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Raluca
Moise
Seminar NTROPOLOGIE ULTURALA
Anul
II
Temede
scminar
9r
texte
propuseprea fi dezbitute:
1. Ehtografie, etnolagie,
antropologie. Antropologia
calturali.
-obiect
;i
metodd.
Textepropuse:
A.
,,Antropologie
ulturali
-
Gabriel
Troc
Antropoloqiaulturultr
n contextul
tiintelor ociale
Tema :
Antropologia
ulturali ln
contextul
tiin €lor
sociale
Disciplintrelativdntrril, xistentantropologieiulturale B
i
camp
articnlar ecunoaltereudep?l$e$teu
multun secoi.
Putemocaliz:r
emporal pari{ia isciplinei
pre faiTiiiit
secolului
IX, iarln ceea e
prive$le
ecunoagterea
iin
Romania,cestucrus-a
petrecut
oar
n urmtr u cateva
decenii,
i
n modsemnificativ
oarduptr
990. rce
parte
dintre
stiinfeie
gcide,
u?nsilntr-un
mod ipsitde
ombiguitate:itulatura
i trimite alnrudid
dintre elem4i
diverse: ntropologje
ociali, ociologie,tnografie,
tudii
culturale
vom
imr.rrioate
ceste
nrudiri).Duptr1990,
n
i
in cazul ltordomenii,
n Rominia
-a ncercat
recuperarea"
ilcesleiiscipline,eer e rimitea ecuperxreae}'telor
[undan]enlale.metodologiilor
e
pritcticirre
ei,adifelirelor
curente
i
tradi iide
gandirc are
-au ezvoltrtn inleriorul
disciplinei,
"Recupemrea"amintitdrimite n
primul
and a
o
perspectivi
istorici.
$i
in cadrul cestui urs om
proceda
storic,
urmirindevolugia
iverselorurenten spaliile
tiinlifice
europene
i
americane,
u deosebiren
celenglez, ord-
american
i
fmrcez.Comparandele rei spalii
tiinfifice,
apare
primddificultate e
ine
de erminologie.
n Statele
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Unite
xntropologia ulturaldesteparte
dintr un ansrmblu
de
disciplinemtropologicemai vastcare
ncludeantaopologia
cnlturali alituri de arheologie,antropologie ingvistici,
antropologie izici
Si
antropologieaplicatl.
Si le
considerim
pe
fiecare:
Alblpl9 Lat
).
nclttdcn
primrrl
inJ vxrirnrc
lusici i ecxre
o cunoir$tem
i
noi,
Si
care
presupune
ombinarea
zvoarclor
de arhivi
cu
celemateriale,
fovenite
din€xcaviri
deosebirca
fald de arheologia
storici
[ine
n primul
randde "adancimea"
trecutuluipe care-lare n
vedere,
n
cazuiarhcologiei
alrtropologiceizandu-se
u
predileclie
fecutul
eceDt.
).
Arheologia ndustriall
cc vizcazd
ntreprindcrile
e acest ip,
specifice iferitelorperioacle:isteme le rigalii, tehnologii e
construclie
tc. c). Aiheologia
protectio
stir,ce vlzeaz\
evcluarcfl actodlor
clemediucarealtereazll
itusurile storice
sau
preistorice: e a
pe;teripdnl
la
oraqemedievale.
Antropolo :ia izicl
ptesupune:
). Primitologia,
s:t studiul
vielii
fi
biologiei
prinatelor
0naimule
n
speci{l);b).
Paleontologia mantr
au dentificarea
li
studiereu
osilelor
umane au
pre-umane;
). Antropologia
egali sau
amura
carg
nvestighcazil
ictimelecrimelor
qi
uccidentelor
ti
cafe
stxbileite
patelnitAtea
mantr
rin
inteflnediul
anllizelor
genetice9i, n fine, d). genctica opulaliilor, arestudiazl
r l i ferenlele
reditnrcn cadntl
opuhliei
mane,
A ttoooloqiainqvistic.\.
i
aoest
omeniu ste
onsti tuit in
mai mulle subrarruri:
a). Lingvislica
storictr:
econstituie
origini le imbajului
i
a diferi teloramil i i
de irnbi;
).
Lingvisticadescriptiviestcceacarestudiazil rnmatica
fi
sintrxa
diferitelor
imbi
ii
d.
Socio[lgvistica,
cares diazd
uti l izareaimbajului ln ompo amentul
omunicativ
l
viel i i
cotidiene.
. Aptropoloqia ulturalf, ste a randulei irlcituiti din
rnnitoarele subramuri: ). Etnognlia,
saustudiul
culturilor
lnr
x
societi l i lor:
ezi cl :rr i f icdri le
e mri josl
conrempor:rnc:
b). Antropologiamedicali ce studiaztractorji
biologici
i
culturali
n relaliecu stureir e sinitate,
boal5
i
vindecare; ).
Antropologia
rband tudiaziviala
orasului,n
special
"pirtolrrgir ' '
rban5
i
dr. Antropologi3
dezvoltirii, are
econcentleaztrsupm
auzelor
subdezvoltirii
i
aprocesului ezvoltdrii
irilor
din
Lumea Treia.
QI
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AutroDolosia
Dl icJt i e\ le
rcmurn
ce
Dune
:r ur ' f l r I
s(nsUl
actiunii, ractic;i,ezolviriideproblem€oncreten
comunitili
determinate
e
seamaezultatelorroduse
n
campul ercet:rri
coretice ai susam;ntite.
foxle
cc,lc Jrnuri
onstiluicecirecmericunii
urnesc
"cntropologia
eneralit"
ii
care stizieste
efinilI ca
cercetare
loballl, oulparctivd,imu idimetlsionald
umanitdfii.
O scurti
pa.antezdinegtrturl
u olosirea
ermenului e
"culturi" n loc de
celd€
"societate":
n
antropologieste
problemil euccent,ntropologiireferandecjrcumscrie
grlrpurile mane
asocietdliau,maiadesea,aloitl
cercettrriinor
grupuri
mici
precis
ircumscrise
palial, 0
rnicrosociettrli
are
nrplfttr$escculturtrelativ
mogen
distribuitl,si
nifoon
nteriorizatl
ermeniie
culturi"
i
"socictate"uIt utilizali,
rilr
unnffe, n
foartemulte azui,
casinonimi.
Reveninda
clasificiirile
nirlionale"
mintitemxi
sus,
rebltie
prccizat
tr n t{xdi ir
rancez[ tudiul ulturilor
ste locata
dou:t
isciplinenrudite,
orlsideratensd
ntr-osubordonare
ierarhictr:tnografiriietnologia.Etnografia,c e Claude
Levi-Strauss,
onsttr
Dobservarea
i
analiza
rupurilor
umane,onsiderrte
n
particuladt0tea
or,
urnrlrind estituire
cil
mxi
iJel:l t l
putinli l
viel i i
iecdreiaintre
le".n cc
pfivefte t ologia,
nceastn
olose$teu
modcomparativ
documentele
rezentateeciifre tnograf'-
Vom
evcni
ulteliorasupra cestei
diviziuni
muncii"
ecercetirre
i
r
semnificaliei
i mdi
generalecntnr 'rctica
tiinlificii
i
anrfopologie.l
'Iradilia
englez?|,
c
de
alt[
piute,
locir
tudi
crlturii
"antropologieiociale". ceasta ste onceputiaparte au
subdivizilrne
unei
sociologii
enerale
iisi
concenffeazi
demersurile
ecercetare
supra nsamblului
ietiiunui
grup
uman
nn perspectivaiferitelor
nstjtutii au istemeale
subintind
st ucturuociall":
istenrul
e udenie,
rgaDizare
politice, irualurj,raditii,
utume rivite
a
nstitutii
structumte
u
uncliispecificeare onstituiempreuni
unitateaielii
sociale
g.upului
au omunitltii.
in filre,
n Germa
a
($i
prin
nfluenti
gcrman5
n celemai
rnulte
in
irile
Euiopei
Central
i
de
Est), tudiul ulturii
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vizcazi
cu
prepondercnli
ultura
populartrWolfsktntle
inleleasi
ca expresie
"spiritului poporului"stu
a naliunii,
inir-o tradiliede cunoaltere cult rii cecoboaride aHerder'
kaditie
ce asumi
cd iecare
popor-nxliune
e
mmifesdl
culturalintr-un
mod
unic
ar
ridicinile
iLcestei
anifest[ri
se
regisesc
n forma
cea
mai
puri in cultura
arhajci/populari
Ca
urirare,
nvestigarea
ulturij
trimite
a acliunea e
culegere
folclorlrlui,
a
tezaurizarca
i
muzeificnrea
cestuia
Moiivalia
acestei ptiuni,
n
contextul
procesuluistoric
de constituire
statelor-nirliu11i,
ste
videnti.l
Epuizind
aceastd
tasificirre,
recizsz i in curs'rl
de fa(ii
i$ordarea
irre
prin)eazi
este
ceaa
tradiliei rnglo-saxone
are
:$unrilcir:
.
ADtropologia
ulturali
sdusocialii
iTeazd tudiLrl
sruourilor
sociale
rin
p{],smn
rdliliilor
Si
llstitLliilor
ior'cukurale
nyelese
dJorntu
le acliule
unal1d
itrplicate
n
procesul
le
reptud cere
^ocialcit
rielii'
.
:'iulturii"
lnei
poPttl^ii
PPrcz,itltd tsanrhhl
ideilor,
coMep$ilor,
crclitelol
ritualurilo\ illstitl4iil
or
et'
c(ie
csle storic
$i
colltextull
eletmi
at,
$i
care
este
dcopotrivd
rahs
h
de 4 o
Eener1lie
a
qlla
i
recre
t
de cdtvlic&re
Senetutlie
tz
Pa
".
