The Life of Rituals during the Pandemic: The Ritual Year SIEF WG Roundtable at the SIEF 2021 Congress

Abstract

This paper is an unconventional review of the online roundtable meeting under the heading “Perf 03c: Old Rituals, Changing Environments, New Rules III”, which took place on 23 June 2021, during the 15th Congress of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF), titled “Breaking the Rules? Power, Participation, Transgression”. It includes an analytic introduction and the edited transcript of the roundtable discussion. This roundtable concluded the work of two previous panels organised by the SIEF Ritual Year Working Group, narrowing the discussions to the impact the recent COVID-19 pandemic had on the ritual year. Scholars from nine countries discussed issues related to the changes in the lifecycle and calendric rituals brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through various case studies and auto-ethnographic observations, participants considered the changes in social and individual experiences; the increased interest of the society in the essence of rituals; rethinking of the emotional component of daily routine and festive events; the way ritual participants and researchers adapted to the restrictions imposed by local authorities; changes and negotiations of the ritual space; new business proposals related to the ritual sphere, as a response to the restrictions; and the use of new technologies in the ritual contexts.