Towards a Conceptual Understanding of the Transformation from Ritual to Theatre
Abstract
Anthropologists and theatre historians have long posited a generic and historical relationship between ritual and theatre. This paper proposes that the emergence of theatre in state level societies may be understood by viewing the functions of theatre as adaptive transformations of the social control and integration functions characteristic of communal rituals in non-state societies. The proposition is tested against data concerning the sociopolitical circumstances surrounding the appearance of theatre in the newly emerged states of Ancient Greece and of Aztec Mexico.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors contributing to Anthropologica agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported license. This licence allows anyone to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.
Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