. Tcrmenulde "antropologie" coPeriateto persPectivl
de
nterogare
grupurilorsooiale
N culturale
at
i
rczuttatele
ccsteia
ex:
expresia
sludii de
dntropologie").
racticd
au
proo€sul e
cercetale
efectivI
pourttr
umele
de
"etrografic",care
D acellsttr
rradilic
se
confundl
i
cu metodl de
cercelare
metodl
etnogralici,
cercetale
tnografici,
uneo textul
in'rl
este
i
acesta
untit
"etnografie"l.
n
plrrs, rr
antropologia
nclicani'
dupl
c$n s-a
vdzut
D
clllsilicarca
nterioad{
tnografi
.1mai esle'in eleastr
ir
fiind
unadintre
amurile
artropologiei
ulturale'
. Cerceturexultunlor rcqufune.a rri t lcipiu
orienti\li\,
pri
cipiul
relcttivismulLti
ttltural
Diferitele
cLlno
,
sub
acesr
mPeratir,
sl,/,,lt
tizula a
lot ularca
notlalitdli
dislincte
le
,tlelegere
llunii.
Nr
purcm
nici
si
le erarhizim
nici si o
reducem
e una a
alta
Umanit^tea
pare
n acelagi
imp ca'pluraiI
i
unicf,:
toate
enomenele
ulturale
sunt
lteligibile
Vocalia
Lrnivelstllisti
anhopologiei
oarecum
aradoxali:
aceastaincearci
d nlelgagi
toate ormele
de
soc'etate
existente
au
recute,
ntr-un
neclintit
espect
ald de
relativisnlul
ultunl.
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ObiectulantroDologieiulturalc
Din
punctde
vedere
storic,
obiectul
antroPologieiulturide
-
a constituit
n
juml
studiultti
societililor
"pritnitive" sau
a
societ:rtjlor
firi
istorie"
ori limbd
scrisi care
din epoca
1narilor
escopedri
eogralicencoace
au ost opusentr-un
fel sau
attul societdlilor
civilizate",
ie ci
eravorbade
diferite
civilizalii
aDtice
au
premoderne'
ie
in raport
u
civilizalia
moderni
occidentali.
Acestea
in urmi erau
alocate
istoriei,
avAnd
semnificatie
articulariin Welttuschautltl 1-
ul occidental,
i
fiind
parte
din
teoretizirile
asuprastoriei
din
filozofia i istoriamoderne.n raportcu Acestea,ocietilile
' 'primitivc'
u fost
privi le a
populal i i escnrnifical ive
enlru
''lstorir
cu sens ca
clterjtcteil
bsoluti' ori
ca ultim rcper
pe
scaru
ivilizirii.
in acest
ens
opulaliile
primitive
au
ost
aduse
n
aten[ie
ie
cAelemente
e contrast
entru
umanitatea
civilizatl
fie ca
deal
romdntic
al omului neatins
e
neaiunsurile
ivilizatiei
(incepand
u J.J.Rousseau)
e-abia
in
sicolul
XIX,
si
ca
urmare
a colonialismului,
ntercsul
pcntruaceste
opulalii
nu mai
esteunul diletant' ndmplllto.
si
adesea
necdotic
i devine
unul
sistematic,
tiinlific.
Vom
reveni
pe
arg
a acest
prim moment n
cursurile iitoare).
Interesul entrusttldiulsocietilii sedivideca rrmareaacestei
vizjuni
dualiste,
ociologia
rat^nd
societllilecomplexe
sau
moderne)
n timp
ce antropologia
eva ocllpade societtrlile
traditionate,
ncepend
u sferiitul
secolului
lX, interesLrl
pLnlru opuhli i le $a-zis
rinl i l i \e
s'c
concentrl ln cdtevJ
rri i ,
nrrciure
ele
m.ri
dens
opulrte c Intropol,rgi
fosl
cu
precldere
nsulele
lin
sudulOceanului
acific,A stralia,
insulele
ndoneziei,
Aliica
CentrAlt"
estul
R.4ziliei
5i
esl
Canaclei.
Care
este nsl
obiectul
antropologiei
ulturaleastizi, ntr-un
moment n cdrecultura raditionaliestepecalede dispad je
in cele
mai multe
plrli ale
umii,
iar
de
populalii iri istorie
sau
primitive"
e din
ce n
ce md
greu
s[ discutlm?
Firi
indoialI
c[,
in condiliile
globalizirii,
este
greu
sdmai
vorbim
de culturi
zolate
i
autosuficienle
are li
peapctueaza
nealterate
raditiile,
obiceiurile
i
instituliile. n aceste
conditii,
obiectul
antropologiei
ulturale, $a um
a fost el
defiDit
n
perioada e
formare
qi
n ceaclasici' devine
inopemnt
entru
definirea
disciplinei.
O datdcu ie$irea
in
izolare
a
populatiilor
erotice",
dar
i
ca ufmarea unor
Drocese olitice
u
o semnificatje
parte
entru
destinul
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anlropologiei,n special far$itul
olonialismului
i
formirfea
ultimelor
state0ationale, nfropologii
i-au eevaluat
opfiunile.Putemsp ne ctr, ntr-unanumitsens, fartitul
perioadei
lasice a careei au
contribuit
hiar lri voia
or
-
a
in\emnal entnr
ntropologieopotrivi
n mpas
)i
o iefire
fecundi. mpasul
provenea,
vident,
in disolulia
obiectului
tradifional
fapt
va]abil
i
pentru
ernografi
i
folcloristi).
Parlea untra lucrurilors-aaritirtinsi
o dati
cu observatia
i
perspectiva
olositdde citre mtropologi
aceea
e a considera
culturile n
particularism
lor
impreuni
crl
metoda
pecificd
antropologieicercetareatnografici
constituie
n ansamblu
de nvestigalie
tijn[ifici
care
poate
i utilizat
cu
succes
odundealtedtatea e ace viT,ibili,.
rin
collsideratea
a te itdlii defifiit.i il tenneni culturuli, c^ f\rnd,:merltal
inlerogirliei
c tip ilntropologic. ntropologifl
onremporanj
cJigurd
continuitaleu r ropologia
lasici.
n celem.ri
multe
privinle,
nstr,antropologia
oltemporani
este
o
disciplinl noul: definirea
alterittrtii
u mai
estearat
de
univocl ca
$i
n cazul
"cllltufllorexotice".
Sensurile
onferite
altcritdliidevin mai difuze,
$i
nu se
mai
rcferddotr
la
populalii
ne-occidentale,i trimit
la
alteritatel
cginditi
chiAr
in sanul
societilii
proprii
cercettrtorului.
nteresul
e cercetare
de tip antropologic
unoaite
prin
urmare
n
proces
e
rceyalua\rc:
rezitd
ut1 ntcrct
de cunoattere
de tip
otllropologicoficafe dintrcgrupurilesociulea cdvi.lelinirc
tnten
eni de alteritateeste.fecundd
e
truinlelegerea
neconismelor
sociale
prin
cure
acesta
se reprothrce
ca grup.
Ca urmare, ntropologia e dzi
intrtrputernicpe
vechiul
eren
.l :ociologiei.
e accer i tevx
delimilr ir i
e mpun.
Delimitare.r ntropolosiei ultu|.ale
nttrde
socioloqie
.
Chiar dactrnu
estc
cel mai
mportant
actor,
revendicareae a doutr
radilii
difedte
de cunoastere
tfebuie
amintiti: daci sociologii
onsideri
ntre
figudlc intelectuale roeminenteareau ntemeiat
disciplinagAnditori recum
AugusteComte,
Emile
Durkheim,Karl Marx, Max
Weber,
ant.opologii
e
revendici
de Ia Montesquieu,
dward
Tylor, Henry
Morgan,James
Fraser tc.
Aceaste
cvendicare
rimite,
desigur,
i
la un orizont
conceptual
ii
problematic
relativ
specilic,careeste
nsu$it
e citre
cei care
devin
cercetito lntriuna dintre
cele
doutr
discipline,
Si
care'
esteulterior eprodus rin
citiri,
referinte,
ibljografii,
etc.
.
Un al doi lea actor,
: i
poate
elmri
irnporlant.
sre
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metodologia
tilizattr
de celedoui
discipline: Pre
deosebire-de
ociologie,
arecel
mai adesea
referd
utilizarea
metodelor
antitative,
rin
care
se eufesie
evaluarea
tatistich
unor
poputatii ntins€,
anlropologia
eJelineste
n
modcsenli ir lprin
rlrcl ici l
cercetlrii
de
teren.Metoda
sa
principali metoda
ernograficr.
r incrre
se ecl ize17i
cscrieri
i
interpredri
minulioase
e
sedma bservatiei
nemijlocile
n telen
esteo
metodd alitativtrpin
care
antrcpologii
peri
si
poati
evalua
deopotriviaspecte
ce
tin
de
viata
comunitard
aintreg
$i
aspecte e
in
de
individ
$i
de felul
ln
careocestanteriorizeazl
ormele
comunitifii
in
viala sa
de zi ctt zi.
Daci sociologia,
el
pulin nt.-o
varianti
"standlrd",
urmirefte
regularitlli
ripologice
indivizi
depersonalizali),
nnoFologia
culturall
este
nteresattr
e rapofiol
dintreculturl
$i
perionxlitxle n senslll
urmtrririi
unorcrzwi
indivicl*rle
cu
istoria
or
personald, u traseulor
de
viatd,
cu
trlirile
lor de
natur[
psihologicla anumitor
evenimente
omunitare
e dauseama
e coduri
cultlrrale
recise e
ghideitz:I
omportamentul.
AntropologiA
racticatlin societatea
rop.ie indesi
se
orienteze
ltre
acele
grupuri,
de obiceimarginale,
care$lnt
greu
de
nvestigat
rin
ancheta itusondajul
de tip sociologic:
gnrpuri
marginale
in punctde
vedcre
omportamental,
conomic,
tnic:bande au
ganguri
urbane,
minoritltli
sociale e tipul ftomd?is,
homosexuali.
rogtli.
secle eligioilse.
ruprri
ce
pmcrictr
ctivi l l l i
setni legl le.
e ipuleconomiei
iubterane
au
ascunse,
inoritili
etnicedefavorizate
(nomi/ igdni)etc,
Trebuieamintit otufi ci acestl
direclie
a
fost
practicattro\SUA in sociologie
ca
"sociologie
devianlei",
de
membri
Scolii
ditr
Chicngo).
