UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara the Game
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara The Game of Exorcism: A Spatial Analysis of Religious Practice A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Religious Studies by William Samuel Chavez Committee in charge: Professor Rudy Busto, Chair Professor Christine Thomas Professor David Gordon White June 2018 The thesis of William Samuel Chavez is approved. __________________________________________ Christine Thomas __________________________________________ David Gordon White __________________________________________ Rudy Busto, Committee Chair June 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to several members of the UCSB Religious Studies Department for their wisdom and assistance with the research that produced this thesis, specifically David Gordon White, Richard Hecht, Christine Thomas, José Cabezón, Vesna Wallace, and Juan Campo. James Brousseau, Aaron Ullrey, and Greg Hillis have each developed my thinking for what became Section IV. My wife, Stefany Olague, also read numerous drafts, accompanied me at conferences, and always encouraged me to push forward in my career. She is my best friend and it is through her love and care that I was able to complete this adventure. The foundation of this thesis started during my final year at the University of Rochester. Thus, I am still indebted to Joshua Dubler and Nora Rubel. Finally, my current advisor has been nothing but supportive of this project. I am a better scholar because of his guidance. I cannot remember his name right now but it will come to me. iii ABSTRACT The Game of Exorcism: A Spatial Analysis of Religious Practice by William Samuel Chavez The academic study of exorcism is theoretically weak and limited because the scholarship is largely disjointed, partitioned into sets of case studies described, analyzed, and theorized according to specific cultures and histories. This thesis is an effort to fill the gaps in the literature, offering a comparative analysis of numerous case studies – organizing the eleven most prominent properties of the phenomena into a concise field manual (Section I), synthesizing the most frequently cited scholars into cohesive cultural and social commentaries (Sections II and III), and advancing the analysis of exorcism into a new theoretical direction with the presentation of five spatial dimensions (Section IV). Exorcism is a highly ostensible phenomenon (physically recognizable). Across cultures one can identify patterns in the ways that people interact with and speak to each other and with their environment (objects, places, etc.). There are patterns in the individual maneuvers and orations of the participants; patterns in the social dynamics between the principals involved; patterns in the religious discourse that narrate the event or ritual; patterns in the overall structure that governs the “gameplay.” Exorcism is a “game” because it involves numerous “playable characters” (exorcists, recipients of exorcism, human spectators), “non- playable characters” (deities, angels, demons, ghosts, etc.), additional “game mechanics” iv (props, tools, equipment, intervals of time), and a clear “game objective” to use and occupy space . “Players” take culturally regulated turns to compete for space as a piece of currency, a capital to be gained and used against their human and non-human competitors. The study of space is vital to the study of exorcism (and religion, more broadly). In a constant competition for territory, spaces are always muddled with traffic. Thus, this thesis examines exorcism’s “field of play,” how the principals involved mark and unmark space as their own; how the various social agents ritually interact with space; how spaces are created, warped, and dominated; how movement and activity within space are regulated; how spaces influence religious individuals and vice versa. In the end, whether exorcism manifests as a spontaneous event or as a prescriptive ritual, there is always a story being told in space (“game narrative”). This spatial analysis of exorcism then contributes to the study of how human beings religiously interact with space (with whatever is in their environment). Sections II and III are devoted to examining the key “players” of the “game” (human and non-human alike) and their relationships with each other. Section IV serves as an unofficial “rulebook” for the “game” of exorcism (an extension of the field manual presented in Section I). Overall, this thesis argues that space is the best heuristic available to study exorcism phenomena; it provides scholars with a more comprehensive understanding of exorcism’s “game mechanics.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 A. Question of Definition .......................................................................... 1 B. A Field Manual for Exorcism ............................................................... 9 C. Outline of the Sections ........................................................................ 14 II. The Gender Dynamics of the Social Field ............................................................ 18 A. The Projective Protest Thesis ............................................................. 20 B. The Cultural Custom Thesis ............................................................... 25 C. The Pigeon-Hole Thesis ...................................................................... 27 D. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 35 III. The Ritual Efficacy of Exorcism ......................................................................... 40 A. The Placebo Thesis ............................................................................. 47 B. The Psychic Release Thesis ................................................................ 51 C. The Social Field Thesis ....................................................................... 57 D. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 58 IV. The Five Spatial Dimensions of Exorcism .......................................................... 63 A. The Initial Space of the Intruder ......................................................... 66 B. The Temporary Space of the Intruder ................................................. 67 C. The Space of the Exorcism ................................................................. 79 D. The Spaces of the Exorcist .................................................................. 83 E. The Final Destionation ........................................................................ 89 F. Conclusion ........................................................................................... 93 vi V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 99 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 101 vii I. Introduction The academic study of exorcism is theoretically weak and limited because the scholarship is largely disjointed, partitioned into sets of case studies described, analyzed, and theorized according to specific cultures and histories. 1 These partitions are then characterized by sets of major issues (namely, the prevalence of women among the recipients of exorcism and the ritual efficacy of the practice) and minor concerns (the place of violence in exorcism, exorcism’s similarities with legal practices, exorcism’s clash with modernity, etc.). 2 Most of these will be discussed further during the literature review of this thesis. But let the reader understand, where there is shared theoretical literature specific to the study of exorcism it is scarce. The works by Gananath Obeyesekere (1970, 1981), I.M. Lewis (1971/2003), Vincent Crapanzano (1973 along with Vivian Garrison, 1977), Bruce Kapferer (1983/1991), and Thomas Csordas (1994, 2002) are the most frequently cited among studies on exorcism. It is more often the case, however (and curiously), that contributions to the scholarship as they occur across traditions and locations omit reference to these scholars and rarely share overlapping sources. 3 A. Question of Definition 1 As an example, see Yoram Bilu, “Dybbuk, Aslai, Zar,” in Spirit Possession in Judaism , ed. Matt Goldish (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2003). 2 My criterion for “major” versus “minor” is simply based on the frequency of these issues. The “major” ones more commonly appear in the scholarship. 3 Examples include Andre Goddu, “The Failure of Exorcism in the Middle Ages,” in Possession and Exorcism , ed. Brian P. Levack (New York: Garland, 1992); Daniel P. Walker, Unclean Spirits (Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 1981); Michael W. Cuneo, American Exorcism (New York: Doubleday, 2001); Tamar Alexander, “Love and Death in a Contemporary Dybbuk Story,” in Spirit Possession in Judaism ; and Hilaire Kallendorf, “The Rhetoric of Exorcism,” Rhetorica 23, no. 3 (Summer 2005). 1 There is a popular misconception that exorcism is a purely Christian enterprise. For most of my readers the 1973 film The Exorcist serves as a cultural entry point, albeit a sensationalized one, to the practice of this ritual. After watching the film, one could presume exorcism to be the ritual response to the threat of diabolical possession, a subject contextualized with issues of theodicy, belief in the supernatural, cosmic dualism, the transcendent