Caillois also interestingly values, describes war as being both divine (it creates the tales of heroes) and an absolute miserable tragedy (because of destruction).

#RogerCaillois #war #sacred #anthropology

And I finished Caillois' "Man and the sacred". It was interesting to read for the parts on festival, darker parts on the sacred, war, transgression, and to learn on "primitive" societies too. I liked learning the author's outlook, opinions on things as well.

#RogerCaillois #sacred #festival #anthropology #transgression #primitivesociety

I'm reading Caillois' essay "War and the sacred", it's at the end of his "Man and the sacred". I'm encouraging you all to read it. 🙂 He elaborates on his thesis of war as the sacred Festival, analysing various aspects of war and how the whole state and society changes, to suit the war effort. In that and how the war veterans are treated he sees the extension of festivals of native tribes, similar with transgressions being allowed.

#RogerCaillois #festival #sacred #war #anthropology

Caillois interestingly describes Festival as a time of excess and paroxism, where everything is spent, instead of accumulated.

#RogerCaillois #Festival #Carnival #Sacred

Oh, right, I remember reading that in one tribe when king dies then a festival-like period is initiated and its members start killings, fire and rape across the tribe. For this reason king's death was tried to be kept a secret. During some festivals, I think especially the ones during rites of passage, the incest taboo was also broken. Caillois writes here about various sexual excesses during festivals, what reminds me of Bataille's "Tears of Eros".

#sacred #RogerCaillois #festival #carnival

Caillois says that festival (in anthropology) and its excess is reenactment of the primordial days of Chaos where myths were taking place and gods were walking, where there was no taboo and everything was spontaneous. It's state as well as period, that reemerges. It's a state of miracles and supernatural things happening. A period taken out of time.
Yet at the same time the festival is also the time of monstrosities.

#RogerCaillois #festival #cosmogomy #myth #anthropology

Fascinating tale of Caillois in "Man and the sacred" about a defiled person, who however has the same holly, supernatural quality as the sacred. A defiled girl after her first period or woman after her first childbirth is asked to touch the place of living to sanctify it and protect it - even if they live in the separate building in order to protect the rest of community from them. Further - a person that is polluted because s/he's

#sacred #RogerCaillois #anthropology

An #introduction:

I'm a PhD candidate in #criticaltheory at Western University, Canada. I've been researching #negativity in post-WWII continental philosophy & art. I'm partial to hybrid & #interdisciplinary bodies of work & thinkers like #MauriceBlanchot and #RogerCaillois.

I'm also an academic #editor. My languages are #English, #Romanian, #Spanish, #French. I studied #AncientGreek & #Latin but don't remember why.

Twice immigrant: from native #Romania to #Canada & more recently to #Spain.

What a Bataille-worthy detail. Reminds me of his famous Chinese one thousand cuts torture.

[On indigenous individuals harming themselves in order to gain power from gods.
From: "Man and the sacred" by Roger Caillois]

#RogerCaillois #GeorgesBataille #sacred #anthropology #religion

Such a fascinating vision from Caillois' "Man and the sacred". A dangerous, harm-causing sacred that the unworthy cannot touch. And the taboo, breaking of which causes damage not only to the person, but also to whole natural order and the universe. It occurs in fiction, folk tales and folk tale-based ecologically minded-anime and stories. He mentioned Christianity and wafer too.

#sacred #RogerCaillois #GeorgesBataille #anthropology #religion #taboo

#PhantFeuille

"Die kollektive, bindende Qualität von Mythen und Legenden lässt sich Caillois zufolge weder auf soziale Faktoren noch auf individualpsychologische Konflikte reduzieren. Verständlich als Knotenpunkte von Affekten, Bildern und Obsessionen würden sie erst innerhalb einer biologischen Perspektive. [...] Der Mythos tritt an die Stelle des tierischen Instinkts [...]"

Maximilian Gillessen im Tagesspiegel zu #DerMythosUndDerMensch von #RogerCaillois (F 1938)

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/rezensionen/sachbuch/roger-caillois-buch-der-mythos-und-der-mensch-18580401.html