通過儀礼における「ハレ」と「ケガレ」の観念の分析

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This is the second paper that discusses Japanese folk belief, especially the rites of passage, with the theoretical scheme of 'hare', 'ke' and kegare' concepts. The first paper was published in this journal in 1974 (vol. 38 No. 3 & 4) with the title of 'Japanese Folk Belief and its Structure'. In that paper a hypothesis was made that Japanese folk belief has its own structure, and has formed various kinds of religious through out its history. The concepts of 'hare', 'ke' and 'kegare' have been discussed by Japanese folklorists, and they have interpreted these concepts as the basic ideas of Japanese folk belief. One of the points of the discussion was to employ these concepts just as a theoretical scheme, and as independent concepts opposing each other. Furthermore, the relationship of these concepts was regarded to vary according to the contexts of the folk belief : in a context 'hare' was categorized into the 'ke' concept and in other contexts the 'kegare' into the 'ke' concept, and so on. In the paper, as the first step of a study on Japanese folk belief, the folk beliefs of three mura were analyzed and it was shown that the belief system differed between three mura. As the second step of that study, the author proposes to answer two questions on Japanese rites of passage. In defining Japanese rites of passage as the rites for an individual who is in his (or her) life-crises, the first question is : what sort of ritual meanings are associated with fact that the person concerned with a rite of passage has frequent contacts with his (or her) kin members and neighbors in giving and receiving food and in eating together ? The second question : concidering Japanese memorial services of the dead ('hoyo' or 'kuyo') as the rites of passage of the deceased, what sorts of ritual meanings lie behind the fact that the rites of passage for a living person (the rites from the person's childbirth to death) and the rites for the dead person (from his or her funeral ceremony to the final anniversary) are performed at the almost identical period ? According to Victor Turner's argument that rites of passage are a liminal period and the person concerned is a liminal person. And furthermore, according to Mary Douglas's hypothesis that a 'liminal' and 'ambiguous' being is a polluting one, the persons performing Japanese rites of passage are in a situation of 'kegare'. As a matter of fact, a newborn baby and the mother are regarded as polluted and polluting beings in Japanese folk custom and are often separated from other family members. The spirit who died recently is regarded as the most 'filthy' being and the 'filthiness' is gradually weakened by the process through which the spirit is given memorial services by his or her living offsprings. A newborn baby and the newly dead spirits are considered as liminal beings becaused they are not alive and not dead. They are considered so filthy that they pollute persons in close contact with them. The more filthy the persons are, the more frequently they receive rites. Other than a newborn baby and new dead spirits, the persons at the critical or unlucky ages ('yaku-doshi') are also considered as being polluted and polluting persons. In Japanese folk belief the persons involved in rites of passage are generally considered as being polluted or 'kegare' and tends to pollute close people and may contaminate the purity of the fire in the house.
日本文化人類学会の論文
1976-03-31

通過儀礼における「ハレ」と「ケガレ」の観念の分析

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