Rito operante, rito morente. Folklore e psicopatologia nella Basilicata di Ernesto De Martino

This essay deals with the work of Ernesto De Martino (focusing on the essays Morte e pianto rituale and La terra del rimorso) in order to investigate the persistence of archaic rituality in contemporary civilization. In particular, a difference emerges between the rites that remain useful to overcome some critical situations, and those which result worthless, since they are deprived of their ancient contents. By these accounts, culture emerges as a “space” in which the internal conflict in society is reproduced, by questioning the researcher and the anthropologist about the nature of folklore and the urgency for society to evolve toward greater equity and social justice.