vienna

and their effect on the city. 599 The rituals were performed in close
interaction with a spatial setting in the city. This dramatisation
helped in supporting the experience of ritual practice.
“Ritual meaning is thus based on the interaction of the ritualised
body with conventions inscribed within the social
body. Such interaction implies a place in space and time,
or architecture.” 600
The seasonal sale dramatically changes the appearance
of shopping streets. What was once beautiful is now ugly, what
was expensive now costs only half for a certain period of time.
Sennett points out in his analysis of the Adonia that women
shaped a certain environment where they created meaning
within the context of the city in an interaction between body
motion and architectural space. He compared this performance
with poetry and the use of the metaphor. The metaphor combines
different words into a new word, whereas the new meaning
is detached from the individual meanings of the words
used. Sennett explains “metaphorical space” by using the example
of Adonia:
“In the ritual of the Adonia, space made the metaphor work.
Normally, fertility and childbearing legitimated women’s sexuality.
That a person should feel free while on a roof in July at night
surrounded by dead plants to speak to strangers about
her intimate desires is a bit odd; to combine these unlikely
elements together was metaphor’s spatial power. A ‘space
of metaphor’ refers, in a ritual, to a place in which people can
join unlike elements.” 601
For a certain duration of time, the order of the city is
invalidated. The myth replaces the logos. The storyteller is no
longer responsible for his words because he is just retelling
something he has only heard. This creates trust in a climate of
distrust. The shiny façade is transformed into darkness.
“The spaces of rituals created magic zones of mutual affirmation.
And all these powers of mythos affected the celebrating body,
599 Sennett (1996).
600 Jormakka (1995:22).
601 Sennett (1996:79).
Sacrifice
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