400 RITUAL Other Sources F Eisner Jas.“From Empirical Bvidence to the Big Picture: Some Reflec- tions on Rieg!’s Concept of Kunsteollen” Critical Inquiry 32 (2006): 741-766, Forster, Kurt, “Monument/Memory and the Mortality of Architec= ture," Oppositions 25 (1982): 2-19. Gubser, Michael. Time's Visible Surface: Alois Rigel and the Discourse on History and Temporality in Fin-de-Sitle Vienna, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2006, Iversen, Margaret. Alois Riggl: Art History and Theory. Cambridge, ‘Mass: MIT Press, 1993. ‘Kemp, Wolfgang. “Alois Riegl." In Allmeistr moderner Kunstgerchiche, edited by Heinrich Dily, pp. 37-62. Berlin: D. Reimer, 1990, ‘Noever, Peter, Artur Rosenauer, and Georg Vasold, eds. lois Riegl, Re- visited: Betrige 2u Werk und Reception. Vienna: Verlag der Oster- reichisehen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010. Olin, Margaret. “Alois Riegl: The Late Roman Empire in the Late ‘Habsburg Empire.” In The Habsburg Legacy: National entity in Hs torical Perspective, edited by Ritchie Robertson and Edward Timms, pp. 107-120. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994. lin, Margaret. “The Cult of Monuments as a State Religion in Late 19% Century Austria” Wiener Jahrbuch fiir Kunsigeschichte 38 (1985): 177-198, Olin, Margaret. Forms of Representation in Alois Riegl’s Theory of Art University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992. Plicht, Otto “Alois Riegl.” In Methodisches zur hunsthistorschen Praxis Ausgeethte Schrifen, edited by org Obethaidacher, Arcur Rosenauer, and Gertraut Schikola, pp. 141-152. Munich: Prestel, 1977. Panofsky, Erwin. “Der Begriff des Kunstwollens.” In dufidize 2x Grundfragen der Kunstwissenschaft, 2d rev. ed. edited by Hariolt Oberet and Egon Verheyen, pp. 29-43. Berlin: B, Hessling, 1974, ‘Translated by Kenneth J. Northcott and Joel Snyder as “The Con- cept of Artisti Volition.” Criteal Inguiry ® (Autumn 1981): 7-34, Podro, Michael, “Riegl” In The Critical Historians of Art, pp. 71-97. ‘New Haven, Conn. Yale University Press, 1982 Reichenberger, Andrea, Rigls "Kunstwollen” Vrsuch einer Neubetrach- ‘tung. Sankt Augustin, Germany: Academia Verlag, 2003, ‘Reynolds, Diana. “Alois Riegl and the Politics of Art History.” PhD. diss, University of Cabfornia, San Diego, 1997, ‘Sauerlinder, Wilibald, “Alois Rieg! und die Entstehung der autonomen ‘Kunsigeschichte am Fin de Sidcle.” In Fin de Siele: Zur Literatur und Kunst der Jalohundertwende, edited by Roger Bauer etal pp. 125— 139, Frankfurt: Klosterman, 1978, Scarrocchia, Sandro, “Al tempo la sua arte, alParte la sus Wbert': I ‘Denkmalkultus di Riegl.” In I! Culto Moderno dei monument: I uo cardvtere ¢ I soi inia, edited and translated by Sendro Scarrocchia and Renate Trost, pp. 9-23. Bologna, Ialy: Nuova Alfa, 1990. Scarrocchia, Sando, Oltre la storia dell'arte:Alos Reel vita e oper un rotagonsta della cultura Viennese. Milan: C. Marinotti, 2006. Sedimayr, Hans. “Die Quintessenz des Lehren Riegh” In Gesammelte Aufitze, edited by Karl M. Swoboda, pp. xiiaoxdv: Augsburg, Ger- ‘many, and Vienna: B. Filser, 1929, Vasold, Georg. Alois Rigl und die Kunsigechiche ale Kulturgeschichte: CBerleungen cum Fridhserk des Wiener Gelehrien. Freiburg, Germany: Rombach, 2004, ‘Wood, Christopher. “Rieg!'s Mache” Res 46 (Auturnn 2004): 155-172. Woodiield, Richard, ed. Framing Formatiom: Riggs Work. Amsterdam: G48 Atts International, 2001 Worringer, Wilhelm. Abstraction and Empathy:A Contribution tothe Pey- chology of Style. Translated by Michael Bullock. New York: Interna tlonal Universities Press, 1953. Zerner, Hensi, “Alois Riegl: Art, Value, and Historicism.” Daedalus 105 (Winter 1976): 17-189, RITUAL. At times carefully thought out, and other times extemporaneously performed, rituals serve as a process of orchestration—an ordering of time and space, and in each instance, a manifestation of aesthetics. Ritual has historically been described as an action of repeated activity, the out- come of which may result in certain recognizable patterns (Kyriakidis, 2007). Indeed, it is not easy to determine when and how individual habit or communal custom becomes ritual. A recited proverb or spell, the reenactment of a myth or folktale, the body’s adornment or a musical performance, all may fit within the context of a ritual act. While mang ritu- als pertain to religious practice, a significant number are secular. Ritual may be preemptive, responsive, or possibly both. Ritual can be employed for positive as well as negative outcomes, used by people purposefully or unintentionally t0 shame or disrupt, to