Purity and Danger

Dirt is something we often take for granted, but what does it really mean and why do we abhor it? For Douglas, the salient feature of dirt is that it is “matter out of place.” For example, a pair of mud-encrusted boots would not be considered dirty out of doors, but would be considered so indoors. The concept of dirt reflects man's need to categorize the things in the universe.

Douglas believes that the concept of dirt can be a bridge between modern and primitive cultures, since it is a thing both condemn—we for hygienic reasons, and they for religious reasons. Primitive societies, lacking modern scientific knowledge, had no concept of pollution as a bacterial phenomenon. Instead, for them, it had to do with non-belonging in a category, or illicit mixing of social classes, or contact with certain bodily functions.

Danger is inherent in the transgression of purity rules. For modern society, the danger of contagion and disease is caused by contact with germs. In primitive societies without access to modern science, the danger often took forms that modern people would term superstition, such as the belief that adultery could cause physical harm to the husband or the wife's baby. Witches were believed to be people capable of summoning up evil forces in the universe. Primitive peoples believed that the universe had a personal dimension and responded to human activity with rewards or punishment.

For Douglas, ritual is a universal human feature, found in every society and culture. Ritual helps human beings accomplish several things. First, it provides a frame for experience; it focuses our attention on certain things, thus creating a mood of receptivity for a particular experience. Secondly, it sharpens our perception and aids our actions by calling our attention to outward symbols, much like a mnemonic device. Yet ritual does not merely explain experience; it can also formulate or create it. As an example, Douglas cites the power of language to form our conceptions of things. We often think of ritual as instrumental and mechanical, like Aladdin and his magic lamp. But for Douglas, the true value of ritual is not in producing material results but in forming experience and making assertions about the nature of universe.

One provocative aspect of Douglas’s book is her defense of the use of the word “primitive” for cultures and societies. She has her own personal interpretation of the word, however, one that is not at all condescending or disparaging. She defines “primitive” society as undifferentiated, unselfconscious, and holding a view of the cosmos as personal and responsive to human action. As society becomes more modern, it becomes more differentiated, complex, and self-aware. Douglas advocates taking an evenhanded and critical attitude toward both primitive and modern societies. She rejects the notion that primitive cultures are irrational and guided by fear; equally, she rejects the notion that modern society is totally guided by science and devoid of symbol or ritual.

A taboo is defined in Webster's Dictionary as “a prohibition or interdiction of something; exclusion from use or practice.” Earlier anthropologists treated taboo as an irrational and bizarre feature of primitive societies. Douglas instead presents it as a “spontaneous device for protecting the distinctive categories of the universe” (xi). Taboo is a way of dealing with things that are felt to be ambiguous or anomalous. Not always inspired by “fear,” taboos reinforce the consensus of a society on how the world is organized.