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The Culture of The Bohemian Grove: The Dramaturgy of Power
The Culture of The Bohemian Grove: The Dramaturgy of Power
The Culture of The Bohemian Grove: The Dramaturgy of Power
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Michigan Sociological Review
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James Vaughn
Western Michigan University
Abstract
This report is constructed upon the premise that the members and guests of
the Bohemian Club are elites in society as presented by C. W. Mills (1959) in
The Power Elite. I provide the reader with a description of the Grove
activities, which illuminates the two-phase emotional experience that makes
Bohemians create and maintain social bonds through their formal and
informal rituals. The annual Cremation of Care ceremony is the paramount
social ritual in the Grove, and is used by the Bohemians for social bonding
and group catharsis. Blumer's (1969) research method is utilized for data
collection. Analysis is from both a symbolic interactionist perspective, as
well as from a dramaturgical perspective. While the Bohemian Club is a
private institution, there are implications in the public sector based on the
considering the significance of the social status and power of some of the
members and guests, the dramaturgical function of the Grove is understood
herein as a way for the Bohemians to utilize the backstage region with its
props, symbols, and backstage roles to solidify the Bohemian ' s social bonds
with one another. In the backstage region of the Grove, Bohemians can
explore artistic, political, economic, and military ideas beyond public
scrutiny. The implications of the personal relationships developed and
maintained in the Grove is that they radiate throughout the institutional
orders of society where the relationships can be used in the Bohemian's
professional roles in society. In some instances, it is asserted herein, the
Grove events may be used by powerful individuals to evaluate possible public
policies, or for potential candidates for public office to see how their peers
receive them.
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including the seven volume Annals of the Bohemian Club, and various forms
Mind, Self and Society, C.W. Mills' (1956) The Power Elite, and Gerth and
Mills' (1953) Character and Social Structure.
Overview of the Bohemian Club
orders on regional, national, and in some cases, global levels. During my own
full participant study were met: Presidents of the United States of America,
Not Here" {Annals of the Bohemian Club vol. V: 401). This is understood as
an official sanction against conducting official business at Club events. The
Club is organized as a social club in which the members and their guests can
enjoy "...all that is best in that life, including human relationships, letters and
the fine arts.. "(Annals of the Bohemian Club vol. V: 401). Club activities are
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Art Gallery, the Campfire Circle, the Grove Stage, the Grove Clubh
Field Circle, the Lake, and the Owl Shrine. Two important annual event
hosted at the Bohemian Grove (there are several other minor events as
One of these is the Spring Jinks, which typically takes place aroun
Memorial Day weekend. The other, the most important event of the yea
members of the Club, and the focus of this investigation, is the Midsu
Encampment, which takes place over the last three weeks of July.
Encampment, the Bohemians relax and enjoy the company of their elite
and partake in fine food, spirits, music, and drama. Many Bohemians s
relax as they stroll through the forest along the Russian River and tak
occasional dip in the River. There are many occasions for lowbrow hum
occur at Club gatherings. The shared experiences in the Club promote what
Steve Schadlich (1987) has called the central truth of Bohemia "The more
active one becomes in Bohemia, the sooner are friendships developed and the
greater are the satisfactions that accrue from creative artistic collaborations."
(Annals of the Bohemian Club vol. VI: 64). Therefore, Bohemians each help
is a forty foot tall Owl Deity that symbolizes "...all mortal wisdom..."
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(Annals of the Bohemian Club vol. V: 431) and is the tutelary deity of the
The literature reviews for this body of work include the works of
Herbert Blumer's (1969) Symbolic Interactionism Perspective and Method
In this work are utilized several sources for citations in the body of the text o
this Thesis which are not contained in the literature review but are deemed
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"...the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the so
interaction that one has with one's fellows" (1969:2). The third prem
Blumer's paradigm is that "...these meanings are handled in, and mo
through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the
he encounters" (1969:2).
