article

Untimely gods and French perfume: ritual, rules and deviance in the Brazilian Candomble

Folk • 29 • Published In 1987 • Pages: 5-22

By: Sjorslev, Inger.

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on ritual as a collective expression of experience, and trance related to individual experience expressed in collective form. The author's interpretation of the events described in the text is inspired by ideas related to the anthropology of experience as noted in the works of Victor Turner and Edward M. Bruner and further supplemented by the concepts of 'framing' and 'keying' suggested by Erving Goffman. 'The anthropology of experience …deals with how individuals actually experience their culture, that is how events are received by consciousness, implying not only cognition but also feelings and expectations' (p. 6). In this study the author describes two different examples of spirit possession experienced by mediums in the CONDOMBLE ritual and the way in which each in turn deviated from the expected 'text' of the ritual performance. In Sjorslev's analysis of this behavior she attempts to form a link between. on one hand, the generally accepted collective expectations of the ritual performance and, on the other hand, the individual experience and reaction to a ritual situation (p.6).

HRAF PubDate

1999

Region

South America

Sub Region

Eastern South America

Document Type

article

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

John Beierle; 1998

Field Date

1980-1981

Coverage Date

1980-1981

Coverage Place

town of Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil

Notes

Inger Sjorslev

Includes bibliographical references (p. 21-22)

LCSH

Bahia (Brazil : State)