- What the socio-cultural function of the feasts of Corpus Christi? How did these festivals serve as celebration of “The body.”? What socio-political groups interests were served by the festivities?
The functions of the feast of the Corpus Christi serves in celebration of the Body of Christ. Socially, those that were in attendance were of middle and upper class, and upon entry displayed a hierarchy of importance starting with the Clergy and other city dignitaries, and then followed by working class, i.e. sheriff, aldermen and the like. This sort of pageantry, was displayed to reify their own status by putting it on display.
The celebration of the body was that of Corpus Christi in a literal sense, but furthermore, as a sense where we find a connection with the self and the supernatural. With Christ we find that the celebration of Corpus Christi was to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, and essentially the power of life in the human body. Here we see unison of the body and the spirit. When one recalls this, they are called to remember Lacanian Mirror theory, that of the two selves being one of the symbolic and the real. Lacan talks about how there is a moment where the we as human beings recognize that those two entities, while different, are of the same body. Going back to the Body and Corpus Christi, the celebration helps in turn reify a connection within the celebrations with their own self and spirituality. In simple terms, it allows people to connect with the body, through this performance, they remembered and are reminded of their own struggle.
What is also important to note on such holidays, (Paging Victor Turner) is that the importance of practicing the ritual/holiday/celebration/event is that it serves as time mile markers in life. While participating in the activities, we are embracing a culture but at the same time we can look do self reflection on our roles in that event. When I think of an event that is ritualistic (And often times bawdy) I think of Petit Jean. It is a significant rite of passage for any student who is interested in performance and often the gateway event to this discipline. A tradition that has been going on for over 30 years, it is passed on though from our mentors (Taylor, Allison, Trudeau) and from their mentors as well (Mary Francis HopKins, The bowmans) . Each year, we play different roles depending on our seniority and status, but each year it is a mile marker of progress, a place/event that is consistent in traditions in an ever-changing world.
Great Essay Andrea! I like how you tied in the example of when we participate in performance activities, functions, ritual celebrations, etc. we are embracing a culture, but at the same time we have self reflection on our roles in that event. I think you should emphasize that the Corpus Christi festival allowed the people to be open minded in other regions and appreciate or learn from others' performance talent by coming together as a whole and to create this feeling of communitas. My question is, do you believe ritual functions create a feeling of communitas or do you think we are constantly self-reflecting on our status roles and noticing a class distinction when attending particular functions? Therefore, I would add how the festival of Chorpus Christi created this feeling of communitas where this was a chance for the middle classes to move up because they were able to demonstrate their abilities of performing. This also gave the middle class a chance to prove their abilities and skills of performance to the upper class where everyone felt equal in status. Great job Andrea!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Luuuuved the shout-outs to Lacan and Turner. But need to bring it all back home in the final paragraph. What does all this do for a culture? What did it mean to those original celebrants?
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