Antropologia
ubliniazi
Programatic
amcterul
"striin",
"indepirtat",al giuprrilor pe care e
cerceteazi,
i
urmire$te
i aduciin
"centrul
socialuhri"
eprezentiri,
onceplii,
ompo.tamente
considerate
e simlul
comunca
"reziduale", eviante,
atipice
giinceurci
sd aci acest ucru
abordlnd
aceste
viziuni
n
mod
sinlpatetic,
in interiorsau
din
pu0q1 l
de
vedere"
l
grupurilor
espective
Genul
scriiturii:
Antropologia
edistingedc
asemenea
pri[ tipul
de text
pe
care
celmai adeseal
Prodlce
este
vorba
despre
monografia tnogmfica,
n
gencare
istoric
vorbind
a consacnt
antropologia
n mport
cu
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celeldte
tiinle
sociale.n
antropologie,
onografia
rcprezintdrn tip de textualizare,
undamentat
e
experienla e terena cercetitorului, icarepresupune
acoperireuntegraltr aspectelor
iefii
unei comunitdti.
Cr gen
sri inti l ic edi\l inge rin
permisivirulc
.rt i ,te
di tr i te mij loice
t
i \t ce
;i
rctorice.
mbri l isrnri
rtur
genul
narativ narttiLtni
e viatl,
ale storiei
orale,
dcscrieri
1i
reproduceri
e texte
olclorice
cet
si
vi
: l le orme lc
gcnului
t i int;f ic.
e
genul
qe
ui.
tratatlrlui, naliza e text,
samd.
O alttrdiferenli fala de
sociologie
ine
de raporrulpe
careccle douddiscipline
l iDtrctin
lt
teoria n pract icil
ftiinlifictr:
n timp ce n
sociologie
eporne$te
e la o
pfoblend itiinlifici, pentru aresociologul dunil
materialul e carcaronevoiepdr
tehnicide genul
chestjonarului au nterviului
ori prin
ap€lul
il
statistioi
ublice,
$i
nterpretlnd
aceste
itte,iloar
pentru
a cladficasAua rezolva
problema
eoreticll
propusil,
n antropologie
e
pleacl
nu
de h o problentl
(prAci icd
au
eorel ici),
i de
I o
situal ie
de
viatd],
e
circ trebuie l deaseama
n totalitatc,
eeir e
inseamntr ao lnr€gistrezc,
i o clasificc,
I o cornpAre
cu altelesimilare
ji
sl o
explice.
n cercrirarea
e
op
etnografic
roblemele
eoretice
par
mult
dupl
inceperea ercetilrii...
Sociologia lege ubiecrele
uptr
n
proiect
meliorist,
fiind
plrocupirtil
n spccial
e survenirea
odemitilii
ii
de
problenele
apdrute
dali
cu aceastir;
antropologia rmeazl
proicctul
cartografi
rii culturalc
a lumii.
Din aceastii
erspectivir
emersurile
elor
doni discipl ine u ost,
ani
spre
nii
?0
ai secolului
trecul,
mti degrabii puse,
ociologia
valuend
t_enomcnelc
e survincu mode
izarea
i vizind
:lneliorareaacestora,'in
imp
ce aDtropologia
lintea
cdtre umeacdres-a
pierdut
saueste e
cale
strse
piardi o dati cu modernizarea.O sepirmreefericirii:
ann'opologiadcind
o distinclieprel
neti intre
Occjdent
qi
"resrul
umii",
n rimp
ce sociologia
indca
si ignoreceeace segiseain
afara
ocietilji
moderne.)
In f ine, muncaantropologului
resupune
rrcrorL
individual
li
privaliuni
egate
e munca
e reren
cu
car€sociologii
se ntalnesc
mult mai
mr.
Este
a fel de adevirat nstr
cir, ecent, enurile
e
intrepltrund,astlel
incet
azi
o cercetare
ociologici
intinsi nu se
poate
ipsi decolaborarea
u antropologij
pentru
oblinerea nor "studii
de
comunitate',,
a
fel
0t
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cLrm
ntropologii
peleazi
neori
cantitativ-statistice.
Iosondrje
imctode
AntroDolosia
ult
ft il si
Am
amintit
ainceputtrl
ursului
I antropologia
a
i ftiin tr
socialdifi
are
nceputul
n
a douajumitate
secolului
Ix
Proiectul
ntropologiei
a
9i
gtiinli
generaltr
omului
stensi
mult
mai
vechi.
Filosofii
luminigti
-au
dczlollat n mod
aparte
ncercind
d idenlifice
cele onst
nte le n.rttr,ii
lmdlrs
cre
ac
posibil l iziune plimisttr
lsuprirmeniti l i i
caintregr
atiuneaa i pentru celtia,notiunea-cheie'
considerarea
cesteia
:r
undiunent
entru cliune
araotenct
Dosibilitateainsu$irii
niversale
normelor
rojectului
ilunrinist
esocietate
viziune
ptimisti
e
carco nlpirtlijjm
ii
azi).
Antropologia
ui
Kant,
deexemplu,
ste nzr ptimisti,
fundattr
e
nofiunea
e
progres. rogres l manjtllii
cdtre
pace
niversal[,
um
vroioKant, -ar
atora ispozitiilor
;Aturalc
leonlului,
are
mprimx
miictrrii anumjttr
ireclie
Pus n
fatl
diferenfelor
mane,
ant c dentificd
in
spirjtul
timpului xu) adiferenlee asl; ntrebareaare pare entru
Kanteste
rmitoarea:
acl
existlmaimulte
ase rmeazii
d
irdmitem
au
mai
multe
mliuni
n egallmtrsur[
ndrcpttrtite'
sau
o singurl
aliung
Kirnt
Afirmi, umerA
ircsc
pentru
intreaga
a
desfir$urare
ilosotictr,
nitateapecifictr
i,
deci,
fillionalir
omul
i,
gxplicAnd
asele avarietlli
ereditarc
e
descind
intr-o
ingurl
ulpintr.
Arietatea
aselor stc
explic:rti
rindispozilia
atumltre
adoptare
specieiir otte
zonele
limaterice.
Itlealismul
efmanrdus
m-ai
epane rojechll nei
antropologiiniversaliste.ntre eprczentanliiui sedistinge,
la
sfer$itul
ccolului
IX,
filosoful
erman.Maxcheler'
Pentru
cheler
ispunsul
a n[ebarca
ceeste mul?"
oate
Drimi
un
rdspuns
decvat
oarin
misura larificdrii
;eiiniliilor
sru
concepliilor
ominante
ecarcomul
e-a
construit
e-a
ungt|i
storiei.
cestea
r i duPiMax
Schel€r
urmtrtoarele:
).
Imaginea
udeo-cregtini
edefinegte
mul
ca
fiinti
cizuttr
lin
tare
aradisiacnaurmare
ptrcatului
originar;
).
maginea
recilor ntici
gi
a luninismului
espre
orn
x
i
fi inld
ali tcl iv
iferilSecelell lte
iin(e
rin arul
raliunii;
).Conceplir
l i inlif ic-modernd
omului r
nefiind
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altceva
ccatun_animal
flatpe
treapta
eamai nalti
a
evolutiei;4). Viziunea ui Nietzsche
i
Klagescareafirmi
ci
omul esteo fiinli epuizafid;npunctde vedcrebiologic,
vitalitatea a iiDd niuuiti de
"spirit",
Stiin tr
i
tehnologie;
).
Tot Nietzsche
firmi insi ci o dadreliberat
e sub
utela
sufocantia
diviniti'rlii, muliti
poatc
ua destinulin pfopriile
maini
gi poatcascede itre o st:re
supelioari, ea
a
sllpr|romLlluj.
obse
ixn europocentrisnul
cestei
numeriri;
do:u nragi ile omului occidental oflIexzipertru
Scheier.]n
opi0ia
hi Scheler denlificarea cestormagiii
esre
mpo anti
pentruci diferiteconcepliiasupra
muluidnu naitere
il
corceplii difcritc asupra
storici
$i
nfluenlcirzl
direct lctiunea
unlim[. Ca
u.marc,scopulantropologiei
ilosofice
aa i tce]a
deu rcconstaui"istorie coDsti inteiesine omului", eea
ce
nseanrnd islorie | modurilor n care
omul s-aconceput e
sincatit
ca iin tr biologicl cit
ii
ca iint:l
rl ioDal:r.Aceasti
cuDoa$tere
e sinear asiguru, redeScheler,
lrDdal]tentele
peDtt' tr
t i inlclc
oci ir le,
stol ice
i
psihologice.
'Iradilia
nratcriirlis*l
rei:l
i
rlccasta
e'rA Lrnei ntropologii
generale.
udwig Feuerblch
a
aseza feocupiirilc
alede
cfitictr ilosoficir, ndreptrtir
n
specialntpotl'ivil
cligici,
sub
nuInclede
"ilntropologie".
euerbachfirnrtr
il omenirii
se
deschido
iimsil
noutr, e fericire,
prin
em|nciparea
e
religie.Criticasa $upm rcligieiple0cii lc a asumplid tr
n1|luraste undarDcntul
i
principiulei
nsei i i .
ivinitate{
u
af [i altccvadcctt nctLrfir
e
ctre
omulin spiratiA
r sprc
absolut
o
ipostazi{zi n difefite fonnc
supriuutumle.
Criticii
rci igieii urnreazi i
r i t icn istetnului
cgeli :rn,
euerbach
acuzindu-l
c
IIcgcl
ci deme$uri leale
unt t l ]se
hiar in
puncLLrl
eofiginc, cesi0
reftrand
iincci lpi i
emefsul
fi losofic u de
Inexisteolaeali ,ci dc
lt notiunea
eexistenti i ,
de a exislen a bslrrctii.
