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P 15 - Rituals, Language and Cognition

Chair: Prof. Ulrich Berner ulrich.berner@uni-bayreuth.de

Download preliminary daily schedule here (pdf)
(for better readability kindly print it out)

Common activities:

Reception
On Monday, 29 September, we will officially open the conference with a reception from 19.30 to 22.30

Key Note Lecture
Tuesday, 30 September:
Key Note Speaker Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jan Assmann
"Magie und Ritual"

Plenary Discussion
Wednesday, 1 October at 18.00 introductory presentation:
Prof. Dr. Christoph Wulf, Freie Universität Berlin
"The Future of the Science of Ritual in a transcultural Context"

Exchange meeting
Thursday, 2 October from 9:00 - 12:00:
Exchange meeting between scientists from the German Archaeological Institute
and the Collaborative Research Center SFB 619

Speakers (synonym for referee, panelist, active participant)

Day 1 – Monday, 29 September 2008

11:00-11:45    William W. McCorkle
                        When meaning doesn’t matter anymore:
                        Personality traits and cognitive constraints
                        concerning the ritualized disposal of dead bodies

11:45-12:30    Dirk Johannsen

                        A Black Book and a cold shiver -

                        Intention and agency in Scandinavian magical rituals

14:00-14:45    Ulrich Berner

                        Representation and anticipation in ritual drama.
                        Examples from medieval Europe and modern Africa

14:45-15:30    Dymitr Ibriszimow and Odidi Folorunso

                        The power of prayer. Rituals, language and cognition
                        in African Christian Churches

16:00-16:45    Magnus Echtler

                        Prophetic dreams and the invention of rituals in the
                        Nazareth Baptist Church, South Africa

16:45-17:30    Asonzeh Ukah

                        Rituals of healing in a Nigerian Pentecostal Church in Johannesburg

17:30-18:15    Walter E.A. van Beek

                        The missing rite: the logic of Dogon funeral rituals

Abstract

During the last two decades a growing number of cognitive theories of religion have been put forward. These new approaches, based mainly on cognitive psychology or - neurophysiology and framed by more or less explicit reference to neo-Darwinian theories of evolution, share strong claims regarding the scientific character of the far reaching ‘explanations of religion’ they offer. Within this field of cognitive theories of religion, a number of scholars proposed links between rituals and the cognitive structure of the human mind.
Whitehouse bases his distinction between the imagistic and doctrinal mode of religiosity on the interaction of specific features of rituals (frequency of repetition, emotional arousal) with different forms of human memory (semantic, episodic). McCauley and Lawson ground their endeavor to delineate the cognitive architecture of Homo religious on the ‘ritual form’ hypothesis, in which they link the cognitive representation of action (with an actor-act-patient-scheme) with the concept of ‘counterintuitive agents’ in order to explain the sensory, mnemonic and motivational aspects of rituals. In recent articles, Boyer and Liénard focus on the crucial role of an evolved ‘Hazard Precaution System’, which might explain ritualized behavior in general as well as typical patterns in the cultural design of collective rituals.
Given the universalistic explanations offered by cognitive approaches, the papers of this panel employ a variety of historical and empirical case studies in order to test the analytical value of these theories, especially with regard to the dynamics of rituals, their role in processes of social change and their inter-linkage with relations of power. Of special interest is the question of the cognitive significance of language, a factor often neglected in cognitive theories, which might significantly modify the current models of rituals and cognition due to its relativistic impetus.