Description
Historians, folklorists, sociologists, and anthropologists have long considered holiday, festivals, and family traditions as types of cultural performance. Cultural performances are found in all societies. They may be secular or sacred: parades, rodeos, carnivals, Thanksgiving, Easter, Kwaanzaa, Ramadan, Yom Kippur, weddings, birthdays…etc. There are diverse examples ranging from those associated with major religious institutions, or those more localized and individualized which are sometimes interpreted as superstitions. These celebrations of existence act to substantiate the human experience in many ways: symbolize identity, promote unity, satisfy existential needs. As such, these public and private activities provide an opportunity for observance and can be analyzed as “Ritual”.
Instructions
Choose a “religious” or sacred ritual to observe/watch. Remember what is religious to one person may be superstitious to another. Both qualify. The ritual can be part of a major institution (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism) or and individual practice (chanting, meditation, throwing salt, cracking eggs over care tires).
Make time to visit a “site”. There are many livestreaming sites on the internet. Or YouTube.
Do your fieldwork/observation. Have a framework in mind of what you are about to watch (see Analysis below)
Format
This a documentation of your observation. There is no need for MLA format since the research is all your own. No bibliography, no citations. In your own words.
3-5 pages, single spaced, typed including these sections:
Part I Introduction – Short and brief description of the performance of the ritual (no details). Setting? Where? When, Who?
Part II – Analysis – What type of ritual? What are the symbols? What is the mythological basis? What is it supposed to do?
Part III Conclusion – Answer the question – How would this ritual be considered “religious” AND how would this ritual be considered “superstitious”? Why? Use the terms: emic, etic, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, holism.
