Ritual exegesis among Mauritian Hindus - how growing ritual costs expand the volume and range of emic explanations
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Practitioners' reflections on the purpose and meaning of ritual actions are often assumed to be limited, absent, or irrelevant. As a result, many anthropological analyses overlook or brush away native explanations. While it is true that ritual exegesis can often be scarce, our research (Xygalatas, Maňo; 2022) instead focused on some of the conditions that favor its presence and on exploring the diversity in its forms across different types of rituals. Specifically, we used cultural domain analysis to examine cultural models of exegesis for six rituals practiced by Mauritian Hindus. We show that ritual structure affects exegetical reflection such that costlier rituals tend to elicit a greater volume (quantity and breadth) and thematic range thereof. Moreover, different types of rituals are associated with different functions, with costlier rituals linked to more pressing, vital, and personal concerns. Our data are relevant to both the Mauritian context and the broader anthropological theories of ritual. |