A
porni
n
filosoflre
de la exislenlil
rcalilinseanni
pentru
Feuerbach reforma
ilosofia,
u o
nou:Lilosofle uebuie
si pomellsci
de a
omul concret,
sensibi l ,r leles n inrcgul ui (biologic,sihic, al ional) A
bazi
pentrua explica enomenele,umea
piritului."Filosofia
rou:l
scrieFeuerbach stedizolvarea
ompleti, absolutil,
necontradictorie
teologiei n antropologie,
ici
ca este
dizolvarea
cesleia u numaiasemenea
ilosofiei vechi
n
raliune,dar
i
in inimi,
pe scurt,
n fiinta ntreagtr,
eali a
omului." Ceea e
propune, a urmare,
euerbach
steo
filosofie care'intelegind
n omul n primul
rendca
parte
a
naturii cdefineQtesenlx
umarii lceod
oc
unui orizontde
acliune
penuu
oameni
are
nu md este
nterDrediat
au
condilionatde factorisupraumani.
@,
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lvlai aproape e timpuaile
noastre,ilosoful gernan
Ernst
Crssirer n
cearcd
gi el
si
clarificeproblema
senlei
mului,
dincolode diferen ele
e
rasi, culturi
iicivilizalie.
Ceea el
separi
pe om n mod fundamental
e
alteorganisme ii este,
credeCassirer,
apacitateae simbolizare, apacitate
n care
omulseudirpleazi
a rneJiu
inventirnd
noui dinlensiune
rcalitilii. Spre
deosebire
c toate
elelalteiinte vii,
omul nu
tfiieste
ntr-un univers
pur fizic, ci
intr-unulsimbolic un
universalcitrit
din
pirfi
jnterdependente
cum sunt imbajul,
arta,mitul, religia,
Stijn a.
Ceea e
propune
Cassirer rin
accasti potezi este
o llrgire a detlnilieiclasice
omului:
ornul a.nimrl
rcl ional.
r l ioncl i tctea
u rlacterizexzdorte
acliunileumane,
e aceea
entru
0 da seama e
om
n intregul
lui,ceea
einseamni
explicAliempidcd naturi iumane,
analiza
mod.littrfilor
de simbolizare r
exprimamai bine
sarcina nei
antropologii
losofice
omprehensive.
Preocuptrrileegate
de antropologiailosoficll
$i
de esenla
omrlui, st0udesigur
n centrul nterogaliei e tip f ilosofic
lntre cei care
rimit explicit a ele fiiDdneccsar
ii amintim
i
doarin
treaclt
pe
Heidegger
i
Habermas,
e deosebire
ftrndamentaltr
xistI
insd ntre antropologia
ilosofic[
$i
antropologia
ulturall? Concis pus,antropologiai osofictr
areca scop
clarificare manitilii omului dincolode situaliile
particularen carcoamenii
ieluiesc.
Dupi cum este
binecunoscut,
ilosolia
vizeaztr n rnng
nalt de
generalitate
n
ceea c
prive tecondiliile
n cnre Omul"
se nseleazl
reAlitate. a
dspunde a ntreburea:
um
estecu
putinld
ciir
dincolo
lc
difcr 'cnlele
ene lespan:_r vern
aolmeni
perceptii,dei,
gAlduri etc..fonrrrl deltice?
Tot antropologil
filosoficit
dre n atenlie
nndamenteleauprincipiilepe
ca 'e
lnlelesudlenoastre
espEumanitatea muiui
se
ntemeiazi.
In line, antropologia
ilosofici
esle
aceaamurtra fllosofiei
carcasigurd
aza
pentru
amuri
cum
sunt ilosotitrvalorilor,
filosofiaculturii, etici, csteticietc.
Antropologia ulturali
seafli intr-o
pozilie
ambigui
fald de
acest
rciect ilosofic. Despdnsdn secoluiXIX, asemeni
altor
tiinte
sociale, in
filosofle,antropologix
ulturali asuml
sarcina
e nvestigore
omului c proicct
ti inl i l ic.
eerce
presupune:
l. Investigatia
mp;rici exhrustivi, faptce trimite a
"cartogiafierda"uturor
culturilorvii,
cu acred
p€
culturile
exolice,
necunoaaute,are
ac
cel mai
problematic
abloul
@
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unei
umanititi
unitare
Cea
ce
ntereseazi
n aceastv'l
ireclie
e\rcJiferenla.
l leri tctei.
nrial ia
ormel 'r
eexpresle
iuiiur"tl 5l a" org"ni,aresocirltr AceasliJirec iex xsumll
ca
r"r.i" l
i"t"git,t**
*i turi lor '
r irualuri lor ' .prrcl ici lof
agice'
iruuuAlot,
,""t"tiito.
a" ru'lenie'
emihiztrrii
ocixle'
elc intr-o
.""",4
"lt
t"^i
nd"t'"
9i
variath,
a
i
explicarea
cestoririn
contextele
or
determlnate
2.
Prod.t""r.o
unoa
"orji
care
si
gtrseascir
egularitit
de
ege
inrre
"ptele
ultlrr:r le
bservl le
Je
e\emflu:
dcpendenla
"t,i*ii,i i i
o*"*i""
^,ctli lui
cli
de
iude
existenlr
nei
;tarii
p;ivilegiate
nrre
epot
i
irtelc
mamci)
au
rre
i
iJenriti""
ctri ',,rten1e
nlre
orme
ulturule
rnifeslirte
n
*-u.i" i , i
t iruu,.
n
,"giurri
eoglxfice
ilerite
exemplu:
rittlrilede ecere).
Prradoxul
n care
-lt
g?tsit
nlropologir
ulturlll'
lijl
i*.ounoif"
.i.
1in"
"iLlrn)nre
de
urmirircr
lcestei
uhle
inte:
o" allo
p*"
int.git,tarea
uialiei
culturlle'
Pe
de
cecltlti
i*rir,ir"n -
rno;i"nitd
c
ir ruclilia
manisttr
ccidcnlxlf,
"rlr-r"
*iiitii
".rr"i
oincoto
e
dilerenle
n
proiectul
i
initiat
rntropologia
vrut
sli
ispundtr
a
doui
cerinle
nu
-fo';rrte
usor
de
conciliul:
i
fie
o
gliinltr
igurodsi'
upi
*oa"-fuiii;lnpfo,
n"urii.
ii
s[
dea
n
xcelaii
imp
trspunsui
eenerrliz.rbile
espre
rn
5i
condilic
aculruralii'
trspunsun
e
in maimultde ilosofie rude tiintele
msne ntreDdrlle
a
ioti
"nrtopofug;,
o
"iuiilt
tisPunsuri
u
ost:
eestc
mul'J
e
it Jr"i"nri"tni"
t"t,ul
lunrii
vii
ltin
cure
-a
dcsprins'
"'.iuin,ta,ia
iot"li
tl-i
ne
pflrte
onstittltivl?
are
ste
emeiul
,niiaiii
u*onirniilr
"*isti
o
nottrrl
umann
niverstl[?
um
se
i*rfi"l
aiu"ttltor"o
""traordinari
a modurilol
mane
e
riilior"itr',*
"f"
,"r,ftatul
unor
predeterminirri
enetioe
au
,rle on<litionxrii
ulturale'l
ceste
ntrebiiri
u
ost
puse'
.t".ri*t',r.i
in
"tr"
a;t"ipline'
nsi
antropologin
ncercat
i
lc
;;;;
;;*
**
ti nu
poxid
i
inlifmat
e
cazul
reunci
s;tLratii
aiticulare lecind
e
t studiul
um:Initililor
i"i"r-iti.t"" t-otrrnLit
conslruired
nui
ablou
et
mai
conrplet
l
umanititii
n
genele'
Ce
el
de
$tiin 5
ste
zi
antroPologid
ulturall?
Ca
Si
n
^lte
sdinte
ocirle
si
n
antropologie
xistd
seirmi
e
ir..n-ltOi"i.
g*io,
*ci
care
firmd
i
o dattr
u disP:rrilia
socieliti lor
xolice
obieclului
i
0il ial
antropologra
r-11.
incheili
misiunel.
aminind
pricticd
uni
penlru
nllciro
l
"r-rsiozi
ae
muze..
nt1ii,
dimpotriv['
firmd
i
metodologia
i^"^ia
p"
.""""
a"
tlren,
ci
9i
generaliztrrile
e are
e
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produce
lccdnd
de a o baztr
rlpi.icd largi, o califici
pentru
a scrvide modelsi altorStjinle
sociale. n ce
pdvelte
stat
tul
ei
Stiinlific,
pulin anfopo]ogi
o rnai considedo
qtiinti
riguroasi
care oriuleazd
legi
i
carestabile$teorclatii
necesare.
ul i
o
considerl
chiar a celllalt
pol,
ca o
practici
de
c noa$tere
ermeneutici,
arennalizeaziln detalii
practici
culturale
intre
cele
mai diverse,
esc indule
i
interpretandu-le
n
forma
unor
lficliuni
verosimile".
in
concluzie
ntropologi:r
ulturali s-ir ormat n conditiilc
istorice
ale
ntelnirii
diotre
omul occidental
Si
"celilalt
cr,..,t ic",
lcfinirrdu-se
tunci c
l i inl i
i r :1\cminir i lor
i
deosebidlor,
um
spuneaClyde
Klockholm Mareleei merit
l
fost
acelade
a clemonstla
i
a fi diferit nu nseamnil fi
inferior,
$i
cd dilereDta
red,ept corclativ rtemdnurer intre
onntenl.
Bibl ioqrafle
Cassirct,
fist
-
EseualesPr?
r?,Humanitas, ucure$ti,
1994
Fe
erbach,
.
