RLA65 Theory of Myth and Ritual

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s) (plus 1 credit for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Dalibor Papoušek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Iva Doležalová (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Wed 8:20–9:55 G24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course explains the place and meaning of theory and methodology in the study of myth and ritual. It is aimed at the representative theories of myth and ritual applied in the academic study of religions.
Main objectives of the course:
At the end of the course students should be able:
- to understand the methodology and theories of myth and ritual; - to apply reasonably acquired theoretical knowledge in case studies on particular topics of different religions.
Syllabus
  • (1) Myth - ritual relation, ways of its conceptualization. The school of Cambridge ritualists (W. R. Smith, J. G. Frazer, J. Harrison. G. Murray, F. M. Cornford, A. B. Cook). (2) Evolucionism a intelectualism apllied on the interpretation of mythological thinking (cultural anthropology - E. Tylor, J. G. Frazer). (3) Sociology of religion (E. Durkheim, M. Weber, R. Bellah, T. Luckmann, P. Berger). (4) Philosophy on symbolic thinking: Cassirer, Philosophy of symbolic thinking. (5) Theories of ritual within the context of French sociology (R. Hertz, H. Hubert, M. Mauss, E. Durkheim). Dumézil and the study of Indoeuropean mythology - social structure and pantheon. (6) Myth and ritual grasped by analytical psychology (S. Freud, C. G. Jung and his pupils). Influence of Jungians in the science on mythology. (7) L. Lévy-Bruhl's Pre-logical thinking. Rites de passage (A. van Gennep). (8) Funcionalism in the cultural anthropology (B. Malinowski, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, E. E. Evans-Pritchard). (9) Malinowski and his functionalistic and naturalistic understanding of myth. (10) Structural anthropology, C. Lévi-Strauss's structural analysis of myth. (11) Symbolic anthropology (M. Douglas, V. Turner, C. Geertz). (12) Eliade - analysis of his concept of myth, relation myth – ritual, different concepts of time, concept of symbols. (13) Theory of speech acts. Cognitive study of religions and the study of ritual behaviour.
Literature
  • The myth and ritual theory :an anthology. Edited by Robert A. Segal. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, ix, 473 s. ISBN 0-631-20680-9. info
  • Strenski, Ivan. Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth- Century History : Cassirer, Eliade, Levi-Strauss and Malinowski. Iowa City : Univerity of Iowa Press 1987.
  • Bell, C. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York : Oxford University Press 1992. ISBN 0-19-506923-4, 0-19-507613-3.
  • SMITH, Jonathan Z. To take place : toward theory in ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, xvii, 183. ISBN 0226763617. info
  • BELL, Catherine M. Ritual : perspectives and dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, xv, 351. ISBN 0195110528. info
  • DOUGLAS, Mary. Natural symbols : explorations in cosmology : with a new introduction. London: Routledge, 1996, xxxvii, 18. ISBN 0415138264. info
  • TURNER, Victor Witter. Průběh rituálu. Translated by Lucie Kučerová. Vyd. 1. Brno: Computer Press, 2004, vii, 194. ISBN 8072269003. info
Assessment methods
Contents of the semester:
Lectures, class discussions, seminar paper, oral exam.
Requirements for the colloquium / prerequisite for the oral exam
Requirements for colloquium are identical with the prerequisite for the oral exam:
(a) active participation in class discussions based on given readings;
(b) seminar paper defenced in a class discussion.
Requirements for the oral exam:
(a) to prove the basic factual knowledge according to the given list of themes;
(b) to prove the interpretative ability in a given field.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2007, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
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