Blumer has set himself apart from the rest of the theorists in the
sciences with his second premise in which the definition of the sit
enters and views "...meanings as social products" (1969:5). This con
the first and last instances human society consists of people engagi
action" (Blumer 1969:7). These actions must fit together in the interpla
each individual acting within the context of the group. This leads us to
next root image, the nature of social interaction. Blumer places import
physical, social, and abstract. Rooted in Blumer's idea that, "...the natur
an object. . . consists of the meaning that it has for the person for who
an object" (1969:11), actors can share the same time and space contin
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this article is, studied through this interpretational process of the social
actors. Joint action can be understood from a Symbolic Interactionist
perspective when the social researcher understands that "The interpretive
process takes place by participants making indications to one another, not
merely each to himself (Blumer 1 969: 1 6).
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with hierarchy and history, social actors can be found driving the sys
something, and what they do is a result of how they define the situat
which they are called on to act" (Blumer 1969:19). Blumer also notes th
social actor, in forming new joint actions, "...always bring to that form
the world of objects, the sets of meanings, and the schemes of interpre
that they already possess" (1969:20). This is a way of saying that no
actions take place in a void, without continuity within an historical co
Therefore, Blumer points out that "Joint action not only represe
must get their audience to "...believe that the character they see ac
possesses the attributes he appears to posses" (Goffman 1980:28). The
on the daily stage of life must also believe in the character being portra
order to succeed. Goffman describes the level of belief in one's roles as
at some point within the range of "...cynicism and sincerity" (1980:31).
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enacted within what Goffman refers to as the "...'front' that part of the
individual's performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed
fashion to define the situation for those who observe the performance"
(1980:32). It is here that the actor fosters the impressions that are conveyed
to the audience. The front has a basic element of setting, which is understood
to include all of the physical props utilized in the drama. The setting is locus
based and the actor "...cannot begin their act until they have brought
themselves to the appropriate place and must terminate their performance
when they leave" (1980:33).
The personal front is another form of expressive equipment utilized by
the social actor to present the self in daily interaction. The personal front has
components of "...rank; clothing, sex, age, racial characteristics..." (1980:34).
Facial expression is another personal front that is presented in the social act,
but it is more mutable than the other forms of personal fronts.
impressions in other actor's minds with the use of such idealized status
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symbols, in order to maintain, and in some cases alter, their own social
through their dramaturgical performance.
arises. The audience and the actor must have "...restrictions place
success of the social act could fail if close scrutiny were allowed.
The dramaturgical approach to social behavior continues with the discu
supporting role for front region performances. Here the "...parts of per
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can drop his front, forgo speaking his lines, and step out of character"
(1980:115).
all the various props one would find in the bounded world of backstage
Broadway. Goffman argues that in the backstage region, stage props and
items of personal front can be stored in a kind of compact collapsing of
equipment ...can be hidden so that the audience will not be able to see the
(1980:115)
Therefore the varieties of costumes, statues, and other prop& used in
social rituals are common items viewed backstage. In the case of the
Bohemian Grove, there are props that are for exclusive use in the backstage
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which are incompatible with the image of the self that the team attempts to
maintain before its audience" (141). Second are strategic secrets which
"...pertain to intentions and capacities of a team" (1980:141). Third are
social act being presented. Most infer some level of deceit. I personally
enacted the discrepant role of the servant during data collection in the field
study. This role allowed me to "...enter freely into the back regions, on the
theory that no impression need be maintained..." (Goffman 1980:151). Since
I intend to cause no harm, the role of the informant was not enacted. The full
participant role as a sociological researcher was utilized while working in the
Grove to better understand the social world in the backstage region of the
Grove that would have been inaccessible by any other research method.
of a team performs his part for the special and secret amusement of his
teammates" (Goffman 1980:185).
