with the right hemisphere. There should be added here Arthur
Deikman's notion that the left is the "active" hemisphere, the right the
"receptive." The left "does," the right "is"; the former is energetic and
purposive, the latter "witnesses." There is clearly a danger here of falling
into the left hemisphere's own favorite trap of organizing the attributes of
the hemispheres in terms of binary opposites, pluses and minuses. It seems
to be more the case that diferent qualities of awareness are to be associated
with the left and right brains. Some researchers have described these in
computer terminology (which, again, to my mind denatures the dif
ference) as li-brin diital codication, that is discursive, verbal, and logical
processes, as against right-brain analoic codication, that is, nondiscursive,
nonverbal and eidetic, designating visual images that are unusually vivid.
Joseph E. Bogen (1969) previously quoted, approves of the formulation
and writes: "Where propositional thought, that is, thought containing
expressions in which the predicate afrms or denies something about the
subject, is typically lateralized to one hemisphere, the other hemisphere
evidently specializes in a diferent mode of thought which may be called
appositional." Appositional means literally "put side by side," but Bogen
pref;rs to leave its meaning vague. He says that since much of the right
hermsphere is still terra inconita, the full meaning of "appositional" will
only
:
merge as we gain further understanding of its capacities through
cxpcnmcnt. Hc says the di stinction seems to be, crudely and meta
phorically, like that between the "head" and the "heart," which as Pascal
z8o PART I I I : THE BRAIN
observed, "has its reasons whereof reason is ignorant" (la coeur a ses raisons
que la raison ne connait pas).
Back, then, to myth and the opposition between U:vy-Bruhl and
Levi-Strauss. Modern cerebral neuroanatomy suggests that both are cor
rect and that it is not a question of the evolutionary development of a
logical from a prelogical mode of thinking. Rather, Levy-Bruhl, in his
analysis of myth, seizes on what we now know to be right-hemispherical
contributions to this genre, "mystical participation'' among actors, sym
bols, and the like. Levi-Strauss, on the other hand, asserts that the binary
logic of myth (even though embedded in unconscious processes) is of the
same type as that of modern science and is as rigorously applied. He may
reduce, in one respect, diachrony to synchrony, but the underlying logic in
myth, he would hold, proceeds in a linear and logical, and not in a Gestalt
holistic, manner. It is this left-hemispheric reductionism (or "imperi
alism") which perhaps provoked from Mary Douglas the sweetly mali
cious comment: "It seems that whenever anthropologists apply structural
analysis to myth they extract not only a diferent but a lesser meaning"
(1975:166). She is perhaps suggesting here that what Bogen called the
"appositional" richness of the right-hemispherical contribution to this
narrative has been "commissurotomized," denuding it of its creative
potential. She saw more of this potential in Augustine's "antitypical"
interpretation, where he saw Noah's being mocked as a prefiguration of
the mockery of Jesus after the scourging at the pillar by the Roman
soldiers.
On the other hand, Levy-Bruhl was quite put out when he received a
rapturous letter from the Belgian poet
E
mile Verhaeren, whose work had
included a profound critique of urbanized man caught up in the toils of les
villes tentaculaires, the "tentacular towns." Verhaeren had just read La Men
talite Primitive, supposedly a positivistic analysis of primitive humankind's
emotional, personal understanding of the world and its supernatural
causes, thus an "earlier stage" in the evolution of consciousness. "You have
shown me, master, just how we poets of modernity grasp the world," cried
the ecstatic poet. Clearly, this mode of consciousness was still alive, not
surpassed! To a major extent this was right-brain thinking, though inev
itably transformed into left-brain sequences of words and empowered by
sources deep in the archaic brain. Putting it simplistically, Levi-Strauss's .
left hemispheric approach does not replace but complements Levy
Bruhl's right hemispheric approach to myth and the mentality or thinking
behind it.
This brings me to the depth psychologists, who, in their explanations
of myth-which we have to relate cross-culturally to ritual, even when in
any given society one or the other is attenuated, even virtually absent
regard the unconscious "psyche" or "mind" (terms now returning, appar-
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY z8I
ently, to favor) as the supreme source of mythic symbols and their drive to
cultural and public expression. Their stance is the opposite of those we
have been considering, which rooted myth in cognitive attempts to
explain humankind's insoluble dilemmas as each culture construes them:
Why death? Why evil? Why multiplicity and unity? Why not immortality?
Why man and woman? Why (the question in Levi-Strauss's classical analy
sis of the Oedipus myth) does the human race originate from the earth as
the ancient Greeks supposed (the notion of chthonic origin) and yet
clearly is the result of human reproduction, as experience demonstrates?
Do we originate from One or Two? True to his Durkheimian background,
as Leach has written, Levi-Strauss sees myth as "thinking itself" in men
and women rather than being thought by individual men and women and
then socially disseminated. A sort of over-consciousness, an over-mind,
an esprit humaine is posited, language personifed and hominiform.
The depth psychologists invert the source of myth, making of it an
emergence from the unconscious of psychological needs and wishes pic
tured and played out in the bizarre, often incestuous, murderous, and
cannibalistic deeds of the cosmogonic gods and society structuring
culture heroes. Nevertheless they, too, posit a transpersonal, yet oddly
hominiform entity, of a universal character, a sort of "underworld" esprit
humaine, as the supreme author or architect of the mythic in all cultures. As
the poet Rilke wrote, "Speak not of this one nor of that-It's Orpheus
when there's song"-one poet in all poets, rising from the underworld.
Freud, as we know, in his topographical model, assumed that there is in all
humans an "unconscious" which is at once a source of innate drives (e.g.,
the longing for immortality-as in Nietzsche's phrase "Aile Lust Will
Ewiheit" ) and a repository of experiences and feelings repressed into the
unconscious, often from earliest infancy. The conscious ego is that part of
the psyche, derived phylogenetically from the unconscious, which experi
ences the outside world through the senses, organizes the thought proc
esses rationally, and governs actions. Normally it is unaware of the desires
and conficts present in the unconscious, due to a set of unconscious
defense mechanisms which protect it from the upwelling of painful or
anxious feelings associated with the repressed material. However, in addi
tion to neurotic and psychotic symptoms, there are three major ways in
which the unconscious drives are disguised and allowed some measure of
conscious expression. These are dreamng, daydreaming, and the making
of myths. It is of the essence of Freud's position that these masked and
cloaked desires are to be regarded as "illusions," and that religion should
be included among such illusions-as witness his book, Te Future i an
Illusion, which is for him the future of religion, and his characterization of
myths as "the fairy tales of religion." He drew a parallel between the
psychoanalytic therapeutic process in which the patient is assisted by the

