“The Disappearance of Rituals” by Korean-Philosopher Byung-Chul Han is one of the powerful read in recent times, exposing the Pathologies of Modernity, Collective narcissism, how concept of communities are destroyed over time without “Rituals”.
Some highlights in this thread.
“Rituals are symbolic acts which represent and pass on values. They bring forth a “community without communication”. Today we are stuck in digital world where “communication without prevails. Rituals and symbolic perception helps in recognition of oneself."+++(4)+++
Author explains how recognition is possible ONLY with rituals associated in one culture and this recognition is a particular form of repetition and this shows how we have come to know something more authentically. Look at following lines:
“Rituals as symbolic techniques of making oneself at home i.e “being-at-home” as opposed to “being-in-the-world”. They structure time. For sure today, time lacks a solid structure rushing off without “stability”. Without Repetition, “self-sameness”, stability is impossible. Modern day production, we are asked to consume more, and this lacks “Endurance”. Production destroys life’s endurance.
Today, we consume not only things themselves but also the emotions that are bound up with things. You cannot consume things endlessly, but emotions you can. Thus, emotions open up a new field of infinite consumption. The emotionalization of commodities and the associated aestheticization of commodities are subject to the compulsion of production. Their function is to increase consumption and production. As a consequence, the aesthetic is colonized by the economic.
Emotions are more fleeting than things; they therefore do not stabilize life. In consuming emotions we do not relate to things but to ourselves. What we seek is emotional authenticity. Thus, the consumption of emotions strengthens the narcissistic relationship to ourselves. The relationship to the world that we have by way of the mediation of things is thereby increasingly lost.
Values today also serve as things for individual consumption. They become commodities. Values such as justice, humanity or sustainability are exploited for profit.
Symbolic perception is gradually replaced by “serial perception”. It is incapable of producing the experience of duration. Rituals, Symbolic perception are “intensive” but serial perception is “extensive”. Hence shallow attention, duration abolishment and more consumption.
Temple is a place of attention. Attention is the natural prayer of the soul, and today, soul is stuck in endless loop of “producing itself”. With attention, repetition, rituals ensures that time lingers without chasing new temporary stimuli.
He talks about how the “Performance driven vs labour driven”, how “authenticity” shifts identity from society to individuality, where one destroys himself in the belief that you are realizing yourself, how world becomes a “factory” and advertising space as opposed to “theatre”. Rituals unites those things and values that gives vitality to community and formation of this community is an essential trait.
Capitalism erases this distinction between sacred and profane, by totalizing profane. It makes everything comparable to everything. “Hell of the same”.
On poetry,
“Poems are structures with strict forms that shine by themselves. Very often they do not communicate a message. Language as medium of “information” has no splendor. Only in poetry, Language plays. Poems are the magical ceremonies of language.”
“Ritual society is a society of rules. It is based not on virtues or conscience but on passion for rules. Rules are not internalized, they are simply obeyed. The pleasure derived from obeying a rule differs from the pleasure one takes in obeying or violating a law”.
The pathology of today’s society is the excess of positivity. It is a ’too much’, not a ’too little’, that is making is sick.
More Powerful examples are drawn from Korean, German, Indian, Japanese cultures and traditions.
Book here: a.co/d/2TH9To9