There is something about horses. Something that through the ages has made people see these animals as something special, almost magical. The use, care and murder of these animals contain information of high value for archaeology. Information that can be hard to find in other materials.These animals and their final resting places bear traces of the emic values and inner worlds of the people that once put them there. People’s thoughts, values and traditions can be visualised from the bodies of the horses that once served them, at times gave their lives for them.The purpose of this essay is to study possible regional similarities and differences in the tradition relating to living and dead horses. This is done through osteological analysis of skeletal remains mainly of horse (Equus) and analysis of the archaeological contexts.The initial hypothesis was that the reason for a somewhat scarce representation of skeletal remains of horse in some places, perhaps relates to how the people in these places handled the bodies of the horses due to tradition and norms within their society.The study also sets out to examine what has made up the foundation for an interpretation of sacrifice and ritual, problematise the application of the concept of sacrifice as well as how archaeology as a research field has been affected and influenced by these notions.A delamination was made to Iron Age since the use of horses for man’s benefit and enjoyment was well established by that time. Geographically a delamination has been made to the islands of Gotland, Stora Karlsö and Öland with the intention of creating a distinct island perspective, where peculiar and unique traditions as well as more general similarities are allowed the same presuppositions. For this reason, three materials from the chosen geographical areas have been subject to osteological analysis; Stormyr in Bäl Parish on Gotland, Norderhamn in Eksta Parish on Stora Karlsö and a material from Löt Parish on Öland.The results show a general pattern in handling as well as in how both living and dead horses were perceived in the studied locations. However, it is also clear that regional differences occur in these areas.No osteological markers that can indicate any difference in type between the analysed horses have been found. There is however some trauma that indicates that some horses may have been used as workforce and means of transportation for example.The result also show that several factors in the represented cases could have affected the basis of estimation that led to a ritualistic interpretation, for example the frequency of finds, the extent of exploitation of an area, education, the development of methodology over time, etc.

Nesta etnografia, a devoção ao Divino Espírito Santo é abordada por um trilha menos explorada. Em vez de se postar no centro do arraial em homenagem ao Santo, segue-se em viagem com a bandeira e os cantadores da folia do Divino em seu giro peditório de casa em casa na zona rural e urbana. A antropologia da experiência é eleita como princípio de composição para um giro teórico em que a experiência dos devotos e a do Divino Espírito Santo são os principais aspectos a serem discutidos. / In this etnography, the Holy Spirit devotion is approched by a less explored trail. Instead of staying fixed in the center of the festival in honour of the Holy Spirit, the researcher goes into journey with the \"bandeira\" and the singers of the \"folia do Divino\" in their begging peregrination house to house in urban and rural areas. The anthropology of experience is elected as the composition principle for a theoretical journey in which the experience of the devotees and that of the Holy Spirit are the most important aspects to be discussed.

O foco da dissertação é o ritual no qual os Cinta Larga, povo de língua Tupi-Mondé que habita o noroeste de Mato Grosso e sudeste de Rondônia, dançam, cantam, bebem e, ao fim, sacrificam uma vítima animal. Apresenta-se uma descrição extensa das etapas do ritual, e procura-se decifrar o código simbólico que aciona, recorrendo ao contexto etnográfico, mitológico e escatológico. Para isto, a parte inicial do trabalho traz dados sobre a história e a sociedade Cinta Larga, indicando as principais questões. Este ritual ou festa é o evento social mais significativo nesta sociedade, o único capaz de mobilizar um grande contingente de pessoas e também de recursos. Neste sentido, o ritual revela-se um tema privilegiado para compreender a sociedade Cinta Larga. O método aqui assumido toma o ritual enquanto um instante privilegiado no continuum da vida social, que se distingue pela dramatização de temas e questões fundamentais para a sociedade. Os dados para esta dissertação provêm de inúmeros períodos de campo, distribuídos entre os anos de 1980 e 1988, e pesquisas bibliográficas exaustivas. / This dissertation focuses a great feast celebrated by the Cinta Larga, a Tupi-Mondé people that inhabits the northwestern Mato Grosso and southeastern Rondônia, Brazil. By an extensive description of the ritual steps, whose climax is the sacrifice of an animal victim, the study elucidates the ethnographic context and the symbolic codes to provide a privileged insight of Cinta Larga society.