Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice

The Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice (1899), by French sociologists Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss, is a foundational work analyzing sacrifice. They defined sacrifice as a religious act that, through the consecration of a victim, alters the condition of the person performing it or related objects. Their research, focusing on Hindu and Hebrew sacrifices, highlighted that sacrifice establishes a connection between the sacred and profane realms via a ritually slain victim and communal meals.12

Hubert and Mauss distinguished sacrifice from other rituals like oblations and consecrations, identifying the destruction of a victim—which could be an animal, vegetable, or other item—as its defining characteristic. They proposed a classification of sacrificial rituals into two types: those benefiting participants and those directly affecting an object, emphasizing that sacrifices can impact individuals, communities, or even inanimate objects and deities.2