It is generally considered that cairns and stone constructions of different shapes and sizes make up the grave monuments of the Late Bronze Age (1000–300 BC) in the province of Södermanland in Sweden. However, these “monuments” often contain only small amounts of burnt bone, and often no human remains at all. At the same time, human bones are found in settlement sites and other "non-grave" contexts. The materiality of human remains thus appears to be far more complex than a modern definition of "burial" or "grave" would allow.  This thesis investigates practices beyond the common terminology of burial archaeology, and focuses on the practices of collecting, enclosing and scattering stones, human remains, pottery and metal objects in stone constructions traditionally labeled "graves".  The study is conducted through a detailed micro-level analysis combining constructions, depositions of artefacts and human remains in a perspective of perception, formation processes and temporality. Based on the results from studies of two Late Bronze Age burial grounds in Eastern Sweden, it is argued that there is a need to differentiate the meaning content of cremated bone within in what we refer to as burial grounds. Results indicate that the passage rituals in connection with death and disposal of remains do not end when the cremated bone is deposited in the stone constructions. The constructions and deposits are subject to further attention and actions, altering the meaning of the cremated bones while the individual undergoes transformation to a fully transformed substance. The stone constructions themselves do not appear to have been built for eternity, but rather as functional nodes of transformation, constructed to facilitate the passage rituals.

Cette recherche porte sur la transmission religio-culturelle aux enfants de couples maghrébo-québécois islamo-chrétiens à Montréal. À la suite de l’analyse de 10 entrevues semi-directives réalisées auprès de couples parentaux, nous tenterons de répondre aux questions suivantes : Quelle appartenance religieuse les parents veulent-ils transmettre à leur(s) enfant(s) ? Comment se manifestent leurs choix dans leur pratique religieuse ? Quels compromis les parents font-ils pour l’équilibre familial et identitaire de leur(s) enfant(s) ? Comment légitiment-ils leurs choix parentaux ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, nous nous sommes donné les objectifs spécifiques suivants : 1) documenter les choix des parents concernant la transmission religio-culturelle aux enfants; 2) cerner les façons dont les pratiques et les croyances religieuses des parents influencent leurs choix; 3) expliquer en quoi ces choix se manifestent dans leurs pratiques rituelles avec les enfants; 4) dégager les légitimations que les parents font vis-à-vis de leur choix de transmission. Les résultats de notre recherche ne nous ont pas permis de trouver une logique de transmission qui s’applique à tous nos parents. Cependant, nous retenons que les enfants de notre échantillon sont identifiés par leurs parents soit comme musulmans (5 familles sur 10) soit sans religion (5 familles sur 10). Aucun couple n’a choisi, en effet, le catholicisme pour leur enfant, et ce, même dans le cas où le conjoint catholique est pratiquant. À l’aide des choix parentaux concernant plus particulièrement le rite de la circoncision et la célébration des principales fêtes religieuses, nous dégageons quelques points d’ancrages communs face à la transmission symbolique. Quelle que soit la position du parent musulman face à la religion (pratiquant, non pratiquant, athée), celui-ci reste profondément attaché au rite de la circoncision pour son enfant dans un souci de transmission culturelle. La transmission biculturelle où les fêtes des deux lignées sont célébrées en famille est la plus pratiquée. / This research is on the religious and cultural transmission to the children from Maghrebian-Quebecker and Islamic-Christian couples in Montreal. After analyzing the content of 10 semistructured interviews made with parental couples, we have tried to give some answers to the following questions : What is the religious affiliation that the parents want to transmit to their child(ren) ? How do their choices reflect in their religious practice, particularly in the religious rituals ? What compromises do the parents make to reach family and identity balance for the child(ren) ? By what means do they legitimate their parental choices ? To properly answer these questions, we gave ourself the following specific objectives : 1) Document the choices of the parents concerning the religious and cultural transmission; 2) Define how the religious practices and beliefs of the parents influence their choices; 3) Explain in what way these choices manifest themselves in their ritual practices with their children; 4) Identify the legitimations of the parents toward their choice of transmission. After completing our analyses, we have not found a transmission logic that would apply to all our parents. Nevertheless, we observe that the children from our sample are identified by their parents as either Muslims (5 family out of 10) either with no religion (5 family out of 10). No couple has chosen Catholicism for their child, even when one member of the couple was a practicing Catholic. The parental choices related in particular to the circumcision ritual, as well as the celebration of the most important religious holidays, enable us to bring out some common anchor points regarding the symbolic transmission. Whatever the position of the Muslim parent—practicing or not, or atheist—toward the religion, he remains deeply attached to the ritual of the circumcision for his child for cultural transmission purposes. Bicultural transmission, where religious holidays of both lineage are celebrated is the most common.

