The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship

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Caroline Humphrey (Fellow, Fellow, King's College, Cambridge) James Laidlaw (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, King's College, Cambridge)

The Archetypal Actions of Ritual

A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship

Caroline Humphrey (Fellow, Fellow, King's College, Cambridge), James Laidlaw (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, King's College, Cambridge)

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English

Oxford University Press
22 September 1994

Jainism; Worship, rites & ceremonies; Sociology: customs & traditions; Anthropology

Series: Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology

Religious rituals can provoke a deeply ambigious reaction in those who practise them.

What happens in religious traditions when the nature of the ritual is questioned, but the practice of performing rituals is not itself abandoned?

This book draws on the authors' observations of such reactions among Jains in western India, and asks why they can tell us about ritual as a universal mode of human action.

Most anthropologists have assumed that ritual is a special kind of happening, which requires a special kind of interpretation.

The authors argue that 'ritual' is a quality which can in principle apply to any kind of action.

The question they try to answer is: what is distinctive about actions which are ritualized?

They reject the common view that ritual carries intrinsic meaning, and explore the apparent paradox that ritualization, which makes action in an important sense non-intentional, is itself the result of an intentional act - the adoption by the actor of what the authors call the 'ritual commitment'.

By: Caroline Humphrey (Fellow Fellow King's College Cambridge), James Laidlaw (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, King's College, Cambridge)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 389g
ISBN: 9780198279471
ISBN 10: 0198279477
Series: Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology
Pages: 306
Publication Date: 22 September 1994
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship

This is an exceptionally fine book - certainly the most important work on ritual I have read in a decade. --istory of Religions

PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

The Archetypal Actions of Ritual

A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship

Caroline Humphrey (Fellow, Fellow, King's College, Cambridge), James Laidlaw (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, King's College, Cambridge)

$227

Paperback

Reviews for The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship

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