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Abstract:
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Everyday life offers individuals the possibility of establishing different social interactions that, in their turn, constitute the framework for various social actions/practices. These practices are subject of the individuals' interpretations (they are considered as "reflections" of reality) and get a sense for the members of the community individuals live in. At the same time, all these practices are based on different types of semiotic resources (words, gestures, visual patterns) and semiotic settings (homes, work places, restaurants). Thus, individually or through joint efforts, people make meanings of such practices. The analysis of semiotic practices brings into discussion the concept of contextualization, as each of the semiotic signs gets a meaning only in the context in which it appears, being in a close relationship with all the other signs and the social actors using them. The verbal and nonverbal signs contribute to the display of attitudes, feelings and values, that is, to the shaping of individuals' identities.
Social life is a network of rites, ceremonies, conventions and celebrations (birth, marriage, promotions, resignations, and religious holidays). They differ in their degree of formality, number of participants, degree of spontaneity and type of audience.
The main distinction - that interests us - is between the community rites (studied by anthropology) and the micro-rituals (studied by communication sciences), whose characteristic is the fact that they are socially and culturally integrated.
The paper is an analysis of wedding ceremony in Romania and India, in an attempt of establishing cultural similarities and differences.
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Publication Info:
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Proceedings of the First Conference Communication and Argumentation in the Public Sphere (Vol.1): Public versus Provate Space, Galati University Press, ISSN 1843-7893, 2007, pp. 202-212.
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