Harrell - The Ritual Process

In Victor Turner's Book entitled, The Ritual Process, the idea of rituals is at the forefront of the author's focus. Turner divides his work into two sections. The first half deals with the structure and the role of symbolism in Ndembu rituals, and the second, forming the main theoretical argument of the book, meditates on the relationship between the concepts of liminality and communitas that arise from his analysis of rituals, and their codependence with the concept of structure. Conducting further research into the text, I learn that the majority of Turner's idea of the understanding of ritual relies on the theoretical framework developed by Arnold van Gennep in his 1909 book The Rites of Passage. I like how both authors break down the action of ritual into 3 categories; 1) Seperation, 2) Liminality and, 3) Reintegration. I like how Turner defines each section as well as I find the most interesting idea in the text is Turner's argument that,  Rituals of status reversal essentially wipe the social slate clean, allowing for normal social hierarchies to continue without the tensions that build up as a result of them.

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