A realigning action is an example of a type of communication out of
character that is of import here. Goffman depicts one form of realigning
action as backstage "...fraternization between opposing specialists ...(where)
the impression of opposition that is fostered between the teams may be
discredited" (1980:193). This type of communication can mutually benefit
the 'opposing' teams in that "...certain purposes sometimes can be served
...when barriers between teams are lowered..." (Goffman 1980:199).
The art of impression management is the last section covered in the review of
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(1980:220).
Through these protective practices, the dramaturgical team can help manage
the intended impression conveyed in the presentation of the social act.
were no such things" (Mead 1934:3). Mead was interested in the "...inner
experience" (1934:5) and the interplay between the individual's internal
subjective world and the external objective world. Mead viewed the
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interaction, such that the recipient and actor have a shared definiti
symbols conveyed, and that the actor is able to elicit in the recipient
attitude, is how Mead utilizes the term "language" (1934:46).
The individual utilizes the symbols of language in order to think
experience..." (135). At birth, the individual has an "I", but lacks a "m
The development of the self advances through the play and game stages
of character development. The play stage is the first in which the actor plays
a single identity. "A child plays being a mother ...a teacher ...a policeman,
that is, it is taking different roles..." (Mead 1934:150). They enact their
perceived conceptions of appropriate behavior for that specific role in play,
and no other behaviors are enacted. This social development continues into
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the next level of sophistication in the game stage where the individual must
take the roles of multiple social actors. For success at the game stage, the
individual must "...know what everyone else is going to do in order to carry
out his own play" (Mead 1934:151). In such a fashion the human develops a
comprehensive set of expectations that have the qualities of the game being
phases, which he calls the "I" and the "Me". These phases of the self are
response of the organism to the attitudes of the others" and "the 'me' is the
organized set of attitudes of others which one himself assumes" (1934:175).
Mead (1934) compares the existence of the "I" to be a progression through
time "...of the ego, of the T" (177). It is understood that the "me" possesses
similar qualities to Freud's "super ego" as Mead (1934) compares, "If we use
the Freudian expression, the 'me' is in a certain sense a censor" (210). These
two phases of the self are what constitutes the self in both social interactions
with an entire group with which one identifies and/or belongs to, as well as in
internalized conversations with one's self.
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Hans Gerth and Charles Wright Mills present a model of the self in
society in their work Character and Social Structure, which is used t
understand the composition of the social structure. Also applied in this boo
is their concept for the method in which the individual engages in action wit
psychologists Blumer, Goffman, and Mead. Gerth and Mills view the self as
based upon the social roles enacted by various individuals who's "...role
configuration is ...stabilized by a "head" who wields authority over the
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"members" who enact the roles" (Gerth and Mills 1953:23). Gerth and Mills
(1953) describe their paradigm of the social structure by stating that "...role is
the unit with which we build our conception of institutions..." and continue
that "...institution is the unit with which we build the conception of social
Gerth and Mills describe the various institutional orders as the political,
economic, military, kinship, and religious. Here it is understood that the
political institutional order consists of the institutions in which "...men
acquire, wield, or influence the distribution of power and authority within
(1953:26).
The paradigm presented by Gerth and Mills continues with an
understanding of the social structure as having what they term spheres which
are demarcated from orders in that the spheres are "...rarely or never
autonomous as to the ends they serve and because any of them may be used
within any one of our five orders" (1953:29). The spheres that they delineate
are those of symbols, technology, status, and education. Symbols are herein
understood to give an understanding of human conduct through the use of
"...signs, signals, emblems, ceremonial, language, music, or other arts" which
are utilized to "...uphold or justify the institutional order" (1953:29). Gerth and
Mills (1953) hold the concept of technology to mean the "...implementation of
conduct with tools, apparatus, machines, instruments, and physical devices of
all sorts" and to the degree of "...skill, dexterity, or expertness with which
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persons meet their role demands" (30). The sphere of status functi
values to those persons who have not yet acquired them" (1953:30). Gerth and
Mills have given social researchers the freedom to "elaborate or simplify the
classification of institutional orders sketched here" (1953:31). Therefore, I
modify the institutional orders to include the order of entertainment as my
research has allowed me to develop this as an important concept.