z8z PART I I I : THE BRAIN
analyst to discriminate between real and fantasied happenings, and
thereby to develop a strong healthy ego attuned to the environment and
no longer browbeaten by the superego, the largely unconscious enforcer
of unnaturally rigid moral standards, and the historical process of secu
larization through science which will "see through" all mythic guises by
tracing their real source in the panhuman unconscious. In a way, his
position complements that of Levi-Strauss: Freud's afrms the need for
the emergence and liberation of a strong rational ego from unconscious
constraints and now able to cope with inner and outer stresses and strains;
Levi-Strauss's afrms the existence of such a rational consciousness
beneath the apparently fanciful outward trappings of myth. Both, in their
own ways, represent left hemspheric hegemony, if not imperialism, and
would deny real value to the creative aspects of right hemispheric
functioning.
As I mentioned earlier, Jung is a depth psychologist whose views
seem, on the whole, partly consonant with the new neurological discov
eries, and have in fact recently received some reinforcement from them;
ironically, since it was Freud who began his career as a neumlogist, and
indeed coined the term agnosia to refer to any failure in the recognition of
objects, whether at the earlier stage of form perception or the subsequent
association of percepts to meaning. Like Freud, Jung insisted that myths
are powerful expressions of the unconscious and preconscious psyche,
just as dreams and daydreams are. But he made a further distinction,
repudiated by Freud's followers, between the "personal unconscious,"
which he equated with Freud's unconscious, and the "collective uncon
scious," which all human beings share regardless of culture, ethnicity,
gender, and time. Modern Jungians, like Anthony Stevens, E. Rossi, and
J. P. Henry, speculate that the personal Freudian unconscious is mainly
lodged in the processes of the right hemisphere, while the neuronal sub
strate of the Jungian collective unconscious they would locate in the phy
logenetically much older parts of the brain, the brain stem and limbic
system.
However, the Jungian archetypes, those genetically transmitted active,
living dispositions, that perform and continually influence our thoughts
and feelings and actions, though welling up from the archaic reptilian and
paleomammalian bra
i
n segments, obviously have each a complex a1d
widely ramifying neurological substrate, connecting the lower brains with
the cerebral hemispheres (see Stevens 1982:262 -67). Since they emerge as
imager in dreams and myths, it is possible that they are processed by the
right hemisphere, but since they can also emerge in the form of words,
concepts, and language, they do not escape the infuence of the left hemi
sphere. Henry and Stephens (1977) conclude from their survey of neu
rophysiological evidence that not only can the left hemisphere inhibit
communication from the ri ght, but also that both hemispheres may be
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY z8]
capable of suppressing communications from the limbic system which is
concerned with emotionally toned activities. Jungian therapy sees its task
as integrating and balancing the diferent mental systems, whose cerebral
substrates the neurologists are beginning to discover. The emergence of
archetypes, especially the mandala symbol, in dreams and art therapy,
plays a major role in the maturation process of patients, known as "indi
viduation." Thus Jung did not take the view that dream and myth symbols
disguise repressed material, but that the collective unconscious is the
repository of life-giving and unifying archetypal symbols-"symbols"
because they clothe what are essentially "protoplasmic patterns" in imag
ery and ideas supplied by the upper brain and gleaned from the ego's
experience in his/her natural and cultural environment.
How far is it true that the upper cortex is the seat of programs mainly
structured by culture through the transmission of linguistic and other
symbol systems to modify the expression of genetic programs? And how
far do these higher symbols (of myth and ritual) derive their meaning and
force for action from their association with earlier-established neural lev
els of animal nature? The conficts among the scholars I have listed con
cerning whether myth is rational or irrational in character or whether it is
located in conscious or unconscious thinking must surely yield to the new
fndings of the neurobiologists who are attempting to answer these and
similar questions. Research now shows that we have in efect four semi
autonomous centers, the extremely archaic brain stem, the limbic system,
and the left and right hemispheres. The frst two are on a tight genetic
leash, the last two on a longer leash. It would appear that all goes well if
the four are in harmony.
Somehow, I am irresistibly reminded of William Blake's Prophetic
Books, in which the four brains seem to correspond to some extent with
his "Four Zoas," "forms of life," whom he calls Urizen, Los, Luvah, and
Tharmas. Urizen, who is the reasoning power, has strongly left-hemi
spheric attributes; Los, "the Eternal Prophet," the creative power, has right
hemispherical attributes, despite the fact that he is sometimes equated with
time, and his wife or "Emanation'' Enitharmon, with space; Luvah, the
erotic and passionate Zoa, the "King of Love," but who is also identifed at
times with "red Ore," "the King of Rage," and who is less distinctly
human than the frst two, has limbic system characteristics. Before the Fall,
Luvah is the cupbearer of the Eternals, serving among them "the wine of
eternity" (Blake 1965, Te Fur Zoas [ 1797) :385). Afterwards he becomes
Love's "contrary," the "spiritual Hate from which springs Sexual Love'
(lake 1965, Jerusalem [1804] :201). While Tharmas, "Lord of the Waters,"
in "the World of Tharmas, where in ceaseless torrents His billows roll,
where monsters wander in the foamy paths" (The Fur Zoa5315)-some^
times called the "Parent power, darkening in the West (The H|+rZoas:297),
and associatech the sense of touch-seems to represent the primordiAl
28
4
PART I I I : THE BRAIN
element from which all life arises, the "stream of motion'' associated by
some neurologists, for example, Paul MacLean, with the brain stem's
functions. Tharmas is also called "father of worms & clay" (Te Four
Zoas:325), terms that seem to link him with elementary forms. In Blake's
personal myth, the Fall is an extraterrestrial event, which occurs when the
Zoas become involved in a kind of power struggle, and each is displaced
from or voluntarily renounces his proper function, claiming that of
another. Disorder reigns; harmony is lost. In particular Urizen, the
ratiocinating and regulative power, who, according to Blake, should be
essentially the articulator and orderer of the productions of the others,
tries to be their master and submit all to "the stony Law" which judges
without mercy or love and rests on moral condemnation and punish
ment-superego characteristics which some researchers associate also
with the left hemisphere. The original balance, the paradisial state, is
destroyed and each Zoa follows his own selfsh interests, with the possible
exception of Los, who retains in some measure even after the Fall the
"Human Form Divine" and continues to be associated with artistic
creativity. When the Zoas are creatively coactive they appear, as Blake
says, "as One Man' (sometimes personifed as ''lbion''), the archetypal
Man, similar to the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalists, although from
another perspective they appear as an infnite multitude. Humankind is
both One and Many, depending, as, Blake might say, "On the Organ that
beholds it." In the state Blake calls Forgiveness ("Mutual Forgiveness of
each Vice . . . Such are the Gates of Paradise"), a state that involves self
sacrifce through love rather than sacrifce of others as victims to perpetu
ate the "Stony Law" (which began to operate when the pristine operant
unity broke down), the original unity of the Zoas is restored, and the long
sleep of Albion, "the Sleeper on the Rock of Ages," is ended. Los emerges
at the end ofBlake'sjerusalem as a kind of Messiah-fgure, identifed with
Jesus as Blake saw him, the archetypal "artist'' : "& Albion knew that it was
the Lord the Universal Humanity, and Albion saw his FormA Man. &
they conversed as Man with Man, in Ages of Eternity.!nd the Divine
Appearance was the likeness & similitude of Los" (Blake 1965, Jerusalem
[ 1804] :253), as though humanity will ultimately be redeemed through art
which, of course, was Blake's own calling, both as painter, poet, and
engraver. But at that ultimate moment when, as he puts it, "Generatio11 is
swallowed up in Regeneration," he also places Science-no longer self
isolated from human life-represented by Newton, Bacon, and Locke, in
one triumphal chariot equal to the one in which he has placed Milton,
Shakespeare, and Chaucer, representing Art, the two together exemplify
ing Forgiveness and the restoration of human wholeness or perfection
Uerusalem:254). If Blake's vision is a sort of "projection' from the inte
riority of the cerebra-nervous system, t
h
is would suggest that the ideal
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY 285
state is one of perfect, uninhibited communion and communication
between the four "brains" as characterized by Paul MacLean.
Blake's vision is curiously akin here to Jung's. Jung distinguished
between the Sel and the Ego. By Selhe meant the entire archetypal system
of the unconscious; it was for him a concept vital for understanding
inividuation, the process of personality development which leads to the
fullest possible actualization of the Sel in a given individual. As Jung puts
it: "Individuation means becoming a single, homogenous being, and, in so
far as 'individuality' embraces our innermost, last, and incomparable
uniqueness, it also implies becomng one's own self self realization' (Jung
1953 -78: vol. 7, para. 266). Jung's Self is like Blake's Four Zoas in
harmony. He defnes it thus: "The Self is not only the center but also the
whole circumference which embraces both conscious and unconscious; it
is the center of this totality, just as the Ego is the center of the conscious
mind" (Jung 1953 -78: vol. 12, para. 44). Stevens considers the Self to be
the psychic aspect of the genome, which is the complete genetic constitution
of an organism, the entire genetic programming characterising the species.
Rossi, Galin, and others locate eo-consciousness in the left hemisphere.
But this may be a reflection of the left-hemispheric imperialism written
into Western culture. Consciousness is surely not located in a specifc area
of the cerebrum, but is a complex process dependent on a network of
multitudinous neuronal structures, some hierarchically arranged, others
not. Roger Sperry concludes that consciousness is a property of brain
circuitry and brain chemistry working as a whole. That is why it may be
somewhat misleading to talk of"reptilian" and "mammalian' brains. Since
all the major brain components are intricately interconnected, together
they make up the human brain, thus even the brain stem and limbic system
are "humanized," "made over" to the human condition Uust as Blake
personifed each of the four Zoas), tinctured and invested with what
comes to them and is taken from them by the higher centers. Con
sciousness and unconsciousness then are dynamic systems in constant
interaction, whose events occur in both hemispheres, but in the West
culture has come to decree that dominance should be assigned to the left
hemisphere's "structuring" properties. So the dictatorship of Blake's
Urizen over the other Zoas may represent the cultural reinforcement of a
natural propensity, not a pure fact of nature. Blake's slogan rt against
Empire" may have been part of his attempt to restore the balance, like his
emphasis on the equality of painting and drawing with written text, in his
work.
Both Jung and Blake see wholeness as something to be achieved. It is
to be achieved by an acceptance of the interdependence of all the neuro
psychic centers. Somehow human beings seem to have power to inhibit or
resist the fow of consciousness and afect through all the systems. HeDce

286 PART I I I : THE BRAIN

the depth psychologists' notion of the Superego, which according to
Freud represents the inner moral authority or ethical complex which
monitors individual behavior so as to make it acceptable first to the par
ents and later to society. Perhaps the superego too has a phylogenetic
foundation, despite its sensitivity to culture that is mediated initially
through parental training and example.
For Jung, the individuation process was a lifelong struggle between
the perceived needs of the conscious Ego and the movement towards
manifestation or actualization of the Self the total psychical being, where
culturotype and genotype interact, seeking authentic symbiosis. The Ego,
like Blake's Urizen, is not the master, but the son and servant or admin
istrator of the Sel As Jung puts it: "The Self like the unconscious, is an a
priori existent out of which the Ego evolves. It is . . . an unconscious
prefguration of the Ego" Oung 1953 -78: vol. 11, para. 391). The Ego, in
fact, is, according to Jung, a sort of projection of the Self into time, space,
history, and culture, and its job is to facilitate the later, full emergence of
the Self (or in Blake's term the Identity), the process Jung calls "individua
tion." As Jung also describes the relationship, "The Ego stands to the Self
as the moved to the mover, or as object to subject, because the determining
factors which radiate out from the Self surround the Ego on all sides and
are therefore supraordinate to it" Oung 1953 -78: vol. 1 1, para. 391). The
Ego, however, is very often recalcitrant, unwilling to accept its function as
servitor and resists unconsciously the sequential unfolding of the Sel
Ego-lessness is not at all Ego's aim. The penalty of Ego-ness is inner
impoverishment, since the conscious Ego cuts itself of from the uncon
scious replenishment it needs for its own fulflment. Indeed, as several
religions tell us, one must die to live more fully, one must lose one's life to
save it (here "die to Ego to live as Self" or rather, to have Ego mirror Self
fully). This Ego-death is painful, seeming to be a sacrifce of one's own
individuality, certainly a relinquishment of power in the material sense
over other egos, and an abandonment of possessions. It requires openness
where there was once repression and secrecy. The upper and lower brain,
the cultured and the archaic, the left and right, the masculine and feminine
within (to change the terms of discourse) must freely communicate. The
Many inside us must be One, in harmony (a word derived from the Greek
harmos, "a ftting"), if we are to be one with the many outside us. This,. I
believe, is the psychogenic, even the neurogenic basis for that mode of
human interrelatedness I have sometimes called communitas, an undiferen
tiated, egalitarian, direct, extant, nonrational, existential relationship
which may arise spontaneously among human beings, but may frequently
also be found in the liminal periods of ritual, or in nonritual types of
liminal situations such as voyages, and training and summer camps.
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY 287
These considerations lead me to see myth in somewhat a diferent
light from that provided by d' Aquili and Laughlin, who tend to stress
myth as the expression of conceptual models through the medium of
language. [These models account for relations in what they term the zone i
uncertaint, defned as "the range of disparity between man's ability to
experience efects and his inability to isolate causes."] Myths certainly use
language, but I should emphasize that anyone who has seen a myth told in
its village or folk context will confrm that many nonverbal codes are used
in the telling, gestures, mimicry, singing, drawing in the audience as a
chorus, sometimes making pictures in the sand to illustrate the narrative;
in brief myth-telling is a subgenre of ritual performance, engaging the
emotions of the group as well as their minds. Myths, too, are perfor
mances, as Dennis and Barbara Tedlock and Peter Seitel are demonstrating
in their descriptive and analytical studies, not texts divorced from ritual or
social action. Indeed, the Greek term mythos qo9os), means ''nything
delivered by word of mouth; a speech in the public assembly; a tale, story,
narrative," from the verb mytheomai qo9coo:),meaning "I say, speak, or
recount." Clearly, an audience is required, and I would guess, a verbally
responsive one.
In a curious way, in myth, the human brain does more than merely
reveal its cognitive structures; rather it allegorizes its own e pluribus unum
character, as in the personalized Blake version, but even more so in the
great collective representations which set forth the origins of things in
major cultures and religions. Human beings grow from, embody, repre
sent, and transcend the other terrene forms, inanimate and animate, which
preceded them and in multitudinous instances continue to live with them,
in various relationships ranging from indiference, through competition,
to symbiosis. Each of these forms oflife or protolife, which we have been
or virtually been, has inscribed itself ineradicably and phylogenetically in
our central nervous system, particularly in our complex and multiple
brain. Terra's planetary unfolding re-unfolds in us, or, reversibly, folds
itself manifoldly in the convolutions of the neo-cortex as we learn about
our planet and ourselves "being there" on it. Do not be deceived by our
transience as individuals; the aeons that have made us seek to be replayed
in our lives. Tmpi are irrelevant; it is the pattern of unfolding that matters.
Here that mysterious thing, the will, seems to be able to accept or retard
the Self's thrust to manifestation in the human sphere of culture and
communication through language, despite external pressures or internal
repressions, or, indeed, favorable circumstances. Myth is the whole brain,
recent and archaic, playing or performing itself to itself using the cos
tumes, props, and masks of particular cultures, the products of social
experience in specifc habitats, but revealing the contours of its own

