Ritual Archives | National Humanities Center

Ritual

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Dark Age Bodies: Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West

By Lynda L. Coon (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) In Dark Age Bodies Lynda L. Coon reconstructs the gender ideology of monastic masculinity through an investigation of early medieval readings of the body. Focusing on the Carolingian era, Coon evaluates the ritual and liturgical performances of monastic bodies within the imaginative landscapes of same-sex ascetic communities in northern Europe. … Continued

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Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience

By Susan Guettel Cole (NHC Fellow, 1996–97) The division of land and consolidation of territory that created the Greek polis also divided sacred from productive space, sharpened distinctions between purity and pollution, and created a ritual system premised on gender difference. Regional sanctuaries ameliorated competition between city-states, publicized the results of competitive rituals for males, … Continued

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Producing African Futures: Ritual and Reproduction in a Neoliberal Age

Edited by Brad Weiss (NHC Fellow, 2003–04) The cumulative implications for Africans of the neoliberal processes (market speculation, shifts in sites of production, new modes of consumption, redefinition of the relation between states and their citizenry) cannot be reduced to single parameters. Three themes are central: the neoliberal production of personhood, the crises of youth … Continued

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The Myth and Ritual Theory: An Anthology

Edited by Robert A. Segal (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) Drawing from both classic and hard-to-find reading, one of the leading interpreters of theories of myth offers a comprehensive analysis of the myth and ritual theory. The book not only offers a detailed introduction to the theories, but also provides a further introduction to the individual selections. … Continued

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The Performance of Self: Ritual, Clothing, and Identity During the Hundred Years’ War

By Susan Crane (NHC Fellow, 1999–00) Medieval courtiers defined themselves in ceremonies and rituals. Tournaments, Maying, interludes, charivaris, and masking invited the English and French nobility to assert their identities in gesture and costume as well as in speech. These events presumed that performance makes a self, in contrast to the modern belief that identity … Continued