Communitas and Structure
Turner proclaims that there is a relation between communitas
and structure. According to Image and Pilgrimage he sees their relations
through transition/state; totality, partiality/ homogeneity/heterogeneity and a
host of other attributes. I agree that the two relate to one another in those obvious attributes. I disagree with the idea that they
can/are similar – not that Turner was trying to make that argument. I am simply
opposing my own argument from first learning about communitas and structure.
In the beginning I felt that communitas and structure where
one in the same but as the semester progressed I started to understand the
differences. Within structure there is hierarchy, power, authority, politics,
and the haves versus the have nots. Structure means that there are rules to be
followed, and things set in place to keep familiarity – much like our world
today. There is no freedom to truly live as you want to or how the holy calls
you to live. Communitas, on the other hand, is not about that. Communitas
garners the freedom to simply be. In communitas life is encountered and
experienced to a degree that cannot be compared to any other. Participants in
communitas are all equal, there is no one above or below and the normal
constraints placed on inhabitants no longer exist. There is freedom to explore
not only outside but within the being that you can be.
As I continue to think about communitas and structure I wonder
if I can create communitas in my own life. Or Would that be me attempting to
structure the unstructureable? Probably...
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