HI Alison,
i'm sure you won't expect much more from me, but i am loathed to take the
'ritual' route. Naming a ship, as in Austin's example there in that quote
has ritual for sure in its solemn ceremony. So too the taking of marriage
vows. These are explicit performances. Whilst in the big porous boundaries
of definition we might claim that all utterances have a ritual quality of
performance, that's just too vague and boggy for me.
But yes the idea is pertinent to poetry, highly. Maybe I should ask whether
all transformations have a ritual character.? You might persuade me.
love and love
cris
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