fulfil or to remedy. In part, itis ritual’s multifaceted form that makes it so challenging to define, which is often the case with the most elemental aspects of human experience. Whether considering the objects em- ployed in ritual, or the performative nature of the participat- ing actors and the rite itself, virtually all aspects of ritual demonstrate an aesthetic quality. Indeed, it is through their very enactment of highly choreographed moments, actions, and events that the aesthetic nature of rituals is revealed. Characteristics and Modes of Classification. Typi- cally, ritual occurs in a designated space, a site pre-deter- mined for particular qualities. In fact, those who partake in ritual often maintain that a rite is deeply rooted in the space where it is enacted, and that to alter the location of the ritual would transform its very meaning. (Consider the changing of the guatds at Buckingham Palace, which, ifnot located outside of the sovereignty of the British Monarchy; ‘would prove inconsequential. Similarly, ritual bathing for Hindu practitioners in any body of water besides the Ganges River certainly could not result in the same type of purification.) However, it is possible that through divine interventions, @ profane site may be transformed into a sacted place. Mircea Bliade (1987) explains that a sacred site can be created in any place where the divine manifests itself, a phenomenon identified as a hierophany. This per- formative act of consecration may itself be interpreted as an aesthetic experience. Ritual space thus can be a formally established site of a temple as well as a secular space trans formed by active participation and energy. Compellingly, Evan Zuesse (1987) posits that space and time are “or ganic experiences,” indicating that like organisms, they can evolve and deteriorate, and through sacred ritual, must even be revived periodically. Ritual actions can be performed by individuals, though routinely they gain even more meaning when carried out as, collective acts. A ritual’s accessibility strikes a unique bal- ance between inclusiveness and exclusivity—enough people must be able to participate in order for the ritual to be ef fective, while the sanctity of the act must be maintained bylimiting the type of people permitted to perform (or even witness) the ceremony: As Catherine Bell (1992) maintained, ambiguity (and we might add, mystery) remains a key com- ponent of ritual even to this day. Furthermore, ritual has the advantage of being both re- sponsice and preventative—it may address a tragedy or a blessing that has already occurred, or alternatively, a ritual may be performed to ward off impending evil, disaster, or disease or to bring about health, wealth, or love. Finally, we ‘might add that ritual may be reflective, enacted to confirm the established order, or any combination of the three. Ritual statues depicting the ancient Benin Kingdom's royal court for instance, often represented an important aesthetic re~ minder and affirmation of the obu’s (divine king's) power and historical legacy (Blier, 2003), Additionally, many of the ma- terials used to create these royal arts—coral, brass, and ivory—had been imbued with sacred power themselves and signaled the wealth and stability of the kingdom's divine rule. Ritual’s connection to aesthetics is apparent in many as- pects of society: in the artistic quality of ritual tools used to invoke spirits and in the rehearsed movements of perfor- ‘mative dance; it is visible in the early stages of an architec tural project, in the adorned body of a newly baptized or initiated religious person, and in the public transition from adolescence to adulthood. Indeed, it may be difficult to discern a moment when a ritualized artistic act or perfor~ mative demonstration is not somehow connected to sacred practice. The polyrhythmic drumbeats used in a Carib- bean carnival setting may initially appear quite secular, but the very ritualized nature of Haiti's rara music reveals its power as an activating force and even divine presence in the lively festival space (Wilcken, 1992). Suzanne P. Blier (2003) also points out that in the visual arts, rituals often surround each work, signaling important stages in the cre- ative process. ‘Theoretical Frameworks for Ritual. As early as 1908, Amold van Gennep established one of the first classification systems for ritual, creating a set of criteria used to identify various forms of ritual activity, specifically rites of passage. Like many early theorists, van Gennep considered ritual and ceremony to be a technique of