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P 20 - Usurping Rituals

Chair: Gerald Schwedler schwedler@urz.uni-heidelberg.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 2 – Tuesday, 30 September 2008

14:00-14:45   Amir Gilan

                       Do we perform a ritual of power now or reinvent a tradition first?
                       Some thought on the schedule of the Hittite king
                       on his return home from battle

14:45-15:30   Fabrice De Backer

                       Fragmentation of the enemies in the Ancient Near East during the
                       Neo-Assyrian Period

16:00-16:45   Fabian Goldbeck

                       Die salutationes im antiken Rom. Aufkommen, Etablierung
                       und Usurpation(en) ritualisierter Interaktion

16:45-17:30   Patrizia Arena

                       Salutatio to the emperor: protagonists, places and functions

17:30-18:15   Paul Kimball

                       Ritual Status Inversion and the Legitimization of Imperial Power
                       in Early Byzantine Constantinople


Day 3 – Wednesday, 1 October 2008

9:00-9:45        Eleni Tounta

                        Usurpation, Acceptance and Legitimacy in Medieval Europe.
                        An analysis of the dynamic relations between ritual structure
                        and political power

9:45-10:30      Georg Gresser
                        Synodalritual der päpstlichen Synode - die Sitzordnung als Ausdruck
                        ritueller Kommunikation auf den Synoden des Mittelalters

11:00-11:45    Max Lieberman

                        1066 and Ritual

11:45-12:30    Hermann Kamp

                        Neue Herren und alte Rituale? Zur Herrschaftsbegründung in
                        eroberten Ländern

14:00-14:45    Christian Jaser

                        Usurping the Spiritual Sword –
                        performative and literary alienations of ritual excommunication

14:45-15:30    Christoph Dartmann
                        Der Usurpator in der Stadt. Rituale der Macht in
                        Norditalienischen Städten

16:00-16:45    Susan Richter
                        Usurping Rituals in Early Modern Europe

16:45-17:30    Cord Arendes       

                        Rituals in 20th Century Totalitarian Systems:
                        Jean Bédel Bokassa and the Central African Empire, 1976-1979

17:30-18:15    Gerald Schwedler

                        Usurping. Concluding remarks

Abstract

Usurpation of power can scarcely be thought of without a simultaneous usurpation of ritual manifestations of power. Weak or uncertain rulers or ruling elites, but especially usurpers, employ established and conventional ritual forms in order to exhibit their accordance with the political structure of the society and thus to legitimise their acts for creating a political if not social network of acceptance. Taking over rituals also means taking on legitimate power. Yet ritual patterns impose their rules even on the most ambitious pretender to power, thus apparently constraining his or her freedom to move. Since legitimate forms of government require known ritualised behaviour, the new ruler is obliged to comply with this behaviour. In a way: the ritual usurps the ritual agent.

This panel looks into the manifold adaptations of ritual forms in the framework of usurped political power. Copying, transforming, and rejecting conventional ritual behaviour are key-notions in the study of the dynamic relations between ritual and power. The perspective adopted by this section can provide the subject with new arguments and demonstrate the legitimising efficacy of political ritual. Papers selected will include material from Ancient Babylonia to 20th century Europe.