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Re: Wedding Ceremony Symbolism
Adrian Tanner (atanner@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA)
Thu, 17 Nov 1994 13:27:27 -0330
On Wed, 16 Nov 1994, Sherwin P. Hicks wrote:
> I 'm hoping some of the brilliant people on Anthro-l will be able to help me.
> I researching the origin of symbolism behind wedding ceremonies, if
[the rest is deleted]
>
> Sherwin P. Hicks <v935cf54>
> Temple University
> Philadelphia, PA
>
I am also interested in this kind of problem, since I teach a course on
ritual and ceremony, and find it useful to demonstrate to students the
reality of ritual and ritual thinking, by having them conduct fieldwork on
those, admitedly relatively impoverished, parts of modern North American
culture where some ritual does still survive. However, in addition to
asking about the origins of these ritual elements of weddings, it is also
important to ask why these elements in particular have survived, and what
do they mean today, since the participants may have very hazy ideas about
where the elements originally came from.
Adrian Tanner, Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada.
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