Social dramas: notes on a Victor Turner’s theme

Authors

  • Maria Laura Viveiros de Castro Cavalcanti Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v16i16p127-137

Keywords:

Victor Turner. Social drama. Conceptual metaphor. Dramatic illusion. Ethnography.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the notion of so-
cial drama elaborated by Victor Turner in Schism
and continuity in an African society, following on
Clifford Geertz’ view of this conceptual metaphor’s
dramaturgical basis. The text examines the develop-
ment of fictional devices in Turner’s ethnography in
the context of a structural-functionalist approach.
With the social dramas’ narratives, Turner transfor-
ms the reader in a theatrical spectator. Following
the development of the main characters’ actions, we
find ourselves watching the unfolding of a plot that
evolves towards an imagined sociological future,
seen as inevitable: the Ndembu village’s fission.

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Author Biography

  • Maria Laura Viveiros de Castro Cavalcanti, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
    Professora do Departamento de Antropologia Cultural/IFCS-UFRJ
    Doutora em Antropologia Social/IFCS-UFRJ
    Pós-Doutora/Columbia University

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Published

2007-03-30

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 16 (2007)

Section

Articles and Essays

License

I authorize Cadernos de Campo Journal of Anthropology to publish the work of my authorship/responsibility, as well as I take responsibility for the use of images, if accepted for publication.

I agree with this statement as an absolute expression of truth. On my behalf and on behalf of eventual co-authors I also take full responsibility for the material presented.

I attest to the unpublished nature of the work submitted

How to Cite

Cavalcanti, M. L. V. de C. (2007). Social dramas: notes on a Victor Turner’s theme. Cadernos De Campo (São Paulo, 1991), 16(16), 127-137. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v16i16p127-137