User:Ateka.Mirza/sandbox

Catherine Bell introduces the study of ritual theory in chapter 1 (19). She presents the idea of dichotomies and how they differentiate between conceptual blueprints (such as beliefs and myths) and ritual (something acted out). Ritual is seen as a performance of conceptual orientations (19). Bell integrates the ideas and theories of Edward Shils,Durkheim,Stanley Tambiah,V. Turner,Sahlins and Levi-Strauss all pertaining to ritual studies. Ritual is understood as a structural mechanism that reintegrates the two opposing dichotomies of thought and action, which is equivalent to the belief and behavior dichotomy (20). In the sense of community, ritual is seen as a way to create a collective set of beliefs or ideals. In the ever changing society, ritual is the bridge between tradition and constant social change (20). Ritual symbolism plays a role in the natural struggle of humans with their moral self and external “socio-political” order and constraints of the world (24). But this theory of ritual symbolism is seen as incomplete because 1) it does not have any cultural analysis in its explanation and 2) it does not take into consideration the duality of human nature. Bell concludes chapter 1 by reestablishing the different dichotomies that are at play against one another: continuity and change, individual experience and social forms, beliefs and behaviors, and thought and action (25).