Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice by Catherine Bell (1992, Trade Paperback)

Greenyef (3648)

98.2% positive Feedback

Price:

US $29.99

Approximately£22.08

+ $14.42 postage

Estimated delivery Tue, 5 Aug - Mon, 18 Aug

Returns:

30 days return. Buyer pays for return postage. If you use an eBay delivery label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.

Condition:

New

She goes on to show how this definition can serve to illuminate such classic issues in traditional ritual studies as belief, ideology, legitimation, and power. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice by Catherine Bell (Oxford University Press, Paperback, 1992).

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195076133

ISBN-139780195076134

eBay Product ID (ePID)56268

Product Key Features

Number of Pages288 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameRitual Theory, Ritual Practice

Publication Year1992

SubjectChristian Rituals & Practice / Worship & Liturgy, Comparative Religion, General

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaReligion

AuthorCatherine Bell

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight13.1 Oz

Item Length8.3 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN91-016816

Dewey Edition20

Reviews"Throws down the gauntlet to cultural interpretations of ritual....Bell's erudition and command of the literature, especially in the field of anthropology, is most impressive. Her appeal for the centrality of dynamic individuals, strategies, and power relationships is powerful and will nodoubt strike a chord among those similarly disaffected with prevailing trends in understanding ritual."--American Journal of Sociology, "This book would serve as a valuable resource for understanding theories and developing research ideas on ritual--especially with Bell's incisive, comprehensive treatment of previous theories....I strongly recommend this book to any social scientist who is critical and curious enough to swimagainst the mainstream in exploration of our complex, dynamic relationships with culture, our creation(s), and our creator(s)."--The International Journal of the Psychology of Religion, "Throws down the gauntlet to cultural interpretations of ritual....Bell's erudition and command of the literature, especially in the field of anthropology, is most impressive. Her appeal for the centrality of dynamic individuals, strategies, and power relationships is powerful and will no doubt strike a chord among those similarly disaffected with prevailing trends in understanding ritual."--American Journal of Sociology"Fills a gap....Bell has supplied a thorough study of the field that brings together some valuable insights difficult to find elsewhere under one cover."--Sociology"Catherine Bell's book will surely set the standard for work in the burgeoning field of "ritual studies" for some time....excellent."--The Journal of Religion"This book would serve as a valuable resource for understanding theories and developing research ideas on ritual--especially with Bell's incisive, comprehensive treatment of previous theories....I strongly recommend this book to any social scientist who is critical and curious enough to swim against the mainstream in exploration of our complex, dynamic relationships with culture, our creation(s), and our creator(s)."--The International Journal of the Psychology of Religion"Bell provides an illuminating examination of the linkages...between the analytics of ritual and broader conceptualizations of social process....her presentation of "the framework of ritualization" strikes me as one of the most exciting and original contributions to ritual theory I have read in recent years."--History of Religion, "Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice by Catherine Bell is a book that is long overdue...[she] has a remarkable command of the theoretical issues in ritual as an object, method, and style of scholarship....not only is [this book] a compelling and provoking work, it is one of the most significantcontributions to perspectives in ritual studies."--Reviews in Anthropology, "Catherine Bell has provided us with a tour de force in her criticalappraisal of the history of ritual theory and, indirectly, with some questionsthat might fruitfully direct futher inquires."--Religious Studies Review, "A useful guide to ritual....In addition to critically examining theoriesof ritual and offering a range of constructive insights, it also uses theproblems posed by ritual to provide valuable commentary on recent theoreticaldiscussions of such notions as power, ideology, practice, and meaning....RitualTheory/Ritual Practice helps one with the most difficult of endeavors: bringingto light implicit assumptions and defamiliarizing accrued levels of what seemlike solid, established insights."--Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, "Throws down the gauntlet to cultural interpretations of ritual....Bell's erudition and command of the literature, especially in the field of anthropology, is most impressive. Her appeal for the centrality of dynamic individuals, strategies, and power relationships is powerful and will no doubt strike a chord among those similarly disaffected with prevailing trends in understanding ritual."--American Journal of Sociology "Fills a gap....Bell has supplied a thorough study of the field that brings together some valuable insights difficult to find elsewhere under one cover."--Sociology "Catherine Bell's book will surely set the standard for work in the burgeoning field of "ritual studies" for some time....excellent."--The Journal of Religion "This book would serve as a valuable resource for understanding theories and developing research ideas on ritual--especially with Bell's incisive, comprehensive treatment of previous theories....I strongly recommend this book to any social scientist who is critical and curious enough to swim against the mainstream in exploration of our complex, dynamic relationships with culture, our creation(s), and our creator(s)."--The International Journal of the Psychology of Religion "Bell provides an illuminating examination of the linkages...between the analytics of ritual and broader conceptualizations of social process....her presentation of "the framework of ritualization" strikes me as one of the most excitingand originalcontributions to ritual theory I have read in recent years."--History of Religion, The scholarship is not only sound but impressive. Bell has a magnificent command of sources from a variety of fields ... most significant, first-rate ... a benchmark in ritual studies., "...scholarly and insightful....a comprehensive critique of an entire field of scholarship..."--Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, "Catherine Bell's book will surely set the standard for work in the burgeoning field of "ritual studies" for some time....excellent."--The Journal of Religion, "Bell provides an illuminating examination of the linkages...between the analytics of ritual and broader conceptualizations of social process....her presentation of "the framework of ritualization" strikes me as one of the most exciting and original contributions to ritual theory I have readin recent years."--History of Religion, "Catherine Bell has provided us with a tour de force in her critical appraisal of the history of ritual theory and, indirectly, with some questions that might fruitfully direct further inquires."--Religious Studies Review, "Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice is a thoughtful and provocative book. It invites us to raise questions of all the theoretical lenses which have been used to study and interpret ritual. In fact, the single greatest virtue of the book, no doubt, is in demonstrating and critiquing the wide arrayof interpretive options which have become part of the repertoire in the study of ritual. Theoretical possibilities are carefully summarized and probing questions raised of each."--Journal of Ritual Studies, "...scholarly and insightful....a comprehensive critique of an entirefield of scholarship..."--Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, "Throws down the gauntlet to cultural interpretations of ritual....Bell's erudition and command of the literature, especially in the field of anthropology, is most impressive. Her appeal for the centrality of dynamic individuals, strategies, and power relationships is powerful and will no doubt strike a chord among those similarly disaffected with prevailing trends in understanding ritual."--American Journal of Sociology "Fills a gap....Bell has supplied a thorough study of the field that brings together some valuable insights difficult to find elsewhere under one cover."--Sociology "Catherine Bell's book will surely set the standard for work in the burgeoning field of "ritual studies" for some time....excellent."--The Journal of Religion "This book would serve as a valuable resource for understanding theories and developing research ideas on ritual--especially with Bell's incisive, comprehensive treatment of previous theories....I strongly recommend this book to any social scientist who is critical and curious enough to swim against the mainstream in exploration of our complex, dynamic relationships with culture, our creation(s), and our creator(s)."--The International Journal of the Psychology of Religion "Bell provides an illuminating examination of the linkages...between the analytics of ritual and broader conceptualizations of social process....her presentation of "the framework of ritualization" strikes me as one of the most exciting and original contributions to ritual theory I have read in recent years."--History of Religion, "A useful guide to ritual....In addition to critically examining theories of ritual and offering a range of constructive insights, it also uses the problems posed by ritual to provide valuable commentary on recent theoretical discussions of such notions as power, ideology, practice, andmeaning....Ritual Theory/Ritual Practice helps one with the most difficult of endeavors: bringing to light implicit assumptions and defamiliarizing accrued levels of what seem like solid, established insights."--Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, "Fills a gap....Bell has supplied a thorough study of the field that brings together some valuable insights difficult to find elsewhere under one cover."--Sociology

