SIGNS IN SOCIETY - STIBA Malang
SIGNS IN SOCIETY - STIBA Malang
SIGNS IN SOCIETY - STIBA Malang
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134 I Comparative Perspectives on Complex Semiotic Processes \ f- W\ 5<br />
10- ir<br />
19853:51) derived from supernatural or transcendental sources existing beyond<br />
the moment of performance (Bell 1992:206-7). So ritual does occur at the level<br />
^ of event, but these events are realizations of general patterns (cf. Kuipers<br />
1990:161-62).<br />
0 -,x> j We can now return to reexamine the nature of linguistic performatives from<br />
] this new perspective. Why does,*"] prbmisej/ have social power? It can create<br />
something new because it is a replica wjhich instantiates at one moment in time<br />
''a'generalcultural type, a rule-governed social routine ca ailed "promising." People<br />
know that this routine is rlerngmlstantiäteä' because of the rxpuliar semiotic propjty<br />
erties of language use in the event: the word uttered is transparent to the lexical<br />
,i>\ label for the operant routine: "I promise" and "promise" (Silverstein 1977). For<br />
flf^<br />
someone merely to say "Yes, I think I'll do it" U/fiotTb produce a socially valid<br />
p r o mi s e. This is exactly parallel to the earlier caseöfthe king of Babylon's mar-<br />
. ^jjjf. riage. Going through the ritual is just like saying "I promise": the marriage is<br />
, 'ti % transpajrently^iconic^with its divine_tempjate. That is why the participants dress<br />
W up like gods and earlier in the ritual sequence actually recite word for word—<br />
. note the transparency or iconicity—the text of Enuma elish, the epic of the cre-<br />
1<br />
' $5" ation of the gods, the formation of the cosmos, and the institution of the Babylonian<br />
state. Actual recitation is a way of calling into this political context the<br />
same kinds of^Supernatural power that, at the* beginning of time, effected the<br />
cosmogony "arid of reinforcing the analogy) between political stratification and<br />
cbsmölögical hierarchy (Kuhrt 1987:37).<br />
In conclusion, the initial paradox, that rituals are characterized by two seemingly<br />
incompatible aspects, extreme formal patterning and contextual anchoring,<br />
is easily.,resolved-fey-~thejierniotic perspective which sees ritual in many societies<br />
as thé; contextual anchoring^Til^^-cOTVêrîtîonàTIformsj forms which have re-<br />
""""'<br />
^gimeiking"j5Swèr"auêto their associafîorr with original or tmnscendenfcultural<br />
:<br />
JQrpcs: it is Marduk, not the king, whose marriage is being celebrated. Jfj^<br />
Institutional Regimentation of Touristic Experience<br />
In ritual, semiotic types of social action are made manifest as tokens and<br />
dwell among us; their tokens are not ad hoc events but exemplary replicas which<br />
transparently reveal thexosmoJogical jnodel. The high degree bt organization of<br />
the signFcreates in the experience of participants in ritual performance a sense<br />
that the entire event or discourse is a single text. But what about experiences in<br />
I I which the coherence ancT systematicity of signs and ffieir meanings are not the<br />
) J 1 Product of entexmaTizatîonl5ra"cTearTy evident sign complex but rather are pro-<br />
\ \ duced in synTagmaticâlly less.formal ways? My second example suggests that<br />
some contexts of social lif^contain strong metamëS6ages delinjiting-^he range of<br />
possible interpretations, but wrïîcTî*3^rôjndirectjy, implicitly, or inductively. The<br />
regimentation found in these contexts is air^ëTn73re"powèrrul"Decausè social<br />
The Semiotic Regimentation of Social Life I 135<br />
actors are not confronted with explicit metasemiotic forms (as will be the case<br />
in the final example).<br />
An important dimension of the ethnographic study of history as a cultural<br />
system is the analysis of locally deployed semiotic mechanisms which regiment<br />
peoples' understanding and experience of the past. These mechanisms, including,<br />
for example, textual forms, visual images, behavioral rules, consumption goods, L><br />
ritual processions, architectural monuments, and museum exhibitions, are instruments<br />
of the historicizing institutions of a society. A particularly powerful example<br />
of the (regimentation of historical consciousness in the United States is Colonial<br />
Williamsburg in Virginia, where I carried out a brief period of fieldwork<br />
in 1987. 2<br />
A methodological principle of the research was to experience the restored<br />
city as much as possible as a typical tourist would. I did not establish contacts<br />
with local scholarly authorities, I did not inspect archival records not publicly<br />
available, and I did not engage in formal interviews with either tourists or staff.<br />
During my stay, however, I attempted to visit as many exhibition buildings as<br />
possible, and at each location I took notes on the communication between interpretive<br />
staff and tourists, photographed informational signs, and collected pamphlets,<br />
guide books, official publications, local newspapers, and maps. In approaching<br />
the research I kept in mind the point made by Dean MacCannell<br />
(1976:110), that "the first contact^, sightseer has with a sight is not with the dp—<br />
sight itself but with some, representation thereof. " I certainly did not experience<br />
the "glazed" look Mark Leone observed/on the faces of visitors during his research,<br />
and I would disagree with his harsh statement that "despite the site's<br />
motto about the future learning from the past, very few facts, no social context,<br />
and nothing we would think of as historical in^rpretation are normally taken<br />
away" (1981^13). The visitors]I watched were|éngaged S not overwhelmed, inquisitive,<br />
and observant! -~J V • • ;•! .•, f /,i v k X<br />
Colonial Williamsburg is a reconstruction of the eighteenthjcentUry capital<br />
of Virginia when the city functioned as an administrative center, housing the<br />
Capitol, the Governor's Palace, a military garrison, courthouse and jail, and the<br />
residences of prominent members of the Tidewater planter class and over a thousand<br />
slaves. Because Williamsburg was devoid of significant industry or trade and<br />
because it was isolated from the principal urban centers of the period, it was an . /<br />
exceptional if not unique colonial city: , .<br />
Si toM&o<br />
Virginia practiced only a few basic crafts and had virtually no industries aside ixLtjÛl<br />
from tobacco producing and processing for market and such a rare endeavor J J : '<br />
as iron making. Heavy importation of luxury items not made on the self-sustaining<br />
plantations or in the town shops was universal. That Williamsburg in ^W«^<br />
colonial times was a far cry from Boston, Philadelphia, or New York cannot<br />
but impress the thoughtful visitor, even though the point is not stressed in the M<br />
interpretation. (Cotter 1970:420) r-u vi $J<br />
r<br />
L