The Power Elite
Charles Wright Mills (1956) presents The Power Elite, which holds a
view of society as having a group of individuals who are figuratively above the
masses, who can escape the tedium of daily life due to their station in life.
These power elites are in a position from which they "...occupy the major
command posts of the social structure" (Mills 1956:4). These power elites are
executives in the major institutional orders of modern society. Mills (1956)
asserts that within these institutional orders "...major national power now
resides in the economic, the political, and the military domains" (4). These
orders are officiated by the executives who's "...central executive powers have
been enhanced" (1956:7). As modern society has progressed, the directorships
of the institutional orders have juxtapositioned themselves in a "...triangle of
power (which)... is the source of the interlocking directorate that is most
important for the historical structure of the present" (Mills 1956:8).
Mills (1956) describes that the elite of the higher circles are "...simply those
who have the most of what there is to have ...money, power, and prestige" (9).
He defines powerful as "...those who are able to realize their will, even if
others resist it" (1956:9) which is basic to sociological thinking. The cadre of
the social class of the power elite come from "...similar origin and education
...(who's) careers and lifestyles are similar ...(with) psychological and social
bases for their unity" and Mills continues that "...resting upon the fact that they
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institutional orders resides a "...quite uniform social type which has had
exceptional advantages of origin and training..." (Mills 1956:127). The Chief
Executive Officers of the corporate, political, and military orders have traits
that are common to most of those who reside within the highest circles.
Those characteristics include, according to Mills (1956) "...urban, white,
Protestant families ...removed from wage work ...(with) fathers on at least
upper middle-class levels of occupation and income ...those with the highest
origins had the best chances for formal education" (128-129). For these
members of the power elite, finance came not only from salary but also from
The members of the power elite are of such a like ilk that they have
what Mills (1956) has called "a fraternity of the successful" with enough
interconnectedness "...to ensure a certain unity" (281). They live in social
circles, which overlap and interconnect in private and public realms. Many of
the elites enjoy great celebrity, and many more enjoy great anonymity,
intermingling with the celebrities. There are those in society who are the
professional celebrities, who are "...new types of prestigeful men and women
(who) have come to compete with, to supplement, and even to displace the
society lady and the man of pedigreed wealth" (Mills 1956:71).
Mills also sets forth a sense of higher immorality within the ranks of the
power elite. This is based on the depersonalized corporate culture of enacting
bureaucratic activity. Mills (1956) posits that "within the corporate worlds of
business, war-making, and politics, the private conscience is attenuated - and
the higher immorality is institutionalized" (343). They enlarge the domain of
public secret, in the interest of national security, and they promote their own
interest.
Research Method
The research method that is utilized for this article is that which Herbert
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(1969:37) with the subjects under study in their social world. This allow
(1969) postulates that through this process of intimate contact the resea
will experience a "...movement from ignorance or an uninformed posit
greater and more accurate awareness of what is taking place" (39).
Naturalistic inquiry starts with the exploration phase which Blumer des
as,
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discussions included: the history of the Grove, and the Cremation of Care,
past Grove events, their camps, and our various jobs and education.
The inspection phase of the field study proceeded during the 1995 and
1996 Midsummer Encampment to the heart of what is understood herein to
be the paramount social event of the Grove, namely the Cremation of Care
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formal ceremony is what I had believed, and still assert, as being the m
single most important event of the year for the Members and their g
Findings
The main focus of investigation for this study is the annual Cremation
of Care ceremony. The Cremation of Care is a ritual enacted at the foot of the
Owl Shrine located on the shore of the lake in the Grove during which an
effigy of the body of Dull Care is burned. The effigy embodies the spirit of
a funeral procession and placed upon the Altar of Bohemia. Many club
members are engaged in the ceremony as members of a full symphony, opera
singers, hooded accolades, the Hamadryad (a tree nymph), Priests, and the
High Priest of Bohemia.