magic, which he differenti- ated from religion (defined as a community's metaphysics and philosophy), Many scholars today maintain that ritual remains deeply linked to notions of intentionally performed activity, and at its core, ritual may be described as a perfor mance of sequenced acts and utterances (Rappaport, 2007). Broadly speaking, rituals as ceremonial acts may be enacted in conjunction with the passing of natural seasons, honoring humans or divine beings, or acknowledging certain stages of life that effect changes in human experience. Van Gennep broadly identified three families of rituals: rites of separation, such as mortuary practices, rites of incom oration, comprising events such as marriage, and transition rites, including pregnancy and initiation. There also exist a RITUAL 401 number of other rituals in his taxonomy, which include pro- tection and divination rites, as well as ordinations and propi- tiatory rites, among others. However, van Gennep made clear his intention to focus on ritual types that involve sepa- ration from and reintegration to the community, as he main- tained that these rites represent some of the most mean- ingful transitions in one’s civic and religious life. Diverging slightly from van Gennep’s three-part struc~ ture, Zuesse classifies ritual in two camps: those of mainte~ nance and those of metamorphosis, as he argues that most cultures have both confirmatory rituals and transformatory rials, Confirmatory rituals uphold the central and periph- eral boundaries of structure in the universe. An example ‘might include ritual taboos concerning menstruating women, ‘many of whom must limit their contact with the community and avoid certain spaces in many parts of the world, On the other hand, transformatory rituals address rupture in the cosmos and revitalize the world order in times of change (Zuesse, 1987). In these two modes of classifying ritual, van Gennep and Zuesse highlight the very basic notion that ritu- als are frequently enacted to maintain balance or status or alternatively, to catalyze change in transitional periods. For this reason, the form and frequency of ritual provide another mode of classifying ritualized actions, each with its own sequence and particular aesthetic, Robert McCauley and E. Thomas Lawson (2007) have coined the term ritual depth to suggest that certain preliminary rituals are neces- sary for more elaborate and “deeper” rituals to take place. Oftentimes in a community, it is the first instance of ritual that carries the most significance, as van Gennep suggested. The first childbirth, first coronation, first menses, first hunt, first ceremony attendance, all carry greater meaning be- cause they serve as an inauguration into certain dimensions of human’s lived experience. Further, van Gennep main- tained that the first witnessing of ceremony or ritual object, signals an irreversible maturation, as one could never return to the previous state of personhood. ‘Many theorists of ritual in the mid-twentieth century, in- cluding Mary Douglas (1966) and Victor Turner (1969), explained that ritual was enacted as a social remedy for crises with spiritual origins. As major proponents of structuralism, it is understandable that Douglas and Turner maintained a more functionalist reading of ritual, suggesting that its pri- mary purpose was to perform redressive social action in mo- ments of crisis and catastrophe. Claude Lévi-Strauss (1978) similarly interpreted ritual’s primary aims as a manner in which to seek resolution for the inevitable confrontations be- ‘tween human, culture, and nature. Such scholars maintained that ritual fulfilled its purpose largely in preventative meas- ures of discord or redressive measures for illness and dis- order. In contrast with those more conflict-oriented rituals, it is also important to discuss the rituals employed for renewal and maintaining structure, those providing balance in the cosmos and reinstating the human state of affairs.402 RITUAL Indeed, other scholars of the later twentieth century argued that ritual serves as a complex technique to uphold the world’s order—both in profane and sacred dimensions— cand instigate change, Eliade asserted that the universe itself requires renewal in order to flourish, while Zuesse, among others, suggest that ritual has the power to regenerate the cosmic order and restore its vitality. For Eliade then, this role of revitalizing the world is where ritual executes its most critical role. This renewal is not always necessitated because of humans’ moral shortcomings, but rather because the world