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Henrique Guilherme Scatolin.pdf: 2277504 bytes, checksum: 63f2217a44c6208fd15b5c910c4cdd12 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study investigated the identificatory problematic in a case of obsessional neurosis. Thus, this analysis was based on four central pillars: the Oedipal resolution of patient Paul's parents, his libidinal and identificatory history, the incorporation of the sadistic penis and identification with the superego. The methodology of this study is based on the Freudian psychoanalytic theory of obsessional neurosis, the contributions of Piera Aulagnier to the Freudian metapsychology and psychopathology, as well as the reading of post-Freudian psychoanalysts about this neurosis and its contemporary manifestations, such as Lacan, Green, Bleichmar, Calligaris and Leclaire. Throughout the results, I have produced my floating theorisation, emphasizing the patient s reports and associations. Upon hearing his story, it was possible to understand the presence of his parents desire since his birth, underlining how the paternal function, next to the maternal, was always present in his constitution. Throughout this analysis, I have highlighted how aggression and hatred pointed toward his father, which also hold passive impulses towards him, have intensified throughout his psychic constitution, being repressed after the assumption of castration. These ambivalent movements became explicit in his symptomatic formations, manifesting his identificatory problematic. If, on the one side, along the psychotherapy, the positivity was gaining ground, giving a new destiny to his feelings and identificatory references, on the other side, such way has been achieved due to psychotherapeutic interventions focused on manifestations of the unconscious hatred and destructive feelings located in the intrincacies of his guilts, doubts and rituals (and that fed his resistances and paralyzations in the clinical setting), denoting that in his identificatory problematic, his debt towards his father was of the order of his own desire. This study concludes that the four central pillars are very important for elucidating the identificatory problematic in cases of obsessional neurosis, becoming interchangeable to guide the future analyst s look when he comes across the typical clinical manifestations of this neurosis / O presente estudo procurou investigar a problemática identificatória em um caso de neurose obsessiva. Para tal, buscou alicerçar tal análise a partir de quatro pilares centrais: a resolução edipiana dos pais do paciente Paulo, a sua história libidinal e identificatória, a incorporação do pênis sádico e a identificação ao superego. A metodologia deste estudo fundamenta-se na teoria psicanalítica freudiana sobre a neurose obsessiva, nas contribuições de Piera Aulagnier à metapsicologia e psicopatologia freudiana, como também na leitura de psicanalistas pós-freudianos sobre esta neurose e suas manifestações contemporâneas, tal como Lacan, Green, Bleichmar, Calligaris e Leclaire. Ao longo dos resultados, construo as minhas teorizações flutuantes, dando ênfase aos relatos e associações deste paciente. Ao ouvir a sua história foi possível compreender a presença do desejo dos seus pais desde o seu nascimento, ressaltando como a função paterna, ao lado da materna, esteve presente, desde sempre, em sua constituição. No decorrer desta análise, realço como que a agressividade e o ódio direcionados ao pai, que também resguardavam os impulsos passivos frente ao mesmo, intensificaram-se ao longo da sua constituição psíquica, sendo recalcados após a assunção da castração. Estes movimentos ambivalentes tornaram-se explícitos em suas formações sintomáticas, resplandecendo a sua problemática identificatória. Se, de um lado, ao longo da psicoterapia, a positividade foi ganhando espaço, dando um novo destino as suas pulsões e aos seus referenciais identificatórios, de outro, tal caminho foi alcançado devido às intervenções psicoterapêuticas focadas nas manifestações do ódio inconsciente e das pulsões destrutivas que residiam nos meandros das suas culpas, dúvidas e rituais (e que alimentavam as suas resistências e paralisações no setting clínico), denotando que, em sua problemática identificatória, a sua dívida ao pai era da ordem do seu próprio desejo. Este estudo conclui que os quatro pilares centrais são de extrema relevância para a elucidação da problemática identificatória nos casos de neurose obsessiva, tornando-se intercambiáveis ao nortear o olhar do futuro analista quando este se deparar com as manifestações clínicas típicas desta neurose

