[Tlc] call for papers -- negotiating rites

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI, may be of interest to those in TLC Studies working on
religion and ritual.
Best,
justin

Call for Papers

“Negotiating Rites”

In the Collaborative Research Project on Ritual Dynamics at  
Heidelberg (see http://www.ritualdynamik.uni-hd.de/index.htm),
we are  
planning to edit a volume with the working title “Negotiating
Rites”.  
The essays we are inviting should deal with the notions of  
negotiation and (religious) rite/ritual, and especially with the  
points of convergence of these notions and the respective
“things”,  
“actions”, “events” and/or “processes” to which they refer.

As an initial input, we put forward three short theses that are  
partly interrelated, and not mutually exclusive.

(1)	a. In the eyes of many participants and insiders, rituals  
negotiate their relationships with something transcendent (Gods,  
ghosts, nature, etc.), or among each other, or with outsiders.
b. In the eyes of observers, rites negotiate the relationships
of  
participants among each other and/or with outsiders.

(2)	a. The performance, structure, and contents of rituals and
rites  
are matters of constant negotiation among participants,
specialists,  
and outsiders.
b. Negotiations of rituals and their “proper performance” have
often  
been reasons for tensions and schisms in religious movements.

(3) 	The meaning of the notion of “ritual” and the
classification of  
certain things, actions and events as “rituals” is a matter of  
constant negotiations among scholars, ritual specialists,
religious  
movements, participants, and outsiders.

We encourage abstracts from all fields of research. Please
send title  
and abstract (no more than 200 words) of your proposed paper
as well  
as some short biodata of the author/s as email-text to

Dr. Frank Neubert
neubert at uni-heidelberg.de

by March 31, 2007. Later submissions will not be accepted. A
decision  
on the contents of the volume will be made on the basis of
anonymous  
reviews of the abstracts, and all authors of  abstracts will be  
informed by April 30, 2007. Authors will have to be prepared to  
submit their finished papers (no more than 8000 words) by
November  
30, 2007. Then, these will be reviewed and possibly returned
to the  
authors with suggestions from the editors. It is planned to
publish  
the volume by Mid 2008.

Dr. Frank Neubert 			apl. Prof. Dr. Ute Hüsken
History of South Asia			Classical Indology
South Asia Institute			South Asia Institute		
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330			Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
D-69120 Heidelberg			D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany 				Germany


-- 
Apl. Prof. Dr. Ute Huesken
Collaborative Research Center 619
"Dynamics of Ritual"
Heidelberg University
Head of the Subproject A 3: Ritual traditions in the south
Indian temple city of Kancipuram
http://www.ritualdynamik.uni-hd.de/

office:
South Asia Institute
Classical Indology
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
D-69120 Heidelberg
phone: +49(0)6221/54-4940
fax:   +49(0)6221/54-6338

private address:
Lehmkuhle 31
D-37130 Gleichen
phone: +49(0)5508-923686

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu