This study establishes a framework for the practice and the acquisition of mathematical knowledge. The natures of mathematics and rituals/ritual-like activities are examined compared and contrasted. Using a four-fold typology of core features, surface features, content features and functions of mathematics it is established that the nature of mathematics, its practice and the acquisition is typologically similar to that of rituals/ ritual-like activities. The practice of mathematics and its acquisition can hence be metaphorically compared to that of rituals/ritual-like activities and be enriched by the latter. A case study was conducted using the ritual metaphor at two levels to introduce and teach a topic within the current year eleven West Australian Geometry and Trigonometry course. In the first level, instructional materials were written using a ritual-like mentor-exemplar, exposition, replicate and extrapolate model (through the use of specially organised examples and exercises) based on the approaches of several mathematics text book authors as they attempted to introduce a topic new to the West Australian mathematics curriculum. / In the second level, the classroom instruction was organised using a ritual-like pattern with direct exemplar mentoring and exposition by the teacher followed by replication and extrapolation from the students. Embedded within this ritual-like process was the personal (and communal) engagement with each student vis-a-vis the establishment of the relationships between the referent concepts, procedures and skills. This resulted in the emergence of solution behaviours appropriate to specific tasks imitating and extrapolating the mentored solution behaviours of the teacher. In determining the extent to which the instruction, mentoring and acquisition was successful, each student's solution 'behaviour was compared "topographically" with the expected solution behaviour for the task at various critical points to determine the degree of congruence. Marks were allocated for congruence (or removed for incongruence), hence a percentage of congruence was established. The ritual-like model for the teaching and acquisition of mathematical knowledge required agreement with all stake-holders as to the purpose of the activity, expert knowledge on the part of the teacher, and within a classroom context requires students to possess similar levels of prerequisite mathematical knowledge. / This agreement and the presence of an expert practitioner, provides the affirmation and security that is inherent in the practice of rituals. The study concluded that there is evidence to suggest that some aspects of mathematical ability are wired into the cognitive structures of human beings providing support to the hypothesis that some aspects of mathematics are discovered rather than created. The physical origin of mathematical abilities and activities was one of the factors used in this study to establish an isomorphism between the nature and practice of mathematics with that of rituals. This isomorphism provides the teaching and learning of mathematics with a more robust framework that is more attuned to the social nature of human beings. The ritual metaphor for the teaching and learning of mathematics can then be used as a framework to determine the relative adequacies of mathematics curricula, mathematics textbooks and teaching approaches.

Ship formed monuments from the Late Bronze Age on the island of Öland, southeast Sweden, have never been thoroughly dealt with in previous research, despite the fact that the region is suggested to have had a key-role in maritime trade networks. This thesis aims to address the ship formed monuments on Öland in relationship to the monuments in northern Småland and the island of Gotland. My goal is to discuss how the ship symbolism was practised during the Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia from a new perspective. I also aim to shed new light on the Bronze Age culture on Öland. I show that the ship formed monuments on Öland mark important maritime routes in the landscape leading to the core areas in the Late Bronze Age. These routes are not only linked to the trade which took place, but also to the landscape it self. I argue that the maritime movement in the landscape has helped to create and re-create the cosmology. Thus, the symbolic and practical function of the ship is tied together. Furthermore, I show that the memory connected to a mythological past has played a crucial role in the rituals leading up to the building of the monument. By integrating a circular view of time while interpreting the rituals instead of a linear one, I argue that this can be understood as a way of transforming the soul for rebirth.

This thesis deals with issues relating to the cosmological dimensions of landscapes, the cultural construction of age and the long-term changes in passage rituals and mortuary practices in the Bronze Age societies of Södermanland in East Central Sweden. A gender perspective forms the underlying theoretical framework, while the study as a whole is particularly interested in power relations between generations as an impetus for societal change. Burials from cairns and cemeteries, as well as heaps of fire-cracked stones, rock-carvings and ritual hoards from two Bronze Age Landscapes in Södermanland are used as examples and to illustrate the interpretations presented in this study. It is proposed that perceptions of landscapes and cosmology were created by placing cairns and stone settings at liminal places or boundaries in the landscape, while heaps of fire-cracked stones were situated at focal points. Places where rock-carvings are found, nearby rapids or on islands along river courses, are interpreted as birth-places, and stem from origin myths about the birth of the first humans at these sites. It is proposed that birth, life and death as cosmological principles may be perceived in the landscape and are related to different kinds of waters. In addition, it is suggested that the cultural construction of age is expressed in spatial terms where adults - both men and women - with special abilities and esoteric knowledge related to passage rituals, were buried in cairns. Infants, whose relationship with these adults was special, were instead buried in the heaps of fire-cracked stones. It is also considered that, among other things, the absence of swords in burials implies that the societies of East Central Sweden probably had a social organization that was distinct from the societies of southern Scandinavia. Regarding long-term changes in ritual practices it is suggested that ritual tools used in mortuary practices change from flint daggers in the Late Neolithic, to razors and tweezers during the Bronze Age. Further changes occurred in the Late Bronze Age, when pins were introduced into the ritual practices. Regarding age and gender, osteological estimates show that both adult men and women participated in passage rituals. With the transition to pins we also see changes in who dealt with passage rituals and it is rather young women who were responsible for this sphere in the later period. As children also become visible - both in burials and at rock-carving sites – during the Late Bronze Age, this is interpreted as signalling shifts in power relations between genders and generations in favour of women and younger people.