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joachim Andrade.pdf: 4023198 bytes, checksum: dc0d71e18966f32fcf73e535661bb773 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-04-13 / Hindu Dance one of the most popular artistic forms of India, has received universal acclamation including in Brazil as one of the subtlest expressions of Hinduism. Its intimate connection with the temple, as a ritualistic art, mirroring the imperceptible feelings of devadasis the dancing girls , reflects he inwardness of Hindu culture. This dance is performed according to the most delicate nuances of a musical piece, or a poem, through the vehicle of a body, reflecting the principles laid down by the Natya Shastra treatise. Through some of the pioneer performing artists and a few dedicated visionaries at the beginning of the XX century, the Hindu dance gained unprecedented popularity and initiated its process of detraditionalization. Accompanying the historical processes of modernization and secularization of India the Hindu dance initially did its passage from temple to theater; e then to the other religions in India and consequently to the west and finally to Brazil. In this research the process of detraditionalization as been organized in three parts. In the first part, some questions have been raised with regard to the changes that the dance would face during the process of detraditinalization and also has shown panoramic view of the dance in Brazil. The second part establishes approximation of the Hindu dance with the empirical analyses of the detraditionalization process from the temple until its arrival to the west. In the third part, we treat the modifications suffered by the art as well as the changes occurred in the lives of the dancers. The conclusion deals with the possible contribution this process has given to the society as general and the Sciences of Religion in particular / A dança hindu, uma das formas artísticas mais populares na Índia, tem recebido reconhecimento universal (inclusive no Brasil) como expressão das mais sutis do Hinduísmo. Sua conexão íntima com o templo, como arte ritualística que espelha sentimentos imperceptíveis das devadasis, dançarinas do Senhor , reflete a tendência introspectiva da cultura hindu. Essa dança era realizada conforme os matizes mais delicados de uma peça, ou de um poema, por intermédio do corpo, refletindo os princípios explicitados no tratado mais antigo da dança, o Natya Shastra . Por meio de dançarinos pioneiros e de visionários dedicados no início do século XX, essa dança alcançou uma popularidade sem precedentes e iniciou o processo de destradicionalização. Acompanhando o processo histórico de modernização e secularização da Índia, a dança hindu inicialmente passou do templo ao teatro; depois para as outras religiões na Índia, para o Ocidente e, por fim, para o Brasil. Nesta pesquisa, organizamos o processo da destradicionalização em três blocos. No primeiro, questionamos as possíveis mudanças que a dança deve enfrentar no processo da destradicionalização; também mapeamos a dança no Brasil. O segundo estabelece uma aproximação entre a dança hindu e a análise empírica da destradicionalização, do templo ao Ocidente. No terceiro bloco examinamos as modificações na arte e também as mudanças na vida dos bailarinos. Conclui-se visando a possível contribuição que esse processo faz à sociedade, em particular aos estudos de Ciência da Religião

Esta dissertação baseia-se na pesquisa etnográfica desenvolvida desde 2008 nas comunidades quilombolas de Capororocas e Olhos d´ Água, no município de Tavares, Rio Grande do Sul, entre os membros da Irmandade do Rosário de Tavares. O ritual do Ensaio de Promessa Quicumbi, performatizado por homens em dias de pagamento de promessas, em louvor a Nossa Senhora do Rosário, reconhecida localmente como a protetora dos negros, evoca através dos sons e da dança a memória da escravidão, oralmente transmitida. Essa manifestação religiosa afro-brasileira, semelhante ao sotaque das congadas, é marcada pelos cânticos, geralmente de cunho religioso, que ao longo de doze a quatorze horas são entoados com acompanhamento