Between Play and Prayer: The Variety of Theatricals in Spiritual Performance - Ingram Academic
An academic study examining how theatrical performance creates the presence of entities beyond physical senses.
This academic work investigates human performances that attempt to cross sensorial boundaries. Grounded in research from Norway and New Zealand, the text focuses on practical acts of faith rather than established religious creeds. Hammer applies performance theory to everyday spiritual actions, examining how play, prayer, and theatricality function together during funerary services, spiritualist gatherings, and readings. The book offers scholars a theoretical framework for understanding the existential dimensions present in modern spiritual practice.
This study addresses a renewed interest in spirituality within contemporary culture. It draws directly on field research conducted in local contexts across Norway and New Zealand, examining modern spiritualist actions and funerary practices through the lens of academic theatre studies.
Praise for this book
“The reader cannot fail to admire the attention to detail of Hammer's research, as well as her honesty, frankness, and even what she calls love, here defined as 'another form of truth... subject to the use of theatricality'.”
📝 Description: Between Play and Prayer: The Variety of Theatricals in Spiritual Performance - Ingram Academic
💎 Expert review
📖 Why choose it
Why this book is worth reading
Readers interested in the theoretical underpinnings of ritual and theater will find this book indispensable. It offers a sophisticated framework for understanding how humans bridge the gap between the mundane and the divine through performance. Scholars of religious studies, theatrical practitioners, and anthropologists alike will appreciate the novel concept of 'Spiritual Performance.' The text provides a structured way to analyze diverse practices, from seances to funerary services, without dismissing their significance. It invites readers to view these acts not merely as superstition but as complex aesthetic and cultural expressions. By applying rigorous performance theory, it helps decode the mechanics of faith and belief in action. This is essential reading for those seeking to understand the structural similarities between sacred rites and dramatic arts.
⭐ Reader reviews
Reader rating
Hammer’s text is a dense, theoretical exploration that may alienate casual readers seeking practical spiritual guidance or simple historical narratives. It demands familiarity with performance aesthetics and academic jargon, making it unsuitable for those preferring accessible, narrative-driven accounts of the occult. However, for academics and serious students of ritual theory, it offers valuable insights into the Norwegian and New Zealand contexts. The book succeeds in elevating the discourse around spiritual enactment but remains firmly rooted in scholarly analysis rather than popular appeal. It is a specialized tool for deconstructing the theater of belief.
❓ Frequently asked questions
📖 Who should read this
If you're a scholar or student in theatre, performance studies, religious studies, or anthropology, this book offers a groundbreaking theoretical framework. Anyone fascinated by the intersection of ritual, art, and spirituality will find its trans-disciplinary approach illuminating and thought-provoking.
🎯 Key themes and symbolism
Defining Spiritual Performance
Hammer's central contribution is the concept of "Spiritual Performance," a unifying framework for understanding all human acts that intentionally invite or manifest non-sensory presences. This encompasses a broad spectrum of practices, from ancient rituals to modern spiritualist gatherings, offering a fresh lens through which to analyze their shared purpose and impact.
Experience Over Dogma
The book champions the primacy of authentic experience and individual faith over rigid doctrinal adherence. It argues that true spiritual practice is rooted in a personal encounter rather than a fixed creed. This distinction highlights the subjective, lived reality of participants in spiritual performances, emphasizing an existential quality often overlooked in traditional studies.
Theatricality in Sacred Space
Hammer deftly explores how elements of theatricality are not incidental but fundamental to spiritual events. By examining how these performances are structured, enacted, and received, the book reveals how intentional staging, role-playing, and audience engagement contribute to the creation of a sacred or transcendent atmosphere, blurring lines between secular and sacred performance.
📜 Historical context
📚 Glossary
- Spiritual Performance
- Transgresses the sensorial
- Theatricality
📔 Questions to reflect on
- Consider a personal experience you've had that could be classified as 'Spiritual Performance.' What elements of theatricality or play were present, and how did they shape your experience?
- How does the distinction between 'faith' and 'credo' resonate with your own understanding of spirituality or belief? Can performance help bridge this gap?
- Reflect on a public ritual or ceremony you've witnessed. How might Hammer's concept of 'Spiritual Performance' offer new insights into its purpose and impact on participants?
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