Through careful listening and personal conversations with Bohemians, I
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I observed the 1995 and 1996 Cremations from the north shore of the
Lake. I was in direct juxtaposition across from the Owl Shrine about fifty
yards from the Altar. From this vantage point, clear observations were made
of all of the proceedings. The Bohemians were gathered on the shore of the
lake. Darkness had settled into the Grove. As the Cremation of Care
the words of the High Priest", or "swayed together to the music" (Vaughn:
2002). As the Cremation continued with the words of the Hamadryad's song
a quasi-religious sentiment permeated the proceedings,
The stars come in with the night, and the wind, like a presence, fills
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participants in that they are a single group or class of men, free from
Care. As I experienced my own emotional release in the Cremation of Ca
began to understand the Cremation of Care as a cathartic release of pent
anxieties and frustration. By integrating ideas from the field study
concepts presented in the Club and Grove literature, my understanding o
Club culture was developing, which was more germane to the perspectiv
the members than an outsider's perspective could afford. This understan
the pent up anxieties, frustrations, pangs of guilt, boredom and the like,
Bohemians, "assign the 'sins and sorrows of every member' to perish in
for a little while, Bohemians are free from Dull Care and can devo
sentiment of the ritual. The Voice of Care arises from the wooded hillside
and heckles the assembled Bohemians, "Fools! Fools! Fools! When will ye
learn that me ye cannot slay? ...to dream ye conquer Care! ...I spit upon your
fire!" (Annals of the Bohemian Club Vol. V 1972:430). At this point in the
ceremony, the Grove falls dark as Dull Care extinguishes the fire on the altar.
The Bohemians conceive of Dull Care as a generalized controlling force over
them in daily life like a generalized other in the sense that Dull Care is
attempting to exercise "...control over the conduct of its individual members
" (Mead 1934:155). In response the High Priest summons the Voice of the
Owl, who replies,
No fire, if it is kindled in the world where Care is nourished on the
hates of men shall drive him from this Grove. One flame alone
must light this pyre, the pure eternal flame that burns within the
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Well should we know our living flame of fellowship can sear the grasping
claws of Care, throttle his impious screams and send his cowering carcass
from this Grove. Begone, detested Care, begone! Once more we banish theel
Let the all-potent spirit of this lamp by its cleansing and ambient fire encircle
this mystic scene Hail, fellowship; begone Dull Care! Once again
gloriously into the midnight sky, to the merry music of the band
Cremation ceremony like the ones witnessed in 1995 and 1996. The
Cremation of Care concludes with free beer and the band's rendition of
"There'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" {Annals of the Bohemian
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Club Vol. VI 1987:323). The Bohemians then all proceed to the var
camps for further "drinking, singing, hanging out around fires, and
merrymaking" (Field Notes 1996).
The Bohemians hold the trees in the Grove to be sacred. This is
evidenced in the opening lines of the High Priest as found in the text of
Cremation of Care in Volume V of The Annals of the Bohemian Club:
The Owl in his leafy temple; let all within the Grove be reverent before hi
Lift up your heads, O ye Trees, and be ye lift up, ye ever-living spires. Fo
behold, here is Bohemia 's shrine and holy are the pillars of this hous
Weaving spiders, come not here! (1972:428)
The notion of enacting a sacred ritual within a "temple of trees", has root
into the Druidic heritage of the Cremation as Herman Wouk states that th
drama and the 17^ century masque, and late 19* century
American lodge rites. (Starr 1995:19)
This gives insight as to the origins of the symbols used in the Cremati
of Care ceremony from which led me to a better understanding of the moo
which is enacted in the ritual. The mood of the ceremony gives rise
of factors, the sacred trees of the Grove, the eternal flame of fellowship,
religious tone of the Shakespearean language, in the backstage region of t
Grove, being but a few, contribute to the catharsis of the Cremation in wh
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1972:431).
