ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author demonstrates how mimetic and performative processes play a central role in the creation and circulation of emotions in rituals. Following the clarification of some concepts, which are important for his arguments, he explains, using the example of Michael Jackson's funeral, how rituals create emotions in mimetic and performative processes, which due to their uniqueness and intensity are remembered by the participants. In this example, the author illustrates that rituals are very important for the creation and circulation of emotions. Memory and remembrance, emotions and rituals are closely intertwined. Rituals are important social practices during which emotions are registered in the memory in order to make them memorable. In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the O2 Arena to watch the TV performance of the funeral ritual and felt united in mourning. This ritual that was broadcasted all over the world fascinated people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