Erving Goffman is an important sociologist whose dramaturgical perspective on social interaction and presentation of the self is a classic within sociology. However, social interaction and presentations of the self occurs increasingly more online. Goffman’s perspective is, unfortunately, limited to face-to-face interaction. The aim of this study is to discuss how far Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective can take us in a discussion on the private and the public in online presentations of the self in Facebook and personal blogs. The aim is specified with the following research questions: What are the possible constrains and possibilities? What happens to the central concepts in the model? How can the model be critically developed to online presentations of the self? The discussion connects to the distinction between the private and the public, as it implicitly is presented in Goffman’s model. The discussion draws on empirical material consisting of reflections of ten individuals on their social practices on Facebook and personal blogs. As all respondents use both applications, it opens up for a comparison between how they present themselves in each forum. All respondents presented themselves differently on Facebook compared to their personal blogs. Goffman’s model works better on self-presentations on Facebook than on personal blogs, which are contradictive to the model. Facebook is about staging a successful character. Conversely, the idea with the personal blog was to stage the front stage as a backstage. Performances on the personal blog constitute an inverted model where the intimate is sublimated and ritualized. Additionally, impression management follows an altered logic of selective opening of the backstage. However, the performances are just as, if not even more, theatrical and dramaturgical as performances in Goffman’s model. Moreover, social situations on Facebook and personal blogs are dissimilar to face-to-face situations. Both settings can be seen as an abstract sociability rather than a concrete sociability. There is no immediate co-presence between the interactants which has the consequence of creating an uncertainty of in front of whom the performance actually is held, which in addition makes the social situation diffuse, scattered and harder to define.

The purpose of this research is to analyse how gender is ‘done’, represented and reproduced in a Peruvian baby shower ritual. The study is situated geographically in the urban Andean setting of Cusco, and theoretically, in a feminist framework combining an ethnomethodological ‘doing gender’ perspective, anchored in social interactions, with a linguistic performativity approach, as formulated by Judith Butler. In the latter, gender is understood as performed through discursive practices of iterability. The ethnographic material, collected from two baby showers and additional interviews, demonstrate several ways and sites in which gender is done and performed in the Cusqeanean baby shower. This occurs, for instance, by the means of gendered gifts, decorations and performances of gender-crossing and hyperbolised displays of masculinity, femininity and sexuality.             Furthermore, to help make sense of the notions of prenatal gender, as well as the strictly gendered cultural norms for invitation cards, decoration and gift-making, which made me unknowingly brake conventions when bringing gender-neutral wooden toys to a Peruvian baby shower, I draw on theorisation of fetal personhood. Adapting van Gennep’s (2004[1909]) concept, I propose that the baby shower could be conceptualised as a rite of passage, in which the unborn transcends from the state of fetus to a gendered baby. The acts of naming and attributing gender in the baby shower ritual, I argue, are requisites for incorporating the child into the society, as family members and, ultimately, as human beings. The baby shower can, thus, be regarded a crucial site for the ‘social birth’ of the Cusqueanean baby.

