I keep forgetting their names – Victor Turner and Clifford Geertz … In 1993, I was planning to become an casual athropologist…
I remember the stuff on ritual was closely connected with festivals – often when there was a temporary inversion of social structure/order… The poor dressed up as the rich in big parades funded by the rich. One of the ideas was that by allowing this kind of expression by the poor, the establishment provided a moment for the poor to feel liberated, before they returned to their daily grind. Possibility for revolution was limited.
I also liked the idea of “betwixt and between”. As wikipedia notes:
they did not belong to the society that they previously were a part of and they were not yet reincorporated into that society. Liminality is a limbo, an ambiguous period characterized by humility, seclusion, tests, sexual ambiguity, and communitas.
For me, it was about the ‘edge’ – existing in that exciting space between two world, between the alternative and mainstream perhaps…
Now THAT IS what I’d call an insightful take on this subject. What I would suggest perhaps is talking to other people actively involved in the scene and bring to day any conflicting points of view and then update your blog or create a new article for us to stew over. Hopefully you’ll take my ideas, I’m looking forward to it! Try to cover off on some graffiti characters as well if possible, they’re very popular at the moment.
Helena Spade
25 Apr 10 at 12:56 pm