Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth. Conference

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Ritual, Performance, Media

Felicia Hughes-Freeland

How can media and performance studies take a place in the discipline of anthropology? IRitual, Performance, Mediademonstrates how individual inventiveness makes society a process of dynamic interaction between creativity and convention. Human beings perform their roles in accordance with the context of the situation--be it in theater, dance, or rites such as spirit invocation or pilgrimages--yet continue to creatively devise ways of extending their engagement with the situation. Case studies of human behavior in relation to contexts in which reality is more than that of everyday routines shows how people continue to actively construct the world in which they live, for the purpose of personal satisfaction and social advantage.

Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth Conference 1

Through detailed ethnographic examples, in regions such as West Africa, Hawaii, Australia, Belize and Egypt, they show precisely how global institutions, including capitalism and mass consumption, are manifested in local contexts. Their work exemplifies the role of anthropologists in this area and provides a model for future anthropological research. It also shows that an ethnographic approach will be invaluable to emerging discipline, such as cultural studies and media studies.

Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth. Conference

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