Reconciling Authenticity and Reenactment

Locating authenticity in artworks that are remade (all or in part) or re-performed over time presents a unique challenge for art conservators, whose activities have traditionally been oriented toward caring for the material aspects of art objects. The paper offers a brief overview of perspectives on authenticity and discusses various theoretical models that have been developed to conceptualize how media, installation, and performance artworks are displayed and cared for over time. These include the score/performance model, the concepts of autographicity and allographicity, the concept of iteration, and authenticity as a practice. The author proposes a theoretical model based on the ritual aspects of presenting artworks, arguing that authenticity, repetition, and community participation can be reconciled within a ritual context.

Ceremonial Celebrations Outside the Temple Compound in Ezra-Nehemiah in Babylonian Ritual Context

The article examines three Judean rituals described in Ezra-Nehemiah—the erection of the altar, the public reading of the Torah, and the inauguration of the Jerusalem wall—in the Neo-Babylonian–Persian context. It suggests that the Babylonian rituals observed throughout the Long Sixth Century shed light on, and constitute a relevant cultural context for consideration of these celebrations as described in Ezra-Nehemiah, which took place in Judah in the seventh month.

Sufism, subjectivity and parapsychology: refashioning the dirbāsha ritual among Sufis in modern Iraq

This paper explores the ritual of the dirbāsha as an extraordinary miracle performance and its role as a bodily practice in the formation of modern Muslim subjectivities among the Qādiriyya-Kasnazāniyya Sufi communities in Iraq. During the climax of collective dhikr gatherings, male Sufi novices perform extraordinary and dangerous acts, perforating parts of their bodies with swords or long skewers without seriously injuring themselves. From the Sufi perspective, this ritual is, first of all, interpreted as the miracle of a Sufi shaykh and not of the performing Sufi novice since it is seen as an expression and proof of God’s power as transmitted through the shaykh. Moreover, it has been argued that the ritual is constitutive for the formation of the religious subjectivity of the performing Sufi novice since it allows the embodiment of mystical concepts as emotional, sensorial and existential realities. For the individual ritual experience to work, the social construction and constant reframing of these “miracles” needs to be taken into account as well, namely the ordinary ethics of the extraordinary which allow the miracles to be perceived as such. The present case of the Kasnazāniyya will show how Sufis combined their pious with a modern, critical and self-reflexive subjectivity and successfully managed to reframe this highly controversial practice – which is criticised by religious reformists and secularists alike – beyond its traditional ritual context with the modern science of parapsychology.

Musik Iringan Hudoq Kita’ sebagai Seni Pertunjukan Wisata di Desa Pampang Kota Samarinda

Hudoq Kita' can be presented in two different forms of presentation. In addition to ritual music, the art form is also presented in the form of musical entertainment art of tourism. Hudoq Kita’ entertainment music is generally displayed on every Sunday in Lamin Pemung Tawai Pampang village. This research uses qualitative methods, including observation, data collection, and data analysis. The technique in question is the observation of the research objects and the determination of informants. The data collection techniques include literature studies, interviews, and documentation. The last is the technique of data analysis by utilizing data that has been found in the field. The research results will explain with the facts of the finding in the field by the author. By the thesis title above, this research will describe the traditional Pelas Tahun, Hudoq Kita' and its accompaniment music with ritual context. The author will explain how Hudoq Kita' accompaniment music is turning into the entertainment of tourist art contextually and textually. Abstrak: Hudoq Kita’ dapat disajikan dalam dua bentuk penyajian yang berbeda. Adapun bentuk kesenian tersebut selain sebagai musik ritual juga disajikan dalam bentuk musik hiburan seni wisata. Musik hiburan Hudoq Kita’ umumnya ditampilkan pada setiap hari minggu di lamin Pemung Tawai Desa Pampang. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif meliputi observasi, pengumpulan data dan analisis data. Adapun Teknik yang dimaksud adalah observasi meliputi objek penelitian dan penentuan informan. Teknik pengumpulan data meliputi studi pustaka, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Terakhir yakni teknik analisis data dengan memanfaatkan data-data yang telah ditemukan lapangan. Hasil penelitian akan menjelaskan dengan fakta temuan di lapangan oleh penulis. Sesuai dengan judul skripsi yang diatas, pada tulisan ini akan memaparkan tentang upacara adat Pelas tahun, Hudoq Kita’ dan musik iringan Hudoq Kita’ dengan konteks ritual. Adapun penulis akan menjelaskan bagaimana musik iringan Hudoq Kita’ yang beralih ke sajian hiburan seni wisata secara kontekstual dan tekstual.

