The Sacred Oath of a Secret Ritual: Performing Authority and Submission in the Mafia Initiation Ceremony

This paper draws on socio-anthropological theories of ritual and performance to analyse the initiation ceremony of the Sicilian mafia in relation to questions of power, authority and submission. In particular, it looks at the oath of loyalty sworn during the ceremony as a highly symbolic ritual prac...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rossella Merlino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Edinburgh 2013-12-01
Series:Forum
Online Access:http://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/685