Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Rituals and ritualization can be found in all aspects of contemporary social life: religion, education, politics, →  Popular Culture , work life, family life, friendship, consumption, and leisure. Formal ceremonies such as religious observances, weddings, funerals, or oaths of office are familiar; the rest of social life is also punctuated by small bits of ritual and ceremoniousness, which we often overlook. From the rules of politeness to military codes of honor, from the celebration of birthdays and holidays to presidential inaugurals, from the conduct of board meetings and superior–subordinate communication to the conduct of a symphony orchestra concert, from dinner parties to Super Bowl parties, to the groups of television viewers gathered for news of disaster and crisis, the distinctive moments of life are marked by ritual. How ritual works is most easily observed in formal ceremonies, so the discussion will begin with those examples. In a religious service, wedding, or oath of office, people perform →  scripts of symbolic activities, including words, gestures, movements, music, dress, and decoration to connect with larger realities, meanings, and values, create new social realities, or manage social change (→  Symbolism ). These are all matters of what Durkheim (1995) called the serious life, and his analysis of how ritual connects individual and group is the classic source ... log in or subscribe to read full text