CULTURAL UNIVERSALS IN THE RITUAL TRADITION OF THE TURKIC-MONGOLIAN PEOPLES: VOCABULARY AND CONTEXT

В данной статье рассматривается в семантическом контексте с обрядовым действом лексика в сибирских тюркских и монгольских языках, связанная с культом гор, земли и воды. Основными языками исследования являются алтайский, бурятский и якутский с привлечением монгольских, хакасских, тувинских параллелей. У тюрко-монгольских народов прослеживаются общие принципы организации сакрального пространства, концептуально схожие ритуальные действа в коллективном обряде, посвященном духам-хозяевам местности, присутствуют универсальные атрибуты и символы, характерные для шаманизма и буддизма. Впервые проведен сопоставительный анализ лексем, семантики и символики слов, связанных с обрядовыми действами и сопровождающий их вербальный контекст. Целью работы является выявление сохранности, распространения и трансформации культурных универсалий, имеющих вербальное выражение. Актуальным представляется исследование древнейших культурных кодов, сохранившихся в предметной и акциональной сферах обрядности. Понятие культурного кода в изучении обрядности позволит получить ключ к пониманию культурной картины мира и расшифровать глубинный смысл составных частей обряда (смыслов, знаков, символов, норм и т. д.). В итоге констатируем, что некогда существовала единая тюрко-монгольская традиция шаманизма, имевшая общую культурно знаковую систему, что подтверждается лексическим материалом и их обрядовым контекстом. Рассмотренные два основных ритуала жертвоприношения (кровавые и бескровные) доказывают как древние связи, так устойчивую универсальную последовательность и сохранность акциональных кодов в обрядовом событии монгольских и тюркских народов Сибири. Выявлено, что ключевые лексемы, используемые в предметном коде, имеют универсальную семантическую нагрузку в обрядовом событии. Лексические соответствия и схожие ритуальные предметы и действа, скорее всего, доказывают восхождение обряда к единым корням с последующими региональными и временными трансформациями. Установлено, что одинаковые атрибуты ритуала со схожим или разным лексическим обозначением являются архетипами, отражающими общие культурные коды тюркских народов Сибири и монгольских этносов. The authors consider the vocabulary of Siberian Turkic and Mongolian languages, related to the cult of mountains, land and water in a semantic context with the ritual action. The main languages of the study are Altai, Buryat and Yakut with the involvement of Mongolian, Khakas, and Tuvan parallels. In rites of Turkic-Mongolian people devoted to the host spirits of the area, the general principles of the organization of the sacred space, conceptually similar ritual actions are traced. There are universal attributes and symbols which are illustratory of shamanism and Buddhism. For the first time, a comparative analysis of lexemes, semantics and symbolism of words related to ritual actions and accompanying their verbal context was carried out. The purpose of the work is identifying the preservation, dissemination and transformation of cultural universals with verbal expression. A study of the oldest cultural codes preserved in the subject and actional spheres of rite seems relevant. The concept of a cultural code in the study of rite will provide a key to understanding the cultural picture of the world and allows deciphering the deep meaning of the components of the rite (meanings, signs, symbols, norms, etc.). As a result, we state that there was once a united Turkic-Mongolian tradition of shamanism, which had a common culturally significant system. It is confirmed by lexical material and their ritual context. The considered two main rituals of sacrifice (bloody and bloodless) prove both ancient ties and a stable universal sequence and the preservation of national codes in the ritual event of the Mongolian and Turkic peoples of Siberia. It is revealed that the key lexemes used in the subject code have a universal semantics in the ritual event. Lexical correspondences and similar ritual objects and actions most likely prove the ascension of the rite to single roots with subsequent regional and temporary transformations. It was established that the same attributes of the ritual with a similar or different lexical designation are archetypes reflecting the general cultural codes of the Turkic peoples of Siberia and Mongolian ethnic groups.

‘I Get High With a Little Help From My Friends’ - How Raves Can Invoke Identity Fusion and Lasting Co-operation via Transformative Experiences

Psychoactive drugs have been central to many human group rituals throughout modern human evolution. Despite such experiences often being inherently social, bonding and associated prosocial behaviors have rarely been empirically tested as an outcome. Here we investigate a novel measure of the mechanisms that generate altered states of consciousness during group rituals, the 4Ds: dance, drums, sleep deprivation, and drugs. We conducted a retrospective online survey examining experiences at a highly ritualized cultural phenomenon where drug use is relatively uninhibited- raves and illegal free parties. Engaging in the 4Ds at raves or free parties was associated with personal transformation for those who experienced the event as awe-inspiring, especially for people with open personalities (n = 481). Without awe, or a ritual context, indulging in the 4Ds was associated with a lack of personal growth, or anomie. A complex SEM revealed that personal transformation following awe-inspiring raves was associated with bonding to other ravers and prosocial behavior toward this group at a cost to self in a simple economic game. Bonding to humanity was not associated with these events. The findings suggest that employing the 4Ds in a ritualized environment - particularly dancing and drug use – can help build meaningful social bonds with associated positive behavioral outcomes.

