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"'The positional meaning of a symbol derives from its
relationship to other symbols in a totality, a Gestalt, whose elements
acquire their significance from the system as a whole' (Turner,
1967:51). Turner considered himself a comparative symbologist, which
suggests he valued his contributions to the study of ritual symbols. It
is in the closely related study of ritual processes that he had the
most impact.
The most important contribution Turner made to the
field of anthropology is his work on liminality and communitas.
Believing the liminal stage to be of 'crucial importance' in the ritual
process, Turner explored the idea of liminality more seriously than
other anthropologists of his day.
As noted earlier Turner elaborated on van Gennep's
concept of liminality in rites of passage. Liminality is a state of
being in between phases. In a rite of passage the individual in the
liminal phase is neither a member of the group she previously belonged
to nor is she a member of the group she will belong to upon the
completion of the rite. The most obvious example is the teenager who is
neither an adult nor a child. 'Liminal entities are neither here nor
there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed
by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial' (Turner, 1969:95). Turner
extended the liminal concept to modern societies in his study of
liminoid phenomena in western society. He pointed out the similarities
between the 'leisure genres of art and entertainment in complex
industrial societies and the rituals and myths of archaic, tribal and
early agrarian cultures' (1977:43).
Closely associated to liminality is communitas which
describes a society during a liminal period that is 'unstructured or
rudimentarily structured [with] a relatively undifferentiated
comitatus, community, or even communion of equal individuals who submit
together to the general authority of the ritual elders' (Turner,
1969:96).
The notion of communitas is enhanced by Turner's
concept of anti-structure. In the following passage Turner clarifies
the ideas of liminal, communitas and anti-structure:
I have used the term 'anti-structure,'... to
describe both liminality and what I have called 'communitas.' I meant
by it not a structural reversal... but the liberation of human
capacities of cognition, affect, volition, creativity, etc., from the
normative constraints incumbent upon occupying a sequence of social
statuses (1982:44).
It is the potential of an anti-structured liminal
person or liminal society (i.e., communitas) that makes Turner's ideas
so engaging. People or societies in a liminal phase are a 'kind of
institutional capsule or pocket which contains the germ of future
social developments, of societal change' (Turner, 1982:45).
Turner's ideas on liminality and communitas have
provided scholars with language to describe the state in which societal
change takes place."
Turner, V. (1967). The forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process: structure and anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
Turner, V. (1977). Variations of the theme of liminality. In Secular ritual. Ed. S. Moore & B. Myerhoff. Assen: Van Gorcum, 36-52.
Turner, V. (1982). From ritual to theater: The human seriousness of play. New York: PAJ Publications. |
