Håndvask og fællessang Ritualer og ritualiserede handlinger i Coronaens tid

Based on data from the COVID-19 survey this article investigates how the pandemic has influenced the performance of rituals in Denmark. Based on a theoretical account of a number of theories of ritual, we present a heuristic model of the five dimensions of ritual: (1) the efficacy of ritual;(2) the meaning of ritual;(3) the coping potential of ritual;(4) the social solidarity dimension of ritual;and (5) anxiety reducing dimension of ritual. These five dimensions are then used to interpret the results of the quantitative survey. In particular, we direct our attention to potential ritualized properties of new instrumental behavior such as hand sanitation;to changes in both collective and private rituals as well as to the new virtual rituals;and, in particular, on how virtual community singing has flourished as a ritual of social cohesion. We conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic only to a limited degree has influences the attitude towards and use of rituals, and that the huge popularity of virtual community singing during the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020 is the singular, most important ritual innovation. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

Historiske og teoretiske baggrunde for COVID-19-pandemiens påvirkning af den danske befolkning

In this article, we present the historical and theoretical context informing the investigation into how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced religiosity in Denmark. We have chosen four foci, each of which contributes to the formation of a historical and theoretical context. First, we embed representations of death within a broad horizon informed by history of religion and cultural history. Beginning with early Christianity's ascent in a cult of the dead and, later, a cult of saints, to the change from burials inside the church to graveyards, we track the coinciding weakening of representations of the afterlife in the modern era. This naturally leads to a discussion of two prior cases in which an epidemic has elicited reactions from Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark: The Cholera epidemic of 1853 and the Spanish Flu in 1918-20. Then we expand our line of inquiry to a more general discussion of how major theories in the Study of Religion have modelled the relation between religion, death and suffering. Following a short introduction to how the human consciousness of death has been conceived as a major causal factor in both the emergence and maintenance of religious beliefs and institutions by major theoreticians of religion, we discuss a number of more recent psychological and sociological theories, that have informed the theoretical foundation of our investigation. In order to capture the praxis dimension of religion, we shortly discuss the particular role of ritual, before, finally presenting the 16 research questions that informed the construction of our survey. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

COVID-19-krisen: Forløb og bekymringer

This article offers an overview over the political steps and containment proceedures during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark 2020. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.