de tambores, recorecos e pandeiros. A sonoridade, fortemente marcada por versos e repetições, tem atualmente se configurado como marca diacrítica nos pleitos reivindicatórios territoriais e por reconhecimento. Os sons, performatizados no e através do corpo, narram e comunicam a presença negra e acentuam, através do canto e do ritmo, a ligação dos membros da Irmandade de Tavares com o divino, além de compor uma paisagem sonora que é indissociável do território por eles reivindicado. Dessa forma, busco compreender a multiplicidade de sentidos, através dos versos e gestos do Ensaio, assim como das experiências e memórias dos membros da Irmandade de Tavares, músicos e dançantes; e junto aos promesseiros e especialistas locais, os saberes, práticas musicais e agenciamentos que atravessam a performance do Ensaio. / This Master’s thesis is based on ethnographic research conducted since 2008 among quilombola communities Capororocas and Olhos d'Agua in the city of Tavares, Rio Grande do Sul, with the members of the Tavares Brotherhood. The Quicumbi Pledge ritual, performed by men in days of pledge payment in honor of Nossa Senhora do Rosário (known locally as protector of the black people), evokes through sounds and dance the memory of slavery, orally transmitted. This manifestation of African-Brazilian religion, similar to the congas accent, is strongly marked by singing, usually with religious overtones, and is sung with drum accompaniment of reco-recos and tambourines throughout twelve to fourteen hours. The sound, strongly marked by lines and repetitions, has now been configured as a diacritical mark in the land demand areas and by recognition. The sounds, performed on and through the body, tell and report the black presence and stress, through singing and rhythm, the link between the members of the Tavares Brotherhood and the divine. These sounds also compose a soundscape that is inseparable from the claimed land. Thus, I seek to understand the multiplicity of senses through text and gestures of the pledge ritual, as well as the experiences and memories of members of the Tavares Brotherhood, musicians and dancers, close to the people’s pledge and local experts, the knowledge, practices and musical assemblages that cross the performance of the test.

Cette thèse de doctorat propose de comprendre la spécificité rituelle des pratiques funéraires au début du XXIe siècle. Les analyses rituelles classiques (interactionnistes et structuro-fonctionnalistes) nous ont conduit à nous intéresser au processus rituel plutôt qu’au rituel lui-même et à cheminer par l’entremise d’une approche de l’action rituelle, plutôt que par celle des fonctions ou des symboles. Pour restreindre la part de réalité sociale étudiée, nous avons considéré que, parmi les différentes transformations funéraires, le phénomène de la crémation était une porte d’entrée pour comprendre cette spécificité. Cette thèse poursuit un double objectif :1) Le premier objectif est descriptif. Dans la trajectoire du mourir, à partir d’une perspective relationnelle, nous avons exploré le processus funéraire, notamment celui ayant pour perspective la crémation comme mode de transformation du corps, en le décomposant comme une chaîne opératoire du mourir. Nos données sont recueillies par la méthode de la participation observante de pratiques au sein du milieu funéraire. L’exemplarité du phénomène crématiste, en tant que pratique réunissant les attributs de l’évolution récente funéraire à partir des années 1980, a dirigé notre sélection vers un échantillon diversifié dans deux contextes socioculturels (France et Québec) et deux agglomérations (Strasbourg et Montréal) où le taux de crémation est historiquement élevé. 2) Le second objectif consiste à comprendre la spécificité de la ritualisation funéraire à partir de ces données, en s’intéressant à l’action rituelle en train de se faire dans le processus funéraire, c’est-à-dire expliquer la mise en forme et en acte de relations sociales. Par-delà une lecture socioanthropologique de l’organisation des relations contextuelles de ritualisation, une lecture psychosociologique des actions rituelles complète l’interprétation. Notre compréhension de la spécificité du processus rituel funéraire fait apparaître la complexité relationnelle de cette pratique sociale : d’une part, en tant qu’actions interagies par et dans des relations interindividuelles, faisant appel à des ressources réflexives (habilitantes) et permettant la réduction de l’état de dissonance provoqué par la mort; d’autre part, en tant qu’actions enserrées par et dans les règles des systèmes sociaux. La mise à jour de la prépondérance de ces caractéristiques relationnelles