Sylabus
Lesson plan 1) 4.10. Introduction. Public festivity: a question of a genreHomework:a)Fuzzy definition: analyze the proximity of various events to the "public festivity" category and create a "fuzzy definition". Take into consideration the various perspectives of approaching events/performances, as we have done in the classroom. Chose two examples of events with the placement of which you disagree and reflect upon your position in writing (use the photo attached). 2) 11.10.Based on your essays and definitions, we will be trying to establish all of the possible avenues of approaching the category of public festivities, also touching upon the topic of the relation of public festivities to ritual.Homework:a)Use the Chart for Analyzing Ritual (uploaded to SIS) to assess the events of Karel Gott's funeral. Of all the categories, chose just one (you may also come up with one not included in the chart itself), and write an analysis of the funeral from that perspective. If you cannot physically attend the events, analyse either video footage or newspaper articles (those of you, who read Czech, an essay by Radek Chlup might be of interest, includes further links) – again, focusing on a specific aspect of the discourse. As this is an improvisation, your analysis will necessarily be of very limited – reflect upon the limitations of the gathered data and make it part of your analysis. Make suggestions how these limitations might have been mitigated. Upload your essay to SIS no later than Wednesday 16.10. by midnight.b) Start reading:[] Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 23–41 (“Events that model the lived-in world”) [] Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 42–58 (“Events that present the lived-in world”, “Events that re-present the lived-in world”) [] Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 58–62 (“Qualifications”) 3) 18.10.We will be discussing your analyses of Karel Gott's funeral, relating it to the definitional debate from previous lessons. If time be, we will start reading Handelman p. 3–21.
[Johana] Don Handelman, Models and Mirrors: Towards an Anthropology of Public Events. New York: Berghahn Books, 1998, p. 3–21 („Premises and prepossessions“)Questions:1) What three festival events does H. describe at the beginning of his text? (p. 3–8) What do they have in common and how do they differ?; 2) Why are public events worth studying?; 3) What are the overlaps of ritual activity and public events?; 4) What types of definition of ritual does H. offer and what reservations does he have? Find at least one alternative definition of “ritual” and send it to me via e-mail (deadline 9.10.); 5) What are the basic attributes of festival events?; 6) What is H. position on the functionalist understanding of societies as homeostatic systems in relation to the ability of public festivities to “do” something?; 6) In what sense are public events symbolic structures?; 7) Why does H. consider all the characteristics as insufficient and what does he propose?; 8) How are public festivities more “grounded” than concepts such as “society” or “culture”?; 9) What is the relation of public events to social order and what does this effect?; 10) What are the two constituting aspects of public festivities/events and which one and for what reasons does he prefer? Does it prevent him from viewing PF as dynamic structures?; 11) What are the main arguments levelled against the “proponents of performance”? To what extent are these reservations relevant?; 12) How are “proto-events” relevant for this discussion? 4) 25.10.
We will finish reading Handelman from last lesson and start looking into the three types of public festivities he identifies.
Reading:[Johana] Don Handelman Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 23–41 (“Events that model the lived-in world”) Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 42–58 (“Events that present the lived-in world”, “Events that re-present the lived-in world”) Handelman, Models and Mirrors, 58–62 (“Qualifications”)
Homework (in written form, upload until Wednesady 30th midgnight into SIS):Use Handelman's typology and divide the events we attached on the wall (the photo of the events is downloadable from materials). While doing that, try and at least two examples of events that: a) do not fit any of his types at all and/or b) fit more, ideally all three types. State reasons why you chose (at least) the two examples and state your reasons. 5) 1.11.
We will go through your materials and try and get more acquanited with Handelman's typology and the criteria of PF we discussed previous lesson. In the remaining time, we shall have a look at Testa's article: Alessandro Testa, “Rethinking the Festival: Power and Politics.” Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 26, no. 1 (2014): 44–73 (only pp. 58–68). 6) 8.11.
Reading:Grimes, Ronald. “Mapping the Ritual Field.” In Beginnings in Ritual Studies.Grimes, Ronald. “Fieldworking Ritual.” Chapter 2 of The Craft of Ritual Studies. Oxford, 2014.Stephenson, Barry. “Definitions, Types and Domains.” Chapter 5 of Ritual, A Very Short Introduction, pp. 70–85. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Homework:Darcy: 15 min presentation of the historical context of 17 November 1989.Tereza, Petra, Johana: Mapping of the 17 November festival landscape. What specific events are going to be taking place this year? Which ones would you like to cover? Group the planned events into various categories (by type, by Handelman's categorisation... try out various possibilities). Send me material with which we will be working during Wednesday.