-
fez?
preliminre
pentrn
eibnllJilosoliei,
lpud
A..Mrrt1
,
hltl"oducere
n
ilosttJia
contentytnrnd,
Polirom,
a$i,
2002
Florian,
Mjrcea -,asloritt
ilosofrei
Molenle,Tip^ tl
Universitar,
Bucureiiti,
938
Cdraud,Maiie-Odilc,
Olivicr
Lesenoisicr,Richird
Poltier
Noliunile-cheie
le etnc'lo.giei,
olirom' a;i, 2001
Flarris,
Malvin -
C/rlrrlr.i
Alltl|ropolo8l, H
per Collins
Collcge
Publishers,
ew
York'
199-s
Honderich,
ed
(ed)
-'the
Oibrd Cotnprnion
o Pltilttsophl"
Oxford
University
Press,Oxfbrd
& New York, 1995
Marghescu,
eorgeta
txrod cerc ht
qnlropologia
ulturtrld'
Editura
Fundaliei
Rom^nia
de Miine, Bucure$ti, 999
Murdock,
Peter Crltrr,?
rr .l.toc iel], Univercityof
Pittsburgh
ress,
1965
B. Okely,
Judith
-
"Fieldwork
in
the Home
Counties.
Double
vision
and
dismantleddentity",
Royal
Anthropological
nstituteNews 61,
1984,
p. 4-6;
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2. Conceptul de culturd- Camctefisticile
cultarii. Rsportul naturd-cuharL Cuhurd
qi
con
portament.
Texte
propuse
A. Elias, Norbert, 1973
-
,,La
formation de I'antithdse
culture civilisation en
Allemagne",,,La formation du concept de civilisation en France", n Za
cirilisatiandesmoears,
p.
1l-73, Paris:Poche;
B.
Mihu,
Achim,2002,
,Antropologia
ulturald", d. Dacia,
Cluj-Napoca;
Obiective:
a)
Identificarea
i
clarificarea
iferenlelor emanticele ermenului
,culturd".
b) Evolulia storic[ a conceptului
,culturd"
n discursul
ntropologieiulturale.
c) Riscurile unei analize
strict culturale: studiile culturale
gi
reduclionismul or in
antropologia ulturala.
3.
DescoperireaCeluilah saa constitubea dnbopologiei ca
stiin(d,
Texte
propuse
Mih6ilescu,
intild,
2007,< Antropologie. inci ntroduceri , Polirom, aqi,
cap.2
Obiective:
a) Analizaetapei onstitutive antropologieiulturale aStiinpsocialA.
b) Altul
9i
Celdlalt doui
prezente
ulturalen discursul
i
erenul ntropologic.
c) Inceputurile
racticii
antropologice.
4"$coli
gi
curente tn antropologia culturald de la stdrSitul secolului XIX
gi
inceputul
secolulai XX: evolulio
nismul, difuzionismul,
unc(ionalismaL
Texte propuse
A.,,Quolation
"Scientific
rogress
s
at imes
most urthered
y
workingalong
a distinct ntellectualine,withoutbeing
temptedo divefge
tom
the
mainobject o what iesbeyond,n howeverntimate
onnexion.... y taskhas
beenherenot to discussReligion n all its bearings, ut to
pofiray
in outline he
great
doctrine
of
Animism,
as
found n ra;hat
colceive
to
be
ts
earliest
stages mong he ower races
of mankind,and o show ts
hansmissionlong he inesofreligious hought."
-
ftom E. B. Tylor, Religion n Primitive Culture
(1873)
1t
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E. B,
\lor
and
the Anthropologyof Religion
ln light ofthe
retrospectivehemeofthis Amual Meeting,
t is frtting
that
we pay
homage o Edward
Bumett
Tylor
(1832-1917).
is appoiltment
sReadern Anthropology t Oxford n 1884was he iIst academic
appointment fan anthropologist
ua
anthropologistn the English-speaking orld. And in his two
volume
classtc, rimitiveCultrre
(1871),
ylor,asKroeber ndKluckhohn
1952:150-151)
bserve,
was
delib€rately
establishing
science y defining ts subiect
matter."
Yet althoughTylor is not far removed
rom us n time, and while he writes n a language ery similar to our
own,we mightnevertheless
akenoteofLesleyHartley'sines,
The
past
s a breig country;heydo hings
difTerentlyhere"
P,'ologue,
heGo-Beh,eea,
953).Despite ylo/s
pleasing
ndseeminglyucid
prose,
is
concems, ensitivities,rd insensitivitieso
not ully matchouls. f we
are
o improve
ur scholarly
undemtanding nd appreciation fhis
elTorls,we must ly to leam as bestwe can what Tylor was againstas well
aswhatheadvocated,ndwhathe hoped o achieve ithin lrecontext fthe intellectual mbiance
n
which
he
operated.
'lhus,
for €xample,
ylor's
heorizing
wasmotivatedll sigrifioautmeasure y hisdisagreementsith
degcnerationist
heories fthe religiomofso-callcd
savages."
le hoped o replace uch iewswith an
evolutionary,rogressivisteNpectiven hedevelopmentf hcrmaneligiosity. ct whilc we can ecognizehe
importanceo Victorians farguments
boutwhether r not some ontempor.lryeligionsweredegenerations
fiom
so
called
higher"
ormsofreligiosity,we cannot, tlrink" athcct uchargumertso the same xtelt, or in
th€ sameways, hat Tylor did,
Tylo/s evolutionary ccount, s s well known,
argely ealswith the
dcvelopmentfwhat heoalls
the
inlellectual..,sidefreligion"
(1958
11873,
87ll,ll:444-445),o theexpLicitly onfessedear-neglectfother
important spectsfreligiol. Hejustifies hisby declaringhat
Scientific
rogress
s at imesmost
'urthered
y working
alonga distinct ntellectualine,
withoutbeing
empted
to divergerom hemainobjeat 0
what iesbeyond,n howeverntimate onnexion,..,My
ask
has
been
erenot
to discuss eligion n all its beadngs, ut o portrayn outline hegreat ocrineof Animism.as bund n what
conceive
o
be ts earliest tages mong he ower aces fmankind,and o show ts ransmissionlong he iDes
of
religious houghl
1958,
I:445).
BLrtn attemptingo
Dofiray
the
great
octrine f Animism"
and
to
show
ts
transmission,"ylor does
ar
morc hanoutlinea theoryofthe
evolution freligion.As hiswork unfolds. . Samuel reus bserves,
we see hatTylor
s
writing he
history :fthe mind.Rcpeatedly.e refers o his
project
sdescribing
the
course
ofmentalhistory," he
"laws
ofintellectualmovement,"he history f lawsofmind," he
"history
ofopinion,"
"intellectual
istory," nd oon.
1987i133).
MarvinHads (1968:202)pineshat thebasicpointof P,'imilireCrlt#e seemso be hat hehumanmindhas
theability o
perlbct
tselfby hinkingmoreclearly."
And
George tocking
1987:192)
aggishlyemarkshat
in Tylor's
prcsentation,
lt
was as hough
primitive
man, n an attempt o
createscience, ad accidentallycreated
religion instead,and
mankind
had
spent he rest of evolutionary ime trying to rectil'y he enor."
But
beyond
reating he evolution ofreligion as window on the devclopment fmind and culture,Tylor suggests
an evenmoreambitious genda. esearch
nto
he
history
and
pre-history
fhumankind nd
the
doctrine fthe
world-long volution fcivilization,"
hewrites, ave hefu
practical
ide, sa source
fpower
destinedo
influence
he
course fthodetn
deas ndactlors"
1958
l: 529,emphasisdded).t is
"the
practical
fTice f
ethno$aphy, Tylor decla.es,
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to makeknown to all whom it may concem he tenrre of opjnions n the
public
mind, to showwhat s received
on its own direct evidence,what
is
ruder
ancientdochine reshapedo
answermodemends,and what is but
time-honoured
uperstition
n the
garb
of modem nowledge"
1958
I: 531).
Appositeo Tylor'ssense f"the
practical
fice ofethnography"s his concept f"sun'ivals."He
oorceptualiz€shese sculturalelements r
complexes
"adhesions")
hatoncemadea cefiain ense ithin he
contexts
n which they were developed, ut that have ingeredon beyond
heir time and are out of intellectual
harmonywith later cultual settings.Thesestultirying elenents, Tylor declares,
need o bc identified so that hey
mightbe eliminated. Ieconcludesisgreatwork with thisringing and adical - declaration:
It is
a
harsher,
ndat inres ven
painful
olIce of ethnographyo €xposehe emailsof crude ld cultureswhich
Inve
passed
nto hamful superslition.
and o mark theseout for deshuction.Y,.t this work, if less
genial,ls
notless wf<entb) eedl l
for
the
good
oJ
mankind.Thus, activeat once n
aiding
progress
l1d n removinghindrance"
he scienceofcuhure is esxentiolly
a rqfbtmer's cience.
1958
I:539,enphasis dded).
II
In'fylor's view,
asA.l.
Hallowcllwa-sond
ofpointingout
n lectwcs,
ltr ancientorebears eremovedby
cu osity.Puzzled y theirexperiencesf dreams ndof visions.
nddesirous fachieving satisl]iru account
ofdeath, heydedved ndmeldediom theirexperieDcesotions boutanimating linciples
nd
ghoslsouls.
'lhen,
by
a
process
hat
we
call stirnulus
eneralization.heyextended
he deaofindividualsouls ut rom
Ilumanityo thenon-hunanworld.By a furtherextensionheydevelopeddeas
bout ndependentlyxisting
spiritsofvarioussorts. hey hus
propounded
he wo complementary
ads
of"tho
grcat
doctrine f Animism,"
belicfin soulsandbclicf n otherspiritual cings..
'lylor
supposeshat
he
heory
ofanimism
s the irst
great
heory
n human islory.Not only hat,
but
t is
so
powerf'ul
ndappealinghat t has ontinued n n a varietyofelaborated
ndnodilied fbrnrs. ndmaybe
discerned
n
theChristianity fhis own imc,
'[
he bcfiefs ndpracticcs f savagccligion,"Tyloralfirms ll the irstvolumoof Prir?l/iveOulttre,arc at ftom
being
a
rubbish eap fmiscellaneousolly." Rather.heyaxe
collsistent
nd ogical n so higha degree s o
begin, ssoonaseven oughly lassitied,o display he
principles
ftheir fomlation
rd developmenl"
1958
:
23).Yet while
"these
rinciples rove
o beessentiallyational," hey
work among
savages"
in
a mental
condition f intense nd nvcteratcgnorance"
1958
23). ndeed,he
gleat
doctrine f animisms foundod n
iladequate bservation
nd
childlike nl'ercnce,
hough
he
product
fmtionalninds.