The fundamental purport of the social psychological function of
participating in the Cremation of Care is that for the Bohemians, the
Cremation allows them to be free of the daily constraints of life, free of social
those who enact the ritual, the social bonding of peers from the highest
stratum of society is also accompanied by a sense of place in the universe.
This is supported by a description of the Cremation of Care, which was found
anxieties. These signals are in the forms of gestures that begin with the
"standard Bohemian attire" (very casual clothing usually accompanied with a
drink and often a cigar) that contradicts their daily formal attire found in the
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symbols that are exchanged continue with the group interacting together
the formal ritualized acts involved in the Cremation of Care. In the
unite with one another in the Grove. They engage in further "rituals of
drinking, eating, and sitting around campfires telling stories and jokes and the
image in which "The activities belong to the acting individuals and are
carried on by them always with regard to the situations in which they have to
act" (6).
other being Bohemian. They have each accepted the generalized other of
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controlling influence over each Bohemian as they adopt the general attitude
of the group.
Therefore the Bohemians align their social acts to those concepts of the
that are requisite for a healthy social self. Throughout the Midsummer
Encampment, I saw the Bohemians continually giving off gestures, which
reinforced the group attitudes of "Elite, privileged, powerful, united as
fellows, and acting in a sense of propriety in the Grove" (Vaughn: 2002). The
Bohemians identify themselves as privileged to be in such a wonderful place,
with such wonderful brethren and openly revel in their pleasures. This
functions to free them from their daily roles, which they identify as
constraining their daily lives limiting or removing their personal freedom.
comprehensive set of symbols and props to enact these rituals. The ritualized
social objects like the Owl Shrine, St. John Nepomuk, and the abstract object
the Club motto, 'weaving spiders come not here', which is an official
sanction against doing business in the Club, have developed large scale social
group meanings for the objects. Such group meanings are an example of
Blumer's (1969) root image of the nature of objects in which the "...nature
of an object ...consists of the meaning that it has for the person for whom it is
an object" (11).
Each individual actor engages in interaction with the objects and
develops personal meanings, which arise out of the interaction based on their
personal definition of the situation. The variety of meaning, in the example of
the catharsis of enacting the Cremation of Care, is related to the personal
daily life activities of each social actor. A wide variety of social and
emotional ills can be embodied into the effigy of Dull Care and released in
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society. Coining together in the Grove to banish Dull Care in the flame
(1969) states as having "...a distinctive character in its own right..." (17). The
obdurate character of the Cremation of Care is that of a group catharsis which
frees the participants from their perceived constraints of daily life existing in
public scrutiny.
This research project has led to an understanding that the Cremation of
Care can also be utilized to interpret the molar units of Blumer' s symbolic
social acts, which give off signals to each other, to which each adjusts to
coordinate the culminating social acts in reference to the intended meanings
social act which the gesture initiates is the basis of meaning..." (80). The
High Priest, Dull Care, and the other participants in the ceremony formalize
the group gestures in the drama unfolding upon the altar. Each member
interpretively processes the intended meanings in an internal "...conversation
of gestures..." (Mead 1934:81) from which meaning emerges for that actor.
This culminates in the adjusted social act relative to that meaning, in which
the Bohemians each release their burdens of Dull Care as they "...ask the
spirits of the Grove to enact the ancient rites to 'lift the curtain of dark that
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From the field of mind that evolves in the Cremation of Care, the
Bohemians develop a self according to Mead's (1934) terms in that "The self,
as that which can be an object to itself, is essentially a social structure, and it
Dramaturgical Analysis
When the Grove events begin, the Bohemians leave the Dramaturgical
front stage region and enter the back stage region. Within the confines of the
Grove, the Bohemians are free from observation of the general public.
