Fusion Of Fragmented Local Aesthetic Experience Through Rituals

Local Aesthetic experience is an important theoretical category raised by aesthetic anthropology in context of globalization. Local Aesthetic experience has independent and complete system of symbols and symbolic system, plays a role of distinction identity and resistance in the growing homogenization of culture, forms deep spiritual and emotional exchanges, maintain the cultural diversity and difference. However, in the aesthetic generalization, fragmented post-modern wave, local aesthetic experience encounters the division and fragmentation.As an important way of human life, and also as "significant learning" of Anthropology, rituals are very important in the aesthetic anthropology research. Besides, rituals play an special role in the process of modernization and globalization, as a kind of human activities which have significant local characteristics. Therefore, in the study of local aesthetic experience, it is necessary to study the rituals of local group.In "The Interpretation of Cultures:Selected Essays", Geertz suggested that we can grasp the underlying social and cultural context by in depth interpreting signification of culture phenomena or text, the so-called "thick description". For the complex interpretation of aesthetic symbols in local aesthetic experience, Geertz's "thick description" is an effective research strategy of anthropological theory.The film "Cape No.7" and "Avatar" provide an opportunity of "thick description". The two films have prominent box office revenues and are very topical, they have distinctive local aesthetic characteristics, and respectively represent the two ways in which globalization undermine the integrity of local aesthetic experience:a moderate erosion and violent destruction. Therefore, the two films can be important samples of the division and integration of local aesthetic experience because of their representativeness and readability, and they also become the objects of deep description in this paper.With music anthropologists'theories of ritual music, the music rituals in "Cape No.7" can be deep described, and with anthropological theories about initiation rite, the initiation rite in "Avatar" can also be deep described. And by "deep description" it can be showed that as typical representatives of the division of local aesthetic experience, people in Hengchun gain integrality in music ritual. And the process that the leading role Sally in "Avatar" who represents the fragmentation of local aesthetic experience grows from a disrupted "human being" to a integrate "Na'vi" can be also showed.Therefore, taking "Cape No.7" and "Avatar" as samples, the division and fragmentation of local aesthetic experience in the context of globalization and in fragmented post-modern wave, the process in which local aesthetic experience integrates in rituals and the healing effect caused by integration can be "deep described". Rituals, as an important way of social composition since the birth of human, can fix the rupture with tradition in the time dimension for local group, the rupture with others and collectivity in the spatial dimension, and the rupture with transcendental world in the transcendental dimension. However, the integration and fixing function of ritual depend on the construction of aesthetic symbols and symbolic system, and are finished in the process of shaping individual's aesthetic psychological structure and aesthetic emotion. Although rituals have infiltrated in our daily lives, but the rituals around us has become more and more flat and commercial. From the great success of "Cape No.7" and "Avatar", it can be found that only the rituals which grows out of the local aesthetic experience can play a big role in the integration of division local aesthetic experience.