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THE HOME - THE WORLD OF SERIOUS LIFE (Dom swiat zycia powaznego)

100%
Baranski J.
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2010
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vol. 64
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issue 2-3(289-290)
84-94
EN
The thesis of this article focuses on the ritual function of the home. The point of departure are the findings made by researchers studying the functions of the home, primarily Danuta and Zbigniew Benedyktowicz, who indicate the overwhelming mythical role played by the home (the home-centre, the home-dream, the home-cosmos or even the home-chaos), its magical-ritual role (the zakladziny practices, the site of carrying out the rites of transition and fertility, the archetypical foundation of processes of individuation, the holy corner conceived as a prolongation of liturgical rituals) or social role (the place of the formation of basic competences for living in a group, interaction with the outer world, the storehouse of clan tradition). The above-listed functions are confirmed by suitably formalised practice that, however, constitutes only a small part of symbolic interactions, in which the residents remain with their homes. An interpretation category applied to indicate un-formalised interactions is the concept of rituality, derived from la vie sérieuse expounded by Durkheim and le mythique formulated by Barthes. Thus understood rituality is a variety of ritual behaviour - scattered, unconscious, stream-like - that acts as an intermediary between our relations with the outer world; at the same time, it serves the shaping of personal and group identities. This is the case of communication (self-communication - Lotman), whose partners (intermediaries) are also material objects, including the home. Due to its indistinct nature one should speak about this instance of rituality/communication first and foremost in the categories of causality, the individual emotional/cognitive act. The symbolic of the home and all sorts of artefacts that make it up obtains in this manner an intimate form, and the home itself assumes the form of an indexical cipher applied by the person (persons) living in it. This is a home inscribed into individual (collective) personality. A reverse process also takes place: personalities are moulded by the symbolic baggage of the home. In this interpretation, we may ascribe to it the role of the generalised other (Mead).
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The Ambiguity of the Ritual Communique. Mediaeval Forms of Social Communication

80%
Falkowski W.
Kwartalnik Historyczny
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2006
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vol. 113
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issue 2
5-25
EN
The ritual is analysed as a communique which transmits additional contents to the described public events. By doing so, it creates new meanings which can be understood variously, depending on the ensuing situation, the manner of applying the ritual, and the possibility of separating 'ordinary conduct' from gestures, symbols and behaviour commenting on the emergent situation. The analysed gesture of embracing legs and sometimes kissing them could have had assorted meanings, and have been interpreted differently depending on a concrete situation and the intention of the persons performing it. This question is discussed upon the examples of chronicles by Gallus Anonymous, Aldemar de Chabannes, Richer, Raul Glaber, Dudo de Saint Quentin and Nuthard. All are based on a single scheme of behaviour which contains the gesture of a public demonstration of respect and obedience. Each time, however, they present a different content which upon occasions was distant from the fundamental meaning of the used ceremonial. An inappropriate application of the ritual was depicted in the story of Boleslaw II who humiliated the duke of Kiev. Instead of political profit, his conduct brought losses, and in place of glory - contempt, with the improper use of the ritual turning against the main protagonist and adversely affecting his authority.
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OBRAD – FOLKLÓR - FOLKLORIZMUS

80%
Jakubíková K.
Etnologické rozpravy (Ethnological Disputes)
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2010
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vol. 17
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issue 1-2
26 – 29
EN
The paper deals with reflection on changes which have been recognized in the forms and functions of ritual folklore. The term folklorism is clarified and specified as well. Its main characteristics refer to the demonstration for “the others” or demonstration by “the others”.
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WEDDING VIDEOS: NEW MEDIA AND CHANGES IN RITUAL (Filmy weselne. Nowe media a zmiany w rytuale)

