Books and Texts as Iconic and Ritual Utensils

This mini-collection concerns the kinds of affective power (and in what ways they perform that power) certain books or texts wield in specific social contexts. These are distinct from regular books in that they carry an aura of authority and symbolism for those who perceive them as emblems of a larger cultural, philosophical or religious reality. They are objects whose materiality and physical presence is made emphatic through different forms of display, decoration and decorum and their participation is considered essential for the proper performance and execution of ritual, liturgical or devotional behavior. They are also books and texts whose semantic dimension (content, message) is probably also deemed to be authoritative and/or divinely inspired -- or divinely authored -- and where semantic meaning is embodied in the physical attributes of the book.