This paper investigates whether a new conceptual framework, Neighborhood Ritual Integrity (NRI), addresses the concepts of social capital, collective efficacy, and rituals in a manner which makes it applicable to sociological research. Neighborhood Ritual Integrity (NRI) is a conceptual framework developed in response to various studies, which have established a relationship between neighborhood demographics, structural neighborhood features, crime and adolescent behaviors. Kiser et al., (2007) identified six dimensions that influence short and long term community functioning: Ritual Integrity, Daily Routines, Role Clarity, People and Organizational Resources, Deliberate Planning, and Meaning Making as aspects of NRI. Each dimension describes either a structural or cultural component of community level processes that could affect positive features of neighborhood life. Results from focus group data are examined for the existence of responses consistent with the conceptual definitions of NRI as well as social capital, collective efficacy, and rituals in hopes that this investigation will develop a more comprehensive sociological approach to the study of neighborhoods.

This paper explores my process of orienting myself within spaces and inhabiting them. It focuses on how I use my own body as an instrument for developing a relationship between the two. A ritual is a social conditioning of the body and Authentic Movement is discovering body’s own route. This paper reviews my process of situating myself within a space by using both of them as the language of my body. It also discusses the development of some of my recent work through understanding the language of my own body.

The work focuses on understanding the concept of the sacredness and the importance of rituals in contemporary family. It shows how the sacredness is understood by pupils at primary school compared to high school students and what the role of sacredness in their current and future lives is. The author handles the theoretical part on the basis of literature and a practical part is based on questionnaires distributed to students of primary and secondary schools. The aim is to handle the sacred topic from different perspectives and compare different approaches and opinions of students at this topic. The result is a detailed overview of the topics in the curriculum within it is possible to teach the sacred topics in those classes. The author will respect the principles of professional work and regularly consult with the supervisor.

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate and interpret the position and meaning of the remnant of oblation (ucchiṣṭa, śeṣa, or vāstu) in the system of classical Vedic mythology and ritual. The inquiries begin by a brief survey of used primary sources, secondary literature and methodology. Afterwards, the terminology used for the leftover is examined together with its mythical connotations found in Brāhmaṇas. The pivot of the thesis is its central part which treats the manipulation of the phenomenon of the leftover in the Vedic ritual literature describing the system of solemn (śrauta) rituals, non-sanguinary oblations (iṣṭi) and ancestor worship (piṇḍapitṛyajña). The last chapter is dedicated to the interpretation of the phenomenon. Following the analysis of primary sources, the thesis claims that the remnant of the offering is not a ritual waste but a creative element of the ritual action. It is interpreted as one of the framing ritual acts which surround the central ritual performance and which are understood as associated with the household, its fertility and continuity. The domestic sphere is also a theme of the myths in which is found the phenomenon of the remnant. Based on the discussion on the mythology and ritual manipulation of the phenomenon, the leftover of the offering is...

The thesis is devoted to village society. The main theme of the work is the issue of annual customs and traditions, amateur sports and cultural associations and activities, their tradition and importance for the South Bohemian village Kostelní Radouň. The main aim is to map the current state of the annual customs and rituals and other collective activities. Further attention is paid to their role and function in social and cultural life of the village inhabitants. The work is divided into several chapters, with the introducory chapters is devoted to the development of interest in traditional folk culture within the study area and the changes in village society in the second half of the 20th century, which affected the annual customs and habits. The next chapter describes the atmosphere of the village and its facilities. The following chapters deal with local associations and organizations, which are the main organizers of collective entertainment. Another chapter describes the annual traditions and customs, their traditional form and the current state in the village Kostelní Radouň. Based on data collected during field research realized in the village, and the study of existing sources was found out that in the village Kostelní Radouň currently maintain several annual traditions and customs that...

Title: Aesthetic perceptions on spectator's participation at the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada (through photography and mass media) Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the group experience of Czech fans who participated as spectators at the XXI Winter Olympics in Vancouver as well as the documentation of this experience in the form of amateur photographic images which were taken during this international event. Variations in the quality of the fans' experience when watching sporting events through mass media, particularly on television, and when engaging in an authentic experience at a live event were also examined. Methods: To provide an overview of pertinent theory, existing literature was reviewed in order to compile data from which comparisons, analyses and syntheses were formed. For the following section concerning empirical information, a file of Czech persons who participated as spectators at the XXI Olympic Winter Games was created. Data was collected in an ethnographic approach. Descriptions utilized for the subsequent investigation of the group's viewing experience were compiled by means of observations documented by the researcher, as a participating member of the group, and through informal interviews which took place during and after the...