Transcending time and place in the context of Covid-19

During 2020, because of Covid-related restrictions, opportunities to travel to sacred heritage sites dramatically decreased and Pagans’ and shamans’ gatherings and rituals necessarily moved online. This article picks up from an earlier paper (Rountree, 2006) to reconsider relationships between time, place, imagination and ritual performance in the online context. It argues that whereas in the context of “real” heritage sites, the temporal boundary between past and present seems to blur or dissolve as a result of Pagans’ embodied, material connections with a sacred place, in the online ritual context boundaries of place blur or dissolve because of synchronous temporal connections with likeminded others in sacred space. Two case studies are explored: the responses of those who gathered online to witness English Heritage’s livestreaming of Summer Solstice 2020 at Stonehenge, and the experiences of a group of modern Western shamans, mostly living in Malta, whose regular meetings shifted from members’ homes, places in nature and sacred heritage sites to Zoom in early 2020.

Bones of the Earth: Imitation as Meaning in Viking Age Burial Ritual

From excavation results of a pre-Roman Iron Age and Viking Age burialgroundin Västergötland, an example is presented ofhow religious meaning became projected into Viking Age burial ritual through imitation of an already then ancient custom. The burial-ground was abandoned for a period of at least 600 hundred years in between the two periods. In the Pre-Roman Iron Age and Viking Age graves the custom of depositing flakes of firecracked natural stone was documented. From a Viking Age perspective the tradition was imitated and derived from the urnfield burial-grounds ofther late pre-Roman Iron Age. The authors link the Viking Age ritual behaviour to the sagas, where stones are presented as symbolical representations of the human body and as cosmological parts of the skeleton that kept the earth together. In the interpretation it is argued that the very concrete use of older graves was essential in the Viking Age burial custom. In this specific example, the deposition of stones in the Viking Age ritual context is interpreted as a projection and representation of the past and the bodies of the dead.

The Life of Telengit Musical Folklore in Yazula Village in Conditions of Transitivity

В статье рассматривается специфика бытования музыкального фольклора теленгитов селения Язула Улаганского района Республики Алтай в условиях транзитивности (по материалам полевых исследований 2003 и 2019 гг.). Музыкальный фольклор теленгитов обособленного селения характеризуется полистадиальностью, «вероятностной» (поливекторной, нелинейно меняющейся) природой развития, увеличением культурного разнообразия и трансформацией моноязычной культурной среды в многоязычную в лингвистическом, музыкальном и бытовом планах. Каналами инокультурного влияния на интонационное поле теленгитской музыкальной традиции сегодня выступают радио, Интернет и телевидение, сельский клуб, доступная транспортная связь с городом, международные курултаи сказителей . При расширении сферы бытования различных форм фольклоризма (советского, российского, алтайского) песенная фольклорная традиция теленгитов продолжает существовать исключительно в обрядовом контексте (закрыто от глаз приезжих). Владение каем - особым типом интонирования, характерным для тюрков Горного Алтая, маркирующим их этнокультурную идентичность, - востребовано сегодня со стороны туристов, региональной администрации и общественности, что ведет к миграции носителей этой традиции из обособленных селений в центральные. Трансформация искусства кая обусловлена единым процессом глобализации/глокализации, переходом от традиционного контекста бытования к сценическому фольклоризму, проникновением инокультурных интонационных форм в звуковой ландшафт теленгитских селений. This article focuses on the current state of Telengit music culture in Yazula Village (Ulagan Region, Republic of Altai) in conditions of transitivity. The material presented is based on field studies in 2003 and 2019. The Telengit musical folklore of this territorially isolated village is characterized by polystadiality; the “probabilistic,” non-linear nature of its development; by an increase of cultural diversity; and by the transformation of a monolingual environment into a multi-lingual one in linguistic, musical and ontological terms. Channels for outside cultural influence on the intonational field of the Telengit musical tradition include: radio, television, the Internet, the local club, transportation to the city; and International Kurultai of storytellers. In the presence of different forms of folklore (Soviet, Russian, Altaian) performed in the village club, the village folksong tradition continues to live on exclusively in a ritual context (inaccessible to outsiders). The mastery of kai as a specific type of intonation, typical for the Turks of Gorny Altai, that marks their ethnocultural identity, is in demand today by tourists, regional administrations and the public. This leads to the migration of carriers of this tradition out of isolated settlements into more central ones. The transformation of the art of kai in modern Telengit culture is conditioned by the process of globalization/glocalization; by the change of kai’s function in a traditional context to that of staged folklorism; and by the penetration of other cultural intonational forms into the soundscape of Telengit villages.