Psychological and historical figurations of ritual behavior of a person and types of rationality

Abstract

The social and psychological figurations of ritual behavior of a person in the
cultural dimension of the historical process are analyzed. The figuration of ritual
behavior of a person is socially and psychologically based on the transformation
of the existence of community as a collective subject, which, in the cultural
dimension, is embodied in the traditional mythic and ritual complex. Based
on the techniques of psychological and historical reconstruction, the stages of
ritualization of behavior with reference to the dominant type of rationality and the design of leading types of narrative competence are determined. The main
psychological and historical rhythms of the transformations of ritual and ritual-
everyday behavior (recurrent, periodic, recursive, and perturbative) are outlined.
The logic of figurations of ritual behavior is traced from the sacred practices as
reflexive actions of the collective subject of the archaic era to ritualizations in
the traditional way of life, and then to the modern deritualizations of these forms
and the recent spread of diffuse, individualized forms. The latter predetermine
the need for “return to the rituals” as means to stabilize the way and manner of
life of the postmodern person.
Keywords: religious ritual, ritual behavior, ritualizations, collective subject,
myth, narrative competence of the person, type of rationality, folk icon