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178
tool and as a genre of scholarly writing has been debated.295 A particular scholar’s
definition of the term, and often their recognition of the merits of the concept, is usually
informed by that individual’s view of what it means to separate the self from
ethnographic work and thus to don the traditional mantle of the ethnographer as a
dispassionate and uninvolved observer of the Other. In the post-modern academic world,
it may designate the ethnographer’s desire to realign himself with his work in a very
intentionally self-reflexive way, and to reclaim his own experiences as valid sociological
data. Concepts of autoethnography have therefore been at the root of important debates
over whether scholarly objectivity is achievable in ethnographic reporting, and whether it
is necessary or even desirable. It is not possible to unpack here the myriad meanings of
the term autoethnography as it has been pressed into service to distinguish between
different forms of texts, different genres of writing, different types of method, and even
between traditional written ethnographies and the production of material objects.296
However, it is necessary to address my usage of the term and to explain how I intend to
employ it as a method for analyzing ancient sacrifice.
The following description of sacrifices I attended is autoethnographic in its most
basic sense, in that it is based on my personal experience of blood sacrifice in a
contemporary Muslim context. Coming from within a Western (Christian) tradition, I am
295 For a history of the usage of the term “autoethnography” and a thorough discussion of its meanings, see
D.E. Reed-Danahay’s introduction to the volume Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social
(1997).
296 See, for example, M. Strathern 1987; N.K. Denzin 1989; M.L. Pratt 1994; J. Van Maanen 1995a. J.D.
Dorst (1989) applies the term autoethnography not to any form of text, but rather to the material product of
a given social set. Specifically, he has analyzed the objects produced by suburbanites in Chester County,
Pennsylvania and offered at regional arts and crafts fairs.
Object Description
| Title | Making sense of sacrifice: Sensory experience in Greco-Roman cult |
| Author | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Author email | candaceweddle@gmail.com; weddle@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Art History |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-04 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pollini, John |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Yasin, Ann Marie Bitel, Lisa |
| Abstract | Performing a sacrifice was one of the most sensorially full actions undertaken in the Greco-Roman world. The production and control of the correct movements, scents and sounds were prerequisites for summoning, communicating with and propitiating deities. Sacrifice was also ubiquitous, occurring on an almost continual basis as a range of sacrificial activities were celebrated publicly and privately in a variety of locations in urban areas. Cultivating a multi-sensory understanding of the full range of sensory elements that accompanied ancient cult rites – visual and auditory cues, things smelled, tasted and touched - provides a platform for achieving a more thorough knowledge of the meanings of the rites.; This dissertation examines the archaeological, literary and epigraphical evidence for the role of the senses in Greek and Roman sacrifice in order to analyze the social and ritual importance of the senses, the impact of sacrificial rituals within ancient urban spaces, and the sensory experience of the ancient worshiper. Given the ephemeral nature of much of the evidence for sensory elements of worship, as well as the subjectivity inherent in representations of sensory experience in literature and art, this dissertation argues for the necessity of crossing disciplinary boundaries in order to appreciate the sensory impact of ancient sacrifice. Therefore, in addition to utilizing traditional historical and art historical approaches, methodological tools from the field of anthropology and evidence from studies in the animal behavioral sciences and consumer sciences are employed. For example, I suggest that greater understanding of the experience of ancient sacrifice may be acquired through an autoethnographic investigation of modern religious sacrifice. To that end, I analyze my experience of the slaughter of large numbers of bovines during the Islamic Kurban Bayram sacrifices in Istanbul to make suggestions concerning certain elements of the sensory experience of ancient blood sacrifice. I focus not only on the sensory experience of humans participating in (or within range of) sacrifices, but also on that of the animal victims. Given the immense ritual importance of the behavior of sacrificial animals in antiquity, I suggest that it is possible to identify some sensory aspects of the sacrificial process that may have been intentionally manipulated in order to control the reactions of the victims as far as possible.; Particular attention is paid to mundane aspects of the process of sacrifice not often addressed in ancient literary sources or represented in art that would have resulted in notable sensory impacts on areas surrounding urban temples, for example the removal of sacrificial refuse. I conclude not only that these elements of sacrifice formed an important part of the sensory experience of Greco-Roman cult, but also that their effects were more far-reaching – in terms both of how great an area they affected and how long they lasted – than has previously been recognized. Using fresh interdisciplinary approaches to well-known examples of texts and images, this dissertation employs a more visceral approach to the study of the sensory experience of ancient sacrifice than is possible when considering textual and archaeological evidence alone. |
| Keyword | archaeology; autoethnography; cult; Greece; religion; Rome; sacrifice; senses |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Rome |
| Geographic subject (country) | Italy; Greece |
| Coverage date | circa -0600/0600 |
| Coverage era | Greco Roman |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3788 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Weddle-4363 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume48/etd-Weddle-4363.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 196 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 178 tool and as a genre of scholarly writing has been debated.295 A particular scholar’s definition of the term, and often their recognition of the merits of the concept, is usually informed by that individual’s view of what it means to separate the self from ethnographic work and thus to don the traditional mantle of the ethnographer as a dispassionate and uninvolved observer of the Other. In the post-modern academic world, it may designate the ethnographer’s desire to realign himself with his work in a very intentionally self-reflexive way, and to reclaim his own experiences as valid sociological data. Concepts of autoethnography have therefore been at the root of important debates over whether scholarly objectivity is achievable in ethnographic reporting, and whether it is necessary or even desirable. It is not possible to unpack here the myriad meanings of the term autoethnography as it has been pressed into service to distinguish between different forms of texts, different genres of writing, different types of method, and even between traditional written ethnographies and the production of material objects.296 However, it is necessary to address my usage of the term and to explain how I intend to employ it as a method for analyzing ancient sacrifice. The following description of sacrifices I attended is autoethnographic in its most basic sense, in that it is based on my personal experience of blood sacrifice in a contemporary Muslim context. Coming from within a Western (Christian) tradition, I am 295 For a history of the usage of the term “autoethnography” and a thorough discussion of its meanings, see D.E. Reed-Danahay’s introduction to the volume Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social (1997). 296 See, for example, M. Strathern 1987; N.K. Denzin 1989; M.L. Pratt 1994; J. Van Maanen 1995a. J.D. Dorst (1989) applies the term autoethnography not to any form of text, but rather to the material product of a given social set. Specifically, he has analyzed the objects produced by suburbanites in Chester County, Pennsylvania and offered at regional arts and crafts fairs. |
