article

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

Folk29 • 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).
Subjects
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Spirits and gods
Revelation and divination
Magicians and diviners
Organized ceremonial
culture
Bahia Brazilians
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)