Does ritual exist? Defining and classifying ritual based on belief theory

Bibliographic Data

ID7213913
AuthorsQing Lan (0009-0004-1629-6464, Kunming University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume5
Issue1
Publication date2018-05-12
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Chinese Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2198-2635 • E-ISSN: 2198-2635
PublisherSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1186/s40711-018-0073-x
OpenAlexW2807611484
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited26

With both the terms “rite of passage” and “ritual” facing difficulties as analytic concepts, we have no way to differentiate between common behavior, rite of passage, and ritual in a strict sense until today. Through careful reading, we find that van Gennep’s original expressions of nearly all the basic features of the rite of passage are vague. The only thing we can ensure is that ritual object will change through the rite of passage. Gluckman tried to explain the rite of passage with social relations, but his effort failed because common behavior also changes social relations. By examining three cases—an airplane journey, Ilongot headhunting, and Yiche ancestor worship—we find that formalization, standardization, or routinization is not the essential element of ritual. The core of the problem is what people want to change through ritual. Applying belief theory as a way forward, we use the change of relations between two categories of mental existence but social relations for the definition of ritual. We then equate rite of passage with ritual and restrict ritual to religious behavior. Furthermore, according to the kinds of mental existence that we want to change in ritual, we classify two kinds of ritual

Aesthetics · Ancestor · Epistemology · Linguistics · Object (grammar · Reading (process · Rite · Rite of passage · Sociology · Theology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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