Animism,Tylor
suggcsts,llustrat€s ot only hemtional
et
error-proneature fhuman houghl,
ut alsoa
hunan
propensity,
speciallye11marked mong o-called
savages,"
o restunderstandingslosely n
experiences.
fylor,
asRobelt ,owie
points
out
(1948
1924]:109),
edves he heoryofanimism
very
argely
not rom ratiocinal io[ boutobserved
henomenon
ut fiom the nmediatc
sensoryestimony ldream ife."
Two fudher observations boutTylor's
peNpective
an be uselully
entercdat this
uncture.
One s abouthis
views
on whatothe6have alled
the
psychic
nity of huna*ind." Theother
has o do with the mplications f
his heory
ofhunrarr cligiosity or thc relig;ons f his imc
--
andours.
Both n his te,iear.cre,rnto heE.vly Histot)tof Mankind
1865) Stocking
987:160) nd n PlimitiveCulture,
Tylor
supportshe deaofthe
psychic
nityofhumankind. hough e does ot
employ hatexpressionn his
theorizing bout eligion, he
concept
s
crucial
or his application
f thecomparalilemethod. s Preus
1987:
138) otes,
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Tylor's confidence hat he canunderstand
he savagemind becauset is essentially ational s the basis or his
conviction hat he
can understandhe continuity ofhuman relieiousnessrom the earliest imes n which it
affords
glimpse
fitself
In the matterof the mplicationsof
'l'ylor's
theory respecting elilions in modemsociety,suffice t to summarize
the conclusions
eached
y
two major contemporary cholars.The ogical thmst of P,'inith,e Culture, Stocking
w tes
1987:195),
s
"clearly
o reduceChristianityo the same ategory f'mythology'with whichTylor
pref'aced
is discussionfthe developmentf animistic eliefl"
And Preus
maintainshatwe mayconclude
fromTylor'sgreatworkthat"religion tselfisa surviral" 1987.139.emphasisdded).
uI
Tylor's heoryofr€ligionhascome n for strong nd
diverse
riticisms.
hus,
or example, vans-Pritchard
dismissesylor'sspeculationsbout hc origins
fsoul andspiritconceptsshaving
the
quality
ofajust-so
story"
1965:25);
urkheim ejectshe
possibility
hat eligion,an endu ng
phenomenon,
ouldbe ounded n
an
llusioq andMalinowski,Radcliffe-Brown,nd
Margaret-Iodgen
nter heirvaxious riticisms fTylor's
"doctrine
f survivals."
Overall,maoyc tics note hat
Tylor
slights
he
social
ndemotional imensions
freligion.
Later
anthropologists,fcourse,
mphasizedeligion's ocial spects ndconsequences,ith such egularity nd
redundancy,ndeed,hat n 1966CliffordGeetz
(1966:l-2)
complainedhatstill morecases ddressedo the
same 'unctionalist
oints
mightwell convince
eople
within andwithoutour
prof€ssion
that
anthropologists
are,
ike
theologians,
irmly dedicatedo
proving
he ndubitable." heemotional imension freligiosity.
however, asnot beelr eveloped ilh thesam€ntensity ndcogency, espite]e effoflsofsomea.nalysts.
Sudieshus ar undertakelr,owever, uggest
hatafl'ectivity an
play
havocwith lylor's
"doctrine
fsuNivals,"
for,
asSpiro
1984;338)
uccinctly
uts
t.
"Many
apparentlyrbitrary ultural
nrpositions
akesenscn le ns
of cmotions."
Wrile
manyofthe specilics fTylor's heorizing re nacc€ptableo us oday,we mightneverthelessppreciate
hisreformer's
mpr-rlses.
hose,
fcoMse,
were
grounded
n, and ocused n, Victorian ntellectual
controversies.ut f wc abstract is mpulsesiom that :'oreigoou[trywhich s ho
past,
we mightsay hat
'fylor's
approacho religioncanbebroadly
escribeds
"criticism."
n analogy
0
contenpoftuyilerary
criticism.
Such riticism, espite number ffiercelycompetingheories boutwhat t should c andwhatwe
rnighthopeofit,
genemlly
tlcmpls interprel,to siluqte,and o uppropriateor some
urpose. ylor
did not
talk about
religious
dticism"assuch.
But his effective ffofis n thatdir€ction, think,
are
of
grca1er
nterest
and elevanceo anthropologists
han hose fHarold Bloom.
Bloomdoes alk about eligious riticism,
whichhedescribess
"a
modeo1'description,
nalysis,
nd
udgment
thalseekso b ng LtS loser o dreworldngs fthe rcligiousmagination"1992:21). et while hatsoturds
promising,
loomsoon ellsus hatjustas he iterary riticism hathe earnedo
practice
relies
inallyuponan
neducibly aesthetic imension,"eligious riticisln
nalogomly
must
seek or the rredvcibly piritudl
dimensionn rcligiousmatters r
phenomenaf anykind"
(1992:21).
alLofan ineducible piritual imension,
however,eminds s of MirceaEliadeandotherswhoassert nconvincinglyhat eligion ests n something
irreducibly eligious, uchas
"the
sacred" r
"the
ranscendent,"
nd
hat eligion
s therefore
autonomous"
nd
While
Tylor held
hat
eligionuniversallyesls n animism, ewas ar iom claiming hat eligion s
autonomous nd sui
gerer*l^r.
ather, n his view it arose rom a welter of sensoryand
psychological
actors.
Although he animisrn flower tribes,"Tylor holds,
s
"self'-contained
ndself-supporting,"or it is maintained
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"in
close
connexionwith the
direct evidenceofthe
senses n which it appears
o be originally based,"and so
seemso explain
tself
1958
I:84), t
is not ounded n some
reducible eligious isposition.
he ackof such
foundation s fifther
attestedo by the
development f
mind and he evolution of culture.The
"doctrines
and
ritesofthe higher
aces," ylor writes,
show
survival fthe old
in themidstofthe new,"and, ndeed,
"abandonment
fthe
old becauset it
no ongetcompatible
ith the elt"
(1958
I:84,emphasis
dded).
For
ourknowledge
fow ownhistory,"
Tylor muses,
it is deeply
nleresting hat thcre should
emain ude
races
yet
living under he
philosophy
which
we haveso far
passedrom,sincePhysics, hemisty,Biology, ave eized holeprovinccsromancient nimism.setting
force
for de ar'd
aw for t//
(1958 I:269,emphasisdded).
Finally,
or those fus who
mightaspireo the broad
ense fcriticism
given
earlier, ndwho
do so rom a
secular tance,
Iylor
send s a messagerom
he
past.
secularism,edcclares,
the
belingand magination
which n the
religiousworldarebound
o theological cliel
have o attachhemselveso a
positive
atural
philosophy, nd o a
positivemorality"
1958 l:536).11is ere, suspect,hatow contemporary
hropology
ofreligion s
most
deticie[t,
especially s
potentially
ignificant riticism.We
avenot reallyagreed mong
ou.sclv€s bout
he arger
urposes
nd
commitmentsfcontemporary
esearch,nd hatweakens s
asa
scholarly
ommunity. havcelsewhere
rguedhat
oonsiderationsfpurpose ught o shape ur analytical
categoriesSaler1993), nd hat
pragmatic
rgumert
anbeextended,think, o out
professiolal
dentities.f
thatmilangeofstadling
ightsald disconcerting
hadowshatsome
all postmodernismasconvinccd s of
anything,t ought o have onvinced
s hat herc
s no such hingas hedisinterested
usuit
oftruth.
But \\,hat,
then, are oru
interests?
Roferences
ited
1. Bloom,
larold 1992.TheAwerican
Religion;ThcEmergencel
thc
'ost-Chrixtittn
ali.rr.New York:
Simon& Schusler,
2. Evans-Prjtchard,
.E.1965.
l'heotics
d
PrimilivcReligion.Oxford:Clarendon
ress.
3. I{anis.MaNiD 1968.The
Ririe
l
AnthrcpologitulTheory.
ew Yolkr
Crowell.
4. Kroeber, llied A, andClydeKluckhohngs2.Culturc:ACrilical Revier,t (l,ncepl.'an.lDeliniliohs.
Cambidge.
MA: Ihc PcabodyMuser.tm.
5. Lowie.
Robert . 1948119241.fimiti|e
Rcllgor. New Yorki LiverighlPublishing
ory.
6. Preus,f.Samuel
98"1ErylainingReligion:Ctilici,rm
nd Theory
i'on
llodin u Frcrd
New Havenl
Yale
University
Press.
7. Saler,
BcnsoD 993.Conceplualizi
Religi.)n:
mtndnenl txthtopologisls,fttn"cendenl .ttiws,
und
Unbounded atepoties.
eidenrE.J.
Brill.
8. Spiro,Melford
E. 1984.SomeRellections
n CultulalDeterminism ndRelativism ith
Special
referenceo Emotion nd
Reason.n Richard
A.
Shweder
ndRobertA. Levile. eds..Crlturc Thcorv.
Essays nMind,SeU,
ndEmotion.323-346.
ambridge: amb dgeUniversity ress.
9.
Stocking.
eorgeW., Jt.
I 987.Viclorilh Anthropologi,.
ew York: TheFreePress.
10.Tylor,Edward s.195811873,87ll.I'he Originsol Cultryeei,'td eligiok n rimitire (:ulture.\olltmes
I and Tofthe
1873 ditionofPrlnritfie Cullurc.New
York: Halper& Brothers."
