Harrigan, Michael (2019) Maritime ‘Baptism’: Chaos and Ceremony in the Early Atlantic. French History, 33 (1). pp. 24-43. ISSN 0269-1191. (doi:10.1093/fh/crz010) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:80131)
The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication) | |
Official URL https://doi.org/10.1093/fh/crz010 |
Abstract
Early modern ocean narratives frequently describe the ceremony of the baptême, a riotous collective practice which took place at the crossing of the Tropic of Cancer or the equator. Passengers and crew disguised themselves, imitated religious and mythological practices and gestures, swore to perpetuate the practice, and might even receive a new name. This maritime baptism sheds light on four aspects of early modern ceremony. Its practices cannot be readily assimilated to other popular festivities or ceremonial forms. It illustrates the value and limitations of critical paradigms of rite and ritual. There is also a tension between structural analytical models and the fluidity of maritime practices; these practices were further structured by a textual corpus. Ocean baptism, this article contends, was a ceremony that responded to the most fundamental upheavals in time and space, and may even have inspired a form of transcendence.
Item Type: | Article |
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DOI/Identification number: | 10.1093/fh/crz010 |
Uncontrolled keywords: | Baptism, ceremony, ritual, rite, Atlantic |
Subjects: |
D History General and Old World D History General and Old World > DC France |
Divisions: | Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of European Culture and Languages |
Depositing User: | Michael Harrigan |
Date Deposited: | 19 Feb 2020 12:58 UTC |
Last Modified: | 16 Feb 2021 14:11 UTC |
Resource URI: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/80131 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
Harrigan, Michael: | ![]() |
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