Goffman (1980) describes such a backstage region as "...being cut off ...by a
partition and guarded passageway" (115). The gate and the guards do in fact
act as a filter or a stage door. Upon entering the Grove the Bohemians are
allowed to discard their public personas, or masks of their daily lives. Once
through the gates, the Bohemians exchange their formal business attire, a
normal front region prop, for the "standard", very casual Bohemian attire, an
example of a backstage prop. Nicolas Murray Butler has stated in the Annals
of the Bohemian Club, "When one arrives at the trees which mark the
entrance to the Grove he is, figuratively speaking, stripped naked of all his
honors, offices, possessions and emoluments, and is allowed to enter simply
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holiday, free from the burdens of everyday life in the backstage region
manners in the front region of their public lives. Goffman (1980) stat
backstage behavior, "Here the performer can relax; he can drop his fr
forgo speaking his lines, and step out of character" (115). I general
behaviors in the Grove that would be out of character for many of the
socially prominent Bohemians in their daily roles in the frontstage reg
public life.
The Bohemians make gestures that reinforce their role as a Bohemian
while in the backstage region of the Grove, which contradict their daily life
front region roles. A common activity in the Grove is "watering the trees"
(Vaughn: 2002) which is simply urinating upon the redwood trees of the
Grove. Herman Wouk describes this social gesture in the Annals of the
Bohemian Club in which the trees of the Grove "...smile down on poor
truants from Dull Care with majestic tolerance, as we sprinkle their greatness
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them with each other and with locus. It sets them apart from the activities of
daily life, which helps to make them free backstage in the Grove.
The backstage identity of a Bohemian is in contradistinction to their daily
identities of powerful, conservative, and formal. This identification further
releases their psyches and allows for easier interaction with other group
members or team players dramaturgically speaking. Bohemians, who would
be in competition with one another in business, tend to be friends in the
Grove. By engaging in the formal and informal ritualized interactions within
the Grove, the Bohemians are fitting together lines of action in reference to
eating the best spirits and cuisine, telling jokes and stories for mutual
pleasure. Lionel Tiger (1970) supports these male-bonding activities of all
males associations, in which men "...prefer to drink, talk, or gamble" (264).
In this backstage region, they are free to contradict their public front
stage character. I also posit that these very powerful men, who may feel
trapped by the burdens of daily struggle, enact sacrifices, exemplified here by
the Cremation of Care as a means to establish a powerful male identity in the
social group. I support this assertion with Lionel Tiger's (1970) statement
that "The literal or symbolic sacrifice of animals or other humans may also
function as consummation of a process of bonding and exercise power and
mastery" (237). This male-bonding sacrifice is dramaturgically interpreted as
"...incompatible with the image of the self that the team attempts to maintain
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presentation that they may give. A Lakeside Talk gives, ". . .a good feel h
particular problem will be handled is likely to be communicated" (Domh
1974:15). Domhoff adds that,
...most members think there is something very nice about hear
be present. (1974:15)
The ideas that I heard expressed during the several Lakeside Talks I
witnesses are understood herein as presented in the backstage region in the
Grove. They were given to a private and influential audience of peers, in such
a fashion as Goffman (1980) describes as where "...parts of personal front
may be adjusted and scrutinized for flaws" (1 14). This affords the speaker the
Herein lays the notion that the speakers may indeed present insightful
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definitely did not miss." {Annals of the Bohemian Club vol. VII: 248). The
former President culminated his speech by presenting his son George W.