dans la ritualisation funéraire actuelle a pour vocation de comprendre à la fois la diversification des pratiques funéraires et leur normalisation. / This doctoral thesis aims to understand the specific ritual burial practices in the early twenty-first century. The classic ritual analyses (structural-functionalist and interactionist) led us to focus on the ritual process rather than on the ritual itself, so we adopted a ritual action perspective. To reduce the focus on the social reality studied, we posit that among the various transformations of funerals, the phenomenon of cremation is a gateway to understand this specificity. This thesis has two objectives: 1) The first is descriptive. In the path of dying, from a relational understanding, we explored the funeral process, notably the cremation, as a mode of body transformation as an operational chain of dying. Our data was collected through the method of observing participation in funeral practices. The phenomenon of cremation, as a practice combining the attributes of the recent funeral evolution from the 1980s, led to our selection of a diverse sample in two sociocultural contexts (France and Quebec) and two cities (Strasbourg and Montreal) where the cremation rate is historically high. 2) The second objective is to understand the burial ritual from this data, focusing on the ritual surrounding the funeral process, while explaining the setting, form and act of social relations. In addition to a socio-anthropological reading of the organisation of the contextual relations behind ritual, a psychosocial reading completes the interpretation of the ritual actions. Our comprehension of funerary rituals shows the complexity of this social practice. In one hand as actions, through interpersonal relations, appeal to reflexive resources (enabling) and allow the reduction of dissonant state caused by death. On the other hand, as actions surrounding the rules of the social system. This new data on the preponderance of these relational features within the current funeral rituals, aims to understand both the diversification of funeral practices and their standardisation.

In this essay I analyze the performative aspects relating to Marina Abramović's The Artist Is Present, which took place in spring 2010 at MoMA in New York, from the context of the artist and work, institution and documentation. In this performance work, for the duration of the exhibition, Abramović sits completely still opposite another chair where anyone from the audience may sit. The art arises through this participation. The audience are not only viewers, but also the observed, thus becoming part of the work and the negotiation of this exchange of living gazes. The performative pervades this work on multiple levels. The Artist Is Present reached a surprisingly large public, of over 500,000 visitors and continues to circulate in the form of blogs, documentary film and photography long after the exhibition duration. In order to conduct a performative analysis of The Artist Is Present I apply the theories of Peggy Phelan, regarding the relationships between the political and representative visibility in contemporary culture. Phelan's explanation of the unmarked field reveals the importance of the 'other' to see oneself. This is especially relevant in Abramović's performance which challenges and revolves around self reflection in the other. Phelan's theories are also pertinent in analyzing what Abramović as the performer and her work create for re-negotiations around positions and the gaze. The assertions of Carol Duncan in considering the Art Museum as a place of ritual are applied to the ritualistic context of The Artist Is Present, which may well build up a form of liminality. Duncan's claims of the museum as ritual in combination with Phelan's theories provide interesting grounds to further investigate the effect and eventual mythology of the performance work and artist. How do these contexts of institution, documentation, artist and art, which I propose contribute to a kind of myth creation, operate in a ritualized performance art work? This essay analyses these contexts together in order to find a connection between the performative aspects and the effect that they have on the viewer and receiver, which have contributed to the public success of this exhibition. Despite that we now live in an era of reproduction, perhaps the wishes of our era still revolve around a cult value? That even in this post industrial age of reproduction, new needs are recreated for mythology and cult? Or can it be that the reverse is true, that the rites and symbols speak to us before the mythology has fully arisen?

