Weddings are collective rituals that enable couples to show their solemn commitment to an invited audience. In this sense, weddings can thus be viewed as important forms of ‘display work’. While ...there are clear commonalities between rituals and display work, particularly in terms of their emphasis on spectacle, demonstration and audience, little attention has been given to how display work can inform and indeed transform wedding rituals. We use display work as a lens for exploring how same-sex couples construct and enact their wedding. In particular we show how heteronormative, gendered traditions that underpin the wedding rite are negotiated. Our findings demonstrate the interplay between display work and normative ritual elements. We identify four tactics of ‘reflexive display’: strategic compliance; playful appropriation; annexation; and conspicuous absence. Together, these show how the wedding rite is done, undone or redone, to reflect each couple’s unique relationship and perspective on same-sex union.
This article examines the encounters of Generation 1.5 Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) with the Orthodox establishment within the framework of weddings and burials in Israel. ...These Orthodox Jewish weddings and burials are referred to here as rituals of nonbelonging and provide a lens for understanding the role of rituals in the marginalisation and exclusion of immigrants and ethnic minorities from religious and national collectives. The article argues that rituals of nonbelonging originate in the more extensive politics of nonbelonging and reflect an exclusion that provokes negative emotions among marginalised minorities due to the perceived threats to social bonds.
This article combines the theoretical lenses of bridal identity and liminal consumption to illustrate the processes of problem-solving, negotiation and reconciliation through which the bride creates ...her bridal identity, in the Global South context of Nigeria. Most wedding ritual studies typically emphasise the processes of creating and negotiating a successful bridal identity, but few acknowledge the possibilities of failure and its effect upon the liminars. In addition, within liminal consumption studies, the role of liminars’ mentors is often under-theorised. Thus, we contribute to the field by expanding on the concept of ‘liminal gatekeepers’ as the individuals and institutions who control and enforce certain norms associated with the liminal experience. Following an interpretivist approach, the article also advances our understanding of the ways in which the demands of liminal gatekeepers affect the liminars’ experiences and identifies three novel bridal identity outcomes, namely, (i) Embedded Bridal Identity; (ii) Synthesised Bridal Identity; and (iii) Marginalisation. In this way, we advance marketing research around how a liminal consumer identity such as bridal identity is co-constructed between liminars and gatekeepers.
The Altai-Kizhi, as the central group of the Altaians, the titular ethnic group in the Republic of Altai, are the guardians of Burkhanism. Burkhanism refers to a belief system that emerged at the ...beginning of the 20th century as a “reformed” version of shamanism. In Soviet times, forbidden Burkhanism preserved in the intra-ethnic ritual culture, and in the post-Soviet period it began to revive. The purpose of the article is to identify Burkhanist con-cepts in the cultural and semiotic wedding codes. The material for the study was author’s own field accounts of 2020–2022, collected by the method of participant observation and interviewing informants, as well as archival records of A.V. Anokhin, an antiquarian of the early 20th century. When analyzing the source base, a comparative method of research was used. The bride’s transition into a category of married women occurs through the rite of changing the maiden hairstyle for two braids with a parting, and introducing her to the groom's ancestral hearth by ‘treating’ the fire with oil. In the ritual actions of the participants, the Burkhanist attitude towards ‘the positive’ and the observance of the custom of ‘bay’ are encoded. For the first time, on the basis of the collected material, an anthropomorphic code of the ritual practice of the wedding has been identified, associated with the key idea of Burkhanism - the veneration of Altai-deity, the upper heavenly world that provides earthly life. The temporal code of the ritual actions corresponds to the Burkhanist rule — the period of the new moon and morning is a ‘favorable’ time for proposal and marriage. The spatial code of the wedding ceremonies accounts for the contraposition of ‘east-west’, ‘right-left’, and ‘male-female’. The actional code consists in performing the ritual ‘posolon’ actions and an even number of times according to the Burkhanist symbolism. The object code involves sacred attributes — a whip, a gun, a sheath for opening bride's curtain, juniper, and dairy products for ‘feeding’ the hearth fire. The color code of the wedding is in observance of light symbols — bride's curtain, milk, and sacrificial ribbons. The verbal code is realized in the ritual texts of good wishes and songs. The character code is contained in the composition and role of the sex and age groups: elders as experts in the ritual; maternal uncles-taay and nephews of the bride and groom, whose participation means social recognition and approval of the marriage. The analysis of the wed-ding ritual actions reveals the ‘stringing’ of one code upon another, which enhances the significance of the ritual. One and the same ritual meaning can be expressed by means of different codes and by several of them simulta-neously. Despite the fact that the ritual codes are universal, their manifestation and significance in the wedding rituals of the Altai-Kizhi are unique, which is in accordance with the ideas of Burkhanism and is explained by the historical and ethno-confessional factors of the adaptation of the Altaian tribal society.
In the analysis of baptism rituals in eastern Lithuania and western Belarus, I have repeatedly drawn attention to the similarity in the structure of individual traditional wedding and baptism rites ...and even the transition of some ritual acts from one ritual to another. The similarities noticed in the ritual acts performed at baptisms and weddings in the first half of the twentieth century have led to a more detailed analysis of these life-cycle celebrations in the twenty-first century. In this article, I examined the peculiarities of the ceremonial/symbolic killing (or attempted killing) of a midwife and a matchmaker. Analysing both rituals I revealed the differences between the traditional ceremonial killing of a midwife and the ‘hanging’ of a matchmaker; uncover and compare modifications of these rites in modern society. I showed that, with the loss of their former ritual value and the absence of matchmakers and midwives in real life, the ritual practice of symbolic drowning or hanging has remained. This indicates a desire to preserve the old customs and, with modifications, practice them in today’s baptism and wedding ceremonies as the final part of the ritual. On the other hand, a thorough analysis of the ceremonial acts has shown that both the symbolic hanging of a matchmaker and, in particular, the drowning of a midwife (bobutė) are late cultural phenomena, dating back only one or several hundred years in the areas studied.
