The Liminality of Performing Arts: A Field Research in Terms of The Rites of Passage
Rituals are one of the most studied concepts in the research of culture. Arnold Van Gennep’s theory “rites of passage” and Victor Turner’s theory “liminality” are together the most basic theories of ritual studies. According to these theories, there are “transition rituals” at various stages and in various channels of life and these rituals are divided into three stages. The second stage is called “liminality” and is characterized by an ‘in-betweenness’ in which individuals are neither in the first nor at the last stage. In this study, the field of performing arts, which has always been viewed in terms of rituals and, indeed, is said to be born out of them having gained its purely artistic identity later on, is examined in the context of the “rites of passage” and “liminality” theories, in order to evaluate its similarity with the rituals. After a detailed literature review, this study builds a conceptual and theoretical framework for the research. Having done that, we then explain how we conducted our field research which involved participant observation and face-to-face interviews, all in the light of the afore-mentioned framework. The results of the study conclude that performing arts, which have been considered together with rituals since their theoretical beginning, share the principles of the three staged “transition rituals” and the characteristics of the “liminal” stage coined by Victor Turner. The study also concludes that the theoretical framework supports the idea that performing arts are similar to rituals.
Sahne Sanatlarının Eşikselliği: Geçiş Ritüelleri Bağlamında Bir Alan Araştırması
İnsan topluluklarının en temel kültürel örüntülerinden olan ritüeller, kültürün araştırılmasında en çok başvurulan unsurlardandır. Arnold Van Gennep’in “geçiş ritüelleri” kuramı ve bu kuramın üzerine inşa edilmiş olan Victor Turner’a ait “eşiksellik” kuramı ise, sosyal bilimlerin ritüel çalışmalarının en temel kuramlarıdır. Bu kuramlara göre, hayatın çeşitli aşamalarında ve mecralarında “geçiş ritüelleri” bulunmaktadır ve bu ritüeller üç aşamaya ayrılmış şekilde seyretmektedir. Bu aşamaların ikincisi olan “eşiksel” aşama, bireylerin ne ilk ne de son aşamada olduğu bir ‘aradalık’ hali ile karakterize olmuştur. Kuramsal tarihi boyunca ritüeller ile benzeştirilmiş, hatta ritüellerin içerisinden doğup salt sanatsal kimliğini kazandığı öne sürülmüş olan sahne sanatları temsilleri, bu çalışmada, ritüellerle olan benzerliğinin değerlendirilmesi amacıyla iki temel ritüel kuramı olan “geçiş ritüelleri” ile “eşiksellik” bağlamında ele alınmıştır. Araştırmada, öncelikle, detaylı bir literatür taraması gerçekleştirilmiş ve kuramsal çerçeve oluşturulmuştur. Daha sonra, oluşturulan kuramsal çerçeve ışığında, sahne sanatları temsillerinin gözlemlendiği ve sahne sanatları çevresi ile birebir görüşmelerin gerçekleştirildiği bir alan araştırması yürütülmüştür. Araştırmanın sonucunda, yüzyıllardır ritüeller ile bir arada ele alınmış olan sahne sanatları temsillerinin hem “geçiş ritüellerinin” üç basamaklı yapısı hem de Victor Turner’ın ikinci aşama üzerine inşa ettiği “eşiksel” evrenin özellikleri ile uyum içerisinde olduğu ve bu kuramlar bağlamında yapılan değerlendirmenin sahne sanatları temsillerinin ritüellerle benzeştiği fikrini pekiştirdiği sonucuna varılmıştır.
Since the rise and development of social sciences in the nineteenth century, people who share a common culture have been the main focus of the social sciences disciplines. In modern times, in which traditional societies are being changed and transformed, relationships which used to be based on geographical proximity and kinship have been replaced by common interest groups, such as people from similar occupations, similar religions, or ideological groups. These groups possess a common sense of community and a cultural pattern specific to their group just like the groups based on geographical proximity and kinship in traditional societies. The artists and the audience involved in performing arts also form a common culture since they are a common interest group.
Rituals are one of the most studied concepts in the research of culture. Arnold Van Gennep’s theory “rites of passage” and Victor Turner’s theory “liminality” together compose the most basic theories of ritual studies. According to these theories, there are “transition rituals” at various stages and channels of life and these rituals are divided into three stages. The second stage which is called “liminality”, is characterized by an ‘in-betweenness’ in which individuals are neither in the first nor at the last stage. In this study, performing arts, which have always been considered in terms of rituals and are indeed said to be born out of them having gained their purely artistic identity later on, are examined in the context of the “rites of passage” and “liminality” theories in order to evaluate their similarity with rituals. After a detailed literature review, this study builds the conceptual and theoretical framework for its research. Having done that, this paper then outlines the nature of the chosen field research, namely participant observation and face-to-face interviews, which were conducted in the light of the framework outlined earlier in the paper. The results of the study conclude, that performing arts, which have been considered together with rituals since the beginning of their theoretical history, share the principles of the three staged “transition rituals” and the characteristics of the “liminal” stage coined by Victor Turner. The study, which was conducted in terms of the above-mentioned theoretical framework, concludes that the idea of performing arts being like rituals can be supported.
The term “performing arts” refers to branches of art which are primarily based on human performance such as theatre, opera and ballet. The instrument used in performing arts is the performer’s own body rather than secondary instruments (such as musical instruments). The education in performing arts often starts at a young age but is generally completed at undergraduate and graduate levels in conservatories or other universities in departments such as theatre, opera and ballet. There are periods in the working life of performing artists that affect their daily routines. These are the off-season period, audition periods, rehearsal periods, and the on-stage period. One of the main elements of the performing arts culture is the concept of ‘team’. With the people working together in the same project, artists share a sense of a big family experience due to much time being spent together and common goals being shared. Throughout their theoretical history, performing arts have been considered together with rituals. Rituals are social events with features such as formality, sociality and transformativeness. Performing arts, just like rituals, indicate the features of formality, sociality and transformativeness. Milestones in the study of rituals are Arnold Van Gennep’s theory of “rites of passage” and Turner’s concept of “liminality”. French ethnographer Arnold Van Gennep stated that transition rituals had three phases. These are the steps called “separation”, “transition” and “integration”. Performances of performing arts also possess these three phases. The transition phase, which is the second phase of the transition rituals of Van Gennep, is further examined and detailed by Victor Turner. According to Turner, the participants of a ritual become “communitas”, which is the group of “equal and anonymous” individuals in the transition phase. There are a number of features that distinguish these individuals from their normal state. Performing arts events also show these distinguishing features. This article aims to consider performing arts from a social sciences perspective. It is clear, that as long as the “human” is inside, it is appropriate to understand performing arts and other branches of art through the methods and theories of social sciences.