80%
Dudek K. J.
Kultura i Społeczeństwo
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2009
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vol. 53
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issue 4
117-130
EN
Nowadays rituals are caught up in the process of mediatization. Wedding films are a perfect example of it. The authoress explores certain aspects of audiovisual culture - the circulation of symbolic content, the meaning of tradition, new ways of creating audiovisual narratives. Analysing selected examples, she discusses new, digital forms of expression and their meaning in the ritual.
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RITUALS, PROPAGANDA, AND SOCIAL REGULATION: TOTALISM AS A QUASI-RELIGIOUS SYSTEM

80%
Kiper J., Sosis R.
Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
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2022
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vol. 70
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issue 2
273 – 296
EN
Recent scholarship on mass mobilization and totalism has approached propaganda as a solution to political cooperation, whereby inflammatory speeches, mis- or dis-information, and rumours function not to persuade audiences but rather to coordinate coalitions. Propaganda, it has been argued, aligns the attention of individuals already disposed to conflict. However, propaganda does not operate in a vacuum. Here we argue that movements and regimes that contend for total political power do so by employing a combination of propaganda and ritual. Rituals function to sanctify, connect individuals, and signal commitments. Further, rituals bind individuals into emerging social orders that enable the very communication of propaganda as a means of coordinating coalitions and instantiating methods for coercing behaviours. By examining historical case studies of totalism, we provide an exploration of ritual in totalist regimes and thereby argue that totalism is a quasi-religious system that employs elements of religion in an attempt to regulate social behaviour. In describing totalism as a quasi-religious system, we outline five phases in the life course of totalist movements: preformation, cadre formation, coalitional building, collective power, and breakdown. Totalism ultimately results in considerable negative effects on the population, such as loss of health, material resources, and social trust, and closes important channels for socioecological feedback, which are essential for the proper functioning of any system. Accordingly, unlike most religious systems, totalism over-sanctifies power, overregulates meanings, and fails to achieve cooperation and coordination beyond cadres or coalitions of enthusiasts. Consequently, totalist movements are relatively short-lived compared to successful religions.
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RITUALS AND GROUP SOLIDARITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY

80%
Mentel A.
Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
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2022
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vol. 70
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issue 2
228 –247
EN
Since Durkheim (2002 [1912]), it has been recognised that ritual can serve as a means of strengthening intra-group solidarity. Mutual help and emotional arousal connected with rituals may help the participants cope with adversities. Collective rituals have thus become one of the tools for adapting to environmental conditions. Several theories try to clarify the mechanism by which this adaptation happens. One’s investment of time, money, and other personal resources into collective activities, including rituals, may serve as a commitment signal and thus enhance group solidarity. However, rituals are not the only way the group members signal their commitment. Therefore, the fundamental question is whether rituals offer anything unique compared to other types of joint coordinated activity. Atran and Henrich (2010) provide a hypothesis based on some of the characteristics of rituals that observed all over the world. According to them, religious rituals often involve various components to promote faith and devotion by stimulating certain emotions. The primary tools in this context are music, rhythm, and synchronization of body movements. In this ethnographic case study from Bosnia, I compare three confessional communities (Sunni Muslims, Roman Catholics, and Sufi dervishes). They inhabit the same geographic area but differ in the character of their ritual performances regarding synchronization and use of rhythmic activities. The highest degree of in-group solidarity is expected in the group whose rituals involve rhythm and synchronization of body movements to the greatest extent.
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Nový mýtus, staré rituály : O básni Josefa Kainara Stříhali dohola malého chlapečka

