There is an ambivalence toward ritual in social science. On the one hand, it is seen as immensely valuable to the individual and to society. On the other hand, there is an underlying feeling that ...ritual is impotent. This paper presents a theory of the distancing of emotion which integrates the positive and negative orientations toward ritual. The theory links ritual to the process of catharsis of repressed emotion, which subsumes the positive orientation. The theory also suggests that when ritual is either over- or underdistanced, it will be seen either as meaningless, in the case of overdistancing, or tension-producing, in the case of underdistancing, which subsumes the negative orientation toward ritual. The relationship between this theory and Freud and Breuer's theory of repression and catharsis is described. Finally, some evidence from ethnology is reviewed which relates sense of well-being, distancing, and catharsis in funeral rites and in curing rituals.
Book reviews Enayat, Hamid; Enos, J L; Pinto, Clarence Da Gama ...
Third World Quarterly,
19/1/1/, Letnik:
4, Številka:
1
Book Review
Recenzirano
Poverty and revolution in Iran: the migrant poor, urban marginality and politics. Farhad Kazemi, New York University Press, 1980. 180pp. $22.75
Modern Iran: the dialectics of continuity and change. ...Edited by Michael E Bonine and Nikki Keddie, State University of New York Press, Albany. 464pp. $34.00
Aid and Influence: the case of Bangladesh. Edited by, Just Faaland, London: Macmillan. 1981. 202pp. £15.00
Crisis Management and the Superpowers in the Middle East. Edited by Gregory Treverton, Farnborough, England: Gower (for the International Institute for Strategic Studies). 1981. 183pp. £9.00
The Middle East in World Politics. Edited by Mohammed Ayoob, London: Croom Helm. 1981. 217pp. £10.95
Paths to Peace: the UN Security Council and its presidency. Edited by Davidson Nicol, Oxford: Pcrgamon (for UNITAR) 1981. 401pp. £21.25
The United States in the 1980s. Edited by Peter Duigan and Alvin Rabushka Foreword by W Glenn Campbell, London: Croom Helm. 1980. 908pp. £14.95
The Politics of Islamic Reassertion. Edited by Mohammed Ayoob, London: Croom Helm. 1981. 298pp. £12.95
Inside the Multinationals. A M Rugman, London: Croom Helm. 1981. 179pp. £11.95
Odious Commerce: Britain, Spain and the abolition of the Cuban slave trade. David R Murray, Cambridge Latin American Studies 37. Cambridge University Press. 1980. 423pp. £19.50
The Middle East in the World Economy 1800-1914. Roger Owen, London: Methuen. 1981. 378pp. £18.00
Extension Education and Rural Development (Vols 1 and 2). Edited by B R Crouch and S Chamala, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1981. 371 and 325pp. £20.00. £18.00
The Future of International Organisation. Edited by Rudiger Jutte and Annemarie Grosse-Jutte, London: Frances Pinter. 1981. 228pp. £15.00
Income Distribution, Growth and Basic Needs in India. R Sinha, Peter Pearson, Gopal Kadekodi and Mary Gregory, London: Croom Helm. 1979. 175pp. £9.95
Coup Theories and Officers' Motives: Sri Lanka in comparative perspective. Donald L Horowitz, Princeton University Press. 1980. 239pp. £8.90. £3.90 pb
Rabat: urban apartheid in Morocco. Janet Abu-Lughod, Princeton University Press. 1980. 374p. £16.70. £7.00 pb
Insurrection or Loyalty: the breakdown of the Spanish American Empire. Jorge I Dominguez, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1980. 306pp. £18.00
Ethnopolitics: a conceptual framework. Joseph Rothschild, New York: Columbia University Press. 1981. 290pp. $29.25
Crime, Race and Culture: a study in a developing country. Howard Jones, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1981. 184pp. £12.75
The Multinational Corporation: a radical approach. Papers by Stephen Herbert Hymer. Edited by R B Cohen, N Felton, M Nkosi and J van Liere, Cambridge University Press. 1981. 323pp. £21.00
Energy Strategies for Developing Nations. Joy Dunkerley, William Ramsay, Lincoln Gordon and Elizabeth Cecelski, London: John Hopkins University Press. 1981. 265pp. £14.50. £6.25pb
Land and Power In Latin America: agrarian economies and social processes in the Andes. Edited by Benjamin S Orlove and Glynn Custred, London: Holmes and Meier. 1980. 258pp. £17.95
Jawaharlal Nehru: an anthology. Edited by Sarvepalli Gopal, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1980. 662pp. Rs 110
Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah: studies in interpretation. Sharif-al-Mujahid, Karachi: Quaid-i-Azam Academy. 1981. 806pp. Rs 150
The Myth of the OPEC Cartel. Ali D Johany, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1980. 107pp. £14.00
The Philosophy of Human Rights: international perspectives. Edited by Alan S Rosenbaum, London: Aldwych Press. 1980. 272pp. $27.50
Resource Mobilisation in Poor Countries: implementing tax policies. Alex Radian New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books. 1980. 266pp. $19.95
Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia Vol 2: international straits of the world. Michael Leifer, The Hague: Sijthoff and Noordhoff. 1978. 217pp. np
Public Enterprise in an Intermediate Regime: a study of the political economy of Bangladesh. Rehman Sobhan and Muzaffer Ahmad, Dacca: Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. 1980. 624pp. $10.00
Religion and Politics in Latin America: the Catholic Church in Venezuela. Daniel H Levine, Princeton University Press. 1981. 342pp. £12.66. £3.90pb
Poverty and Famines: an essay on entitlement and deprivation. Amartya Sen, Oxford: Clarendon, Oxford University Press, 1981. 257pp. £8.95
Values, Identities, and National Integration: empirical research in Africa. Edited by John N Paden, Northwestern University Press: 1980. 397pp. $37.95
Trade Barriers Facing Developing Countries. Alexander J Yeats, London: Macmillan, 1979. 262pp. £20.00
Multinationals Beyond the Market: intra-firm trade and the control of transfer pricing. Edited by Robin Murray, Brighton: Harvester. 1981. 335pp. £22.50
