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POETIC RITUALITY AND TRANSCULTURALITY
Rituals can also be described as scenic forms of representation. Similar to
theater performances, rituals often possess performative elements and are
based on a script that precisely defines the ritual process. Ihus, for example,
the liturgy is described as a ritual practice, which relies on a text such as the
Rituale Romanum in the Catholic Church, which, similarly to the staging of
a dramatic text in theater, is realized through the performance of the ritual.
Likewise, myths, but also the protocol of state ceremonies, have been described
as such “texts” on which the ritual is centered. Both in the theater and in ritu¬
als, props are used, and stylized gestures and actions — as well as recitations,
songs, dance, and music — are performed. The costumes of the actors in the
theater correspond to the festive clothing of ritual specialists: both theater
and ritual can distinguish themselves as important and significant actions
and draw attention to what is being performed through these garments. Both
theatrical performances and rituals reflect the culture in which and for which
they are performed." Rituals interrupt the flow of social life, as Victor Turner
emphasized, and enable the group of agents who perform them to “take cogni¬
zance of its own behavior in relation to its own values, even to question at times
the value of those values.””” In doing so, they set reflexive processes in motion
and incorporate them at the same time. Hence, theater and ritual create “cul¬
tural frames in which reflexivity can find a legitimate place”! Comparable
to rituals, the performance of a drama can also be interpreted as a form of a
culture’s meta-comment — so to speak." In research, rituals are, therefore,
generally regarded as “the master keys to understanding cultures”! Whereas
on the one hand, the affinity between theater, drama, and ritual is more than
obvious, on the other hand, one should not forget that despite their many
similarities, theater and ritual are not equivalent cultural practices.
Third: The Different use of Rituality and Theatricality in Ritual and Theater /
Drama
Especially complex ritual performances are undoubtedly theatrical. However,
they are not theater in a narrow sense since they follow other communica¬
tive rules. Rituals, as Walter Burkert pointed out, depend on a “theatricality
Erika Fischer-Lichte: Theater als kulturelles Modell, in L. Jäger (ed.): Germanistik: Diszip¬
linäre Identität und kulturelle Leistung. Vorträge des deutschen Germanistentages 1994,
Weinheim, Beltz, 1995, 164-184; Erika Fischer-Lichte: Theater und Ritual, in C. Wulf — J.
Zirfas (eds.): Die Kultur des Rituals. Inszenierungen. Praktiken. Symbole, München, Fink,
2004, 279-292.
Victor Turner: From Ritual to Theatre. The Human Seriousness of Play, New York, Performing
Arts Journal Publications, 1982, 92.
Turner: From Ritual to Theatre.
Mary Douglas: Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, London,
Routledge, 1966.
15° Catherine Bell: Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, New York, Oxford University Press, 1992, 7.
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