Subproject A4
Agency and Territorial Rituals in India
Department and Research Field: Anthropology
Subproject Management
Prof. Dr. Christiane Brosiusbrosius@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de
Karl Jaspers Centre of Transcultural Studies
Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context"
Room 107
Vossstrasse 2, Gebäude 4400
D-69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone: 0049-(0)6221-544330
Fax: 0049-(0)6221-544490
Staff
Dr. des. Karin Politkpolit@sai.uni-heidelberg.de
Institut für Ethnologie
Sandgasse 7-9
69117 Heidelberg
Telefon: 06221-544908
Project Program
Subproject
A4 investigates the question about the tension between ritual and ritualization
in the context of construction and acquisition of cultural heritage (in
Our
thematic focus includes the following subjects:
a) the
production and consumption of cultural heritage as symbolical, political and
economic resource,
b) the
conflicts and tensions emerging from the construction of cultural heritage
through and in ritual practices as well as from the discourses on the meaning
of rituals that rise in different groups of actors
c) the
creation of different spaces for thought, experience and agency and of common
plans through the organizing principle of territoriality.
In this
context, rituals and ritualizations represent an ideal and so far hardly
considered possibility to examine the "exploitation" of the past and
places/territories for social plans for the present and the future and to
interpret socio-cultural change.
We will use
ethnographical methods (open interviews, participatory observation,
biographical methods, and filmic documentation) to analyze for each main topic
the interplay of:
·
different
protagonists, that act as producers and/or consumers on a
regional, national
and transnational level (such as small elites, urban middle
classes,
associations, rituals experts)
·
forms
of rituals (such as remembrance, wedding or pilgrim rituals), and
·
places
of representation (such as cultural festivals, religious theme parks,
or
radio).
We will
elaborate the relevance of territorial rituals in reference to "locality"
(place of origin and performance location), "distribution" (control over access
to or participation in rituals), and "scope" (impact on various spatial and
media levels).
Main Topics
A4.1 Ritual
spectacle in Garhwal: rituals as regional cultural heritage (Researcher: Dr.
Karin Polit)
A4.2 The creation of a Sikh heritage: ritual criticism and invention of rituals
(Researcher: Dr. Michael Nijhawan)
A4.3 Indian rituals between exile and homeland (Researcher: Dr. Christiane
Brosius)
Territorial rituals
