essay

Psychoanalysis and ceremony

interpretation of ritual: essays in honour of A. I. Richards[london]Published In 1972 • Pages: 205-237

By: Bott, Elizabeth.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this study, Bott uses ideas from both anthropology and psychoanalysis (her training is in both fields) to attempt to understand the meaning of the kava ceremony in Tongan culture. She describes the ceremony in detail, including seating arrangements, participants, and the ritual involved. She then discusses and interprets the mythological background for the ceremony. One of the most valuable parts of her analysis is her treatment of Tongan social relations, and how status based on titles, kinship, and political power are interrelated and how the kava ceremony serves to 'clarify social principles and roles' and resolve some of the problems generated by the stratified social system of Tonga.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Recreational and non-therapeutic drugs
Literary texts
Status, role, and prestige
Classes
Social relationships and groups
Visiting and hospitality
Kin relationships
Mythology
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Tongans
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2006
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Polynesia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Psychoanalyst
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Martin Malone; 1978
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
ca.1800-ca.1960s
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Tonga
NotesAdditional notes
Elizabeth Bott
Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-237)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
72179016
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Tongans