The present article analyses a wedding walk as a constant element of the modern Russian wedding ritual in the post-Soviet cultural room. The article provides an insight into the history of the ...establishment of this ceremonial tradition, presents different research versions of the development of the Soviet tradition of newlyweds and guests’ visiting of the wedding sights on the day of the wedding. The objects of Narva wedding train route are in the focus of attention; the formation of this route dates back to the 1960s. During this period the direction of the route of the wedding walk was determined – from the city to the suburb (Narva-Jõesuu). The map of the wedding train route had three destinations: the monument to Lenin in Peter’s Square, the roundabout “Ring” in the city centre and Shishkin’s Pine in Narva-Jõesuu. The last two of the above-listed objects are still holding their positions on the map of the modern wedding train route as well. The ceremonial culture and the local mythology are developing around these wedding sights.
Resumo Neste artigo, argumento que as mesas de doces presentes nos rituais matrimoniais ocupam lugar central nos festejos que se seguem à cerimônia de casamento e são atravessadas por dimensões ...econômicas, morais, materiais, estéticas e afetivas, funcionando como um condensador do ritual. Defendo ainda que, quando observadas atentamente, as mesas de doces são reveladoras da existência de uma hierarquia presente em todo o ritual, bem como de uma temporalidade que é própria dele. Nos últimos anos, venho me dedicando a estudar este ritual de passagem com o intuito de compreender alguns dos significados, códigos e valores nele investidos. O exame do percurso da mesa de doces, desde sua montagem até sua desmontagem, focalizando em especial suas funções sociais e simbólicas, é realizado a partir de material etnográfico construído entre os anos 2011 e 2014.
Abstract Sweets play an important role in Brazilian weddings. I argue in this paper that confectionery items occupy a central place in wedding festivities. Sweets, traditionally displayed on fixed items of furniture, are generally known as “mesas de doces” and encapsulate economic, moral, material, aesthetic and emotional dimensions. Moreover, I suggest that close observation of confectionary in weddings points to the existence of a specific hierarchy as well a particular sense of time. Since in recent years I have attempted to understand some of the meanings, codes and values invested in Brazilian weddings, this paper rests on ethnographic material collected between 2011 and 2014.
Resumen En este artículo sostengo que las “mesas de dulces” presentes en rituales de fiestas de matrimonio ocupan un lugar central en banquetes de bodas y están atravesados por dimensiones económicas, morales, estéticas y afectivas, funcionando como un condensador del ritual. También señalo que, cuando son observados atentamente, los dulces son capaces de revelar una jerarquía del ritual, así como una temporalidad que le es propia. En los últimos años vengo estudiando este rito de pasaje con la intención de comprender algunos de sus sentidos, códigos y valores. El análisis del circuito de la “mesa de dulces”, desde su montaje y desmontaje, enfocando especialmente sus funciones sociales y simbólicas, es realizado a partir del material etnográfico construido entre 2011 y 2014.
Sociologists have distinguished between sex and gender. Sex refers to whether a person is considered female or male, based on the kind of body they have. Gender describes the idea and practices that ...constitute femininity and masculinity. This paper describes gender roles through the wedding practices among Uyghurs communities in Xinjiang and the extent to which these have affected the role and status of men and women in contemporary Uyghur society. Modern marriage among Uyghur, and the procedures adopted in choosing partners, have changed radically since 1980. Changes such as these are easy to observe. However, traditional ideals continue to form the coexistence of traditional gender models and modern ideals. This paper examines the roots of gender roles in traditional culture as seen through wedding rituals, and will then return to a consideration of the contemporary. Weddings are not just for the two families, but are important gatherings for the entire village. Uyghurs perceive the act of marriage as a series of rituals taking place over many months, even years sometimes. Some of the more unusual rituals will be described and links will be made between the rituals and differing gender roles in the society. As Uyghur society shows much equality at times, this is reflected in the mutual exchange of toylaq (gifts) between the girl’s side of the family and the boy’s side. However, the superior role of the husband in the household can be seen in other rituals such as elchi evetmek (match making) qizning altigha tash kuyup ogzidin mangmaq (put a stone under the bride and running on the rooftop), an old custom that shows the dominance of the groom over his bride. Also the qizni gilem ustide oyge ekirmek (carrying the bride in a carpet to her husband’s house) is an old custom that can be seen as showing respect to the bride. Other customs, such as qiz qachumaq (wife kidnapping), while seemingly putting the bride in a position of no agency, is almost always a mutual decision by the young couple to avoid obtaining permission from unwilling parents. Suzini bermek or hetini bermek (divorce) is not uncommon and in this case, the bride may keep her gifts and the bride price, except under unusual circumstances. This paper will describe these more unusual rituals and customs and will compare an isolated village with its more modern urban counterparts. It will show that gender is socially constructed by using the sociological and anthropological explorations of how gender has meant different things and how roles have been expressed differently in different times and places.
SUMMARY
This article tells a series of stories that speak to the importance of the human capacity of willful overlooking. When we exercise willful overlooking in our interactions with others, we may ...allow a potentially fracturing moment to pass, an uncomfortable situation to be tolerated, or an opportunity to present itself. Willful overlooking is exercised in our friendships and romances, our bureaucratic and public exchanges, and in many other social encounters. The paper draws on two sets of events, my former village research assistant's wedding in Canada (2007) and my fieldwork (1995–96) in his village of Artas in the Palestinian West Bank.
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