Role of Festivals

Role of Festivals



Role of Festivals

Introduction

Festivals have played an important role in developing an understanding of the social network of societies and communities. They have existed since the dawn of humankind and remain vital to civilization today. Their role is recognized by anthropologists as central to the understanding of human culture, customs, and beliefs; as such, anthropologists have studied festivals and rituals ever since anthropology emerged and developed as a scientific field of study in the second half of the 19th century. There is an extensive body of literature and much anthropological debate on how festivals should best be defined, why they are important, and what kinds of events they may include. The study of the nature, origin, and purpose of festivals has closely followed the anthropology of religion and the history of the field of anthropology. Reviewing past practices and examining current trends in the study of festivals will help anticipate the next stage in anthropological research (Mayfield and Crompton, 2005, 37-44). The literature on place-marketing is most often interested in mega events and in country or major city destinations, but equally, a breadth of spatial spheres have been studied. Hall (1992), for example, has written about the role of events in developing or maintaining community or regional identity. De Bres and Davis (2001) discuss how a Kansas River Festival helped to promote a sense of pride, kinship, and community among the river communities involved.

Discussion

Traditionally the term festival has been used as an adjective meaning “regarding a day of feasting” and as a noun denoting “a time for feasting.” As an adjective, festival also came to be used to mean “joy, glee, or merriment.” When anthropologists began describing festivals in the late 1800s, they were usually reporting accounts of religious events, seasonal celebrations, or other practices involving major events in human life. Their reports generally referred to festivals as periodic celebrations or times set apart from the ordinary or every day. At this time, anthropologists distinguished festivals as episodic events that were not commonplace routines. In other words, they were special. As per their observations, most of these festivals pertained to a holiday, a “holy day,” or day of religious feasting. Most of these interpretations were based on statements gleaned from observations of what were believed to be religious events (Cruikshank, 2007, 56-69). Ethnographers, sociologists, and anthropologists documented intricate performances that took place within communities. Feasting was a major component of these practices: In some cases, special foods were prepared following closely scrutinized customs, while in other situations; specific items were restricted from the diet.

Although individuals create routine periodic behaviours, such as washing hands before and after each meal, it is the established, publicly organized festivals that generally interest anthropologists. Single social actions, such as greeting handshakes, have not traditionally been the basis for this examination either. It is the interplay between the individual and the larger community and with the greater powers of being, and the result of this series of actions, that is studied in ...