80%
Engelking L.
Česká literatura (Czech Literature)
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2005
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vol. 53
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issue 3
361-375
EN
Josef Kainar's 'Strihali dohola malého chlapecka' (A Little Boy's Hair Was Cut to the Skin) - the subject of this article - is one of the best-known poems in Czech literature of the twentieth century. Literary critics have linked that poem with existential philosophy, and for good reason. The situation of the boy in the title is one of extreme transition. Important in this poem is the gaze of the Other, which Jean-Paul Sartre analyzed in 'Being and Nothingness'. That sort of gaze objectifies the boy. Kainar's text can also be examined from another perspective. The collection in which the poem appeared is called 'New Myths', and that title recalls the notion of 'new myth' seen in the writings of Jindrich Chalupecký, leader of Group 42, to which Kainar belonged. Writing about the shorn boy, Kainar indeed creates a new myth, one situated in ordinary life. Though a new myth, the mythmaking power of the story reinforces its connection to ancient ritual, specifically to the hairclipping rite well-known also in Slavic cultures. That ritualized haircutting has often been considered a form of initiation. It seems that in Kainar's poem, the haircut suggests the initiation of the boy into the truth of human existence. And that human world is revealed to be devoid of any metaphysical dimension, religious conviction, or higher meaning, and tending to the merely physiological. It is a world that's disgusting, arbitrary, and cruel.
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EXPERIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ROLAND BARTHES

70%
Sikora S.
Rocznik Historii Sztuki
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2006
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vol. 31
53-66
EN
Roland Barthes was interested in photography for all his creative life, but the most important result of his interest was his last book Camera Lucida (1980). The author suggests that the most valuable tropes-contexts for its interpretation are works of M. Proust, W. Benjamin, J-P. Sartre, and the earlier texts by Barthes. The criticism of realistic paradigm of description is now observed in anthropology. It has been argued that the description itself should evoke the described reality. This opens up the possibility of literary experiments, and in this way the Barthes' book should be regarded. The enigmatic description of the photograph of Barthes' mother, the experience of her presence in that unpublished snapshot is supposed to create a framework that helps readers find their own emotions (as only these are real - the feelings of others, when too candid, tend to lapse into sentimentality and kitsch), enter the imaginable… But the crucial is that this going 'beyond reality' (along with J.-P. Sartre) should take into account emotions and actions. This quasi-ritual and emotional (synesthesia) character of the Barthes' 'way' is what the author attempts to demonstrate.
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MÝTUS O HUSITSKO-EVANJELICKEJ KONTINUITE

70%
Braxatoris M.
Slovenská literatúra (Slovak Literature)
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2021
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vol. 68
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issue 4
369 – 394
EN
The article focuses on the structure and functions of the myth of the Hussite origin of (a part of) Slovak protestants. The narrative, based on claims of late Middle Ages historians, started gaining momentum in the 18th century and fully developed in the 19th century literary production (especially in the works of Pavol Jozef Šafárik, Samuel Tomášik, several representatives of Romanticism and, later, in the writing of Ladislav Pauliny and Július Botto). During the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, its elements were dismantled on historical, linguistic, architectural and liturgical grounds. Those who contributed to the deconstruction of the myth included František Palacký, Jan Koula, Emil Edgar-Kratochvíl, Pavol Križko or Jozef Škultéty. The work of Branislav Varsik marked a significant break in the dismantling of the fictitious origins of Slovak protestant community. Once the mythological character of the narrative was revealed, it became accessible to analysis from the point of view of mythology, poetics and rituals. Its structure contains such features as separation phase, mythical trials, death, revival and gaining the prize – mythical wedding and settling in the “promised” land. The narrative help form and maintain a new collective identity: it is invested with explanatory and consecrating functions and serves as a legitimising argument for the identity, religious rituals and cultural customs of the protestant community.
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RITUAL FORM AND RITUAL CHOICE AMONG MAURITIAN HINDUS

70%
Maňo P., Xygalatas D.
Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
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2022
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vol. 70
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issue 2
186 – 209
EN
People’s motivations to partake in religious rituals often relate to external socio-cultural forces such as tradition, ancestry, and peer-pressure, or deep personal convictions centred on devotion, gratitude, or spiritual experience, among others. Simultaneously, however, devotees may also have pragmatic motivations for practicing rituals, such as the need for protection, wellbeing, or socializing, or may see those rituals as a means of fulfilling their wishes. Importantly, the deity addressed in the ritual largely defines the scope and area of divine intervention and help. But all else being equal, why do people choose to engage in the specific rituals that they do, especially given that some are much costlier than others? Our fieldwork suggests that perceived ritual efficacy could be a key cognitive factor at play: people seek rituals that they consider appropriate (in terms of their structure and focus) and proportionate (in terms of their costs) to their needs and expectations. This almost contractual logic of ritual performance is best demonstrated by the concept of promise that is quintessential to the biggest religious festivals of three Hindu communities in Mauritius discussed in this paper.
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Panovnický ceremoniál a rituál v historickém bádání začátku 21. století