Obiective:
a) Identificarea
rdseturilor definitorii
ale evolulionismului,difuzionismului
9i
funcl ional ismului
n
5Li in1d.
b) Influenla
celor rei curente
n antropologie.
c)
Reprezentanfi
i
punctele e nteres.
d) Rupturi
qi
continuitatecu vechea
paradigmd.
t5
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8. Orientiri scluale in antropologia cultursld.
A. Rabinow, Paul, 1984,
,,Representations
re Social Facts: Modemity
and Post-
Modemity n Anthropology",n ed. by
JamesClifford, GeorgeE. Marcus ,,Writing
Culture. The Poeticsand Politics of Ethnography",
University of California Press,
Berkely;
B.
Watson,Graham,1991,
,Rewriting
Culture"
Workingn thePresent,
p.73-92,
Santa e,NM:
Obiective:
in
(R.
Fox, ed.) Recapturing
Anthropologt.
School
of American
Research;
a) Noi orientAri;
b) Paliere,segmentemultiple miuoanaliza;
c) Rolul
antropologiei
n
sooietateaontemporanA;
9. Antropologia literaru
Si
antmpologia ecturii.
Texte
propuse
A.
(
Notes
on
the Balinese
ockfight
bv
Clifford
eertz
The
Raid
EarlynAprilof 1958,mywife
and
arrived, alarial
nddiffident,n a Balineseillage
e ntended,
as
anthropologists,o study.A small
place,
about ive hundred
eople,
nd relativelyemote,t was ts
ownworld.
We
were ntruders,
rofessional
nes,and he villagers
ealtwith us as Balinese eem
always o dealwith
people
not
part
of their ifewho
yet press
hemselves pon hem:
as thoughwe
were
not here.For hem,and o a degree or ourselves e were
nonpersons,pecters,nvisible
men.
We moved ntoan extendedamilycompound
that
had
beenarranged efore
hrough he
provincial
government)elongingo oneof the our major actions n village ife.Butexcept or our andlord nd
the village
hief,
whose
cousinand brother-in-lawe was,everyonegnored
s in a wayonlya
Balinese an do. As we wandered round, ncertain, istful,
ager o
please, eople
eemed o look
right hroughus witha
gaze
ocused everal
ards
behind
us on somemoreactual
stoneor tree.
Almost
nobody
reeted
us; but nobody cowled r saidanything
npleasanto us either,whichwould
havebeenalmostas satisfactory.f we ventured
o approach omeone
something
ne s
powerfully
inhibitedrom
doing n suchan atmosphere),e moved,negligently
ut definitively,way. f,
seatedor
leaning gainst wall,we had
him rapped, esaidnothing t all,
or
mumbled
hat or heBalineses
the ultimate onwordJ'yes."he ndifference,
f course,was studied;
he
villagers
werewatching
everymovewe madeand hey hadan enormous mount
f
quite
accuratenformation
boutwhowe
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wereandwhatwe
were
going
o
be
doing.
But heyactedas if we simplydid not exist,which, n fact,
as this
behavior as designedo informus,
we
did
not,
or anyway
not
yet.
Mywife and I werestillverymuch
n the
gust
of windstage,a most rustrating, nd even,as
you
soon
begin o doubt
whether
ou
are really ealafterall, unnerving ne,when, en daysor so afterour
arrival,
largecockfight as held n he
public
quare o raisemoney or a newschool.
Now,a
few special ccasions side,cockfights re
llegal n
Baliunder he Republic
as,
or not
altogether nrelated
easons,
hey
were under he Dutch),argely
s a
result
of the
pretensions
o
puritanism
adical ationalismends o bringwith t. The elite,which s not tself o very
puritan,
worries
bout he
poor,
gnorant
easant ambling
ll
his
moneyaway,aboutwhat oreigners ill
think,about he
waste
of time befter
devoted o building p he country.t sees
cockfighting
s
"primitive,"
backward,"unprogressive,"
nd
generally
nbecomingn ambitiousation. nd,as with
thoseotherembarrassmentsopium moking, egging, r uncovered reasts-it eeks, ather
unsystematically,o
put
a stop o it.
As
a
result, he ights
are
usually eld n a secluded ornerof a village n semisecrecy, factwhich
tends o slow he actiona little-not erymuch,but he Balinese o not care o have t slowedat all. In
this case,however, erhaps ecause heywere raisingmoneyor a school hat hegovernment as
unable o
give
hem,
perhaps
ecause aidshadbeen ew recently,
erhaps,
s I
gathered
rom
subsequent iscussion,herewas a notion hat he necessary ribeshadbeen
paid,
hey hought
theycould akea chanceon the central
quareanddraw
a
larger
and moreenthusiasticrowd
without
atkacting
he attention f the aw.
Theywerewrong. n the midstof the hirdmatch,withhundreds f
people,
ncluding, till
ransparent,
myselfand my wife, used ntoa singlebodyaround he ring,a superorganismn the iteral ense,a
truck ull of
policemen
rmed
with machine
uns
oared
up.
Amid
great
screeching riesof "pulisi
pulisi "
rom he crowd, he
policemen
umped
out,and,springingnto he center
of
the ring,began
o
swing heir
guns
around ike
gangsters
n a motion
picture,
houghnot
going
so far as actuallyo fire
them.The superorganismame nstantly partas its componentscatteredn all directions. eople
raced
down
he road,disappeared ead irstoverwalls,scrambled nder
platforms,
olded
themselves ehindwickerscreens, cuttled p coconut rees.Cocksarmedwithsteelspurssharp
enough o cut off a finger
or run
a
hole hrougha footwere running
wildlyaround.Everything as dust
and
panic.
On heestablishednthropological
rinciple,
hen n Rome,my
wifeand decided, nly lightlyess
instantaneously
han
everyone lse, hat he thing o do was run
oo.
We ran
down he mainvillage
street,northward, way romwherewe were iving, or we wereon thatsideof the ring.Abouthalf-
way
downanother
ugitive
uckedsuddenly
ntoa compound-his
wn, t turnedout-andwe, seeing
nothing headof us but rice ields,opencountry, nd a veryhighvolcano,ollowed im.As the three
of us came umblingnto he courtyard, iswife,who hadapparently een hrough his sortof thing
before,whipped ut a tiable, tablecloth,
hreechairs,and
hreecupsof tea,andwe all,withoutany
explicit ommunication hatsoever,at down,commencedo sjp tea,
andsought o compose
ourseNes.
A
few moments
ater,
one of the
policemen
marchedmportantlynto
he
yard,
ooking or the village
chief.
The
chief
had not
only
beenat the fight,he hadarrangedt. When
he truckdroveup he ran o
the river,stripped ff his sarong, nd
plunged
n so he couldsay,whenat length hey oundhim
sitting here
pouring
wateroverhis head, hat
he had
beenawaybathingwhen he wholeaffairhad
occurred nd
was gnorant
f it.
Theydid not believe im and ined
him hreehundred upiah,which
the village aised ollectively.) eeingmy wifeand ,
"White
Men," here n
the
yard,
he
policeman
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performed
classic ouble ake.
Whenhe oundhis voice
againhe asked,
approximately,
hat n
the
devildid we thinkwe weredoing here.Our hostot five minutes eaped
nstantlyo ouf defense,
producing
n impassionedescription f who andwhatwe were,
so detailed nd so accuratehat t
was my urn,havingbarely ommunicated itha tivinghuman
beingsavemy andlord nd he village
chief or more han a week, o be astonished.We hada
perfect
ight
o be there,he said, ooking he
Javanese pstart
n
the eye.We wereAmerican
rofessors;
he
government
adclearedus;we were
there o study
culture;
we were
going
o
write
a book o tell Americans boutBali.
And we had all
been heredrinking
ea
and alkingaboutculturalmatters
ll afternoon nddid not know
anything
aboutany cockfight.Moreover, e had not seen he village hiefall day, he musthavegone o town.
The
policeman
etreatedn rather
otaldisarray.
nd,
aftera decent nterval,
ewildered ut relieved
to havesurvived nd stayedout ofjail, so didwe.
The
nextmorning he villagewas a completely ifferentworld or
us. Notonlywerewe no longer
invisible, e were
suddenlyhe centerof all attention,he object
of a
great
outpouring f warmth,
inlerest, nd,mostespecially, musement. veryonen
the village newwe had led
ikeeveryone
else.Theyaskedus about t againand again
l
musthave
old he story,smalldetailby
smalldetail,
fifty imes
by
the
end of the day),
gently,
affectionately,ut
quite
nsistently
easingus:"Whydidn't
you
ust
stand hereand ell
he
police
who
you
were?" Whydidn't
you
ust
say
you
wereonly
watching nd not betting?"Were
you
reallyafraidof those ittleguns?"As always, inesthetically
minded
and,evenwhen leeing or their ives
or,
as happened
ighl
years
ater,surrendering
hem),
the world'smost
poisedpeople,
hey
gleefully
mimicked,
lsooverand
overagain,our
graceless
tyle
of
running
ndwhat heyclaimedwereour
panic-stricken
acial
expressions. ut
aboveall, everyone
was
extremely
leased
ndevenmoresurprisedhatwe had not
simply
pulled
out
our
papers"
they
knewabout hose oo) andasserted
ur
Distinguished
isitor tatus,
but had nstead emonstrated
our solidarity ithwhatwerenow our covillagers.
What
we hadactually
emonstrated as our
cowardice,
ut here s fellowshipn that oo.)Even he Brahmana
riest,
an old,
grave,
half-way-to-
Heaven ypewho because
f
its
associations ith he underworld ould
neverbe involved, ven
distantly,n a cockfight, ndwas difficult
o
approach
ven o otherBalinese,
ad us called ntohis
courtyard
o ask us aboutwhat hadhappened, huckling appily
t the sheerextraordinariness
f it
4f i .
In
Bali,
o be teased s to be accepted.t was
he turning
point
so far as
our
relationship
o the
communityasconcerned,
ndwe were
quite
iterally
in."
The
whole illage pened p
o
us,
probably
more han t everwould
haveotherwise
l
mightactually ever
have
gotten
o that
priest
and
our accidental
ostbecame ne of my best nformants),nd
certainly erymuch aster.
