Six studies in African anthropology by Max Gluckman
Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Manchester
5-The Licence of Ritual
In his attempt to interpret the situation of the Roman priest-king who had to defend his life against his would-be successor, Sir James Frazer went on to consider ceremonies in which people of lower social categories are made temporary kings, in which women act as men and men act as women, and so forth. In this lecture Professor Gluckman interprets similar situations in African societies, showing how these rites of reversal-which include a protest against the established order--are intended to preserve and even to strengthen that order.