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The most important Toraja rituals and their current form
Budimanová, Michaela ; Oberfalzerová, Alena (advisor) ; Dubovská, Zorica (referee) ; Remešová, Blanka Michaela (referee)
The presented doctoral thesis called The Most Important Toraja Rituals and Their Current Form deals with the ethnic group of Toraja, who inhabit the province of Tana Toraja, located in the southern part of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The work presents Toraja culture with a focus on two of the most important rituals - funerals and weddings. The goal is to outline the original form of these rituals and to capture the major social and religious changes in Toraja society since the Dutch missionaries first entered the area of present day Tana Toraja at the beginning of the 20th century. The Dutch introduced Christianity to the Toraja people, who until then adhered to their autochthonous religion Aluk Todolo. Almost all of the Toraja people gradually converted to Christianity, though they did not fully leave behind their original customs. In this work, I advert to how much the newly accepted Christianity influenced contemporary Toraja rituals, with an emphasis on the shift in their form and meaning. The work is based mostly on the field research; I implemented the method of concentrated observation. I also conducted and recorded many interviews with local people. After returning from the field, I analysed all of the collected text, voice, and video materials. Based on its analysis and the specialized...
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