Den kamp som står central för Antigone i dramat med samma namn, är vikten av begravningen. Här har jag visat hur ett skifte i sorgpraktiker stod i relation till politiska reformer som pågick under övergången till det klassiska Grekland. Hur Antigone är en berättelse som tar upp och bearbetar konflikter som uppstår i denna kulturs övergång från en sedlig och familje-orienterad kultur till en stats-styrd och moraliskt orienterad kultur. Det introducerades en ekonomi av ersättbarhet, som ville tona ner det unika i individen för att statsmakten skulle växa sig starkare och tona ner konflikter av hämnd. Jag har även visat hur vissa tidigare läsningar och tolkningar av Antigone haft en tendens att fascineras av den självklarhet med vilken hon går mot sin egna undergång. Hur hennes död framstår som något vackert och skönt, i vart fall hos Jaques Lacan. Här har jag föreslagit en alternativ läsning där Antigones död egentligen kan ses som en reaktion på en oerkänd och felriktad sorgprocess. Det är inte då längre något upphöjt utan snarare visar det oss något djupt olyckligt i bristen på rättigheter och erkännande. Att Antigone tar sitt liv - vilket i sig genererar en kedja av tragiska händelser - kan få sin förklaring i att hon drabbats av melankoli. Melankolin kommer av att hon av staten och sin morbror, inte fick tillgång att leva ut sin sorg eller ens erkännas sin sorg på riktigt vis. Melankolin har jag lokaliserat med stöd av Sigmund Freuds beskrivning. Jag har även med hjälp av Judith Butler visat att värdet av liv regleras genom olika värdesystem och normer för uppfattande och erkännande. Att dessa normer och erkännanden även hänger tätt i hop med ett livs sörjbarhet när det går förlorat. Med stöd av Tina Chanter har jag även poängterat att Antigone många gånger använts som ett verktyg för protest, då dramat belyser just detta med värdesystem. Att stå utan ett erkännande, att bli förvisad till en plats i marginalen frammanar även en position av social död.  Vad det är som gör att Antigone så idogt strävar efter detta att få begrava sin broder och vad denna begravning representerar mer än endast en begravning, hänger samman med just ett behov av erkännande. Att vara människa är bland annat att vara i relation, att vara ett subjekt och att ha ett språk. Att förnekas detta, att stå med ett uteblivet erkännande av relationer där förlusten av det man saknar varken får en medveten eller given uttalad plats, kan skapa ett tillstånd av melankoli. När Antigone protesterar mot Kreons dikret står hon upp för rätten att sörja.  Melankoli uppstår där en sorg inte blivit medvetandegjord och jaget därmed inte klarar att sörja. Melankoli gröper ur jaget, känslan av meningsfullhet förloras, den kan driva en mot sin egna upplösning.

