Michael Houseman

The Interactive Basis of Ritual Effectiveness in a Male Initiation Rite

An analysis of the male initiation rite So among the Beti of Cameroon is used to show how the effectiveness of this ritual derives essentially from the patterns that underlie the interactions between the rites participating parties: the initiators, the novices and the uninitiated (women and children).

O vermelho e o negro: um experimento para pensar o ritual

This article reports on the performance of an initiatory rite of the authors invention, undertaken as a practical experiment for thinking about certain recurrent features of ritual action and, specifically, of (male) initiation. The initiatory ritual in question, The Red and the Black, was designed to consist essentially if not solely in a particular pattern of interaction: it belongs to no recognizable cultural tradition, it involves almost no explicit symbolism, its underlying beliefs are overtly preposterous, its scenic qualities are minimal, and little if any social function can be attributed to it. One of the goals of this exercise was thus to explore and substantiate a particular relational approach to the analysis of ritual performance in which the latter is envisaged as the enactment of special relationships. Framing, simulation, secrecy, imposed suffering, symbolism, ceremonial efficacy, ritual condensation and the complex interplay of in-group and out-group perspectives, are among the issues that are illustrated and discussed.

Scanning for patterns of relationship: analyzing kinship and marriage networks with Puck 2.0

The article presents the software Puck (Program for the use and computation of kinship data), a computer tool for the in-depth analysis of kinship networks. Its core feature consists in identifying, counting and classifying matrimonial circuit structures (resulting from marriages between kin or affines). Such matrimonial censuses make it possible to explore in a rigorous fashion one of the most central questions in kinship studies: the relationship between particular marriage choices and the patterning of the global kinship network that emerges from them. At the same time, Puck constitutes a general tool for the management, treatment and exploratory analysis of genealogical datasets, including non-genealogical relations and random simulations. Puck has been designed to meet two complementary expectations: the identification of the recurrent, cross-cultural organizational properties of kinship networks, and the ability to situate particular actors within social processes involving both genealogical and non-genealogical factors. This article presents the theoretical foundations and main functions of Puck, using concrete examples drawn from a genealogical dataset of upper-class Parisian Jewish banking dynasties present in Paris during the nineteenth century.