61%
Hrbek J.
Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review)
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2010
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vol. 108
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issue 3
496-518
EN
For several decades historical science in Western Europe has focused on the monarch´s ceremony and ritual, as their knowledge allows us to re-assess some moments connected with the nature of royal, or possibly imperial power. The most important ceremonies connected with the person of a ruler and his immediate environment are coronation ceremonies, which started to be researched, also in the Czech environment, in a novel way as a means of political communication. Thus, there is the ruler and his 'media strategy' on the one hand and on the other hand the public, which attempts to accept the image of their ruler. Less attention has until now been devoted to research dealing with Czech coronations in terms of geographical comparison in both the Central European and the wider European context, as well as the development of ceremonies in the course of time, especially towards the enlightened 18th century. However, in addition to coronations, other ceremonial moments such as 'transitional rituals' (baptisms, weddings, funerals),a division of the working day, festivities at the court or the arrangement of the ruler´s personal space, whose aim was to regulate access to him and participate in his representation have been researched.
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ÚLOHA RITUÁLU V KONTEXTE REPREZENTÁCIÍ NADPRIRODZENÉHO ŠKODENIA

61%
Jerotijević D.
Etnologické rozpravy (Ethnological Disputes)
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2019
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vol. 26
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issue 1
31 – 53
EN
The study focuses on a function of magical practices used in an unwitching procedure. The argument is based on Malinowskiś classical anthropological theory and cognitive and psychological studies of religion. The author uses ethnographic data from a long-term field research in Serbia where she investigated representations of witchcraft and sorcery beliefs are usually interpreted as explanations of misfortune. The author assumes that apart from that, they offer certain solutions of people´s problems. If an individual defines their situation in supernatural terms, the solution is also supernatural. In this context, specialists with supernatural abilities play an important role – they state what is going on and suggest solution. Unwitching procedure is highly ritualized activity. The author assumes that this procedure may be a form of emotionally driven coping strategy. At the same time, it may be perceived as effective just because the presence of an agent with supernatural abilities.
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„Homo Venans”. Sakralny wymiar polowania starożytnych Greków według Arriana z Nikomedii

61%
Burliga B.
Rocznik Antropologii Historii
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2011
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issue 1-2
95-118
EN
The article is devoted to the question of in what sense can we legitimately speak of the religious character of ancient Greek hunting. Relying mainly on the treatise of the famous Greek historian and committed hunter, Arrian of Nicomedia (whose floruit falls in the first half of the second century AD), I argue that hunting was regarded as an activity that remained under the careful guidance of the gods, above all – of Artemis, so, in this, general respect it may be justified to maintain that it was seen as ‘holy’. This assumption, nevertheless, cannot be used as proof in thinking that hunting, trapping, pursuing, chasing and, lastly, killing animals was regarded as ‘sacred’ in the same sense as was the Greek sacrificial ritual, known from classical times (Vth – IVth centuries BC). Occasionally, similarities were seen between the two ways of killing animals, but essentially the ancient Greeks were perfectly aware of the different contexts in which hunting, and ritual slaughtering, occurred. The main basis for such a claim is the fact that it was after a successful hunt that a special type of sacrifice to the god was performed – the so called aparkhai.
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FAMILY MEAL AS FICTION