has “wilted” or become stale in its very act of exist- ence (Bliade, 1995). Echoing a similar sentiment, David L. Carrasco (1998) discusses the tradition of Aztec blood- letting as first and foremost a manner of reactivating or re~ energizing the universe. Jacob K. Olupona (2011) points out that rituals in the sacred city of lé-Ifé, Nigeria are per- formed for 364 days of the year in order to ensure that the world’s freshness may be maintained. In addition to its role 1s a maintainer of the established order, this regenerative func- tion of ritual ultimately serves as an aesthetic act of recalibra- tion in the cosmos. Role of Ritual and Ritual Objects. Having discussed certain functions of ritual (including social redress, renewing. agent, preventative measure, attracting agent), we might consider oto ritual functions (j.e., how it operates). These transformational powers of ritual urge us to consider the tools and implements employed by participants in ritual sites and spaces. We must then ask, what role do ritual ob- jects and the aesthetic play in ritual? Clifford Geertz (1973) maintained that culture not only constituted the world but also shaped the worlds rituals and symbols did not simply il- lustrate the social order, but in fact served as some of the architectural building blocks of the social world itself. For this reason, Turner (1969) sees ritual as a deeply communal experience and employed the term communitas to explain the sense of tunity experienced in a ritual setting. Certainly, various generations of theorists have differed in their under~ standing of the way ritual works, as early theorists such as ‘Turner and Geertz believed ritual to be primarily a mode of communication, both in the mortal world as well as within sacred realms, Somewhat relatedly to Turner’s notion of communizas, Zuesse (1987) notes that in the ritual act, the individual is able to transcend oneself, and thus, we might add, enter into another fold of existence, more integrally connected to the larger collectiv With regard to sacred space, it is important to recognize the power of ritual works not only as a ink between an indi- vidual and the community; additionally, ritual objects func- tion as an aesthetic and activating force in a designated place. In many African and American indigenous traditions, sacred rattles typically invoke spirits in ritual ceremony, serving as what Dianne M. Diakité and Tracey E. Hucks (2013) call ritual technologies. Known as ason in Haitian Vodou and shaker ratiles in numerous American indigenous religions, these ritual objects become voices that call out to particular spirit energies. Kimberley C. Patton (2009) even suggests that these ritual implements are not simply acted upon by religious participants, but may possess their own agency (and even reflexivity), ultimately serving as mediat- ing agents between various ritual participants. For instance, ‘Tibetan Buddhists believe that following their activation, prayer wheels eventually spin themselves. Nor is it always humans who determine that the ritual has concluded. Among, Zuni communities and other Pueblo peoples, Kachina dolls were often placed outdoors to re-orchestrate balance in the universe, and their natural degradation was considered part of the ritual work itself. Thus, it was not until the dolls began to decompose in the heat of the desert landscape that the ritual work was considered complete. Performance and Ritualization. In the past thirty years, the shift in studies of ritual has since returned to the importance of aesthetics and signification. While art histo- rians have typically interpreted art by considering the im- portance of ritual, scholars in other disciplines have exam= ined ritual through the medium of the arts. As such, it is clear that the study of ritual requires an interdisciplinary approach, Geertz maintained that ritual braids together a culture’s ethos and worldview while Lévi-Strauss argued that the distinctiveness of ritual stems not from what it symbolizes or communicates, but rather from its performance of certain gestures. Through the act of interpreting culture as performance (yet another aesthetic act/endeavor), we i say that ritual serves a critical role through its struc- turing of time and marking of human societal evolution. ‘Madeline Duntley (2005) has expressed that the perfor mative aspect of rites—the very gestures and utterances, aesthetics and choreography, designated space and im- provisation, praxis and symbology—must all be consi ered as integral components to a ritual’s enactment and cannot simply