This study explores the silencing of familial spaces in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. It probes into how the familial space is invested with religiosity: how ritual and norm structure and silence familial spaces and how transcendence from these spaces can be achieved through elements of laughter, music and sexuality. The study uses post-colonial theories, concepts of familial ideology and familial theory to read the text. The introductory chapter provides a politico-historical background of the text, then a literary historiography of how the familial trope has been used in African literature with special focus on Achebe. The chapter also outlines the theoretical framework of the study while anticipating the issues to be dealt with. Chapter two focuses on how the familial space is invested with religious rituals and how these silence the familial space. Chapter three examines how augmentation out of the silenced familial spaces works through elements of laughter, sexuality and music. Chapter four investigates the family as a portrait of the state and most significantly how these two institutions are portrayed to be in a complex relationship. The study’s conclusion is that the family can be used as an alternative site for discourses of marginality and can give a nuanced critique of the postcolony.

Orientador: Gisele Maria Schwartz / Banca: Carmem Maria Aguiar / Banca: Yara Aparecida Couto / Resumo: Esse estudo teve como objetivo identificar quais as matrizes presentes nas danças indígenas que aparecem nas danças circulares na contemporaneidade. Trata-se de um estudo de natureza qualitativa, envolvendo uma pesquisa exploratória, desenvolvida por meio de entrevista estruturada, aplicada a uma amostra intencional constituída por 13 sujeitos adultos, de ambos os sexos, com faixas etárias variadas, integrantes da Aldeia do Aguapeú, os quais encontravam-se diretamente envolvidos com os rituais de danças indígenas na população Guarani M'Bya, Município de Mongaguá, SP. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente, utilizando-se a Técnica de Análise de Conteúdo Temático. Os resultados indicam que os Cantos e as danças sagradas são considerados comuns a todas as cerimônias celebrativas indígenas, independente de datas especiais. Os rituais das danças, quando vivenciadas na opy, são como forma de conexão com os Deuses e, do lado de fora da opy, têm o intuito de reunir a comunidade para vivenciar a diversão. Isso demonstra que essas danças inserem-se, tanto nos contextos do sagrado, como no profano, evidenciado no campo do lazer. As danças executadas na comunidade foram: dança Xondaro e dança de Terreiro vivenciadas em círculo. A dança Xondaro é praticada apenas pelo sexo masculino, num contexto de luta semelhante ao da capoeira, com treinamento específico, cujo objetivo é os indígenas permanecerem mais fortes, tanto fisicamente como espiritualmente, além de protegerem a si próprios e à opy. A dança do Terreiro, em círculo, é praticada anteriormente a qualquer apresentação na opy, durante todas às noites, conduzida pelo Pajé, na forma de oração a Nhanderú. As danças indígenas praticadas em circulo preservam importantes experiências com relação aos aspectos simbólicos, bem como, a expressão do sagrado, aspectos que também são identificados... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This study aimed to identifying which of the present matrices in the indian dances that appear in the contemporary circle dances. This qualitative study involved an exploratory research developed through a structured interview, applied to an intentional sample consisted of 13 adult of both sexes, different age groups, members of the Aldeia do Aguapeú, which were directly involved with the rituals of Indian dances in the Guarani population M'Bya, Mongaguá, SP. Data were descriptively analyzed, using Thematic Content Analysis Technique. The results indicate that the songs and sacred dances are considered common to all the commemorative ceremonies, regardless specific dates. The ritual dances, when experienced in opy represent a way of connecting with the Gods and, outside of opy they promote gathering of the community to pleasant experiences. This demonstrates that these dances fall in both contexts the sacred and the profane, evidenced in the field of leisure. The dances which were performed in the community were Xondaro dance and Terreiro dance, both danced in a circle. The Xondaro dance is practiced only by males, in a context of struggle similar to Capoeira, with specific training, whose purpose is that the Indians becoming stronger, both physically and spiritually, and protect themselves and opy. The Terreiro dance was practiced in a circle prior to any presentation at opy during every evening, led by the Shaman in the form of prayer to Nhanderu. The Indian dances practiced in a circle preserve important experiences regording the symbolical aspects, like the sacred expression, aspects that are identifieds in the circle dances. Therefore, it was evident that those dances preserve some characteristics of the Indian dances, considering that the circular of those dances is associated with a ritualization / Mestre