Cultivating the Sacred : Ritual Creativity and Practice among Women in Contemporary Europe
(2010) In Lund Studies of History of Religion 28.- Abstract
- Ritual creativity may seem like a contradiction in terms, yet the religious landscape in contemporary Euro-America is permeate with experimentation of ritual forms, different modalities of action, imagination and play as routes to authenticity. The present study examines different settings in Europe involved in such ritual creativity, which would commonly be classified as postmodern spirituality, new age or Paganism. However, rather than striving for classification and synthesis, it is argued that the amorphous character of much contemporary spirituality, can provide analytical benefits when theorising lived religious practice.
The study provides a critical remark to the text-driven approaches prevalent in previous research, and... (More) - Ritual creativity may seem like a contradiction in terms, yet the religious landscape in contemporary Euro-America is permeate with experimentation of ritual forms, different modalities of action, imagination and play as routes to authenticity. The present study examines different settings in Europe involved in such ritual creativity, which would commonly be classified as postmodern spirituality, new age or Paganism. However, rather than striving for classification and synthesis, it is argued that the amorphous character of much contemporary spirituality, can provide analytical benefits when theorising lived religious practice.
The study provides a critical remark to the text-driven approaches prevalent in previous research, and advocates that contemporary spirituality should be localised in the realm of practice, drawing theories of embodiment. Consequently, rather than a fully-fledged worldview outside of individuals and groups, the sacred is continuously cultivated by a series of practices, most notably ritualised practice.
The settings presented are conceptualised as interrelated ritual fields. They are also sites where the body is trained and spiritual dispositions are formed that alter the participants' mode of being in the world. We are hence concerned with a conscious habituation achieved through disciplining practice, somatic modes of attention as well as framing and reflection. The study examines features in this process, including use of history, negotiations of power, ritualisation, and global intersections. Moreover, each field highlights different aspects of contemporary ritualising, such as the performance of gender, the sensuous aspects of music and dance, the movements and relationship to the landscape and the divine.
The study is grounded in fieldwork, informed by dialogical and participatory modes of research that acknowledges the entangled nature of the scholar and other participants in the field. It is also an example of so-called multi-sited fieldwork, which is increasingly requested to capture the de-territorialised aspects of much of contemporary religious life. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Det religiösa landskapet i Europa genomsyras av rituell kreativitet - inom teater, psykoterapi och religiösa samfund laborerar individer och grupper med rituella former under mer eller mindre obundna förutsättningar. En stor del av det rituella nyskapandet återfinns emellertid utanför de etablerade religiösa institutionerna och traditionens ortopraxi. Här ses ritualer och rituellt handlade ofta som nya och alternativa vägar till religiösa upplevelser, autenticitet och meningskapande. Avhandlingen behandlar sådan rituell kreativitet i sammanhang vilka vanligen klassificeras som postmodern andlighet, new age eller nyhedendom. Forskare har närmat sig sådana fält främst genom att fokusera på... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Det religiösa landskapet i Europa genomsyras av rituell kreativitet - inom teater, psykoterapi och religiösa samfund laborerar individer och grupper med rituella former under mer eller mindre obundna förutsättningar. En stor del av det rituella nyskapandet återfinns emellertid utanför de etablerade religiösa institutionerna och traditionens ortopraxi. Här ses ritualer och rituellt handlade ofta som nya och alternativa vägar till religiösa upplevelser, autenticitet och meningskapande. Avhandlingen behandlar sådan rituell kreativitet i sammanhang vilka vanligen klassificeras som postmodern andlighet, new age eller nyhedendom. Forskare har närmat sig sådana fält främst genom att fokusera på diskurser och trosföreställningar. Detta har fått konsekvensen att skilda praktiker inordnas i ett sammanhängande trossystem samt att samtida andlighet konstruerats som radikalt annorlunda religion. I det sistnämnda fallet ses religion som dikterat av yttre auktoriteter och traditioner, medan samtidiga andlighet struktureras enligt utövarnas egen inre auktoritet. Studien skiljer sig från sedvanliga text- och troscentrerade ansatser genom att främst fokusera på den religiösa praktiken, dvs. snarare än att behandla vad folk säger, undersöks vad folk faktiskt gör. Istället för systematisering och klassifikation, används den flytande karaktären hos samtida andlighet som en analytisk tillgång då det gäller att teoretisera religiöst liv utanför normativa teologiska utläggningarna. Olika sammankomsterna ses som rituella fält, där religiöst liv kontinuerligt skapas och omförhandlas i praktik - i det aktuella fallet sker detta med kvinnor som de främsta protagonisterna och deltagarna. Samtidigt är fälten en plats för kultivering och förkroppsligande av en specifik hållning - med kroppen som central agent, vilka också påverkar deltagarnas sätt att relatera och orientera sig i världen.
