ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 introduces the background and definition of the word taboo using the socioanthropological definitions of Fraser (1922), Steiner (1956), Eliade, (1958a,b), Radcliffe-Brown (1952), Douglas, (1966), van Gennep (1960), Levi-Strauss (1963), Turner (1964, 1969), amongst others. It expands on the early voyages of discovery and gives a brief etymology of the term (Steiner, 1956). I give a brief account of my interest in taboo and give chapter outlines that stress the interdisciplinary nature of this enquiry, which include anthropological, mythic, psychosocial, political, and depth psychological perspectives. I extend the original definition of taboo as imitative and homeopathic magic defined by Fraser and state the methodology I use to explore taboo's multifaceted nature as an archetypal, in-between, affective, liminal anomaly. This status exists not only in its relation between academic definitions but stresses its ambiguity, in general, as a marker and spotlight for sudden, unexpected risk imbued in change as a dangerous anomaly that affects the individual and collective status values. I stress the creative, positive aspects of taboo, which have been neglected, and highlight the important function of taboo in rites of passage as a protective container.
