12-6-2010

Aside from simply depicting a contrast with the ordinary, however, the liminal phase of ritual can also depict the ideal of the unstructured community, what Turner calls “communitas.” In communitas, in distinction from the hierarchically structured society, all are equal and there is no ranking to give one power over another (except perhaps the authority of the ritual elders). 20 This form of utopia cannot really exist, as no society can exist without structure— but this utopian ideal of communitas is just as critical to the functioning of society as the realism that requires structure, for it reminds a people of their essential unity and

Lyden: Movies as Religion.

In this passage, Lyden refers to the anthropologist Turner, who noted that societies form "communitas," which are momentary breakdowns of authority which make pleasantly allow all to be equal. His example is that of an Indian ceremony, where cast is reversed, the subordinate becoming insubordinate. Thus, for a brief period, a break-down in society is allowed to occur within the confines of a ritual, much like Gerard would argue violence can be carried out ritually to be cathartic.