z88 PART I I I : THE BRAIN

topography and the traces of its own intersecting movements. It is as fully
charged with limbic emotions, and with what may be the transcendent
function-the reconciliation of opposed processes-performed by the
cerebral commissure, that is, the "lmen" or threshold between the hemi
spheres, in itself the very symbol of transition and the transcendence of
previous states (at the very least a transformative bridge); it is as fully
charged with the interplay of language, imagery, and music across that
bridge from the left and right halves of the upper brain, as it is with
cognitive structures or charters validating extant social structures (as
Malinowski proposed). Walt Whitman wrote: "I embrace multitudes" and
his "I" seems not to have been Jung's concept of Ego but of Sel In the
same way, the brain is a multitude, reducible perhaps to a foursome, of
which the dominant left hemisphere is like Blake's Urizen: only a part,
though a most important part. If myth is a kind of brain map, in all
honesty it cannot show the contraries in it as logically reconciled, in terms
ofleft brain understandings. All it can do is to reveal logical paradox, and
to indicate that left-brain consciousness may represent the loss of an
ancient harmony, but, in compensation, may prove a live factor in the
creation of a new harmony, to be achieved, not necessarily through cogni
tion or logic, but through the mutual forgiveness of diference, even
through rejoicing in diference. What is probably necessary here is a left
brain humility, not left-brain pride. Reason should not, of course, be
subordinated to feeling, left brain to right, upper to lower, but the fully
operational brain must learn to reason feelingly and feel reasonably.
And now, back to ritual, and from yet another angle. If myth can to
some degree be considered a highly colored map of brain neuroanatomy,
ritual may perhaps be thought of however crudely, as given its momen
tum by brain neurophysiology. Ritual is powered by the diferent brain
components and the body they nourish and are nourished by, in dynamic
interaction, stimulated by the brains and bodies of other conspecifics.
Interaction is here raised, so to speak, to a higher power, a meta-interac
tion or, as Silverstein would suggest, a meta-praxis, a way of doing which
comments upon and assigns meaning to other human ways of doing. As I
mentioned in my previous essay, d'Aquili and Laughlin (1979:177) argue
that ritual is often performed (situationally) "to resolve problems posed by
myth to the analytical verbalizing consciousness." This is because "like all
otHer animals man attempts to master the environmental situation by
means of motor behavior, in this case ritual, a mode going back into his
phylogenetic past and involving repetitive motor, visual, and auditory
driving stimuli, kinetic rhythms, repeated prayers, mantras, and chanting
which strongly activate the ergotropic system." This, in turn, activates the
trophotropic system. Eventually both cerebral hemispheres arc aroused,
THE NEW NEUROSOCIOLOGY z8p
producing, under favorable conditions, brief ecstatic states where "logical
paradoxes or the awareness of polar opposites as presented in myth appear
simultaneously both as antinomies and as a unified whole" (p. 176) .
Motoric awareness of unity, both in the immediate social situation and of
the nature of things, exists without anxiety side by side with a sharpened
intellectual apprehension of the contradictions in experience: life and
death, nature and culture, animate and inanimate, Yin and Yang, one and
many, two and one, and so on in a long list. The problems are not resolved,
as in cold blood, at the cognitive left-hemispheric level, but directly in that
nonverbal noetic mode known as "ritual knowledge."
lQLO_uC
Are Tere Unversas of
Performance
mMyt Rta and Drama?
n this final essay I will discuss
what I think is a characteristic developmental relationship from ritual to
theater, and I will lay out the relationship of both to social drama. Te
figures in this chapter express schematically some of these connections. I
have argued that every major socioeconomic formation has its dominant
form of cultural-esthetic "mirror" in which it achieves a certain degree of
self-reflexivity. Nonindustrial societies tend to stress immediate context
sensitive ritual; industrial pre-electronic societies tend to stress theater,
which assigns meaning to macroprocesses-economic, political, or gener
alized familial problems-but remains insensitive to localized, particu
larized contexts. Yet both ritual and theater crucially involve liminal
events and processes and have an important aspect of social metaconunen
tary. In many field situations I have observed in markedly diferent
cultures, in my experience of Western socal life, and in numerous histor
ical documents, I have clearly seen a community's movement through
time taking a shape which is obviously "dramatic." It has a proto-esthetic
form in its unfolding-a generic form like the general mammalian condi
tion that we still have with us throughopt all the global radiation of
specifc mammalian forms to fll special niches. As detailed in earlier
essays, in the frst stage, Breach, a perso or subgroup breaks a rule
J.O
22 EPILOGUE
deliberately or by inward compulsion, in a public setting. In the stage of
Crisis, conficts between individuals, sections, and factions follow the
original breach, revealing hidden clashes of character, interest, and ambi
tion. These mount towards a crisis of the group's unity and its very
continuity unless rapidly sealed of by redressive public action, consen
sually undertaken by the group's leaders, elders, or guardians. Redressive
action is often ritualized, and may be undertaken in the name of law or
religion. Judicial processes stress reason and evidence, religious processes
emphasize ethical problems, hidden malice operating through witchcraft,
or ancestral wrath against breaches or tabu or the impiety of the living
towards the dead. If a social drama runs its full course, the outcome (or
"consummation," as the philosopher John Dewey might have called it)
the fourth stage in my model-may be either (a) the restoration of peace
and "normality" among the participants, or (b) social recognition of irre
mediable or irreversible breach or schism. Of course, this mode, like all
models, is subject to manifold manipulations. For example, redressive
action may fail, in which case there is reversion to the phase of crisis. Iflaw
and/or religious values have lost their cultural efcacy, endemic continu
ous factionalism may infect public life for long periods. Or redressive
failure in a local community may lead to appeal to a higher court at a more
inclusive level of social organization-village to district to province to
nation. Or the ancien reime may be rejected altogether and revolution
ensue. There may a "transvaluation of values."
In that case the group itself may be radically restructured, including
its redressive machinery. Culture obviously afects such aspects as the
style and tempo of the social drama. Some cultures seek to retard the
outbreak of open crisis by elaborate rules of etiquette. Others admit the
use of organized ritualized violence (almost in the ethological sense) in
crisis or redress, in such forms as the holmgang (island single-combat) of
the Icelanders, the stick-fghts of the Nuba of the Sudan, and the reciprocal
head-hunting expeditions of the Ilongot hill peoples of Luzon in the Phil
ippines. Simmel, Coser, Gluckman and others have pointed out how con-
' fict, if brought under gradual control, stopping short of massacre and
war, may actually enhance a group' s "consciousness of kind," may
enhance and revive its self-image. For confict forces the antagonists to
diagnose its source, and in so doing, to become fully aware of the princi
ples that bond them beyond and above the issues that have temporarily
divided them. As Durkheim said long ago, law needs crime, religion needs
sin, to be fully dynamic systems, since without "doing," without the social
friction that fres consciousness and self-consciousness, social life would
be passive, even inert. These considerations, I think, led Barbara Myerhof
(1978:22) to distinguish "defnitional ceremonies" as a kind of collective
"autobiography," a means by which a group creates its identity by telling
SOCIAL DRAMA
Breach Crisis ~ Redressive
Process
Political
Processes
(from deliberation
to revolution
and war)
Rites of
Legal-Judicial
Process
(from informal
arbitration to
formal courts)
RITUAL PROCESS
I
Rites of
/
Reintegration

.....
R
.
. f ecogmtwn o
Irreparable Schism
Ritual Processes
(divination,
afiction rituals,
prophylactic
rituals,
embedded or
independent
sacrifice, etc.)
Separation Limen or Margin
--.
Rites of
Reaggregation
1. Communication of
sacra (sacerrima) ,
secret symbols
of community's
unity and
continuity
a. Exhibitions of
objects
b. Instructions
(myths , riddles,
catechisms)
c. Actions (enactment
of myths, dance,
dr:uas , etc.)
I
2. Ludic decon
struction and
recombination
of familiar
cultural
configurations