Le phénomène de la mort a été et sera toujours présent au sein des sociétés. Bien que la mort soit une étape triste et pénible à vivre, elle n’en demeure pas moins un événement inévitable et bien réel. Cependant, il existe des moyens, comme la pratique des rites, permettant d’atténuer la souffrance causée par un décès. Malgré tout, il n’est pas rare de constater l’absence ou le peu de temps consacré aux rites lors d’un décès en milieu hospitalier (O’Gorman, 1998; Lemieux, 1991; Leonetti, 2004; Hamonet, 1992; Piquet, 1999; Hanus, 1999; Vachon, 2007; Hasendhal, 1998). Les raisons susceptibles d’être à l’origine de cette situation peuvent découler du fait que les progrès de la médecine et des technologies amènent à croire que l’être humain est invulnérable face à la mort et que celle-ci représente un échec vis-à-vis la maladie. Le manque de formation des soignants par rapport à la mort (Leonetti, 2004; Goopy, 2005; Blum, 2006) est aussi à considérer. Finalement, la tendance de certaines sociétés occidentales qui occultent et nient la mort (O’Gorman, 1998; Piquet, 1999; Matzo et al., 2001; MSSS, 2004; Leonetti, 2004; SFAP, 2005; Goopy, 2005) constitue une autre possibilité. Pourtant, offrir la possibilité aux familles de réaliser leurs rites en signe d’amour pour le défunt fait partie de la composante du soin spirituel lequel, est intégré dans les soins infirmiers. À notre connaissance, peu d’études ont exploré les rites dans un contexte de décès en milieu hospitalier, d’où la pertinence de s’y attarder. Ainsi, le but de la recherche consistait à décrire et à comprendre la signification des rites associés au décès de la personne soignée, pour des infirmières œuvrant en milieu hospitalier. Pour ce faire, l’étudiante-chercheuse a réalisé auprès de neufs infirmières, une étude qualitative de type phénoménologique, ayant comme perspective disciplinaire, la philosophie du caring de Watson (1979, 1988, 2006, 2008). L’analyse des verbatim, réalisée selon la méthodologie de Giorgi (1997), a permis d’obtenir 28 sous-thèmes émergeant des six thèmes suivant soit : a) accompagnement empreint de caring; b) respect incontesté de la dignité humaine et du caractère sacré des rites; c) réconfort spirituel des personnes, des familles et du personnel; d) conciliation des croyances culturelles et religieuses; e) mort comme phénomène existentiel; f) barrières face aux rites. Par la suite, a émergé de ces thèmes, l’essence de la signification des rites associés au décès de la personne soignée, pour des infirmières œuvrant en milieu hospitalier. L’essence correspond à : un hommage essentiel envers le défunt et sa famille, en dépit des nombreuses barrières qui freinent sa pratique. Plusieurs thèmes et sous-thèmes corroborent les résultats de quelques études et les propos théoriques de différents auteurs. Toutefois, le caractère inédit de quelques unes de nos conclusions révèle la nature novatrice de la présente recherche. Par conséquent, les résultats de cette étude peuvent sensibiliser les infirmières à comprendre les rites en milieu hospitalier et offrir des pistes d’interventions pouvant contribuer au renouvellement des pratiques de soins offerts en fin de vie. Enfin, accompagner les familles dans leur pratique des rites concourt certainement à promouvoir l’humanisation des soins. / Death has been and will always be a present phenomenon within society. Although a sad and difficult stage, it remains an unavoidable and very real event. The practices of certain rituals are known to ease the suffering caused by death. However, it is not unusual to see very little or no time devoted to rituals for deaths occurring in hospitals (O’Gorman, 1998; Lemieux, 1991; Leonetti, 2004; Hamonet, 1992; Piquet, 1999; Hanus, 1999; Vachon, 2007; Hasendhal, 1998). The possible reasons might originate from the fact that progress in medicine and technology lead us to think that human beings are impervious to death and that death represents a failure in the face of disease. Lack of training in nurses on the subject of death is also to be considered (Leonetti, 2004; Goopy, 2005; Blum, 2006). Finally, another possibility is the tendency in some western societies to hide and deny death (O’Gorman, 1998; Piquet, 1999; Matzo et al., 2001; MSSS, 2004; Leonetti, 2004; SFAP, 2005; Goopy, 2005). Therefore, offering families the possibility of practicing their rituals as a sign of love for their departed is an element of the spiritual care included in nursing care. To our knowledge, few studies have explored death rituals in a hospital environment, hence the relevance of this subject. The purpose of this study is to describe and understand the meaning of rituals associated to the death of a cared-for person, for nurses working in a hospital environment. To achieve this, the student-researcher conducted a phenomenological qualitative study, with nine nurses, with Watson’s caring philosophy as the disciplinary perspective of the study (1979, 1988, 2006, 2008). The analysis of verbatim reports using Giorgi’s methodology (1997) has allowed us to uncover 28 sub-themes emerging from the following six themes: a) being-with the person cared-for charged with the responsibility of caring; b) undisputed respect for human dignity and the sacred nature of rites; c) spiritual solace for cared-for persons, their families and staff; d) reconciliation of cultural and religious beliefs; e) death as an existential phenomenon; f) barriers against rituals. Subsequently, the essence of the meaning of rituals associated to the death of the cared-for person, for nurses working within a hospital environment, emerged from these themes. Thus, the essence of the meaning is an essential tribute to the deceased and their family, despite the numerous barriers that refrain their practice. Many themes and subthemes confirm the results of various studies and the view of different authors. Nevertheless, the fact that some of our conclusions have never been published is a sign of the innovative nature of this study. Consequently, the results of the present research can raise nurses’ awareness to understanding the rituals in a hospital environment and open some new avenues for interventions that could contribute to the renewal of end-of-life care. Finally, being-with families in their practice of rituals certainly contributes to promote a more humane way of care.