You may also have a look at a film "Ritualizing the Czech Velvet Revolution" by Ronald Grimes about the Velvet Carnival – an annual event taking place on November 17 since 2012.
I am also attaching two extremely interesting monographs in English contextualising the Velvet Revolution:
Holy, Ladislav. 1996. The Little Czech Man and the Great Czech Nation: National Identity and the Post-Communist Transformation of Society. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Krapfl, James. 2013. Revolution with a Human Face: Politics, Culture, and Community in Czechoslovakia, 1989-1992. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Preparation for November 17 + discussing Grimes and Stephenson. 7) 15.11.
Barry: Quick-course in ritual field-work as preparation for the November 17 events. 8) 22.11.
Course is not taking place as Martin is away at the annual AAR conference. 9) 29.11.
Student presentations of November 17 fieldwork
We would like you to reate a relatively short (15 mins) presentation of your fieldwork during the 17 November festivities. You should have a Powerpoint presentation that will include: 1) Your area of interest/focus/research question; 2) description of events you chose and why; 3) data gathering method (participant observation? interviews? etc.; 4) data presentation (attempt to organise your primary data according to some system which you deem appropriate to the data gathered); 4) conlusion – especially related to your intial focus/research question.
We will spend the whole lesson discussing your presentations and the field-work process. 10) 6.12.
We will build on Johana, Darcy and Roman's presentations of their November 17 research. Each one of them chose a different type of event. Their research methods also differed to some extent. During this lesson, we would like to paste together the individual observations so as to get a sense of what exactly is happening during 17 November in terms of public festivities. What are people doing? Why are they doing that? Are they successful? How are the events related?
We would like you to write an essay (2–5 pages) in which you will address the following issues (due 4 November the latest, through SIS, upload slot: "17 November event analysis"):1) Think of the events you witnessed in relation to Handelman's categorization of public festivities (have a look at his text again, if need be): Can you apply them to your material? Do they fit neatly or do you detect mixed forms? Can you distinguish more types within one event? If yes, what are the characteristics that enable you to distinguish them? How do they interact?2) Why do you think people actually felt the need to physically engage in these activities? Why was it meaningful to them? (even though you did not ask them these specific questions, you may elicit the answers from the observations you have already made).3) Think of your material in relation to the whole 17 November event landscape. What dynamics are taking place? Illustrate these by pairing them with specific events of the days.4) You may also think along the lines of various types and forms of symbolism. What elements/performative contexts of public festivities especially encourage expressions through symbolic means? What are the pros and cons of such an approach (give examples from your own research)?
You can also have a look at the presentations/texts of others which I upload to SIS (17 November presentation_NAME).
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Anotace
The course will be focusing on the creative dimensions of religiously significant festivals in contemporary Europe. By “religiously significant” we mean festivals that (1) derive from or mobilize the resources of nameable religious traditions, or (2) are serving, in Durkheimian and Turnerian senses, social functions generally attributed to traditional religious festivals, such as expressing solidarity, providing the experiences of communitas and sociability, and serving as reflexive windows on to social-cultural dynamics.
Festivals have a unique ability to “allow people to mediate different forms of life crises. This can include anything from the readjustments required through pivotal changes in the life cycle, to the shock of migration, environmental disaster, or revolution.” We now understand that festivals are occasions to collectively and cathartically express not only joy, but the whole gamut of human emotions, from sorrow to piety. Festivals confirm and redefine social roles, enhance local identities, and foster attachment to place by creating cherished memories. They are uniquely poised to establish new ideas, values, and practices, or retrieve forgotten ones. It is a broadly shared assumption that because festivals are public and inherently reflexive, they can be used as catalysts for enacting various kinds of change – festivals are often conceived as creative social tools to be deployed in working a host of social, political and cultural challenges and problems. But we are in need of a better understanding of the general phenomenon of festival creativity and the dynamics an efficacy of festivals as agents of social transformation—festival cultures are often surrounded by big claims for their value, but these claims require theoretical grounding and assessment.
Lecturers:
Martin Pehal (Charles University) contributions from Barry Stephenson (Memorial University, Canada)
Dr. Stephenson is Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Memorial University (St. John’s, Canada). His research and teaching focus on ritual studies, religion and the arts, and religion-secularization debates. He has published three books and numerous articles, book chapters and reviews. The former co-chair of the Ritual Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion, Dr. Stephenson is co-editor of the Ritual Studies Series, published by Oxford University Press. As a Research Fellow in Charles University’s Creative Lab, Dr. Stephenson is studying Creativity in Contemporary Festival Cultures.