3. Simplification
of social-structural
relationships
a. Absolute authority
of elders over
juniors
b. Communitas among
initiands
Fig.J.Thcrclationshipbctwccnsocialdramaandritualproccss.
2q EPILOGUE
itself a story about itself in the course of which it brings to life "its
Defnite and Determinate Identity" (to cite William Blake). Here, mean
ing, in Wilhelm Dilthey's sense, is engendered by marrying present prob
lems of the living present to a rich ethnic past, which is then infused into
the "doings and undergoings" (to quote John Dewey) of the local commu
nity. Some social dramas may be more "defnitional" than others, it is true,
but most social dramas contain, if only implicitly, some means of public
rfexvity in their redressive processes. For by their activation groups take
stock of their own current situation: the nature and strength of their social
ties, the power of their symbols, the efectiveness of their legal and moral
controls, the sacredness and soundness of their religious traditions, and so
forth. And tis is the point I would make here: the world of theater, as we
know it both in Asia and America, and the immense variety of theatrical
sub-genres derive not from imitation, conscious or unconscious, of the
processual form of the complete or "satiated" social drama-breach, crisis,
redress, reintegration, or schism-but specifcally from its third phase, the
one I call redress, especially from redress as ritual process, rather than
judicial, political, or military process, important as these are for the study of
political or revolutionary action. Redressive rituals include divination into
the hidden causes of misfortune, personal and social conct, and illness
(all of which in tribal societies are intimately interconnected and thought
to be caused by the invisible action of spirits, deities, witches, and sor
cerers); they include curative ritual (which may often involve episodes of
spirit-possession, shamanic trance mediumship, and trance states among
the patients who are subjects of ritual); and initiatory rites connected with
these "rituals of afiction." Moreover, many of those rites that we call
"life-crisis ceremonies," particularly those of puberty, marriage, and death,
themselves indicate a major, if not altogether unexpected breach in the
orderly, customary running of group life, after which many relationships
among its members must change drastically, involving much potential and
even actual conflict and competition (for rights of inheritance and succes
sion to ofce, for women, over the amount of bridewealth, over clan or
lineage allegiance). Life-crisis rituals (and seasonal rituals, too, for that
matter) may be called "prophylactic," while rituals of afliction are
"therapeutic." Life-crisis rituals portray and symbolically resolve arche
typal conflicts in abstraction from the milling, teeming social life which.
characteristically and periodically throws up such conficts. Society is,
therefore, better equipped to deal with them concretely, having portrayed
them abstractly.
All these "third-phase" or "frst-phase" (if we are talking about life
crises) ritual processes contain within themselves what I have in several
writings called a liminal phase, which provides a stage (and I used this
term advisedly when thinking about theater) for unique structures of
UNIVERSALS OF PERFORMANCE 2]
experience (a translation of Dilthey's Erlebnisse "living-through") , in mi
lieus detached from mundane life and characterized by the presence of
ambiguous ideas, monstrous images, sacred symbols, ordeals, humilia
tions, esoteric and paradoxical instructions, the emergence of "symbolic
types" represented by maskers and clowns, gender reversals, anonymity,
and many other phenomena and processes which I have elsewhere
described as liminal. The limen, or threshold, a term I took from van
Gennep's second of three stages in rites of passage, is a no-man's-land
betwixt-and-between the structural past and the structural future as
anticipated by the society's normative control of biological development.
It is ritualized in many ways, but very often symbols expressive of ambig
uous identity are found cross-culturally: androgynes, at once male and
female, theriomorphic fgures, at once animals and men or women, angels,
mermaids, centaurs, human-headed lions, and so forth, monstrous com
binations of elements drawn from nature and culture. Some symbols rep
resent both birth and death, womb and tomb, such as caverns or camps
secluded from everyday eyes. I sometimes talk about the limnal phase
being dominantly in the "subjunctive mood" of culture, the mood of may
be, might-be, as-if hypothesis, fantasy, conjecture, desire, depending on
which of the trinity, cognition, afect, and conation (thought, feeling, or
intention) is situationally dominant. We might say, in terms ofbrain neu
robiology, that here right-hemispheric and archaic brain functions are
very much in evidence and probably culturally triggered by ritual action.
"Ordinary" day-to-day life is in the indicative mood, where we expect the
invariant operation of cause-and-efect, of rationality and commonsense.
Lirnality can perhaps be described as a fructile chaos, a fertile noth
ingness, a storehouse of possibilities, not by any means a random
assemblage but a striving after new forms and structure, a gestation proc
ess, a fetation of modes appropriate to and anticipating postlirnal exis
tence. It is what goes on in nature in the fertilized egg, in the chrysalis, and
even more richly and complexly in their cultural homologues.
Theater is one of the many inheritors of that great multifaceted system
of preindustrial ritual which embraces ideas and images of cosmos and
chaos, interdigitates clowns and their foolery with gods and their solem
nity, and uses all the sensory codes, to produce symphonies in more than
music: the intertwining of dance, body languages of many kinds, song,
chant, architectural forms (temples, amphitheaters), incense, burnt of
ferings, ritualized feasting and drinking, painting, body painting, body
marking of many kinds, including circumcision and scarifcation, the
application of lotions and drinking of potions, the enacting of mythic and
heroic plots drawn from oral traditions. And so much more. Rapid
advances in the scale and complexity of sOc
i
ety, particularly after indus
trialization, have passed this unifed liminal confguration through the

L

C
v
c
C
'C

o
F



C

.T

v
u
'C
C

C
v
UNIVERSALS OF PERFORMANCE 2]
analytical prism of the division oflabor, with its specialization and profes
sionalization, reducing each of these sensory domains to a set of entertain
ment genres fourishing in the leisure time of society, no longer in a
central, driving place. The pronounced numinous supernatural character
of archaic ritual has been greatly attenuated.
Nevertheless, there are today signs that the amputated specialized
genres are seeking to rejoin and to recover something of the numinosity
lost in their sparas, their dismemberment. Truly, as John Dewey has
argued, the aesthetic form of theater is inherent in sociocultural life itself
in what ! call "social drama" and Kenneth Burke calls "dramas of living,"
but the reflexive and therapeutic character of theater, as essentially a child
of the redressive phase of social drama, has to draw on power sources
often inhibited or at least constrained in the cultural life of society's
"indicative" mood. Te deliberate creation of a detached, still almost
sacred liminal space, allows a search for such sources. One source of this
excessive "meta-" power is, clearly, the liberated and disciplined body
itself with its many untapped resources for pleasure, pain, and expression.
Here, the experimental theater ofJerzy Grotowski, the Becks, Joe Chaikin,
Richard Schechner, Peter Brook, Tadashi Suzuki, and Squat Theater in
New York City has its growing importanc. :nother source draws on
unconscious pr
?
cesses, such as

ay be

eeas +in trance foreshadowed by

some of Antonm Artaud's theones. Th1s ts 2 m to what !have often seen
in Africa, where thin, ill-nourished old ladies, with only occasional naps,
dance, sing, and perform ritual activities for two or three days and nights
together. ! think that a rise in the level of social arousal, however pro
duced, is capable of unlocking energy sources in individual participants.
Then there is the work we have been considering on the neurobiology of
the brain, summarized in Te Spectrum i Rtual (d'Aquili et al. 1979:146),
which, among other things, shows how the "driving techniques of ritual
(including sonic driving by, for example, percussion instruments) facili
tate right hemisphere dominance, resulting in Gestalt, timeless non
verbal experiences, diferentiated and unique when compared with left
hemisphere functioning or hemisphere alternation' (Lex 1979:125). Con
ferences devoted to the neural substrate of mental and emotional phe
nomena in ritual and the role of ritual in human adaptation may help to
throw further light on the organic and neurological correlates of ritual
behaviors.
My argument has been that what ! would like to call the an
thropology of experience (abolishing the sharp distinction between the
classical study of culture and sociobiology) fnds in certain recurrent
forms of social experience (notably social dramas) sources of aesthetic
form, including stage drama and dance. But ritual and its progeny, the
performance arts among them, derive from the subjunctive, liminal,
zp8 EPILOGUE
reflexive, exploratory heart of the social drama, its third, redre

sive pha

e,
where the contents of group experiences (Erlebnisse) are rephcated, dls
membered, remembered, refashioned, and mutely or vocally made mean
ingful (even when, as so often in declining cultures, te meaning is th

t
there is no meaning as in some Existentialist theater). True theater lS
experience of "heightened vitality," to quote John Dewey a

ain (McDer
mott 1981:540). True theater "at its height signifies complete mterpene

ra
tion of self and the world of objects and events." When this happens m a
performance, there may be produced in audience and ac

ors alike wh

t
d'Aquili and Laughlin (1979:177) call in reference both to ntual and medl
tation a "brief ecstatic state and sense of unon (often lasting only a few
seconds) and may often be described as no more than
_
a shiver

unnin
_
g
down the back at a certain point." A sense of harmony w1th the uruverse 1s
made evident, and the whole planet is felt to be communitas. This shiver
has to be won, achieved, though, to be a consummation, after working
through a tangle of conflicts and disharmonies. Theater best of al
exemplifies Thomas Hardy's dictum: "If a way to the better the

e be, 1t
exacts a full look at the worst." Ritual or theatrical transformatlon can
scarcely occur otherwise. Problems and obstacles (the "crisis" stage of
social dramas) challenge our brain neurobiology into full arousal, a

d
culture supplies that aroused activity with a store of preserved soc1al
experiences which can be "heated up" to supply the current hunger for
meanng with reliable nutrients.
. .
I have had to defend myself against such trenchant cr1t1cs as my
former teachers Sir Raymond Firth and the late Max Gluckman, who
accused me of unwarrantably introducing a model drawn from literature
(they did not say Western literature, but clearly they had th

Aristotelian
model of tragedy in mind) to throw light on spontaneous soc1al processes,
which are not authored or set in conventions, but arise from clashes of
interest or incompatible social structural principles in the give and take
?
f
everyday life in a social group. Recently, I have taken heart from an artl
cle by Cliford Geertz, "Blurred Genres: The Refiguration of Social
Thought," which not only suggests "that analogies drawn from the
humanities are comng to play the kind of role in sociological understand
ing that analogies drawn from the crafts and technology hav