The aim of this Master thesis was to examine news journalism covering expressions of mourning related to violent or unexpected deaths. What rituals for mourning are brought out in media and do media present guidance to how mourners should behave?   The questions examined were: What characterised news events that leaded to texts on expressions of mourning? How was grief framed? Which narrative patterns were there in the texts? How was the deceased represented? How were the mourners represented?   165 texts, from Swedish daily newspapers, covering 93 different news events were analysed. The methods were mainly discourse analysis with focus on identities and relations, but also semiotic analysis with focus on staging and symbols and narrative analysis with focus on patterns for storytelling.   The result showed that a news story about ordinary people expressing their feelings of grief has elements of melodrama. The news story is based on the myth of the victim, and formed as a typical story where equilibrium is disturbed when the inconceivable happens and the mourners can by their actions restore equilibrium. The paradigms behind are the opposites life – death and good – evil.    The deceased is represented as a victim in a mythic sense. The most important qualities of a victim are youth, innocence and goodness. The victim is framed as a person we could sympathise and identify with. The mourners in the texts praise the victim and sanctify the place where the victim died with candles, roses and notes. The mourners are essential to the story; they create identification and an identity that include us as readers in a community and a discourse of mourning and mourners. The ordinary people who appear as mourners in the texts are relatives and close friends of the victim, but also mourning tourists, media chosen friends and anonymous women who are represented, in a stereotypical way, as the professional female mourner who weep over the deceased. In some texts celebrities appear as mourners of ordinary people, and they personalize how the distinction between public and private is erased in popular journalism. They also might give a kind of legitimacy to the way media frame the story about ordinary people mourning the innocent victim.   Some texts had a partly diverging story. If the victim, in some aspect, could not be framed as innocent the paradigm good – evil became problematic. When victims or mourners had foreign origin the contrast us – them was added.  In some texts the ethical code for Swedish journalists was disregarded, mainly by publishing information on ethnicity or by interviewing children and people in shock

Gottbegrüßungsprozession (迎神赛会, oder Gottempfangsprozession) ist die eines der wichtigsten volksreligiösen Rituale, die zu den bedeutendsten Zeremonien des Religionslebens des chinesischen Volks zählen dürften. Der Ausgangspunkt meiner Forschung ist die 1995 veröffentlichte Studie Demon Hordes and Burning Boats: The Cult of Marshall Wen in Late Imperial Chekiang von Paul Katz, in der „Zivilgesellschaft und Volksreligion“ zum ersten Mal in der Forschung über die chinesische Kultur thematisiert. Um Katz’ Schwächen in der Studie zum Marschall Wen - sowohl an Quellen als auch in Theorie - auszugleichen, folgen ich in meiner Arbeit vertiefend zwei Grundlinien und damit sie grob in zwei Teile teilen, nämlich einen theoretischen und einen empirischen Teil. Im theoretischen Teil müssen zwei Fragen beantwortet: Was ist Zivilgesellschaft? Wie könnte die Zivilgesellschaftstheorie für diese religionswissenschaftliche Forschung nützlich sein? Um eine präzise Arbeitsdefinition geben und eine operationalisierbare Fragestellung aufstellen zu können, verfolge ich zunächst im ersten Teil die Begriffsgeschichte von „Zivilgesellschaft“ und „Öffentlichkeit“ im abendländischen Kontext zurück. Ein dreieckiges Problemfeld zwischen Staat, Privatsphäre und Ökonomie, zwei Ansätze der Zivilgesellschaftstheorie (der analytisch-deskriptive und der Idealistisch-präskriptive) werden zusammengefasst. Sieben Merkmale (öffentliche Assoziationen, Autonomie, Pluralität, Legalität, zivilisiertes Verhalten und utopisches Potenzial) und sechs Modelle (Das Trennungs-, Oppositions-, Öffentlichkeits-, Unterstützungs-, Partnerschaftsmodell und die globale Zivilgesellschaft) werden in der Forschung angeführt. Anschließend setze ich mich mit