Rostova, N. N. The Sacral as a Non-Structured Anthropological Space

Abstract: According to the author of the article, there are the two basic approaches to defining the sacral. Based on the first approach, the sacral is understood as an anthropological structure, the second approach views the sacral as a nonstructured anthropological phenomenon. In her article Rostova analyzes the classification of anthropological space which is the most common in Europe. In this classification the sacral plays the role of the primary shapeless givenness confined by the structure. Based on Rostova, that approach was practiced by Sigmund Freud, Georges Bataille, Roger Caillois, William Turner, Mary Douglas and Rene Girard. Rostova carries out a critical analysis of their theories. Analysis of theories of the sacral has allowed Rostova to find the invariant and define the main conceptual problems associated with it. The common ideas typical for this approach include the concept of taboo as something to be broken; the concepts of holiday as a sacral time for committing a crime, of a victim as a waste not allowed at the usual time and of a rhythm allowing the sacral to happen in the course of time. Among the most serious theoretical issues of this approach, the author names the following: inability to differentiate human from an animal and, therefore, to prove the need for the non-structured within a structure; and combination of the chaos of anti-structure and the concepts of consciousness and sociality.

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