long plyed
in physical understanding" (Geertz 1980a:196), but also g1ves qualifed
approval to the "drama analogy for social life" (Geertz 1980a:172). Geertz
numbers me among "proponents of the ritual theory of drama" -as
against "the smbolic action approach" to drama which stresses "the afnities
of theater and rhetoric-drama aspersuasion, the platform as stage"
(Geertz 1980a:172), associated with Kenneth Burke and developed by
Erving Gofman. He writes: "For Turner, social dramas occur 'on all
levels of social organization from state to family. ' They arise out of con-
UNIVERSALS OF PERFORMANCE zpp
flict situations-a village falls into factions, a husband beats ife, a
region rises against the state-and proceed to their denouement through
publicly performed conventionalized behavior. As the confict swells to
crisis and the excited fuidity of heightened emotion, where people feel at
once more enclosed in a common mood and loosened from their moor
ings [a good description of "ergotropic" behavior] , ritualized forms of
authority-litigation, feud, sacrifice, prayer-are invoked to contain it and
render it orderly [trophotropic response]. If they succeed, the breach is
healed and the status quo, or something resembling it, is restored; if they
do not, it is accepted as incapable of remedy and things fall apart into
various sorts of unhappy endings: migrations, divorces, or murders in the
cathedral. With difering degrees of strictness and detail, Turner and his
followers have applied this schema to tribal passage rites, curing cere
monies, and judicial processes; to Mexican insurrections, Icelandic sagas,
and Thomas Becket's difculties with Henry II; to picaresque narrative,
millenarian movements, Caribbean carnivals, and Indian peyote hunts;
and to the political upheaval of the Sixties. A form for all seasons."
The last comment arises from Geertz's insistence in several of his
writings that the social drama approach focuses too narrowly on "the
general movement of things" (italics added) and neglects the multifarious
cultural contents, the symbol systems which embody the ethos and eidos,
the sentiments and values of specic cultures. He suggests that what he calls
the "text analogy" (Geertz 1980:175) can remedy this, that is, textual
analysis attends to "how the inscription of action is brougt about, what
its vehicles are and how they work, and on what the fixation of meaning
from the fow of events-history from what happened, thought from
thinking, culture from behavior-implies for sociological interpretation.
To see social institutions, social customs, social changes as in some sense
'readable' is to alter our whole sense of what such interpretation is
towards modes of thought rather more familiar to the translator, the
exegete, or the iconographer than to the test giver, the factor analyst, or the
pollster" (Geertz 1980a:175 -76). The inscriptions may be usefully sub
jected to structural analysis; but, in a sense, and often, they are like the
shucked of husks of living process, tiderows left by the receding sea,
useful signs, indicators, markers, pointers, readings, crystallizations. But
their vitality has gone elsewhere-it is found in the drama process.
One answer I could make to Geertz would be simply to reiterate
certain features of the social drama approach. He mentions "ritualized
forms of authority-litigation, feud, sacri
f
ce, prayer" that are used "to
contain (crisis) and to render it orderly." Such forms may crystallize any
culture's uniqueness; they are forms for particular seasons. They dominate
the third stage of the social drama which can compass immense vari
abilities. For my part I have, indeed, often treated the ritual and juridical
OO EPILOGUE
symbol systems of the Ndembu of Western Zambia as text analogues. But
I have tried to locate these texts in context of perfrmance, rather than to
construe them from the frst into abstract, dominantly cognitive systems.
However, Geertz does, in fact, concede that many anthropologists today,
including himself use both textual and dramatistic approaches, according
to problem and context. His book entitled Neara (1980b), on the drama of
kingship in Bali, exemplifies his dual approach. Some of these misunder
standings and apparent contradictions can be resolved if we examine the
relationship between the two modes of acting-in "real life" and "on
stage" -as components of a dynamic system of interdependence between
social dramas and cultural performances. Both dramatistic and textual
analogies then fall into place.
Richard Schechner and I represented this relationship as a bisected
figure eight laid on its side (see Fig. 5). The two semicircles above the
horizontal dividing line represent the manifest, visible public realm. The
left loop or circlet represents social drama, which could be divided into its
four main phases: breach, crisis, redress, positive or negative denouement.
The right loop represents a genre of cultural performance-in this case, a
stage of "aesthetic" drama (though it would be better to say the total
repertoire of types of cultural performance possessed by a society) . Notice
that the manist social drama feeds into the latent realm of stage drama; its
characteristic form in a given culture, at a given time and place, uncon
sciously, or perhaps preconsciously, infuences not ony the form but also
the content of the stage drama of which it is the active or "magic" mirror.
The stage drama, when it is meant to do more than entertain-though
entertainment is always one of its vital aims-is a metacommentary,
Social Drama
Stage Drama
Fig. 5
.
The interrelationship of social drama and stage drama.
UNIVERSALS OF PERFORMANCE OI
explicit or implicit, witting or unwitting, on the major social dramas of its
social context (wars, revolutions, scandals, institutional changes) . Not
only that, but its message and its rhetoric feed back into the latent pro
cessual structure of the social drama and partly account for its ready
ritualization. Life itself now becomes a mirror held up to art, and the
living now perfrm their lives, for the protagonists of a social drama, a
"drama of living," have been equipped by aesthetic drama with some of
their most salient opinions, imageries, tropes, and ideological perspectives.
Neither mutual mirroring, life by art, art by life, is exact, for each is not a
planar mirror but a matricial mirror; at each exchange something new is
added and something old is lost or discarded. Human beings learn
through experience, though all too often they repress painful experience,
and perhaps the deepest experience is through drama; not through social
drama, or stage drama (or its equivalent) alone, but in the circulatory or
oscillatory process of their mutual and incessant modifcation.
If one were to guess at origins, my conjecture would be that the
genres of cultural performance, whether tribal rituals or TV specials, are
not, as I have said, simply imitations of the overt form of the completed
social drama. They are germinated in its third, redressive phase, the refex
ive phase, the phase where society pulls meaning from that tangle of
action, and, therefore, these performances are infnitely varied, like the
result of passing light through a prism. Te alternative versions of mean
ing that complex societies produce are innumerable. Within societies there
are diferent classes, ethnicities, regions, neighborhoods, and people of
diferent ages and sexes, and they each produce versions which try pain
fully to assign meaning to the particular crisis pattern of their own society.
Each performance becomes a record, a means of explanation.
Finally, it should be noted that the interrelation of social drama to
stage drama is not in an endless, cyclical, repetitive pattern; it is a spiraling
one. The spiraling process is responsive to inventions and the changes in
the mode of production in the given society. Individuals can make an
enormous impact on the sensibility and understanding of members of
society. Philosophers feed their work into the spiraling process; poets feed
poems into it; politicians feed their acts into it; and so on. Thus the result is
not an endless cyclical repetitive pattern or a stable cosmology. The cos
mology has always been destabilized, and society has always had to make
eforts, through both social dramas and esthetic dramas, to restabilize and
actually produce cosmos.
PART F OUR
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WiIson,Monica
I 957 Good Company. London. CfordLnivcrsityPrcssforthc!ntcr-
nationaI!nstitutc.
WiIson,Godfrcy,andMonicaWiIson
! 945 Analysis cf Social Change. Cambridgc. Cambridgc Lnivcrsity
Prcss.

I8 PART IV: REFERENCE MATERIAL

Young,FrankW
! 965 Initiation Ceremonies: A Cross-Cultural Study i Status Dramatiza
tion. !ndianapoIis.Bobbs-McrriII.
Zucssc,vanM.
979 Ritual Cosmos. Athcns,Chio.ChioLnivcrsityPrcss.
Index
Abaluaye, 135
Abrahams, Roger, 264
Adam Kadmon, 284
Adler, Alfred, 145
Afro-Brazilian cults, 133
Aksum, 99
A/thin, (Icelandic parliament), 77 -78, 80,
87, 1 10, 1 1 1 ; feasts at, 1 18
Ambilateral residential afliation, 30
Analysis. See Processual analysis
Andersson, Teodore, 106, 107 -8; on
authors of sagas, 104, 105; on origins
ofsagas, 103; on Snorri, 1 14
Andrzejewski, Stanislaw, 230
Annee Sociologique School, 210
Anthropologists: and sociologists, 157; on
religion, 228, 229
Anthropology: oudook for, 167 -70;
political, 8; psychological, 186; shift in,
152; in United States, 168
Apareida, 132 -39, 143, 145, 147
Appositional mind, 279 -280
Archeology, processual thought in, 170
Archetypes. See Jung, Carl; Stevens,
Anthony
Arena, 8 -9, 84 -86
Arent Madchmg, Morgoret, 77, 96, 97
AriNtotlc, 1 b, h, 0, 7
Ari Thorgilsson, 76, 80, 86, 109, 1 13, 116
Arsis. See Saora, ritual branches of Artaud,
Antonin, 297
Attenborough, David, 250
Auden, H, 219
Aud the Deep-Minded, 1 16
Ausdricken (expressions), 213, 217
Avo, Maria Conga, 134
Bacchae, 244
Baetke, Walther, 106
Bakhtin, Mikhail, 242
Barfeld, Owen, 156
Barth, Fredrik, 184
Bateson, Gregory, 131, 163, 221, 263
Baudelaire, Charles, on "life," 228
Bedeutun, (meaning), 190, 202, 214
Bedseman, Bernard, 107
Behavior and the brain, 255
Bergson, Henri, 246
Bergthora, 85, 89, 93
Bernstein, Basil, 250
Biological ecology, 153
Birinda, (Saora extended family), 21, 29-31,
32, 33, 3 36, 3 41
Bishop Street terreiro, 134, 135, 136, 143
Bjor Kctilsson the Eastman, 1 14- 1 1 5, 116
Blolr, Hbert,
2C INDEX
Blake, William, 152, 209, 231, 246, 294; The
Fur Zoas, 15, 283 -88
Boehme, Jakob, 228
Bogen,]., 257, 278, 279, 280
Boiadeiro (Cowboy), 145, 146
Bookprose theory, 96, 103 -7
Braestrup, lW, 250
Brahmins, 100, 102
Brain, the: archaic structures of 252;
behavior and, 255; cortical
hemispheres of, 259-60; hemispheres
of 6, 11, 267, 295; lateralization of
257 -62, 272 -80; "lower and upper"
division of 272; MacLeans theory of
evolution of 252 -57; and meaning of
religion, 267, 272
Breach of norms (as a phase in social drama),
22, 180-81, 197, 215, 230
Bridewealth, 23 -24
Brown, LE., 155
Brown, ], 255
Brown, Richard H, 214
Bruner, Edward, 1 1
Buber, Martin, 190
Burhoe, Ralph Wendell, 252, 253, 256, 266,
267
Burke, Kenneth, 243, 297, 298
Buyya, (Saora priest), 27, 29, 33, 35
Caboclo, 143, 145
Caillois, Roger, 262 -63
Candomble, 1 33, 137, 140
Carnival, as example of"subjunctive
mood," 147
Carstairs, G. Morris, 250
Cassirir, Ernst, 277
Causal operator, 260, 276
Chappell, E. D., 159
Child, I. L, 159
Child, supernatural being, 128, 145
Chomski, Noam, 182
, Christianity, 195
Circumcision. See Mukanda
Clown as symbolic type, 15, 236, 238 -39,
242 -43, 265
Cognitive view of ritual, 251 -52
Cohen, A, 171
Collier, Jane F, 170
Collingwood, R. G, 210
Communication: MacKay's theory of,
188 -89; nonverbal, 187 -89
Communism, 164-65
Communitas, 1 11, 1 1 8, 173, 233, 298;
defnition of 124
Condensation, psychological, 126
Conflict, 43 -51, 292; defnitions of 120;
between differing articulating
principles, 34, 92; excluded from
dangerous ritual, 57; in intervals
between ritual, 35, 44; levels of study
of 120; between Mario and Pedro,
138 -48; between patriliny and
matriliny, 30, 39; over roles and ofces,
1 19 -20; in saga, 1 12; among Saora,
23; and social anthropological and
psychoanalytic theory, 119 - 150;
Turner's early interest in, 4 -5
"Conversion and Saora social structure," 37,
41 -42
Coorgs, 34
Corneille, Pierre, 195
Corpus callosum, 257 -58, 267
Coser, Lewis, 292
Courts, Icelandic, 1 10 - 11
Crapanzano, Vincent, 222 -23, 224
Crisis (as a phase in social drama), 180-81,
187 -97, 215, 217, 230, 294
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihali, 131, 225, 263, 264
Cullen, PM, 250
Cult center for Umbanda. See Terreiro
Dante, Alighieri, 228, 230
d' Aquili, Eugene, 1 1, 208, 257, 258 -60,
276-78
Dasent, George, 76
Davidson, R. ]., 266 -67
Deikman, Arthur, 279
Demanda (spirit contest), 133; cases of 134,
135, 137, 139, 140
Derrida, Jacques, 265
Descartes, Rene, 190
Deutsch, Karl, 69
Devons, Ely, 122
Dewey, John, 292, 294, 297, 298
Dilthey, Wilhelm, 10, 212, 213, 216, 217; on
art vs. religion, 192 -93;
bibliographical commentary on,
210 -1 1 ; a critique of his theories, 194;
on force, Krqt, in, 201; and "lived
through" experience (Erlebnis), 14,
21 1 - 13, 221 -24; and meaning
(Bedeutun), 201 -2; on philosophers,
193; philosophy of 201 -4, 211; on
shamans, 192; on structure of
experience, 214- 15; on
Jltanschauung, philosophy oflife, 14,
96, 97, 108, 190-94, 196
Disputes, ritual aspects of 43 -44
Dostoevski, Feodor, 230
Douglas, Mary, 165, 179, 280
INDEX 2I
Drama: process of 299; Turner's early
exposure to, 5. See also Social drama
Dreams, 269, 283; shaman's, 37
Drekmeier, Charles, 99, 100, 102
Dren-skapr (manly excellence), 81, 114
"Dry light'

