Rituals, Music, and the Landscape Metaphor

Abstract

In this commentary, we discuss two aspects of The Ritual Animal’s (2021) rich and multidimensional framework which may be further developed: the role of music and euphoric rituals within Harvey Whitehouse’s modes theory, and the use of the landscape model for studying sociocultural systems. We note the strong, cross-cultural association of music and religious rituals, consider the suitability of music for such practices, and suggest further research on how the use of music may accommodate both imagistic and doctrinal rituals. We then describe the social landscape model used by Whitehouse and consider his proposal to extend the model through the consideration of multiple landscapes at different levels. We accept his suggestion to explicitly include underlying and overlying networks of inputs but argue that since the interacting networks are not external to but constitutive of the landscape, a single landscape with multiple causal, constraining, and constitutive networks may better capture the integrated nature of social systems.

Interacting Networks in Social Landscapes: A Devo-Evo Approach to Socialcultural Dynamics

“…We need, however, to do more than translate the terms of Waddington's embryological landscape metaphor into the terms of social science. As we emphasized (Tavory et al, 2012Shilton & Jablonka, 2022), when translating and applying the metaphor to the social-cultural domain, we assume the following:…”

“…Following such transient bursts, orthodoxy is re-established and reaffirmed. Whitehouse suggested that employing the landscape metaphor suggested by Tavory et al (2012 and applying a multilevel landscape analysis that includes epigenetic, cognitive-developmental, and social-historical landscapes may elucidate the dynamics of social systems (for a discussion of this suggestion, see Shilton & Jablonka, 2022).…”

“…For the last decade, my colleagues and I suggested a qualitative, developmental system approach to social dynamics that is inspired by the biological insights and descriptive models constructed by CH Waddington, the founder of developmental systems biology, which, we believe, goes some way toward bridging this gap (Jablonka, 2016(Jablonka, , 2022Jablonka & Noble, 2019;Shilton & Jablonka, 2022;Tavory et al, 2012). The landscape model achieves this in two senses.…”