The ratiep is a peculiarly South African trance-linked art form characterised by stabbings with sharp objects to the arms and other bodily parts, the piercing of the ear-lobes, the cheeks and the tongue by alwaan (skewers), the performance of certain standard dhikr to the accompaniment of the rebanna and dhol, and a highly stylized movement. The ratiep art form is rooted in Sufi Muslim traditions. Similar trance-linked art forms, called the dabos and Sufi ceremonies, exist in Sumatra and Syria respectively. These are all linked to Abdul Kader al-Jilani, founder of the Qadiriyyah Sufi fraternity. The South African variant of the art form also characterised by unusual self-mutilating acts, has been practised for more than 200 years, and started amongst the Cape Muslims. The literature provides historical evidence of the controversy regarding its "Islamic" nature, which has existed since the latter half of the previous century amongst South African Muslims. It has become dissociated from Islamic practices generally, and is regarded as bidat (innovatory). The South African Indian ratiep performance relates to its Cape Muslim counterpart. Both subgenres show a special relationship to the different genres and styles of music constituting South African Islamic and 'Cape Malay' music which are unique outflows of the cultural heritage, the social milieu and the enslaved, deprived and indentured work circumstances of early South African Muslims. In its vocal style the khalifa performance relates to qiraat and the secular nederlandslied; the latter is a transitional form between the sacred orthodox qiraat and the secular homophonic oulied. A voorwerk and giyerwee sharif precede respectively the Cape Muslim performance and its Indian counterpart. Like the ratiep, they have well-defined textual and musical forms. Ratiep musical instruments. the characteristic movement, the praboes (sharp instruments) and the bank with its decorations of flags add to the totality of the ratiep performance. Metaphysical and medical considerations are important in understanding the nature and purpose of the ratiep performance and the absence of bleeding; the results achieved thus far are still inconclusive. Ratiep acts are often seen as skilful swordplay and exhibitionism, rather than a physical testimony of faith. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1993.

La présente thèse offre une analyse critique du phénomène du suicide en milieu autochtone en s’appuyant notamment sur les croyances sur la mort et sur les rituels funéraires actuels dans la communauté atikamekw de Manawan, dans la région de la Mauricie, au Québec. L’objectif de la recherche est de comprendre la représentation de la mort volontaire chez les Atikamekw à partir des conceptions locales et de tracer un portrait anthropologique de la situation du suicide de cette communauté. La question du suicide en milieu autochtone étant un sujet sensible et difficile à aborder, nous avons choisi d’associer à notre recherche anthropologique, des discussions interdisciplinaires sur les approches sur le suicide, sur la mort et sur le deuil, tout en portant un regard sur les aspects historiques de la relation entre les Atikamekw et l’État-nation canadien. Le principe théorique retenu pour cette thèse est celui selon lequel chaque Atikamekw est perçu comme un agent de sa culture, qualifié à reconnaître sa propre situation politique et historique et habilité à proposer des changements sur le plan social et politique. L’ethnographie réalisée dans le cadre de cette recherche vise également à donner une intelligibilité empirique au phénomène du suicide et aux nouvelles pratiques funéraires à Manawan, tout en étant préoccupé par les liens établis entre les événements du suicide, le contexte historique et la situation actuelle de la communauté de Manawan. Une attention particulière est portée aux aspects sociaux qui y sont liés, comme la question de l’âge, du genre, des relations familiales et sociales, de la consommation d’alcool et de drogues, de l’accessibilité à l’éducation, des relations intergénérationnelles et de la relation entre les membres de la communauté et les professionnels qui travaillent. / The following thesis offers an analysis of suicide in native communities with a focus namely on the beliefs and funeral rituals that are currently practiced in the Atikamekw community of Manawan, in the region of Maurice, Québec. The objective of this research is to understand the intentional deaths that take place in the Atikamekw community based upon the native conceptions and to trace an anthropological portrait of the current state of suicide in this community. Suicide in native communities is a sensitive, difficultly approached topic; we have chosen to associate our anthropologic research with interdisciplinary discussions on the approaches to suicide as well as death and mourning, all pertaining to historical aspects in relations between the Atikamekw and the national state of Canada. The principal theory retained throughout this thesis is that every Atikamekw is perceived as an agent of their own culture, qualified to recognize their political situation and history as well as the ability to propose changes regarding their social and political state. The ethnography conducted in relation to this project aims to give an empirical intelligibility to the instances of suicide and new mortuary practices in Manawan, while keeping the relationships between suicide, the historical context, and the current state of the Manawan community established. A particular attention has been given to social aspects which are linked, such as age, gender, family and social relationships, alcohol and drug consumption, the accessibility to education, the intergenerational relationships as well as the relationships between the community and working professionals.

Bronze Age cairns have been interpreted as everything from navigation marks to marking liminal places in the landscape. It has also been stated that the main purpose of their location is to be visible. This is something that has been taken for granted. The main problem is the cairns have been considered as a homogenous monument. With the help of digital methods like GIS it is possible to test this kind of questions in quantitative way. The viewshed analysis is a good way to do this. The main focus of this thesis is the question whether the Bronze Age cairns in Tjustbygden, north-east in the county of Småland, are located to be visible in the landscape. Further, the question of whether the size of the monument has something to do with good visibility is dealt with. The result of the analysis is then discussed in relation to phenomenology and ritual phenomena, such as rock art sites.