In our class discussion today we discussed the three different models of pilgrimage and their connection to the Kevin Roose book. But this critical thinking got me thinking, can we use this method of comparison to things we find interesting? In short, yes. I was watching Prince of Persia, a new Disney movie that just came out on dvd, and it occurred to me that this movie seems like a pilgrimage on the surface. But, is it really a pilgrimage by the three models?
I find the Turner’s model most easy to understand. Their model describes pilgrimage as a four step process. The first step is leaving the world of convention. Dastan, the main character, does this when he flees from Persia after being accused of killing his father. The next step is the creation of anti-structure but it also is where the limen, threshold, is crossed. In the movie, his anti-structure and even the limen come when he uses the dagger’s mystical sand. Once he knows the truth about the dagger then he realizes how powerful it is and how much it needs protecting.
The third step is the communitas and Dastan forms this with Princess Tamina when they form an alliance to take the dagger to a place where it is safe. Also, one can argue a point that when Dastan and Tamina team up with Shiek Amar and his group of men that their communitas is complete. The last and final step is the return and in order to do this one must go through a metaphorical death. Dastan does this when he and Nizam, his evil uncle, push the dagger into the sandglass and unleash the sands of time. In this scene we see the sand and fire woosh around them as they “go back in time.” When Dastan closes the hilt on the top of the dagger and stops it he is returned to a time before this quest even took place and he has the knowledge from the past to help him right the wrong before it happens.
He did achieve the Turner’s idea when he did all of this for he went to a far place to better know himself and what he was capable of. In this sense, loosely, Prince of Persia can be equated to a pilgrimage by the Turner model. In my opinion, the Turner’s model is the easiest to understand and equate things to. Although the Turner model can loosely prove it is a pilgrimage that doesn’t mean the Eliade model or the Epilogue model will.
According to Eliade pilgrimage is having a sacred space, which is a physical location, and destructing the chaos that comes yearly in order to keep the space sacred. Eliade also mentions that sacred space must involve a sacrifice and that there is a navel of the earth which is the center. So, the example in Prince of Persia of sacred space would be Persia. The navel of that Earth is the castle and the destruction of chaos is when Dastan confronts his uncle on the plot to kill his father, the king. Dastan explains their attack was a plot set up by their uncle and his brothers and he should beg the forgiveness of Tamina and her people as he knows if the plot is to continue many will die before the truth is revealed.
He actually does “kill” the chaos when his uncle and he fight and he kills him. The sacrifice described can be looked at in one of two ways. Many people in Dastan’s life: his father, his best friend, and his brothers are all killed by people trying to get to Dastan or trying to frame Dastan. In this sense, they are the sacrifice that needs to be found in order for Dastan to find the truth and reverse time to set things straight. Another way to look at a sacrifice in order to save the sacred space is when Dastan kills himself in order to get Tus, his oldest brother, to see the truth of the dagger and save Persia from having Nisam as the next king. I think the first explanation of sacrifice is a better example but both have their positive attributes to the pilgrimage. So, although the Turner’s model seems to fit better as a pilgrimage the Eliade model works pretty well too.
According to Eade and Sallnow, pilgrimage is a competition of competing ideas. In a broad way this fits the movie because it seems to jump around in spots. Also, in a sense the fight between the Persians and the people of Allamut can be considered a metaphor for competition and the story given to the princes and the actual story would be competing ideas because only one is the truth and it takes the whole movie and a big journey for Dastan to see the truth. This seems to show his character growth. Epilogue also talks of a universal quest for self. Dastan and Tamina do this when they go off on their quest. The whole journey is a series of defining moments for Dastan and it really makes him grow as a character.
According to the epilogue reading, there are two approaches to pilgrimage: descriptive and analytical. The descriptive approach is more appealing to historians because it counts the particularities. In contrast, the analytical is more appealing to anthropologists because it counts generalities. In simpler terms, the analytical approach is a general widespread approach. The descriptive is more historical and defined. Because of this I want to say that the analytical approach if I have my information correct is more fitting because the Prince of Persia story is not historical or direct it is more widespread and general. I believe this because that general story line has been used over and over for many, many movies and television shows.
In conclusion, while some approaches and descriptions of pilgrimage are less fitting than others, it cannot be debated that this film, along with many other, is a pop cultural example of pilgrimage. I believe the Turner model is the best description of Dastan and Tamina’s pilgrimage in the film, but I think all in all it is a great way to think of pilgrimage in an entertaining way.
For more information: Epilogue is from “Pilgrimage” by Simon Cloeman and John Elsner and it is the actual epilogue from the book. The turner model is from "Pilgrimage as Liminoid Phenomenon" by Victor Turner. Also, the Eliade model is from "Sacred Space and Making the World Sacred" from Mircea Eliade's The Sacred and the Profane.
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