Counterparts: Co-presence and ritual intersubjectivity

•Intersubjectivity is not a precondition of co-engagement, but its variable product.•Intersubjectivity depends on objects, to which subjects have asymmetric access.•Ritual objects retain the intentions of their makers, and attract spirits to the altar.•Maya shamanic practice creates distinctive form...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguage & communication Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 263 - 277
Main Author Hanks, William F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2013
Pergamon Press Inc
Subjects
Exorcism
Maya
Participation frames
Phenomenology
Reciprocity
Rites & ceremonies
Ritual practice
Shamanism
Phenomenology
Maya
Ritual practice
Participation frames
Shamanism
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Summary:•Intersubjectivity is not a precondition of co-engagement, but its variable product.•Intersubjectivity depends on objects, to which subjects have asymmetric access.•Ritual objects retain the intentions of their makers, and attract spirits to the altar.•Maya shamanic practice creates distinctive forms of intersubjectivity. Taking Schutz’s analysis of interaction relations as a point of departure, this paper examines intersubjectivity through the lens of shamanic divination and exorcism in Yucatec Maya. Shamanic practice alters and in some ways contradicts the principles of reciprocity, mutuality and congruence that lie at the heart of intersubjectivity as Schutz defined it. The co-engagement of shaman with patient is mediated by ritual objects on the altar, the intercorporeal space of performance and legions of spirits who though invisible are nonetheless made present. Intersubjectivity is effectively dismantled and reorganized, not as the universal foundation of co-engagement, but its occasional by-product.
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ISSN:0271-5309
1873-3395
DOI:10.1016/j.langcom.2013.07.001