Oldal 72 [72]
JOHANNA DOMOKOS
the general structuring characteristics of the ritual possess systematic rel¬
evance. In this regard, such formally structured and standardized processes
become central to both ritual and art, aiding in the manifestation of per¬
formative, symbolic, self-referential, and communicative aspects. Thus, ritual
elements in a socio-cultural or artistic practice give birth to structure while
also enabling new meanings to arise.
POETIC RITUALITY
An understanding of ritual is highly relevant for the analysis of literature and
theater, since ritual elements not only generally support but also substantially
determine the aesthetics of literary works and performances. In dealing with
this material, Wolfgang Braungart and Saskia Fischer have both worked on for¬
mulating the concept of poetic rituality. According to Braungart and Fischer,
poetic rituality sheds light on the liminal characteristics of poetic as well as
dramatic forms, and references to ritual practices, ritual forms and structures
which are set in motion in a way that allows new aesthetic characteristics and
semantic aspects to arise.* Thus poetic rituality manifests itself as an intrinsic
aspect of such literary works and performances where the adaptation of ritual
patterns becomes constitutive and determines the aesthetics of the artistic
production in an essential way. The present paper explores how poetic rituality
manifests itself in a play of a contemporary Sami author, Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
(1943-2001), and in its two different adaptations. It focuses on how scripted
and embodied rituality prove to be essential categories in investigating the
poetic rituality of this or any other piece of art.
SCRIPTED AND EMBODIED RITUALITY
The above-mentioned works of Braungart and Fischer on aesthetic presentiv¬
ity and poetic rituality focus our attention on the structuring, as well as the
performative relevance, of ritual in the arts. Building upon these two lines of
argumentation, the terms of scripted and embodied rituality can be introduced.
Scripted rituality relates to the role and function of ritual elements and patterns
that are fixed in some form before they reach their addressee (the writer, the
* Wolfgang Braungart: Poetik, Rethorik, Hermeneutik, in A. Aurnhammer - W. Braungart — S.
Breuer - U. Oelmann (eds.): Stefan George und sein Kreis: Ein Handbuch, Berlin/Boston, De
Gruyter, 2016, Vol. 1, 509; Fischer: Ritual und Ritualität, 92-93; Saskia Fischer: Poetische
Ritualität und Schuld im Theater nach 1945 - Nelly Sachs, Mary Wigman und Pina Bausch,
in S. Fischer, B. Mayer (eds.): Kunst-Rituale - Ritual-Kunst. Zur Ritualität von Theater,
Literatur und Musik in der Moderne, Würzburg, Königshausen & Neumann, 2019a, 39-62,
40-41.
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