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To review, Shinto rituals, viewed as
structured, artful performances, exemplify the tension between
ideal pattern and concrete instance and are sometimes
transformative by means of liminal phases. Further, our
understanding of these formal and liminal features can be aided by
consulting the related aesthetic theories that explore them as
they operate in the fine arts. It remains to make good on our
original claim that the formalist and liminal features of art are
related to ritual's role in purification.
Here is our argument: art, by its very nature, has ample
resources for mirroring or imaging purity as it is envisioned in
the Shinto tradition. This is because there is a surprisingly
exact correspondence of structure between the Shinto concept of
purity and the formal features of art (in this case, Shinto ritual
art). The concept of purity in Shinto has three logical
features. First, it establishes the distinction between the pure
and the impure. Second, in the context of the tradition there is a
difference in value between the two: purity is better than
impurity. Third, the two contrasting states are related in a
specific way. Compared to the pure, the impure has accretions or
blemishes that are in principle removable; this is the
relationship alluded to by the metaphor of the dust-covered
mirror. In bare logical terms, there are two opposite, contrary
notions or states, one of which is in context to be preferred to
the other; and lastly, the lesser state can be viewed as blemished
or as containing superfluous elements compared to the former.
That the formal features of art share this same structure can be
seen from what has already been said. Formalism describes a family
of distinctions - form vs. content, pattern vs. instance, or
underlying structure vs. surface expression. Further, the above
examples emphasize the unequal relation between the paired
elements. We contrasted the perfect musical form (score) with the
possibly flawed performance, and the divine "uselessness" of art
with the utilitarian concerns of mundane living, and the formal
ritual sequences with their actual instantiation. Over and over,
the pattern/instance structure of the formal ritual art of Shinto
repeats and reinforces differences between the ideal or pure and
that which is irrelevant, deformed, inessential, i.e., impure.
Also, since liminality is a distinct and widespread power of
ritual art, and since it creates an extra-mundane effect, it
shares with formal features a similar relation to the idea of
purity. Liminal phases of ritual are experienced as compelling and
out-of-the-ordinary, with their own sense of time and space. The
participants return from them as from a journey. More importantly,
because liminal experience involves temporarily stripping away
some of the normal social ties and conventions, it is a fitting
representation of purification-as-recoverable. Though one does not
live permanently in a liminal state, it can afford a glimpse of a
more fundamental level of community not encumbered by convention,
hypocrisy, or undue self-interest. All this is reinforced by the
clearly delineated visual appearance of the ritual setting and the
uncomplicated order of service.
Our claim is not that a ritual can merely exhort us to purity, or
allude to pure actions, though it may well do these things.
Rather, something more fundamental about artistic expression -
having to do with its essential nature and powers--allows Shinto
ritual art to image the traditional idea of purity.
We have used the word "image" in the phrase "Art images purity" to
indicate a complex, multi-layered situation. To begin with, we are
all familiar with what ritual "images" can do; they are, for
example, the fitting gestures of the dancer, the priest's hypnotic
intonations, and the visual expressions of settings and costumes.
In the present case, such images can not only refer to purity,
they can be compelling to both heart and mind, and they can also
reveal something of the nature of purity by displaying its
constituents and their relationships. This latter point can be
illustrated by a cinematic example: there is a moving scene in Wim
Wenders' film Paris Texas, during which a woman welcomes her
brother-in-law into her home after his unexplained absence of many
years. The camera looks down on them from the landing above as she
tentatively and silently puts her arm on his shoulder. It is a
unique and powerful gesture, evoking the universality of welcoming
a lost family member, but expressing as well the uncertainty and
reserve she feels toward him. That is, it not only moves us but
also reveals the structure of her conflicting emotions.
But this does not yet reach the point we are making in the present
essay, for we are not talking about the ritual image per se and
what it can do, but about certain universal or widespread features
of the arts that underlie and condition such images and account in
part for their power. These underlying conditions make art
possible. If our argument about the formalist and liminal features
of Shinto ritual is correct, some of these conditions, e.g., the
distinctions between pattern and performance, or between liminal
and ordinary - share a common form with the purity/ impurity
distinction and thus also provide a compelling expression and
structural description of the Shinto ideal. The arts of ritual are
well placed, therefore, to mirror or provide images of purity, and
this not by accident, but because of some of their most
fundamental and unique features.
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