Studien, som grundar sig på flerårigt och multilokalt fältarbete, karaktäriserat av ett dialogiskt och deltagande förhållningssätt, belyser element i denna process, såsom historiebruk, omförhandling av makt och auktoritet, ritualisering, globala såväl som lokala aspekter, genus samt de mer sensuella aspekterna av musik, dans och rörelse. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1658865
- author
- Trulsson, Åsa LU
- supervisor
-
- Tord Olsson LU
- opponent
-
- Professor Harvey, Graham, The Open University, England
- organization
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- dance, sacred places, authority, pilgrimage, power, intersubjectivity, somatic modes of attention, the body, embodiment, habitus, goddess spirituality, new age, paganism, practice, ritual criticism, multi-sited fieldwork, ritual, anthropology of religion, performance, music, healing, gender, sacralisation, everyday spirituality
- in
- Lund Studies of History of Religion
- volume
- 28
- pages
- 426 pages
- publisher
- Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap, Lunds universitet
- defense location
- Sal 118, Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap, Allhelgona kyrkogata 8, Lund
- defense date
- 2010-09-24 13:15:00
- ISSN
- 1103-4882
- ISBN
- 978-91-7473-006-7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
- id
- 07cc3961-35a4-4357-a28a-56112ca9fc37 (old id 1658865)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:26:11
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 20:35:01
@phdthesis{07cc3961-35a4-4357-a28a-56112ca9fc37,
abstract = {{Ritual creativity may seem like a contradiction in terms, yet the religious landscape in contemporary Euro-America is permeate with experimentation of ritual forms, different modalities of action, imagination and play as routes to authenticity. The present study examines different settings in Europe involved in such ritual creativity, which would commonly be classified as postmodern spirituality, new age or Paganism. However, rather than striving for classification and synthesis, it is argued that the amorphous character of much contemporary spirituality, can provide analytical benefits when theorising lived religious practice.<br/><br>
The study provides a critical remark to the text-driven approaches prevalent in previous research, and advocates that contemporary spirituality should be localised in the realm of practice, drawing theories of embodiment. Consequently, rather than a fully-fledged worldview outside of individuals and groups, the sacred is continuously cultivated by a series of practices, most notably ritualised practice.<br/><br>
The settings presented are conceptualised as interrelated ritual fields. They are also sites where the body is trained and spiritual dispositions are formed that alter the participants' mode of being in the world. We are hence concerned with a conscious habituation achieved through disciplining practice, somatic modes of attention as well as framing and reflection. The study examines features in this process, including use of history, negotiations of power, ritualisation, and global intersections. Moreover, each field highlights different aspects of contemporary ritualising, such as the performance of gender, the sensuous aspects of music and dance, the movements and relationship to the landscape and the divine.<br/><br>
The study is grounded in fieldwork, informed by dialogical and participatory modes of research that acknowledges the entangled nature of the scholar and other participants in the field. It is also an example of so-called multi-sited fieldwork, which is increasingly requested to capture the de-territorialised aspects of much of contemporary religious life.}},
author = {{Trulsson, Åsa}},
isbn = {{978-91-7473-006-7}},
issn = {{1103-4882}},
keywords = {{dance; sacred places; authority; pilgrimage; power; intersubjectivity; somatic modes of attention; the body; embodiment; habitus; goddess spirituality; new age; paganism; practice; ritual criticism; multi-sited fieldwork; ritual; anthropology of religion; performance; music; healing; gender; sacralisation; everyday spirituality}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap, Lunds universitet}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies of History of Religion}},
title = {{Cultivating the Sacred : Ritual Creativity and Practice among Women in Contemporary Europe}},
volume = {{28}},
year = {{2010}},
}