In this project two researchers will study ritual performances among a traditional island people of Indonesia. Using the technology of video recording, the research will document the differences between visual and verbal communication during these ceremonies, and analyze the differences by showing the videotapes to the participants and other members of the culture to have them comment on and analyze the ceremony. The PIs will then return to the US to edit their film into a briefer, more coherent vision of the ceremonies, and then return to the field to show their visual "model" of the ceremonies to the participants and other members of the culture for comment, analysis, and discussion. This "recursive" method of analyzing the communication content of the ceremonies is innovative and should produce significant results. This research is important because the meaning of rituals to participants is a complex, difficult thing to study; yet rituals define people's identity, and are key items of cultural analysis. This research will develop an interactive, videotape-based methodology which may advance our understanding of ritual in general through the analysis of ritual in one Indonesian society.