tyle of sagas, 77, 91

Durkheim, Emile, 121, 154, 159, 210, 292;
on efervescence, 182; and Levi
Strauss, 281 ; on mechanical and
organic solidarity, 164
Eckhart, Johann, 228
Edwards, Paul, 108
Egill, 105
Egil' Saga, 104, 105
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I, 250
Einar Skalaglamm, 104
Eirik the Red, 118
Eliade, Mircea, 228, 237
Eliot, 3S, 206, 242
Elvin, H, 250
Elwin, Verrier: The Reliion cf an Indian Tribe,
12, 19 -42
Emery, Stephen, A., 210
Emery, William T, 210
Emmet, Dorothy, 43
End (Zweck), 202
Engels, Friedrich, 164
Epic: heroic time, 98; unconscious tensions
in, 102-3; writers' views of the past,
101 -2; written and oral sources, 96,
100, 102
Epic relation, 13, 98 - 103, 108
Epics, dating of 98 - 103; Iliad and Odyssey,
99, 100, 106; Kebra Nagast, 99 - 100;
the Mahabharata, 99, 100, 102;
Shahnameh, 98 -99, 100, 101 -2
Epstein, A. L, 4, 5, 74
Equilibrium, analysis of 69, 1 59, 220
Ergotropic system, 255, 259-62
Erikson, Erik, 229, 250
Erlebnis, "lived-through" experience,
211 - 12, 215, 224, 298
Etymology, 221, 226, 262, 264, 277
Euripides' Bacchae, 244
Evan-Pritchard, E. E, 71 -73
Evolution, 161 -2
Experience, 14; "lived-through," 21 1 - 13,
217, 221 -22, 224; meaning of
221 -26; and performance, 205 -25
Extended family, Saora birina, 21, 29-31
Exu, 128 -29, 134, 135; Apareida receives,
135, 136, 137; His Honor Seven Cross
roads, 145; of the 1o Heads, 1 29;
Without Light (Quimnba), 1 36
L}r0@o tgd,96, 9H, l7 1 1 7
Famly, extended, (Saora birinda), 21, 29 -31 ;
Umbandists as surrogate, 126
Father-son tie: among Ndembu, 58; in
Nal's household, 88
Fazer cabea (making the head), 130, 133
Ferdowsi, 98, 100, 101 -2
Fichte,Johann, 195
Field: defned, 8, 83 -84; activity, 62, 65;
power and force, 59; ritual, 55 -57, 63;
social, 20, 54-55
Firming-up, in Umbanda, 137
Firth, Raymond, 30, 165, 167, 171, 184, 298
Flor-Henry, P., 266-67
Flosi, 88 -89, 91, 93
Flow as defned by MacAioon and
Csikszentmihalyi, 131, 132, 225
Force feld in ritual performance, 59, 64,
67-69
Fortes, Meyer, 3, 250, 251
Fur Zoas, The, 283 -88
Fox, Robin, 249-50
Frame, cultural, 130 - 131, 132
"Framework" of ritual time cycles, 61 -62
Frankfort, Henri, 277
Freeprose. See Bookprose theory
Freud, Sigmund, 6, 120, 122, 126, 189; on
the ego, 15; left hemispheric hegemony
of 282; on oceanic experience, 260; on
paranoia, 136; on ritual, 237; on the
superego,
Z
, 286; o

the
unconscious; 213;251, 281 -82
Friendsh
i
p ritual, 23
Funerary rites, 36, 40-41
Galileo, 178
Galin, D, 285
Gallostructuralism, 208, 275
Ganjam, 26, 28, 29
Gardner, Howard, 257 -58
Garfnkel, Harold, 154, 1 55, 157, 202
Gay samba schools, 147
Gazzaniga, Michae, 257
Gebser,Jean, 178
Geertz, Cliford, 165, 202, 209; on
metasocial commentary, 125, 193, 239;
on ritual theory of drama, 298 -99; on
text, 299; Neara, 300
Geisteswissenschqten (human studies),
209 -10
Genealogies, 32; fctitious, 24 -25
Gennep, Arnold van, 158 -60, 210, 295; and
rites of passage, 234, 238
Genome, 285
Girard, Rcnc,21 5
L/:/oqgo, 1 14
322 INDEX
Gluckman, Max, 83, 225, 298; Closed Systems
an Open Minds, 122; Te Economy i the
Central Barotse Plain, 2; on process, 170;
on rituals of rebellion, 68; role in
Schism and Continuity, 5; as teacher, 4;
on urban roles, 123; on van Gennep,
158 -59
Godord (domain of temple owners), 1 11,
112
Gods, 36; Saora, 20, 21, 24
Goiar, Icelandic chieftain-priests, 86;
disputes between, 92, 1 14; role of
77 -78, 86-87, 1 1 0-12
Gofnan, Erving, 131, 179-80, 181, 187
298
Gombrich, E. H, 250
Gordon, E. V, 73
Grathof, Richard, 235
Greek drama, 92
Grene, David, 97
Grettir' Saga, 98, 101, 1 14
Grettir the Strong, 101
Grimes, Ronald, 165, 180, 245, 252
Grim Goatbeard, 87, 112
Groos, Karl, 262
Grotowski, Jerzy, 297
Guarkumboi (funerary shaman), 36
Gudmundsson, Bardi, 104
Guerra de Orixa, 119, 149
Gumplowicz, L, 153
Gunji, M., 237
Gunnar ofLithend, 88, 89, 92, 107
Gunnlaugs Saga, 105
Hallberg, Peter, 1 1 1
Hallgerda, 88 -89, 92
Handelman, Don, 128, 131, 135, 236, 263
Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, 77, 109,
1 14, 1 1 5
Hardy, Thomas, 298
Harvest festivals, 35
Hauskuld, 88, 90, 91
Haward' Saga, 83
Hefner, Philip, 1 1
Hegel, Georg, 165, 190, 213
Helgafell, 1 14, 115
Hemispheres of neocortex, 6; functions of
295; and structure and liminality 1 1 ;
and unconscious processes, 267. See also
Lateralization of the brain
Henry,). P., 253, 269, 282-83
Heraclitus, 183, 189
Hermannsson, Halldor, 1 17
Heroic time, 98, 99, 101 -3
Hess, R., 259
Heusler, Andreas, 103, 104
Hidalgo, Miguel, 198
Hinde, Robert, 189, 250
Hindu: life parodied, 242; temples, 239 -40
History, anthropology and, 71 -73; in the
sagas, 78 -79
Hockett, Charles, 181
Hodges, Herbert, 210, 211 - 13
Hoebel, E. A., 170
Homer, 99, 100, 105 -6
Homosexuality, 136
Honor, 81, 1 14
"Horse'' (Umbanda medium), 127, 133
Hiigel, Friedrich von, 246
Huizinga, Johann, 160, 262
Husser!, Edmund, 1 54, 1 57, 210
Huxley, Julian, 250, 251, 256
Hymes, Dell, 182

