The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure

by Turner,Victor

• ISBN13: 9780202011905
• ISBN10: 0202011909
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-12-31
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

Victor Turner here examines the rituals of the Ndembu in Zambia and develops his concept of Communitas,” which he characterizes as an absolute inter-human relation beyond any form of structure. The Ritual Process has acquired the status of a small classic since first published in 1969. Turner demonstrates how the analysis of ritual behavior and symbolism may be used as a key to understanding social structure and processes. He extends Van Gennep’s notion of the liminal phase” of rites of passage to a more general level, and applies it to gain understanding of a wide range of social phenomena.

Table of Contents

Planes of Classification in a Ritual of Life and Death	1	(44)
Paradoxes of Twinship in Ndembu Ritual	44	(50)
Liminality and Communitas	94	(37)
Communitas: Model and Process	131	(35)
Humility and Hierarchy: The Liminality of Status Elevation and Reversal	166	(38)
Bibliography	204	(5)
Index	209