der Zivilgesellschaftsdiskussion im chinesischen Kontext auseinander. Aus der „Modern China Debate“ in den U. S. A. und der daran angeschlossenen chinesischen Diskussion wird eine Bilanz gezogen. Die „teleologische Annahme“ und der „China-Hat(te)-Auch-Komplex“ werden herausgefunden, die in einer historischen Forschung nicht legitimierbar sind. Danach wird die bisherige Erörterung über die Beziehung zwischen Zivilgesellschaft und Religion kurz zusammengefasst. Zum Ende des theoretischen Teils beschließe ich auf den idealistisch-präskriptiven Ansatzes zu verzichten. Die Zivilgesellschaftstheorie als Idealtypus im Weberschen Sinn benutzt, um die Kulturbedeutung der volksreligiösen Feste in China zu erkennen. Besonders die Organisation und die politische Auseinandersetzung der Prozession sollen in Betrachtung der Zivilgesellschaftstheorie gezogen werden, um die chinesische Gesellschaft besser zu verstehen. Im empirischen Teil der Arbeit werden Regionalbeschreibungen, Archivakten und Zeitungsartikel als Hauptquelle benutzt. Weil bisher keine systematische Forschung im Bereich der Religionswissenschaft zur Gottbegrüßungsprozession vorliegt, wird zuerst eine ausführliche Einführung in die Prozessionen in China gegeben, um ein zuverlässiges Bild von den Prozessionen innerhalb der chinesischen Religionslandschaft entwerfen zu können. Die Etymologie, die Arbeitsdefinition und die kosmologische Ordnung hinter der Prozession werden anschließend vorgestellt. Ich schlage vor, die Prozession als das Kennzeichen der kommunalen Religion Chinas anzusehen. Durch einige Sammelbände zur Folklore in China wird dann deutlich belegt, dass zahlreiche Gottbegrüßungsprozessionen ab Anfang der Qing-Zeit bis in die Republikzeit hinein kontinuierlich in fast allen Provinzen Chinas stattfanden. Danach werden die gesetzlichen Verbote in der Kaiserzeit dargestellt. Die Forschungsgeschichte zur Prozession und deren Problematik werden daraufhin zusammengefasst. Nachdem die Grundform bzw. die alternativen Formen, der Aufbau des Umzugs, Gottheiten, Dauer und Häufigkeit der Prozessionen in einem weiter begrenzten geographischen Raum, nämlich dem heutigen Shanghai, und zeitlich Raum, nämlich der Republikzeit (1912-49), dargestellt werden, werden die Haltung der Regierung und die mediale Präsentation solcher Prozessionen während der Republikzeit rekonstruiert, um die potenzielle Spannung zwischen dem Staat und den religiösen Gemeinschaften als eine der wichtigsten kollektiven Einstellungen zur Prozession zu zeigen. Die Zwischenfälle in der Nachbarregion werden wiedergegeben. Sodann werden drei detailreiche historische Fallbeispiele stichprobenartig angeführt und analysiert, um die weitere Behandlung der Fragestellung empirisch zu untermauern. Das erste historische Fallbeispiel ist der Stadtgott-Inspektionsrundgang. In diesem Fallbeispiel werden besonders die Finanzierung, die Aktivisten und Organisationen berücksichtigt, um ein Licht auf die Durchführung und Verwaltung der Prozessionen zu werfen. Darüber hinaus werden die Streite, Auseinandersetzungen und Konflikte zwischen den lokalen Behörden und dem Aufsichtsrat des Stadtgotttempels beleuchtet, um deren Verläufe, Hintergründe und Ursachen zu erforschen. Das zweite Fallbeispiel handelt sich um die Prozessionen und die Konflikte in Pudong von 1919 bis 1935. Die Verbote, die Gegenmaßnahmen der Regierung und die Verstöße gegen das Prozessionsverbot werden ausführlich geschildert, um die tatsächliche Ursachen der Konflikte zu finden. Zum Schluss des Kapitels wird die Polizei als Beispiel der damaligen Staatsmacht analysiert. Das dritte Fallbeispiel ist die Prozession im Dorf Jiangwan. Im Jahr 1935 wurde die dortige Prozession von der lokalen Feuerwehr schikaniert. Die Nachwirkung und die direkte Einmischung der Parteidirektion werden auch detailreich dargelegt. In der Schlussfolgerung der Arbeit werden die Beteiligten der Prozession in drei Gruppen, nämlich den Schaulustigen, den Aktivisten, den Unterstützer und die Förderer, eingeteilt. Ihre unterschiedlichen Funktionen und Motivationen getrennt zusammengefasst. Die andere Partei, die Kontrolleure der Prozession, wird anschließend behandelt. Alle historischen Beschreibungen werden im Spiegel der Zivilgesellschaftstheorie, v. a. der sieben Merkmale und sechs Modelle, evaluiert. Außerdem bringe ich zwei Einwände gegen die Dichotomie von C. K. Yang vor.