Jansa, 129
Ibsen, Henrik, 164
Iceland, 75 -77, 109 - 10; arena
characteristics in, 86; Christian era in,
80-81 ; golden age in, 106;
government of 1 10; kinship
nomenclature, 1 1 5- 16; law in, 78;
paganism in, 82; political system of
77 -78; settlement of 77; virilocal
marriage in, 85; women in, 116
Icelandic saga, 73 - 118; dating of 79,
100- 101 ; "dry light" style of 77;
freeprose or bookprose in, 96, 103 ~7
as genre of meaning-assignment,
95 - 1 18; as history or fction, 78 -79;
and individualism, 98, 1 14; social
dramas in, 97, 107-8, 112 - 17; ty0
of 77, 96-97; and superstition, 95
Icelandic sagas: Egil's Saga, 104, 105;
Eyrbygya Saga, 96, 98, 107 - 17; G/sla
Saga, 1 14; Grettir' Saga, 96-97, 98,
1 14; Gunnlaugs Saga, 105; Haward'
Saga, 83; Kormak's Saga, 1 14; Laxdaela
Saga, 83, 98, 108; Laxdaela Saga, author
of 108; Laxdaela Saga, bookprose,
96 -97, 104, 105; Laxdaela Saga, land
apportionment in, 86; Nal' Saa, 79,
82 -93, 98, 1 14; Nal' Saga as book
prose, 104; Nal' Saga and Christianity,
80; Nal' Saga, feud in, 76; Na/ Sta1
Gunnars story in, 107; Njal' Saa,
killings in, 87; Njal' Saga, plot of 88;
Sturluna Saga, 84, 1 12; Sverrl Saa,
104; Vatzdaela Saga, 83
Iemanja, 127
lwilu (place of dying), 270
Ikishi (masked fgure), 160
Iliad, 100, 106; dating of 99
INDEX 323
Il/ud tempus Mircea Eliade's defnition of 228,
238
Indeterminacy as defned by Moore,
155 -56, 161, 183 -85, 200-201
Indian temple theater, 238 -43
Indicative and subjunctive moods, as
expressive of cognitive possibilities,
124, 126, 147, 164, 295
Inhibition, in alternate hemispheres,
258 -59
Insanity. See Madness
Institute for African Studies, 2, 53
Intersystemic analysis, 153 -54
Iranian-Turanian stuggle, 102
f
slendingabO, 80, 109
Ivins, William M, 178
Jadu. See Saora, ritual branches of
James, William, and the "law of
dissociation," 161 ; on theories of
religious experience, 262, 266
Japanese theater, 167, 237
Jati. See Saora, ritual branches of
Jouvet, Michel, 269
Judicial process as defned by
anthropologists, 217 -18
Jung, Carl, 235, 249, 266; archetypes of 256,
267 -68, 271, 282 -83; and collective
unconscious, 256, 282; on
individuation, 285, 286; on myth,
282 -83; and the Self 15, 285 -88
Junod, Henri, 8, 159
Kabbalists, 284
Kabir, 225
Kafumbu, 46, 49
Kagemusha, 264
Kant, Immanuel, 190, 195, 208, 212, 278
Kapferer, Bruce, 131
Kari, 88, 89
Kebra Nagast, 99
Ker, P, 73, 91 ; on colonization of Iceland,
77; on epic poetry, 98; on history and
epic, 80; 6n Nal's Saga, 88, 92; on
sagas, 80, 82; on Sturlung Age, 79
Kierkegaard, Soren, 213, 21 261
Kiev, Ari, 149
Kimball, Solon T, 159
Kings' sagas, 101, 107
Kluback, William, 210
Konner, Melvin, 208, 253, 264
Kormak's saga, 1 14
Kramrisch, Stella, 239
Kroebcr, A. L., 72 -73
Kropotkin, P'ctra, 1 53
Kshatriyas, 102
Kuehl, J.J., 210
Kuhn, Thomas, 152, 173, 185
Kurasawa, Akira, 264
Kuruksetra, 99
Kutiyattam theater performance, 238 -243;
and the clown, 15, 238 -39, 242-43;
languages in, 238
luttambalam temple theater, 239
Laing, R. D, 250
Lambo, JAdeoye, 146
Landnamabo', Te Boo if Settlements, 76, 86,
108, 109
Languages, in Kutiyattam, 238
Laughlin, Charles D, 257, 258 -60, 276, 277,
278
Lawrence, D. H., 1 89, 279
Laxdaela Saga. See Icelandic sagas, Laxdaela
Saga
Leach, Edmund, 250, 278; on cognition and
classifcaton, 251 - 52, 277; on
competence, 182
Leadership, in Umbanda, 1 23
Leda, 1 38-39
Legesse, A., 171
Levine, Donald, 97, 99 - 100
Levi-Strauss, Claude, 207 - 10, 223, 260; on
evolution, 277, 278; left hemispheric
hegemony of 282; on myth, 158, 280;
on the nature-culture distinction, 162;
Oedipus analysis of, 281; on
phenomenology, 209; on
structuralism, 157 21 2
Levy, Reuben, 98 -99, 101 -3
Levy-Bruhl, Lucien, 277, 278, 280
Lewin, Kurt: on feld theory, 8, 54-55, 59,
65, 68; on social time, 230
Lex, Barbara, 257, 259, 261, 278, 297
Liestol, Knut, 104, 106
Life-crisis rituals, 294
Limbic system, 252 -53, 256, 267; and
orectic pole of symbols, 270 -71
Liminal phase in rites of passage, 294-95
Liminality, 1 59, 160 - 1, 234, 236; and the
dialectic, 169; frst explorations of 8;
and van Gennep, 158 -60, 234, 295;
and Junod, 8, 159; ludic recombination
in, 265; and monsters, 161 ; of play,
263; and theater, 16; and variability
and free play, 14, 160, 162
Liminoid, 1 17; defned, 8, 1 17n
Linton, Ralph, 3
"Lived-through" experience, Diltheys
theory of 14, 21 1 - 13, 221 -22, 224
Lord, Albert, 105 -6
Lorenz, Konrad, 250, 256
324 INDEX
Ludic recombination, 265
Luria, A. R., 279
Lyons,], 182
MacAloon, John, 131, 225
McCay, B. J, 161, 170
Machamba, 46 -50
MacKay, IM., 188, 189
MacLean, Paul, on the brain, 252 -56, 270,
284, 285
McManus, John, 257
McNeill, H, 99
Madness: Apare<ida's, 133, 134, 135;
cultural, 40, 41; at shamanic
conversion, 37; Umbanda view of 121
Maer, l, 266-67
Mahabharata, 102; dating of 99, 100
Maine, Henry, 164
Makkreel, Rudolph, 210, 212, 214
Malinowski, Bronislaw, 2, 72, 120, 162, 223,
288
Mamae Oxum, 129, 145
Manchester school of anthropology, 4
Mandell, Arnold J., 260, 262
Marginality: ofSandombu and
Kamahasanyi, 5; in Victor Turners life,
7 -8
Marina, 132, 135, 136
Mario, 132, 135, 137-49; life history of
142 - 145
Marriage: arranged, 23; hypergamous, 38;
rules, Saora, 27; to spirits, 24, 40, 41
Marxists, 169
Marx, Karl, 2, 164, 213, 219, 230
Matriliny, 58; and male circumcision, 55; as
determinant of residence, 62;
symbolized, 20
Mead, Margaret, 2
Meaning, 190, 201, 203 -4, 214, 217; and
cerebral cortex, 256
Meaning assignment, 95 -1 18, 154, 155,
216, 232, 301
Mediums, 127, 130, 133; in trance, 135, 136
Meissner, Rudolph, 103 -4
Merton, Robert, 160
Merton, Thomas, 260
Metalanguage, 163
Metasocial commentary, 125, 193, 239
Micropolitics, 43 -51
Midbrain, limbic system, 256
Milk tree, 269-71. See also Mudyi tree
Milner, Peter, 265 -66
Mirroring, 301
Models, structural and ritual, 64
Monsters, liminal, 161
Moore, Sally Falk, 183 -85, 186, 192, 199,
229; on indeterminacy, 155; on
regularization and situational
adjustment, 156, 161, 170, 183 -85,
204
Morgan, Lewis Henry, 115
Morin, Alexander, 8
Morris, Desmond, 250
Mother: archetype of 271 ; attachment to,
before circumcision, 59 -61; milk of
symbolized, 20
Mudyi tree, "mother's milk," 20, 48
Mukanda (circumcision), 47 -50, 53 -69;
constructional elements of 66 -68;
corrective rather than redressive ritual,
61 -62; as cybernatic mechanism, 59;
feld constructs and their properties in,
65 -68; goals of 66 -68; imbalance of
unclean boys before, 59; independence
after, 60; ofciants, 47; ritual feld of
55; taboos of 57; unconscious goals of
66 -67
Mukanza Village, 2, 113
Muller, Max, 277
Multivocal symbols, 261
Murdock, (. P, 179
Mwinilunga, 46
Myerhof Barbara, 199, 200, 222, 225,
292 -93
Mystics, 228
Myth, 220, 261, 287 -88; and causal
operator, 260, 276; embedded in ritual,
261
Nadel, S. l,200
Nago, 'oruba, 129
Narrative time, 98
Naturalism, 194 -95
Naturwissenschqen, natural sciences, 210
Nauta, Valle, 253
Ndembu, 2-3, 113, 179, 197; boys'
circumcision, 43 -51, 53 -69; girl's;
intitiation examined neurobiologically,
269-71 ;judicial mechanisms, 218;
language, 2; makishi masked fgures,
160; puberty ritual, 20; social dramas
of 121, 180-81; village life, 214
Neckel, (ustav, 104
Neo-Kantians, 196
Neomammalian brain, 256
Neurobiology, 252 -57; and anthropology,
1 1
Nietzche, Friedrich, 206, 281
Njal, 98, 107; friendship with (unnar,
88- 89; household of 85; peace
seeking, 90-91, 92 -93
Njal' Sqa. Sec Icelandic sagas, N]e|'Saqa
INDEX 325
Nomenclature, descriptive system of
1 1 5 - 16
Nominalism, 194
Nordal, Sigurdur, 104
Norway, 77, 1 06-7, 109
Nyakyusa peoples, 40
Nyaluhana, 46 -50; qualifcations for role
in circumcision, 48
Nyampasa, 46, 49
Obaluae, 1 34
Objectiver (eist, objectivated mind, 213
Odyssey, 100, 106; dating of 99
Ogum, 128, 145, 148
Olaf the Vhite, 1 16
Old Black, 128, 133 -34, 137
Old Black Voman, 134, 143
Old Norse, 73, 75
Olds, James, 265 -66
Olney, James, 183
O
ndvegi, high seat, 86
Organization, discrepant principles of 34,
63, 179
Orixa, gods or spirits, 1 19, 127 -29, 130,
137
Osmundsen, Lita, 9
Otto, Rudolph, 42
Outsider, status of 22, 25, 31, 40
Oxala or Zambi, 127
Oxosse, 128
Paleomammalian brain, 255
Palmer, Richard, 177, 185
Palsson, Herman, 108
Papez, James, 255
Paradigms, academic, 152, 153, 173, 185;
root, 167, 220
Paradox, as antinomy and whole, 261, 289
Parent-child relationship, 57-58
Pascal, Blaise, 259, 279 -80
Patriliny, Saora, 22, 28
Pedro, 132, 137-38
Peltason, J. V, 217 -18
Performance: anthropology of 177 -204;
diachronic structure of 185; of
ethnographies, 223; and the
postmodern, 182
Peters, R. S., 250
Phenomenology, 154-55
Plato, 189, 190, 195, 210
Play, 162, 262 -66; and fact, 124; frame, 163
Plog, Frederick T., 170
Plural rehexiVityg l 0J
Point and edge, in Icelandic disputel, !7, 1 1 1
Pomba-cin, 1 40, 145, 1 46 -48
Pouillon, Jcun, 207 -H
Power feld, 59, 68
Pressel, Esther, 144
Priest and shaman, 35 -36. See also Buyya
Process: in defnition of society, 34, 43, 63;
in essays ofVictor Turner, 12; frst
development of theory of 2 -3; of
society's adaptation to environment,
63; theory of and performance, 10;
social, 4, 6; versus structure, 158
Processual analysis, 65, 152, 155, 158,
170,171
Prosopagnosia, 278
Protestantism, 68
Psychoanalysis, 1 19, 149
Psychologists, and confict, 120; depth,
280-81
Psychology: to analyze Chihamba, 3; social,
122
Queen of Sheba, 99
Quimbanda, 129, 135, 141
Rabinow, Paul, 222
Radclife-Brown, A. R., 2, 3, 6; structuralism
of 4, 71, 85
Ramanujan, A. K., 97
Realism, 194
Rebound stimulation. See Brain, cortical
hemispheres of the
Redfeld, James, 97
Redressive action (as a phase of social
drama), 203, 216 -20, 230-31,
232 -35, 243, 294, 298
Refexivity, 154, 166; arrests flow, 132; and
flow (distinction abolished), 196; and
literature, 193; plural and singular, 163,
187, 232; public, 294; of redressive
phase, 216; as society viewing itself
124; in speech, 181
Regularization, social, 156, 161, 170,
183 -85, 204
Reintegration (as a phase in social drama),
220-21, 231
Relationships: afnial 22 -24; breach of
180 -81, 197, 215, 230; idiosyncratic,
20, 23; parent-child, 57 -58
Religion, 191 -92, 228 -29, 231 -35,
245 -46; and the brain, 267, 272;
Chihamba, in feld of 3, 6; and social
structure, 20, 32, 41 -2
Reliion i an Indian Tribe, The, 1 2; reviewed,
19 -42
Reptilian brain, 254 -55
Reykjavik, 73, 76
Richmond, Farley, 238 -43
Rickman, I P., 2 1, 1 1 , 214
z INDEX
Ricoeur, Paul, 208, 278
Rites of passage, 158 -9, 172; liminal phase
in, 294-95
Rites qPassage, The, Turner\ frst encounter
with, 7 -8
Ritual: of afiction, 233, 294; and ceremony,
251 ; confict in, 36-37; and dispute,
alternated, 35, 44; data necessary for
understanding, 32 -33, 53 -54;
dynamic interdependence of, 54, 63;
"fash" in, 1 1, 260; Fortes\ defnition
of 251; knowledge, 289; Leach's view
of 251 -52; and liturgy, 276 -77;
multigenred, 237; and myth, 276; of
Ndembu girls initiation, 269 -71;
nonludic types as nonadaptive,
162 -63, 165; periodic, 34; as phase of
social process, 6; politically integrative
function of 37; as process, 218 -19;
prophylactic, 294; of redress, 232 -25;
redundancy in, 261 ; "spillover" efect
(neocortical) in, 260; as transformative
performance, 251 ; tuning of brain in,
259; values of 50-51
Ritualization, theories of 250-52
Roheim, Geza, 120
Role allocation in ritual, 20, 47-51, 122
Root paradigms, 167 220
Rosaldo, Renate, 222
Rossi, E., 268 -69, 282, 285
Sacra, 162
Sacred instruments, 239 -40
Saga: freeprose versus bookprose, 96,
103 -7; history or fction, 78 -79;
Kings', 101, 107; Kormak's, 1 14;
literary quality of 104-5; style, 77,
80, 81, 96-97. See also Icelandic saga
Saga Age, 112, 113
Salad Farm, 47, 48
Samadhi, 260
Sampasa, 46 -4 7 49-50
Sandombu, 180 -81 ; as marginal, 5
Sanskrit, 238, 239
Santo, flhos de, 130
Saora peoples: aristocrats and commoners,
38; assimilated, 26; ritual among, 12,
19 -42; ritual branches of 26 -27;
social structure of 28, 33 -34
Sapir, Edward, 6
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 208
Satori, 246, 260
Sawiyembi, 46
Schechner, Richard, 9, 179 -80, 181, 297,
'
300
Schiller, Johann von, 195
Scholte, Bob, 157, 207, 208
Schutz, A., 154, 155, 157
Schwartz, G. E, 266-67
Schwartz, Theodore, 147 186
Self identity of, 134; presentation of
186-87
Shahnameh, 100, 101 -2; dating of 98 -99
Shakespeare, William, 161, 232
Shaman: abnormality of 38, 42; childhood
and adulthood of 40; structural role
of 22, 25 -26, 37, 41 ; Dilthey on, 192;
dreaming, 37; funerary, 36; as
mediator, 22, 24; original conversion
of 37; as outsider, 31, 37 -38;
recruitment, and origin in social
structure, 39; as vocation, 40
Shamanin (female shaman), 22
Shame, 1 14
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 232
Shojai, Donald, 97
Shrines, 35
Sib, 85 -86
Silverstein, Michael, 288
Simmel, Georg, 32, 292
Situational adjustment, 156, 161, 170,
183 -85
Skarpheddin, 90-91
Snorri Goii (the Priest), 108, 1 14, 1 18
Snorri Sturluson, 104, 105, 108, 1 13, 1 16
Social drama, 6, 84, 196 -97; in diferent
societies, 74-75; Icelandic, 97,107-8,
112 - 17; as life cycle, 43, 45; liminal
character of 198; Ndembu, 180-81 ;
"performed for an audience," 179;
phases of 89, 121, 180, 203, 215 -21,
230 -32, 243, 275, 291 -92, 294, 298;
psychological dimensions shown in,
84, 122; and sagas, 86, 89; with stage
drama, 300-301; as subcategory of
Erlebnisse, "lived-through" experience,
214; and theater, 181. See also Breach of
norms, Crisis, Reintegration
Social life, 45 -51, 65
Social structure, 126, 232 -34; Ndembu, 3,
53
Sociologists, 157
Sonia, 133, 135, 141, 148
Sparagmos, 166, 243, 297
Spectrum q Ritual, The, 11
Sperry, HW, 257 278, 285
Spillover efect, 259
Spindler, George, 178, 186
Spirits, 21; genealogy, 24; marriages of 40,
41
Spiro, Melford, 122
Srinivas, M. P,34
Stanislavski, Constantin, 10
Star group, 125 -26, 148, 2J1 -J2
INDEX z)
Steiner, Lcorc,VV
Stcphcns, .M., 25J, 269, 282 -83
Stevens, Anthuny, 249, 255 -56, 266, 285;
on archetypes, 267, 268, 282
Story gBumt Ntll, The, 82
Stranger, role of 22
Structural mays 64 -65
Structural-functionalism, 71, 156, 213
Structuralism, 1 71 -72, 213
Structural relationships, 59
Structure, 156, 205; nonadaptive, 163. See
also Social structure
Sturla Thordarson, 79, 112
Sturlung Age, 76, 78, 113; confict in, 79, 90,
97; sagas written in, 106, 109, 112
Sturlufa Saa, 84, 112
Subjunctive mood, 167 243 -44, 295;
healing function of in culture, 124; "if
,
"
10, 264 -65; Umbanda in, 125, 126,
147; unconscious phenomena emerged
in, 124
Superego, 286
Sutton-Smith, Brian, 9
Sveinsson, Einar L,76, 79, 81, 87, 104, 105
Sverri' Saga, 104
Swartz, Marc, 8, 84
S
)
mbol: analysis of 6, 171 ; bipolar,

