Liminality in Hajj's Rituals (The Comparative Analysis of Hajj's Rituals and Features of Expedition Theater)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Abstract

  The purpose of this article is to analyze the Hajj's Rituals and its comparison with the structural pattern of Theater Expedition. The main concept of this study is Liminality; the concept that has been taken by Victor Turner from Arnold Van Gennep’s, The Rites of Passage (1909). According to Van Gennep, every ritual has three parts, phases or main stages: Separation, Liminality and Return. In Turner’s view, the most important part of this triple process is Liminality: the stage that takes shape for a person or group, after the formation of a gap or crisis in social or individual rules. At the individual and social levels, this concept (Liminality) exists in all situations of crisis. Based on this feature, it depends on the time, place, beliefs, choices and commands of religious, ritual or social leaders. Regarding the central concept of the two theorists and the main purpose, the roadmap for this research is designed to compare the structure of the Hajj's Rituals with Theater Expedition. In this article, Theater Expedition means an adventure and immediate encounter with itself (as a person or an actor) and the others (People, Animals, Things, Places, Nature, Spaces and Objects). The analysis method in this article is qualitative and begins with the classification of the structure of the Hajj's Rituals and Theater Expedition. For this categorization, the elements are separated from each one and the most important sections are analyzed with the main aforementioned definition. This categorization is based on the functional role and concept and includes, respectively, hidden and obvious functions and the performers' beliefs and practices. The outcome of this research gives three main perceptual levels or index of Liminality: Spatial, Place and Time. All of these three indicators are mentioned in the three main parts of the concept_ pre-Liminality, Liminality, past-Liminality_ which at each stage, will entail different conditions and executives due to the quality and quantity of those conditions. The other results of this research could be presented in these phrases: The influential ways of the Liminality stage are "individual," "thoughtful," "promotional," and "critical." These stages in Hajj's rituals are the result of the ritual-education process for a person, at two levels (family and religion and society). The Hajj's rituals and Liminality have the same direction and same meaning in terms of origin. They are different in the performing approach and finally, the research hypothesis is confirmed by their similarity and alignment in terms of content and performance. It is hoped that this article and its results will help to raise the level of understanding of the rituals’ influences. It is expected the quantity and quality of the comparative and interdisciplinary research in the field of performing arts and their interdisciplinary can be an exam to evaluate and apply Turner's extrapolation of Van Gennep’s thesis and to provide a wider scope for other activists in the field of cultural studies to study rituals and performing opportunities as a parallel phenomenon which can be summarized by interdisciplinary approaches such as this study.

Keywords


  • قرآن کریم.

    احمدی، محمدرضا (1387)، اثربخشی مناسک حج بر سلامت روانی حجاج،  دوفصلنامه تخصصی مطالعات اسلام و روانشناسی، سری دوم، شماره 3، صص 73-47.

    باربا، یوجینو و نیکولو ساوارز(1390)، فرهنگ انسان‏شناسی تئاتر، ترجمۀ یدالله آقاعباسی، انتشارات سوره مهر، تهران.

    ترنر، ویکتور(1381)، اسطوره و نماد، کتاب ماه هنر، شماره ؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟، صص 76-70.

    دورکیم، امیل(1382)، صور ابتدایی حیات دینی، ترجمۀ نادر سالارزاده، دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی، تهران.

    شایسته‏فر، مهناز(1389)، مناسک حج در نگارگری اسلامی و نقش آن در همبستگی ملی و وحدت اسلامی، نامۀ پژوهش فرهنگی، سال 12، شمارۀ 12، صص88-65.

    شکنر، ریچارد (1388)، نظریه اجرا، ترجمه مهدی نصرالله زاده، چاپ دوم، سمت، تهران.

    صدیق سروستانی، رحمت الله (1372)، حج مناسک گذار، نامۀ علوم اجتماعی، جلد2، شماره 3، صص ؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟.

    فلاح‏زاده، محمدحسین (1374)، راهنمای مصور حجاج، چاپ دوم، نشر مشعر، تهران.

    قبادی، علیرضا و پروین علی پور(1391)، تحلیل کارکردی مناسک دینی، دوفصلنامه علمی تخصصی اسلام و علوم اجتماعی، سری 4، شماره 8، صص 92-74.

    نراقی، آرش (1388)، گفتاری درباره معنای نمادین حج از منظر عارفان، کتاب ماه دین، شماره ؟؟؟؟؟؟؟، صص 80-73.

    هاج، آلیسون (1393)، آمورش و پرورش بازیگر در قرن بیستم، ترجمۀ دانشور، براهیمی و اخگر، چاپ دوم، انتشارات سمت، تهران.

     

    Crosby, J (2009), Liminality and the sacred: discipline building and speaking with the other, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies:  Liminalities, Department of Communication, University of South Florida, 5(1), pp.1-19.

    Sakowska, A (2014), The Many Languages of the Avant-Garde, In conversation with Grzegorz Bral of Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theatre), Multicultural Shakespeare, London Shakespeare Centre, King’s College London, 11(26), pp.45-63.

    St John, G (2008), Victor Turner and contemporary cultural performance: An introduction, Victor Turner and contemporary cultural performance, Berghahn Books, New York,1-37.

    Turner, V (1974), Dramas Sociales Y Metaforas Rituales, Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

    Turner, V (1979), Frame, flow and reflection: Ritual and drama as public liminality, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Nagoya, Japan, ????, pp. 465-499.

    Van Gennep, A; Vizedom, M. B & Caffee, G. L (1960), The rites of passage, trans, University of Chicago Press, USA.

    Westerveld, Judith (2010), liminality In Contemporary Art, ???????????, Amsterdam.