61%
Corbí J. E.
Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu
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2020
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vol. 27
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issue 1
82 – 105
EN
Stacie Friend’s theory of fiction departs from those approaches that seek to identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for a work to count as fiction. She argues that this goal cannot really be achieved; instead, she appeals to the notion of genre to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction. This notion is significantly more flexible, since it invites us to identify standard—but not necessary—and counter-standard features of works of fiction in light of our classificatory practices. More specifically, Friend argues that the genre of fiction has the genre of nonfiction—and only that genre—as its contrast class. I will refer to the particular way in which Friend elaborates this claim as the contrast view. I have, nevertheless, the impression that this view unnecessarily narrows down the array of perspectives and attitudes from which we can approach works of fiction. I will thus develop a line of reasoning to the effect that the contrast view should rather be construed as picking out a particular way of relating to works of fiction that lies at the end of a continuum defined by different degrees of reflectivity and estrangement. This implies that the contrast view is false as a general claim about how we experience works of fiction, even though this view may appropriately depict a specific way of approaching such works.
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CULTURAL GROUP SELECTION AND THE RUSSIAN OLD BELIEVERS. ADAPTIVE AND MALADAPTIVE OUTCOMES OF THE GROUP-COHESIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

61%
Bahna V.
Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
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2022
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vol. 70
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issue 2
248 – 272
EN
Current adaptation approaches view religion as a system of beliefs, behaviours, social norms, taboos and collective rituals, which enforce social cohesion and intragroup solidarity that lead to group cooperation and coordination. These prosocial effects then translate into success in between-group competition. Cultural group selection is seen as the process that led to the emergence of religion as a cultural adaptation that enables the persistence of cooperative social groups. This article applies this theoretical approach to the so-called Old Believers: a diverse and fractioned branch of Russian Orthodox Christianity, whose history is marked by apocalyptic worldviews and antagonism towards state powers and the Russian Orthodox Church. Since their split with the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century, the Old Believers evolved towards egalitarian communities, asceticism, isolationism and traditionalism. The author argues that Old Believers can be in many respects viewed as prototypic examples of how religious systems promote social cohesion, in-group solidarity, identity and commitment. Yet, contrary to what the theory assumes (or at least emphasizes), the very same collective rituals, social norms, supernatural beliefs and taboos, and their systemic interdependence, can lead to group harmful outcomes (e.g., splintering, excessive celibacy, mass suicide). In other words, high levels of in-group pro-sociality linked to religion cannot be simply viewed as exclusively mediating group benefits.
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Rozpolcená mysl Maurice Blocha

61%
Kapusta J.
Český lid: etnologický časopis (Český lid: Ethnological journal)
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2011
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vol. 98
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issue 4
379-391
EN
The study summarizes the work of Maurice Bloch, especially his theory of ritual and religion. Focusing on Bloch’s concepts of rebounding violence, ideology and knowledge, it is argued that the cognitive dualism does not correspond to the fact of the entirety of the human mind, a unique constellation of specific biological, natural environmental, historical, social and cultural circumstances as well as personal and experiential conditions. When dealing with some analogies of Bloch’s thought, the assumptions of Marx, Freud and Rousseau are recalled. The recognition of the europocentric polarization also demands a mention of the Latin naturalis and supernaturalis dichotomy as well as the Greek sophistic duality of fysei and nomo. On the other hand, Bloch’s precise critique of functionalist and Marxist approaches allows moving towards deeper psychosocial processes within ritual.
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CHINESE GHOST THEATRE

61%
Steiner M.
Kultura i Społeczeństwo
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2007
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vol. 51
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issue 4
157-172
EN
Around five millennia ago the Chinese developed spectacular rituals concerning afterlife beliefs. Funerals could always been perceived as theatre-like cultural performances. The ancestor cult is a base for Chinese morality. Theatrical performances are one of the means of ghosts worship. Until recently the performance of mourning could have been considered a social spectacle.The classical music theatre of China (xiqu) constitutes a vivid illustration of beliefs in constant commune with souls of the dead. Traditional dramatic literature provides many examples of female-ghost characters. They are usually protagonists, who put a moral thesis forward and convey the educational message of the theatre piece. Actors' make-up as well as theatre puppets have presumably funeral origins. Afterlife beliefs could be regarded as one of the sources of Chinese theatre.
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Claude Lévi-Strauss a problém tzv. synchronického času

