The Disappearance of Rituals. Byung-Chul Han
34
38 35
39 36
40 37
41 38
42 39
43 40
44 41
45 42
46 43
47 44
48 45
49 46
50 47
51 48
52 49
53 50
54 51
55 52
56 53
57 54
58 55
59 56
60 57
61 58
62 59
63 60
64 61
65 62
66 63
67 64
68 65
69 66
70 67
71 68
72 69
73 70
74 71
75 72
76 73
77 74
78 75
79 76
80 77
81 78
82 79
83 80
84 81
85 82
86 83
87 84
88 85
89 86
90 87
91 88
92 89
93 99
94 100
95 101
96 102
97 103
98 104
99 105
The Disappearance of Rituals
A Topology of the Present
Byung-Chul Han
Translated by Daniel Steuer
polity
Copyright © Byung-Chul Han 2020
First published in German as Vom Verschwinden der Rituale by Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH 2019
This English edition © 2020 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
101 Station Landing
Suite 300
Medford, MA 02155, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4277-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com
PRELIMINARY REMARK
The present essay is not animated by a desire to return to ritual. Rather, rituals serve as a background against which our present times may be seen to stand out more clearly. Avoiding nostalgia, I sketch a genealogy of their disappearance, a disappearance which, however, I do not interpret as an emancipatory process. Along the way, the pathologies of the present day will become visible, most of all the erosion of community. At the same time, I offer reflections on different forms of life that might be able to free our society from its collective narcissism.
1 The Compulsion of Production
Rituals are symbolic acts. They represent, and pass on, the values and orders on which a community is based. They bring forth a community without communication; today, however, communication without community prevails. Rituals are constituted by symbolic perception. Symbol (Greek: symbolon) originally referred to the sign of recognition between guest-friends (tessera hospitalis). One guest-friend broke a clay tablet in two, kept one half for himself and gave the other half to another as a sign of guest-friendship. Thus, a symbol serves the purpose of recognition. This recognition is a particular form of repetition:
But what is recognition? It is surely not merely a question of seeing something for the second time. Nor does it imply a whole series of encounters. Recognition means knowing something as that with which we are already acquainted. The unique process by which man ‘makes