Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
taboo

Taboo is a powerful restriction or prohibition that regulates contacts between specific categories of individuals and things in particular circumstances.  Taboos are backed by social sanctions or penalties.  Some supernatural force is always invoked as authority for the sanction.  Taboos reflect a society's understanding of its own order and that of the universe.  They caution against contacts that might violate approved social behavior.  There exists a nearly universal taboo against INCEST, and taboos concerning foods that are not to be eaten are common in all parts of the world.  Other frequent subjects of taboo are menstrual blood and the dead. 

The term taboo originated in POLYNESIA, where tapu (taboo) played a prominent part in the regulation of society.  Among the New Zealand MAORI, taboos ranged from those intimately associated with spirit beings, such as the taboo concerning certain lizards believed to embody evil spirits, through those connected with the sanctity of chiefs, down to taboos placed on land or other possessions to ensure their treatment as the property of a particular individual or group. 

Christian Clerk 

Bibliography:  Browne, Ray B., Forbidden Fruits (1984); Douglas, Mary, Purity and Danger (1970);  Frazer, J. G., Taboo and the Powers of the Souls, 3d ed. (1955);  Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo, trans. by J. Strachey (1918;  repr. 1990); Steiner, Franz, Taboo (1956;  repr. 1967);  Webster, Hutton, Taboo:  A Sociological Study (1942;  repr. 1973).