61%
Subrt J.
Teorie vědy (Theory of Science)
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2009
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vol. 31
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issue 1
49-63
EN
In societies described as 'cold' by Claude Levi-Strauss, the historical dimension is coded into myths, traditions and rituals. Levi-Strauss says that ritual is an 'instrument for the destruction of time'. The key to the author's idea of the opposition of synchronicity and diachronicity is found in his work 'The Savage Mind', in which he talks about a never-ending struggle between these two which initiates totemic thinking. In current sociology, Levi-Strauss' concept of reversible time is utilised by Anthony Giddens, who adapts it in his structuration theory. However the concept of synchronous (structuralist) reversible time is simultaneously the subject of a critique from the perspectives of cultural anthropology (Alfred Gell) and sociology (Barbara Adam). At the article's conclusion, the argument is made that when Levi-Strauss talks about cold societies, which tend to banish history from the consciousness, it doesn't mean that he is trying to overrule the laws of logic or physics (as he is accused by Gell) but at tempting to see the world through the eyes of a specific type of society and to understand time from the perspective of a 'native'.
19

GRABKAMMER, TOTENHAUS, RITUALRÄUME. ÜBERLEGUNGEN ZUM KAMMERGRAB VON POPRAD-MATEJOVCE

61%
Lau N., von Carnap-Bornheim C.
Slovenská archeológia (Slovak Archaeology)
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2021
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vol. 69
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issue suppl 2
323 – 332
EN
The tomb of Poprad-Matejovce from the late 370s AD, its discovery, excavation and later exploration is closely linked to the person of Karol Pieta. The excellent preservation of organic material even in the higher layers of finds as well as the detailed documentation make the tomb a model case for chamber tombs of the late Roman Period and early Migration Period for questions concerning the level of meaning of structural aspects, the rites connected with the concept of the afterlife, internal spatial structures of the tombs, find zones and all the detailed processes of tomb construction, procession and burial. Thus, the outer burial chamber can be regarded as a general ritual space in which all elements connected with the burial can be located. Through an entrance on the east side, the burial public could view all the burial rites materialised in this ritual space as well as the deceased laid out on his bed in the inner chamber. The inner chamber is constructed as a house of the dead with a gabled roof, defining a space exclusively reserved for the laid out dead with his personal grave goods and costume/status elements. The architecture of the inner chamber is clearly based on the element of the domus aeterna from Roman burial contexts. The tomb at Poprad clearly shows an inner zoning. In addition to the zone reserved for the dead within the house of the dead, another space is defined to the south of the house of the dead, in which only objects from the sphere around the funerary banquet and cleaning rituals were found. An important find is the funerary bier, which had been dismantled and deposited on the roof after the mortuary house had been closed. This was certainly used during the procession to the burial site and is a singular find in the Barbaricum. All in all, the grave at Poprad shows indications of rites and ideas of the afterlife that are difficult to decipher because, in contrast to Roman burial rites, written sources are lacking in the Barbaricum of this period.
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Pojęcie rytuału w socjologii i innych naukach społecznych

51%
Jestal J.
Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia
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2011
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vol. 6
133-176
EN
This article constitutes a critical review of the knowledge and theories regarding ritual and ceremony which have emerged in the social sciences. The impetus for this undertaking is the conviction that the issue of ritual has been paid insufficient attention – particularly in sociology. The text opens with deliberation on the subject of defining ritual and ceremony. Subsequently, the theories of ritual which explain existing ceremonies by looking at the conditions under which these observances arose are examined. This article comprises also ponderings on the place of ritual in sociological theory.
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