Liturgical and Sacramental Theology and Practice: Ritual Poetics

Dear Colleagues,

Under the term “poetics”, it is possible to bring together very diverse realities, ranging from poetry in the strictest sense to the enhancement of a certain dimension of things which, in the absence of better words to describe it, we call poetic. It would be the characteristic of a particular literary genre but possible to be found well beyond the confines of the text in other realities. The concentration on the proper meaning of the term seems to presuppose the distinction concerning the broad meaning: within a variegated universe of genres, certain texts are considered poetic because of their form or, at least, of certain characteristics giving them the same “family resemblance”. The possibility of considering the broad meaning seems to be based on the intuition of the meaning or the value of the poetic without necessarily linking it to a concrete form. Then arises the question of the relationship between the forms of poetry and the intuition of the “poetic” meaning of the world and life.

The poetic meaning would go beyond the forms of poetry so that poetry would imply an openness to transcendence. Hence the links with religion and rituality. The liturgy can indeed become the framework of poetic texts in the proper sense, but above all, it seems to imply a perception of the totality capable of seizing and ordering the different aspects of life. In this sense, liturgy or rituality seems to constitute a laboratory where one experiences the connection between form and content, function and horizon of meaning. The poetic dimension of the liturgy cannot be limited to the recourse to poetry. It must summon some experience of intuition of meaning; at the same time, no such experience can be referred to despite some poetic language.

The “poetic” would then be understood under the evocation of Aristotle. It would be a “symphonic” form of language, linking text, sound, and action. In this sense, the poetic would be situated in the order of both staging and articulating different language resources, approaching the world of ritualization and performance. Is the poem written to be read by a transcendental subject or by a living community? How to situate the poem in relation to orality? In this way, the questioning of the relationship between form and meaning becomes complex. The form is not reduced to the textual form, but it consists of the life of the text, and the intuition of meaning opens up to the possibility of being declined in terms of intersubjectivity; that is to say, as participation in meaning through participation in form. Following Nietzsche, should this participation be “Apollonian” or “Dionysian”?

Even if it would be possible to accept that ritual language is necessarily poetic, the specialization of forms within autonomous systems seems to be the main characteristic of modernity. Thus, both poetic language and ritual language seek to define themselves without being confused with each other. In this sense, accepting, without more, that poetry would possess traits of rituality and that liturgy would include poetic dimensions does not constitute a starting point nor evidence; such acceptance cannot be taken for granted and must be questioned. We can speak of poetry in the proper sense because secularization has come to separate the experience of the world and life from that of religion. Secularization has come to cut the links among language, perception of the world, and language of the transmission of faith. Poetry then developed as a pure form (moreover, similar to all the arts) in the sense of self-referentiality. Religious language reacted by specializing as an expressive vehicle of the truths of faith, reducing not only poetry but also liturgy to a pure dogmatic function. Poetry would mean nothing, or at least nothing external to its own play. On the other hand, the signifieds of liturgy would all be found elsewhere. Hence the impression of conflict around poetic language in a religious liturgical setting. It is as a pure form that poetry takes the place of the ritual experience, appropriating the dimension of self-referentiality of the rite. A representative liturgy, either of objective dogmas or of subjective experiences, can only distort the poetic and ritual experience. However, the authors of the Liturgical Movement of the 20th century pleaded for the enhancement of the experiential dimension of the liturgy, paving the way for active participation and the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. In this context, one of the issues concerns precisely the liturgical language, called to renew itself sometimes in the sense of a new impetus of poetic creativity, sometimes in the sense of a fall back into the prosaic, sometimes opening up to the contemplation of “things from above”, sometimes inviting to political engagement and social transformation, sometimes accentuating a particular identity, and sometimes inviting encounters between religions. To what extent poetry (or what sort of poetry) can join ritual is far from clear.

The present issue of the journal Religions will welcome contributions on poetry and poetics in Liturgical and Sacramental Theology and Ritual Studies. More concretely, we will accept contributions that seek:

- To deploy the problematic, expanding questions such as: What is the importance of poetics for liturgy and sacraments? Does rituality help to grasp poetics? To what extent do poetics contribute to the understanding of the liturgy, the sacraments, and the rites in general? What is the “state of the art”? Are there historical paradigms to consider, and in what sense?

- To employ innovative interdisciplinary methodological approaches to the poetic dimensions of liturgy and sacraments. In this case, the questions to be addressed are: How to identify the poetic aspects of liturgical and sacramental rituals? How to analyze them? To what extent is it possible to speak of a ritual dimension of poetry? How to enter it? How to advance knowledge in this area? What are the disciplines and perspectives to be mobilized?

- To analyze current or historical case studies, illustrating, among other things:

i) Poetry and poetic language in a liturgical, sacramental, or ritual context;

ii) Relationships between (poetic) form and (liturgical/ritual) function;

iii) Dynamics involving poetry, sound manifestations, and gestural aspects of rites;

iv) Poetic dimensions of ritual upstream and downstream of verbal language and textual codification;

v) Ritual aspects of poetry.

- To make critical reviews of relevant works on the subject, in particular recent publications.

Practical instructions:

Evaluation criteria:

Relevance: The proposal is in line with the theme of the issue and falls within one of the four proposed lines (deployment of the problem, development of methodological approaches, case studies, and critical reviews).

Clarity: The proposal is well-formulated, and its purpose is understandable; the written expression is of good quality.

Scientific character: The proposal elaborates on the state of the art and demonstrates the possibility of advancing knowledge.

Proposed schedule:

First announcement: 24 May 2023

Reception of proposals: 14 July 2023

First deadline: 30 September 2023

Second announcement: 9 October 2023

Second deadline: 31 January 2024

Expected publication time: Spring 2024

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 100–200 words summarizing their intended contribution and how it will correspond to the three evaluation criteria, indicating also which line or lines (from the four proposed) it will rejoin. Please send your proposal to the Guest Editor, Prof. Dr. Ângelo Cardita (angelo.cardita@ftsr.ulaval.ca), and CC the Assistant Editor, Ms. Joyce Xi (joyce.xi@mdpi.com) by 14 July 2023. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Prof. Dr. Ângelo Cardita
Guest Editor

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• liturgy
• poetry
• poetics
• ritual
• sacrament