Ritual Archives

Abstract

In this chapter, Falola critically deploys the term “archives” in relation to rituals as a means of challenging the conventions of Western archives, namely, what is deemed worthy of preservation and organization as data, whether or not it is interpreted at any given moment. The intervention of this chapter is not to restrict archives inside the location of the library or university or museum. Falola seeks to apply the techniques and resources of academic archives to rituals so that there can be greater preservation and valuation. Furthermore, Falola adds the metaphorical and mystical sense of “archive” as well, one that does not exclusively require residence in the academy. In the chapter, Falola insists that we must never lose sight of that dimension of the archive that is never (fully) collected but retains power and agency in invisible ways. Falola then offers a provocative exploration of the category of “archive” itself, coupled with the revolutionary insistence on expanding our understanding of it through an elevation of the significance of ritual as a name for a large component of cultural meaning making.

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