2
69 -73; design, 137; dominant, 269;
mudyi, milk tree, mother's milk, 20,
269 -271; representing social
categories, ,square, representing
totality, 240
Symbolic types, 235 -36, 242
"Synchronic Method," 72
Tabula rasa theory, 267 271
Tallensi peoples, 3
Terreiro (cult center), 119, 127; Bishop
Street, 134, 135, 136, 143; routinization
of 134 -41 ; urban setting, 122
Theater, 9 - 10, 166-67 294, 295, 297;
derived from ritual, 237, 242
Theosophy, 127, 141
"Thing," meeting of the people, 78, 86, 87
Tingvellir, 78, 86, 87 110
Thorgeirr, 80
Torgilsson, Ari. See Ari Thorgilsson
ThorolfMostur-Beard, 114 -1 15, 1 16
Thorvaldsson, Gizur, 109
Thorpe, VH., 250
Thor\ Ness, 1 15
Thorstcinn, 97, 1 01
Time, 227 -28
Thwcl Fum, 47, 4H
Tance, 25, 1 30, 1 35 - 147
Tlck1ter, 1 02, 2M, 265
Tiune brain, 254 -56
Trophotropic system, 255, 259 -62
Tshombe, Moise, 51
Turner, Edith, 1 -5, 7 -9, 1 1
Turner, Rory, 1 1
Turner, Victor: development of theory by,
1 - 11 ; and Dilthey, 213; feldwork
method of 12
Turner, Victor, works: "Betwixt and
Between: The Liminal Period in Rites
de Passage," 8, 159, 160 -61 ; "Body,
Brain, and Culture," 6, 11, 15;
"Chihamba, the White Spirit: A Ritual
Drama of the Ndembu," 6 -7; Dramas,
Field, and Metaphors, 198; The Frest q
Sybol: Aspects qNdembu Ritual, 13, 59;
"Frame, Flow, and Refection," 130;
Political Anthropolo, 8; The Ritual
Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, 8;
Schism and Continuity in an Afican
Society: A Study qNdembu Vllage Li,
4-5, 56 -7, 113, 198 -99, 213; "Three
Symbols ofPassage in Ndembu
Circumcision: An Interpretation," 13
Turville-Petre, E. LG., 80, 82, 110
Tutelaries, 24, 26, 37
Ullendorf Edward, 99
Umbanda, 14; African gods of 129-30;
African influence on, 127; dramatis
personae, 132-33, 149: eclectic
makeup of 127 141; experiential efect
of 131 -32; hierarchy in, 130; "lines"
in, 127; modern and traditional
members of 138 -41 ; sessions of, 127;
subjunctive mood of 125, 126, 147; as
surrogate family, 126; symbolic
designs in, 137; trance in, 130; women
in, 144
Umbanda, supernatural beings in: Boiadeiro
(Cowboy), 145, 146; Caboclo (Red
Indian), 128, 143, 145; Child, Children
(Sts. Cosmas and Damian), 128, 145;
Exu (the Devil and Jesus), 128 -29;
Iansa (Sta. Barbara), 129; Iemanja
(Virgin Mary), 127; Maae Oxum
(Mater Dolorosa), 129, 145; Obaluae
(St. Lazarus), 134; Ogum (St. George),
128, 145, 148; Old Black, 128;
133 -34, 137; Old Black Woman, 134,
143; Oxala, 127; Oxosse
(Amerindian), 127; Pomba-Gira
(gypsy), 140, 145, 146 -8; Xango (St.
Jerome), 1 27 -28, 145
Lh|iimystlca, 260
VAlue (lrt), 202 -4, 2 1 4, 21 6- 1 7
Vnn Dulteneu,J., 97
/
z8 INDEX
van Gennep. See Gennep, Arnold van
Vansina,Jan, 72
Utzdaela Saa, 83
Vayda, A. P, 161, 170
Velho Maggie, Yvonne, 14, 1 19, 122, 132,
139, 144, 145, 148 -9
Tllel, 104
Verhaeren,
E
mile, 280
Trstehen (understand), 202n, 223, 224
Vicinage: council, 47 -48; ofMukanda,
55 -56; Ndembu, 45 -46
Vidusaka clown,238-39, 242 -43
Vigfssen, Gudbrand, 75, 1 13, 1 17
Village histories, 32
Villages: size of, related to confct, 28 -29;
structure of, 28 -29
Violence, ritualized, 292
Virilocal marriage, 62, 85
Vogel, P, 257
Voluspa, 104
Wadyang'amafu, 46-47, 49
Walsh, David, 156
Wax, Rosalie, 95
Weber, Max, 223
lltanschauun (world view), 14, 96, 97, 108,
190-96
Wergild (indemnity), 85, 86
l#rt (value), 202-4, 214, 216 - 17
Whiting, ]. W, 159
Williams, Robin, 203
Wilson, Edward C,252
Women: as shamans, 22; in Umbanda, 144
Wukeng' 46-49
Xango, 127 -28, 145
Yeshaq of Aksur 100
Yogic ecstasy, 260
Young, Frank , 159
Zuesse, E. M, 130
Zweck (end), 202, 214
Zygon, 1 1, 252