In-group ritual and relational work

•Insights into an important yet generally neglected discursive phenomenon which we specify as ‘in-group ritual’.•Approach ritual language use from a discursive viewpoint.•Multiple understandings of ‘ritual behaviour’ and its relational function.

This paper presents some preliminary insights into an important yet generally neglected discursive phenomenon which we define as ‘in-group ritual’. In-group ritual refers to ritual practices formed by relational networks. In terms of typology, in-group ritual represents a different type of ritual than ‘social ritual’, i.e. ritual which counts as ‘normative’ on a social level (see more on ritual typology in Kádár, 2013). Examining in-group ritual and, in particular, its relational functions, we endeavour to approach ritual language use from a discursive viewpoint; as we see it, such an approach is long overdue, as rituality is relatively ignored in pragmatics.