Bush, the then Governor of the State of Texas, and the current President of
the United States to the group as "the one and only hope for our great nation"
as I recall. The assembled Bohemians met this speech and the presentation of
George W. Bush with great approval and roaring applause. The assertion here
is that the then Governor Bush was being put to the test of approval of the
prominent members of the power elite class of Bohemians, which he easily
passed. While George W. Bush was well on his way to ascending to the
office of the President, he was being presented to the assembled Bohemians
as a potential Presidential candidate. Domhoff has argued that the Bohemian
record" (Domhoff 1974:19). During the course of the field study, I heard
several Lakeside Talks including one in 1995 by the then standing Speaker of
the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich in which he discussed his views
of social policy and implementing those policies for social change into the
21st century. There were five Lakeside Talks in 1996 that directly discussed
political views and American public policy in which the views and politicians
were sized up from a Dramaturgical sense.
Carrying a spear in Bohemia is another example of region behavior that
is found in the Grove. This is a central theme to membership in the Bohemian
Club. Mr. Ralph Moody states in the "Redbook" History, Constitution and
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states that the Club "...builds cohesiveness among elites in America" (in
Phillips 1994:6). The second view is that of Thomas Dye from his "Who's
Running America (1983), in which the Club is viewed as "...primarily a
status function recognizing socio-economic achievement of already elite men
in society" (in Phillips 1994:6). The third perspective of the function of the
Club is that of Bohemian Club member Mr. Al Baxter. Mr. Baxter asserts
that the Club "...is a place of social enjoyment and companionship for men
interested in the arts" (Phillips 1994:6). There are therefore several reasons
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A portion of the culture of the Bohemian Grove that helps to shed light
on the Club member's activities is found in the Club's Constitution, Article I.
This article states the idea that the Club is for the purpose of, "...the
association of gentlemen connected professionally with Literature, Art,
Music, the Drama, and also those who, by reason of their love or appreciation
talented can ascend into the ranks of the elite. Domhoff also describes these
The Bohemian Grove offers a unique social institution for its members
in which they can be free of the daily cares of life. They can "remove their
masks" in the dramaturgical sense of things. They leave their front region
roles at the gate and share in the pleasures of a midsummer night's dream
with men of great social prominence, free of social ramifications. This type
of joint action, in which each player makes supportive indications to the other
actors in the group, gives rise to the shared meanings of being free from Dull
Care. The Cremation of Care is the principle formal ritual through which this
cathartic process is achieved. This ritual helps to establish and reinforce the
bonds of fellowship of the Bohemians as they enjoy their sylvan holiday in
the Grove. After the Bohemians enact this ritual, they also enact typical male
bonding behavior of drinking, and telling stories and jokes, in groups around
mindsets. Bohemians later leave the Grove and re-enter the world of Dull
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catalyst for social bonding for the members. The Bohemians conti
"emotionally refer to each other with admiration and respect, even whe
derides the other" (Vaughn: 2002). In the Grove the Bohemians dev
self in reference to the group of Bohemians. They have norms th
specific to the Grove. They develop a generalized other within the con
Bohemia which has a regulative function for their cultural activities i
out of, the Grove.
orders as presented by Gerth and Mills (1953). These networks also extend
through such organizations as the Hoover Institute, the Brookings Institute,
and the Tri-Lateral Commission. The Bohemian presence in these groups, in
developed selves in the sense of Mead and Blumer, allows for the cultivation
of group cohesiveness.
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daily roles. They release their pains and frustrations in the Flame of
Fellowship as they banish Dull Care allowing them to create new selves as
Bohemians.
REFERENCES
Annals
San
Annals
San
Annals
San
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Jovanovich.
McCartney, Laton. 1989. Friends In High Places The Bechtel Story: The
Most Secret Corporation And How It Engineered The World. New York,
NY: Ballantine.
Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, Self And Society From The Standpoint
Of A Social Behaviorist. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Mills, Charles Wright. 1959. The Power Elite. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press.
Tiger, Lionel. 1969. Men In Groups. New York, NY: Random House.
van der Zee, John. 1974. The Greatest Men's Party On Earth. New York,
NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Vaughn, James Clay. 2002. The Culture of the Bohemian Grove. M.A.
Thesis: Humbolt State University.
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