ENCOUNTER WITH NEUROBIOLOGY: THE RESPONSE OF RITUAL STUDIES |
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| Authors: | Edith L. B. Turner |
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| Affiliation: | Edith L. B. Turner, collaborator with her husband Victor Turner until his death in 1983, is lecturer in anthropology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Virginia 22903. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. Knowledge of the working of the brain is of prime importance to anthropologists studying ritual and symbol. The play between the neocortical hemispheres can be inferred from the varying styles at different stages of ritual: one can begin to hypothesize archetypes for general processes such as self-healing social dramas that are at the roots of ritual: the concept of preparedness as a genetic endowment residing in the brain appears to confirm the fundamental importance of image making; while the shamanic skills of inhibition and disinhibition, releasing latent religious powers, can be grasped for what they are. |
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