be interpreted through the lens of the rite’s social function or cultural context. Ultimately, sacred and profane rites render the passage of time visible in the course of one’s life cycle through the employment of the human body (Zuesse, 1987). How is the human body affected in ritual? In addition to permanent aes- thetic modifications to the body such as tattooing and cicatri- zation, the body might also undergo transitory changes, such as ritual possession by visting spirits. Eliade (1987) designated the body a sacred space, not unlike a sanctified structure or temple, and a model ofthe universe itself, in its workas a cosmic pillar (axis mundi). Zuesse regards ritual as conscious, re- peated, and stylized action of the body, “centered on cosmic structures and/or sacred presences” (1987). Thus, the body might be interpreted as a site of religious experience and an aesthetic marker in itself. Further, scholars such as Wendy Doniger have posited that many rituals of the body are in fact universal, Physio- logically, we all share bodily functions, including tears shedin joy and pain, procreation and the birthing cycle, the en- durance-building aspects of war, the exhilarating experience of dance, and the mystifying encounter with dreams. Thus, Doniger (1998) considers the body a centralizing platform to identify cross-cultural patterns in ritual. It is true for instance, most societies elaborately adorn their bodies in the rite of marriage, aesthetically enhancing features that the community deems beautiful with clothes, jewelry, and body omamentation. However, others insist that humans do not experience the body in the same way at all, as worldview dictates one's conceptions and experiences. Esiaba Irobi (2007) identifies the term kinaesthetic literacy as the use of the medium of the body as a site of cultural signification, suggesting that each body must be understood in its own cultural and historical context. Ritual form thus becomes aesthetic, In the performative and communicative act of ritual, the history of tattooing presents an important instance of per- manent, aesthetic modification of the body. In much of Southeast Asia, tattoos historically indicated one’s status in the community, as women of Atayal communities in ancient ‘Taiwan obtained face tattoos after achieving certain levels of skill in farming and weaving. Among Pacific Northwestern peoples and Mesoamericans, various tattoos indicated one’s role as a well-respected warrior, identifying particular feats accomplished in battle, Similarly, cicatrization in West and Central Africa—along with the application of medicinal salves and massaging of ritually charged herbs—took place historically in various nations such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Democratic Republic of Congo. This rite typically sig- naled a person’s transition into a higher stage of maturity and particularly for women, entry into the venerated status ‘of motherhood (Visona, 2003). Bell (1992) refers to this performative quality of ritual as riwalization, explaining that through physical action, ritu- alization temporally constructs a space-time environment, which ultimately “molds” the participating actors involved. Just as ritual objects may possess their own degree of agency in ceremony, the rite itself also performs work on the participants, fostering a liminal site whereby partici pants experience transformation. This includes the tempo- rary inversion of the structural order, as with rites involving the defaming of the king in decadent carnival spaces, as well as the more lasting alterations one undergoes in initia tory rites of puberty and maturation. For all entities in- volved—sacred objects, cooperating animals, participating humans, and witnessing spirits—the performance of ritual incites a metamorphosis that cannot be undone. Yet despite the repeated nature of ritual, each enactment proves unique, each rearticulation a fresh occurrence. Within Hindu, Pentecostal, and Yoribé religious systems for in- stance, it is a common occurrence for ritual possessions, whereby the spirit enters the body of an initiate, to take place during the ceremony. However, the spirits can prove RITUAL 403 quite capricious, as one god may arrive to heal, another to chastise, and another to foretell of events to come. As Blier has stated, not unlike a musical score, “when a ritual is re~ enacted, it is at once redefined, rediscovered, and created anew” (Blier, 2003, p. 302). ‘The Future of Ritual. In the twenty-first century, nu- merous scholars have insisted that for the purpose of