DEFINING RHYTHM - ASPECTS OF AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF RHYTHM

This paper outlines the relevance of the idea of rhythm to cultural an thropology, with specific suggestions for a medical anthropology of rh ythm. By reconsidering the fluid nature of the concept of rhythm in or dinary language, the paper defines rhythm functionally in terms of a t emporal order that anticipates, suspends and fulfills on the level of the visceral, physical, ecological, institutional as well as the moral . Although the paper identifies most explicitly the link between the b odily and social rhythm, it tries to suggest a cosmic background in th e interaction of the social and bodily rhythms. The paper is divided i nto three parts: 1) the general problem of defining rhythm, 2) the con cept of rhythm from its origin, and 3) the concept of rhythm in cultur al theory since Durkheim. Further readings in particular reference to medical anthropology are often indicated in the notes.