Sacrifice and the problem of beginning: Meditations from Sakalava mythopraxis

Abstract

This article addresses the general problem of beginning in human thought and action. It argues for complementing the emphasis on transition in the analysis of ritual with attention to beginning and for supplementing the relative passivity of liminality with the resoluteness of initiating action, while also attending to both the transitive and intransitive aspects of beginning itself. Drawing from representations of the foundation of a Sakalava monarchy in Madagascar, the article presents sacrifice as an exemplary form of beginning. Describing sacrifice in this manner obviates the need for any theory of sacrifice while offering new insights on the gift, ethical personhood, and the temporality of tradition. © Royal Anthropological Institute 2007.