study- ing ritual, we can no longer rely on metaphors of culture as text, as culture is lived and performed. As such, pethaps the rites of passage framework, so long emphasized by those such as van Gennep and’Turner, might benefit from the inclusion of even greater cultural context and specificity. Arguing for the significance of a performative lens in ritual, Bell asserts that where “textual metaphors” insist that ritual has a script like any other social activity, the performative lens defines ritual using its own parameters. As a result of these and other critiques of ritual during the postcolonial 1980s and deconstructionist 1990s, there has been a significant shift away from universalizing theories. Finally, Bell suggested that ritualization challenges the notion that ritual represents the fixed elements of society, urging scholars to consider ritual as transformative (and we might add, mediating) agent as well as stabilizing force. ‘Thus far, we have defined ritual as responsive, preventa- tive, and reflective—as social remedy for discord, disaster, or disease, as agent of renewal for revitalizing the universe, and as stabilizer of the existing structures of the world, What then, might be expected for the future of ritual? Many com- munities today suggest that societies are steadily falling into disarray because collective rituals are no longer enacted, particularly for the youth. With little emphasis on communal rites of transition outside of religious spaces, it seems that high school (and, for a smaller population, college) graduations remain one of the few remnants of publicly acknowledged transitions from adolescence to adulthood. Even further, some suggest that mental psychoses have occurred in in- creasing measure in part because individuals must undergo transitional stages of life “alone and with private symbols” (Kimball, Rites of Passage, 1960).'That is to say, the collec- ivity of public ritual action is rarely sought out in’the West; as a result, many perceive today’s “citizens of the world” to be out of sync with an increasingly globalized world that neglects the importance of collective and individual rites and passages. While ritual is typically called upon to maintain equilib- rium, stabilize the community, and regenerate the universe, the twenty-first century has resulted in monumental changes and shifts in worldview. Indeed, the exponential growth in connectivity alone, a result of the development and rapid expansion of the Internet, has fundamentally altered the ways that people think about community, belonging, iden- tity, and thus, belief and practice. Interestingly however, there continues to be just as much emphasis to punctuate life with joyful celebrations and respectful commemorations404 ROBOTICS as in any era before, often now with the added dimensions of ‘a plurality and fusion of cultural aesthetics involved. Finally, as Blier (2003) has stated, both stasis and transi tus are central to ritual action. Duntley points out Bell's cru- cial contribution in stating that our attention to ritual change must also include reference to “ritual immutability,” as a culture’s emphasis on the permanence of rites (even amid certain evident changes in the community) reveals the ways that a society dictates response to evolving times. Perhaps it is this dynamic structure that is most important in our un- derstanding of ritual: at times, ritual serves as an agent of change itself, while other times, its rigidity signals continuity even in the midst of a rapidly evolving world. However, in all instances, ritual remains rooted in ordering the universe, always with an aesthetic locus. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bell, Catherine. “Performance.” In Critical Terms fr Religious Studies edited by Mark C. Taylor, pp. 205-224. Chicago and London: Uni- versity of Chicago Press, 1998, Bell, Catherine. “Ritual” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay Jones, pp. 7848-7856. Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2005, Bell, Catherine, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, New York: Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1992, Bier, Suzanne P. “Ritual” In Critical Terms for Art History, edited by Robert S. Nelson and Richard Shiff, pp. 296-305. Chicago: Univer sity of Chicago Press, 2003. Carrasco, David L. Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremo~ nial Centers. Long Grove, I: Waveland, 1998, Diakité, Dianne M. Stewart, and Tracey E. Hucks. “Africana Religious ‘Studies: Toward a Transdiciplinary Agenda in an Emerging Field” Journal of Africana Religions 1, no. 1 Ganuary 2013): 28-77. Doniges, Wendy. The Implied Spider: Politics & Theology in Myth New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: dn Analysis of Concepts of Potuton ‘and Taboo, New York: Rouledge, 2002. Duntley, Madeline, “Ritual Studies.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, ‘edited by Lindsay Jones, pp. 7856~7861. Detroit: Macmillan Refer~ ence, 2008. Biisde, Mircea, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. ‘Translated by Willard R. Trask. NewYork City: Harcourt, 1987. Blisde, Mircea. Symbolism, the Sacred, and che Arts. Edited by Diane “Apostolos-Cappadona, New York: Continuum, 1995, Geertz, Clifford. The Inerpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New ‘York: Basie Books, 1973. Irobi, Esaba. “What They Came With: Carnival and the Persistence of ‘Aftican Performance Aesthetics in the Diaspora" Journal of Black ‘Studies 37, n0,6 Guly 2007): 896-913, Kyrlakidis, Evangelos, ed. The Archacology of Ritual. Los Angeles: ‘Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Ange- les, 2007, ‘Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Myth and Meaning. New York City: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2005, ‘Olupona, Jacob K. City of 201 Gods: I-1P in Time, Space and the Imag ination, Los Angeles and Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. ation, Kimberley. Religion ofthe Gods: Ritual, Paradox and Reflexvity. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. ‘Rappaport, Roy A, “Ritual,Time, and Eternity” Zygon 27,no.1 (2007): 5-30. Seligman, Adam B., Robert P. Weller, Michael J. Puett, and Bennett Simon. Ritual and Its Consequences:in Essay onthe Limits of Sincerity. ‘Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. ‘Smith, Jonathan Z. “The Baze Facts of Ritual.” History of Religions 20, nos. 1-2 (1980): 112-127. ‘Turner, Vietor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. New Brunswick, NJ. Aldine Transaction, 2008, van Gennep, Arnold, Rites of Passage: Classical Suady of Culural Cel ‘rations Translated by Monika B. Viezdom and Gabrielle L. Caffe Introduction by Solon Kimball. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960. json’, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poyner, Herbert M. Cole, and ‘Michael D. Harris. A History of art in Africa. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. Wilcken, Lois. The Druns of Vodou. Tempe, Ariz.: White Cliffs Media, 1992, Zuesse, Evan, Ritual Cosmot: The Sanctification of Life in African Reli- sions. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1979. Zuesse, Evan, “Ritual.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lind say Jones, pp. 7833-7848. Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2008. Kyralt Matika Dastets, ROBOTICS. Robotics is the discipline, technology, and practice of designing, building, and using robots. Robots are artifacts and devices that can act autonomously, perceive their environment, interpret it, and act in physical spaces on the basis of senses and programming, Robotics is character ized by its wide-ranging and rapidly changing technical and cultural fields: from engineering to art, entertainment to consumer applications. The history of robotics can be traced only through investigation into movements across these di- verse domains. Robots, proto-robots, and representations of robots have a particular place in the imagination because they appear to straddle the boundary between the living and non-living. Robots are often assessed according to values of anthropo- morphism, or according to their resemblance to other living things. Representations of robotics are as rich a source of pop- ular understanding as robots themselves. There is a history of robotics installations in media art. There are also instru- mental applications in engineering, manufacturing, and consumer electronics. The dominant contemporary mean- ings for robotics since the nineteenth century are sourced from science fiction texts—comic books, literature, cinema, television, and the Intemet. However, in the twenty-first century, full-featured commodified robots are becoming increasingly sophisticated and commonplace across many domains. Considering their often lifelike appearance and behavior, robots and automata have been associated with long-standing cultural tropes such as identity, the uncanny, human fallibility, and mortality. Automata, Contemporary robotics are prefigured by a long tradition of automata—mechanical devices that mimic human and other living forms. The most prominent ancient