What is it about?
In recent anthropological research, the categorical distinction between ritual and play was called into question. This ethnographic study on the veneration of a Muslim saint further challenges attempts to establish clear cut distinctions of what can be conceptualized as play or ritual. In this study, the religious devotee's perspective is taken seriously and the saint is taken as a non-human agent who interacts with the devotee.
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Why is it important?
This study proposes new venues to better conceptualize the play in saint veneration rituals with different realities and frames of reference. The proposed concept of a fractal dynamics between ritual and play may have implications for anthropological method and theory.
Perspectives
This article is part of a special issue on ritual and play, which is dedicated to Don Handelman in celebration of his 80th birthday.
Dr. Jens Kreinath
Wichita State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Playing with frames of reference in veneration rituals: Fractal dynamics in encounters with a Muslim saint, Anthropological Theory, September 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1463499619841212.
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