Recognition, Affectivity and Emotivity

Abstract

This chapter aims to explore the phenomenon of relational rituals from cognitive perspectives, first by focusing on how in-group ritual practices are recognised in interaction, and then by examining their affective and emotive effect on the interactants. There is a fundamental link between these cognitive aspects due to the interactional nature of in-group rituals, and the cognitive unpredictability they imply. As the present chapter will argue, as in-group rituals tend to be interactionally (co-)constructed, it is difficult to establish (a) whether a ritual practice remains un/recognised or not, and (b) exactly how it triggers affectivity and emotions and what type of feelings it triggers specifically. Let us recall here the terminological distinction made in Chapter 1, relying on Gonzâlez et al. (1998): ‘emotion’ stands for an internal individual response and ‘affection’ refers to a process of social interaction.