Literature Review: Functions and Means of the Ritual

The spectacular dimension of rituals, the presence of rigid norms governing conduct, not all of which are justified by declared aims, and the emotional involvement of actors and spectators are all features that attract the attention of anthropologists to the peculiarities of rituals. Rituals are not easy to classify nor define (Bell 1997). In rites, forms of behaviour are codified, but the relationship between means and ends is not intrinsically apparent, rather often appearing arbitrary, whether rational or irrational (Tang 2016). As Goody (1961, 1977) has likewise observed, participants and observers are led to attribute a symbolic or expressive nature to seemingly weird behaviours. Since human beings cannot interpret rituals in terms of an intrinsic relationship between means and ends, they tend to assume that ritual actions symbolise or express a certain meaning.