Dewey Decimal291.38

Table Of ContentPrefaceContributor's BiographiesIntroductionPart I: Teaching the Experience through Encounter and Reflection1. "Living a Double Consciousness"2. "Still Liminal After All These Years: Teaching Ordeals and Peregrinations"3. "Dancing Ritual, Ritual Dancing: Experiential Teaching"4. "The Fieldtrip and Its Role in Teaching Ritual"5. "Experience, Purpose, Pedagogy, and Theory: Ritual Activities in the Classroom"6. "Ritualizing Zen and the Art of Writing"Part II: Teaching the Questions through Issues and Theories7. "Teaching Ritual Propriety and Authority through Japanese Religions"8. "The Camp-Meeting and the Paradoxes of Evangelical Protestant Ritual"9. "Ritual from Five Angles: A Tool for Teaching"10. "Teaching Rites Ritually"11. "Teaching the Cognitive Approach"12. "Religion as Ritual"13. "Teaching Healing Rituals/Ritual Healing14. "Reflections on Ritual in Noh and Kyôgen"15. "Ritual Performance and Ritual Practice: Teaching the Multiple Forms and Dimensions of Ritual16. "Eventfulness of Space: Teaching about Sacred Architecture IS Teaching About Ritual"17. "Ritual and the Writing Class"BibliographyIndex

SynopsisArguing that the concept of ritual is overdue for critical rethinking, Bell here offers a close theoretical analysis of recent developments in ritual studies, concentrating on anthropology, sociology, and history of religions. She begins by showing how discourse on ritual has served to generate and legitimate a limited and ultimately closed form of cultural analysis. She then proposes that so-called ritual activities be removed from their isolated position as special, paradigmatic acts and restored to the context of "social activity" in general. Using the term "ritualization" to describe ritual thus contextualized, she defines it as a culturally strategic way of acting. She goes on to show how this definition can serve to illuminate such classic issues in traditional ritual studies as belief, ideology, legitimation, and power.

LC Classification NumberBL600.B46 1992