semiotic definition of transgressive sacrality

An outline of a semiotic definition of the (efficacy of the) ‘sacred’ including such (non-) entities as ‘God’ may be found in R. A. Rappaport, "Concluding comments on ritual and reflexivity," Semiotica 30-1/2 (1980):181–193. The difficulty of distinguishing transgressive sacrality from mere sacrilege without a dialectical approach to the symbolic system is well illustrated by J.-P. Vernant’s treatment of "The Pure and the Impure" in Myth and Society in Ancient Greece (Sussex: Harvester Press, and New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1980), pp.110–29. Compare the dialectic of interdiction and transgression outlined in my "Semiotic Definition of Transgressive Sacrality," in Sunthar Visuvalingam, "The Transgressive Sacrality of the D�kshita: Sacrifice, Bhakti and Criminality in the Hindu Tradition," in Alf Hiltebeitel, ed., Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees (Albany: Suny Press, 1989), pp.427–62.. In his address entitled "The Center for the Study of World Religions: Vision and Future" (24 October 1991; ), Ronald F. Thiemann, Dean of the Harvard Divinity School, pleaded for a semiotic approach as the way out from the current impasse in the dialogue between religious studies, as an academic discipline, and the work of theological reflection proper.