Risk and Ritual: An Interpretation of Fishermen's Folklore in a New England Community

AMONG CERTAIN GROUPS and in certain behavioral settings in the United States, there is a greater use of ritual magic than is generally characteristic of the whole society. Coal miners and fishermen as well as rodeo performers and gamblers are in occupations and situations that are replete with ritual magic. These groups and situations have in common a high degree of uncertainty associated with them. The retention of rituals in these cases, in an otherwise highly secularized society, functions to bridge the gaps of uncertainty. This interpretation is based on the classical theoretical formulation proposed by Bronislaw Malinowski. Malinowski first related magic to different types of risks; the risks were associated with the interrelationship between technology and habitat in fishing activities among the Trobriand Islanders. Concerning fishing among the Trobrianders he states: