TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural differences among individuals, genders and generations as the key for ritual transmission, stereotypy and flexibility
AU - Nielbo, Kristoffer L.
AU - Fux, Michal
AU - Mort, Joel
AU - Zamir, Reut
AU - Eilam, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - We analysed a Zulu wedding ritual, posing two questions: (i) what makes a ritual stereotyped and rigid along with preserving certain flexibility; and (ii) does a ritual pass between generations and individuals en bloc, or as a smaller subset of acts? We found that the ritual repertoire constituted only one act that was common to all individuals that performed the ritual. Repetitive performance of this act conveyed the impression of a stereotyped ritual. This structure eases the transmission of the ritual, since it is only necessary to learn the performance of one act that can then be embedded in a sequence of 'free-style' acts. Gender difference was minimal, but young women performed more acts than adults, perhaps as a reflection of them being inexperienced actors. Altogether, the present study unveils underlying mechanisms that seem to characterize the evolution of rituals and thereby highlighting a foundation of human cultural behaviour in general.
AB - We analysed a Zulu wedding ritual, posing two questions: (i) what makes a ritual stereotyped and rigid along with preserving certain flexibility; and (ii) does a ritual pass between generations and individuals en bloc, or as a smaller subset of acts? We found that the ritual repertoire constituted only one act that was common to all individuals that performed the ritual. Repetitive performance of this act conveyed the impression of a stereotyped ritual. This structure eases the transmission of the ritual, since it is only necessary to learn the performance of one act that can then be embedded in a sequence of 'free-style' acts. Gender difference was minimal, but young women performed more acts than adults, perhaps as a reflection of them being inexperienced actors. Altogether, the present study unveils underlying mechanisms that seem to characterize the evolution of rituals and thereby highlighting a foundation of human cultural behaviour in general.
KW - cultural transmission
KW - memes
KW - memetics
KW - motor patterns
KW - repetitive behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85009115347&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/1568539X-00003412
DO - 10.1163/1568539X-00003412
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AN - SCOPUS:85009115347
SN - 0005-7959
VL - 154
SP - 93
EP - 114
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
IS - 1
ER -