A metasynthetic framework and generative grammar for modeling anthropological theories of ritual symbolic systems, reversible into an ontology generator

In this paper I argue that there are many paths forward for a problem that often seems to have no solution at all: the methodological, theoretical, and analytical distinctions that drive the many distinct modes of doing anthropology. The approach I describe aims to help trace dense resonances between branches of anthropological theory that often seem categorically distinct and to add precision, depth, and ultimately generativity to the points at which they are in fact distinct. I do this by introducing a new metatheoretical framework and generative grammar for understanding the relationships between theories of ritual and social process. The starting point for this is the differences themselves between competing or distinct kinds of theory. By developing two multimodal axes, expressing high-dimensional rather than binary forms of differences, a much higher-dimensional, generative space opens up for finding productive resonances and tensions across wide domains of inquiry, ultimately helping to build generative forms of reflexivity for each.