Getting
caught, r almost
aught, n a vice aid s
perhaps
ot a very
generalizable
ecipe or achieving
hat
mysterious ecessity f anthropologicalield
work, apport, ut or me
it worked erywell. t led o
a
sudden
and unusually omplete cceptancentoa sociely
extremely ifficultor
outsiderso
penetrate.
t
gave
me
the
kind
of immediate,nside iew
grasp
of an aspectof
"peasant
mentality"
hat
anthropologistsot ortunate nough o flee headlong
jth heirsubjectsrom
armedauthorities
normally o notget.And,perhapsmost mportant f all, orthe other hingsmighthavecome n other
ways, t
put
me very
quickly
on to a combination motional xplosion,
tatuswar, and
philosophical
dramaof central ignificanceo the societywhose nner
nature desired
o understand. y he time
left
hadspentaboutas much ime ooking ntocockfights
s intowitchcraft,
rrigation, aste,or
marriage.
Of
Cocks
and Men
As
muchof America urfacesn a ball
park,
on a
golf
inks,
at a race rack,
or arounda
poker
able,
much
of
Bali
surfacesn a cock ing.For t is onlyapparently
ocks hat are ighting
here.Actually,t
rsmen.
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To anyonewho has been n Baliany engthof time, he deep
psychological
dentificationf Balinese
menwilh
heircocks
s unmistakable.he doubleentendre ere s
deliberate.
t
works n exactly he
sameway n Balinese s it does n English, ven o
producing
he same ired
okes,
strained
uns,
and uninventive bscenities.
ateson nd Meadhaveevensuggested
hat, n linewith he Balinese
conception
f the bodyas a set of separately nimated
arts,
ocks
areviewedas detachable, elf-
operating
enises,
mbulant
enitals
witha lifeof theirown.And while
do
not have
he kindof
unconscious aterial ither o confirm r disconfirmhis ntriguing otion, he fact hat
hey
are
masculine ymbols
ar
excellence
s aboutas ndubitable,
nd o the Balinese boutas evident, s
the fact hatwater unsdownhill.
The anguage f everydaymoralisms shot hrough, n the malesideof it, with roosterishmagery.
Sabung, he
word or
cock
and
one
which
appears
n inscriptions
s earlyas A.D. 922
),
is used
metaphoricallyo mean
hero," warrior,"champion,"man
of
parts,"
political andidate,"
bachelor,"
"dandy," lady-killer,"r "tough
guy."
A
pompous
manwhosebehavior
resumes
bovehis station s
comparedo a
tailless ock
who
struts
about
as
thoughhe
hada large, pectacular
ne.
A
desperate
manwho makesa last, rrational ffort o extricate imselfrom
an
impossible
ituations likened o a
dyingcockwho makesone inal ungeat his ormentoro draghim
along o a common estruction.
stingy
man,
who
promises
much,
gives
ittle,and begrudgeshat s comparedo
a cockwhich,heldby
the tail, eapsat anotherwithout n factengaging im.A marriageableoungmanstillshywith he
opposite ex or someonen a new
ob
anxious o makea
good
mpression
s called a fighting ock
caged or the irst
ime."Court rials,wars,
political
ontests,nheritance
isputes, nd street
arguments re all comparedo cockfights. ven he very sland
tself s
perceived
rom ts shape
as a
small,
proud
cock,
poised,
eckextended, ack aut, ail raised, n
eternal hallengeo large, eckless,
shapelessava.
But he ntimacy f menwith heircocks s more
han
metaphorical.
alinesemen,
or anway a large
majority
f
Balinese
men,spendan enormous mountof timewith
heir avorites,
rooming
hem,
feeding
hem,discussinghem, rying hemoul against neanother, rjust
gazing
at themwith a
mixture f raptadmiration nddreamy elf-absorption. henever
ou
see a
group
of
Balinesemen
squattingdly n the council hedor along he road n theirhipsdown,shouldersorward, neesup
fashion,
halfor
more
of themwill havea rooster
n
his hands,holdingt
between is highs,bouncing
it
gently
up anddown o strengthents egs, ufflingts
eatherswithabstract ensuality,
ushing
t out
against neighbor'soostero rouse ts spirit,withdrawingt
towardhis oins o calm t againNowand
then, o
get
a feelfor another
ird,
a
manwill
iddle
hiswaywithsomeone
lse'scock or a while,but
usually
y moving round o squat n
place
behind t, rather
han
ust
having t
passed
across
o him
as
hough t w6remerely n animal.
In the houseyard,
he high-walled nclosures here he
people
ive, ighting
ocksare kept n wicker
cages,moved requently boutso as to maintainhe optimum
alance f sun and shade.They
are
fed a special
iet,
which
variessomewhat ccordingo individualheories
utwhich s mostlymaize,
sifted or impurities ith ar morecare han t is whenmerehumans regoing o eat t andoffered o
the animalkernelby kernel.Red
pepper
s stuffed own heir
beaksand up heiranuses o
give
hem
spirit.Theyare bathed n the sameceremonial
reparation
f tepidwater,medicinal erbs, lowers,
andonions n which nfants re bathed, nd
or
a
prize
cock
ust
aboutas
often.Theircombsare
cropped,heir
plumage
ressed,heirspurs rimmed,heir egs
massaged, nd hey
are
nspected
or
flawswith
he squinted oncenlrationf a diamondmerchant. man
who hasa Dassionor cocks.an
enthusiastn he literal enseof the erm.can
spendmostof his
ife
with
hem.andeven hose. he
overwhelming ajority,whose
passion
hough ntense as
not entirely unawaywith
hem,can and
do
spendwhatseemsnot only o an outsider, ut also o
themselves n inordinate mountof
time
with hem.
l am
cock
crazy,"my andlord,
quite
ordinary fficionado
y Balinese tandards, sed o
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moan
as
he
went o moveanother age,
give
another ath,or conduct
nother eeding.
We're
all
cockcrazy."
The madness assome essvisible
imensions, owever, ecause
lthought is true
hatcocksare
symbolic xpressions r magnificationsf their
owner's elf, he narcissistic
aleego writ
out
n
Aesopianems,
theyare alsoexpressions-nd ralhermore
mmediate nes-of
what he Balinese
regardas the direct nversion,
esthetically, orally, nd metaphysically,
f human
tatus:animality.
The Balinese evulsion gainst ny behavior s animal-lik€ anhardlybe overstressed.abiesare
not allowed
o crawl or that reason. ncest,
houghhardlyapproved,s
a much esshorrifying
rime
than bestiality.
The
appropriate
unishment
or the second
s deathby drowning,
or the irst being
forced o live ike
an animal.)Mostdemons
re
represented-in
culpture,
ance, itual,myth-in
ome
realor fantastic
nimal orm.The main
puberty
ite
consistsn filing
he child's eethso theywill
not
look
ikeanimal angs.Not
onlydefecation ut eating s regarded
s a disgusting,
lmostobscene
activity,
o be conducted urriedly nd
privately,
ecause f its association
ith animality.
ven alling
downor any orm
of clumsinesss consideredo
be bad or these easons.
side romcocks
and a
few
domestic nimals-oxen,ucks-of
o emotional ignificance,
he Balinese
re aversiveo animals
and
reat heir argenumber f dogsnot
merely allously ut with
a
phobic
ruelty. n identifying ith
his cock, he Balinese
man s identifying ot
ust
with
his dealself,
or evenhis
penis,
but
also,andat
the same ime,withwhathe most ears,hates,and ambivalenceeingwhat t is, s fascinated y-The
Powers
f Darkness.
The connection
f cocksand cocKighting ilh
suchPowers,with
he animalistic
emons hat hreaten
constantlyo invade
he small, leared ff space n which
he Balinese
aveso carefully
uilt heir
lives
and devour ts nhabitants,
s
quite
explicit. cockfight,
ny cockfight,
s in the first nstance
blood
sacrifice ffered,with he appropriate
hantsand oblations,
o the demons
n order o
pacify
their avenous,
annibal unger.No temple estival
houldbe conducted
ntilone s
made.
lf
it is
omilted omeonewill nevitably
all ntoa tranceand command
with he voice
of an angered pirit
hat
the overight
be immediatelyorrected.)
ollectiveesponses
o natural vils-illness,
rop ailure,
volcanic ruptions-almost
lways nvolve hem.And
hat amousholiday
n Bali,The Day
of Silence
(Njepi),wheneveryone itssilentand mmobile ll day ong n order o avoidcontactwitha sudden
influx
of demons hasedmomentarily
ut of hell, s
preceded
he
previous
ay
by
arge-scale
cockfights
in
hiscase egal) n almost
every
village
on the sland.
In
the cockfight,manand beast,
good
and evil,ego and
d, he creative
ower
of arousedmasculinity
and he
destructive
ower
of loosened
nimalityuse n a bloody
dramaof
hatred, ruelty, iolence,
anddeath. t is
liftlewonder hatwhen,as is
the nvariableule,
he ownerof the winning
ock akes
the carcass f the oser-
often orn imb rom imbby ts
enraged wner-home
o eat,
he
does
so with
a mixture
f socialembarrassment, oral
satisfaction,esthetic
isgust, ndcannibal
oy.
The Fight
Cockfights
tetadjen;
abungan
are held n a ringabout
ifty eet square.
Usuallyhey begin
oward
lateafternoon
nd run hreeor four
hoursuntilsunset.About
nineor ten separale
matches
sehet)
comprise
program.
Eachmatch s
precisely
ike
he others n
general attern:
here
s
no main
match,no connection
etweenndividualmatches,
o variationn
their ormat,and each s
arranged
on a completely
d hoc basjs.After
a
fight
hasendedand
he emotional ebris s
cleaned way-the
bets
paid,
he
curses ursed, he carcasses
ossessed-
even,
eight,
perhaps
vena dozenmen slip
negligently
nto he ringwith
a cockand seek o find
herea logical
pponentor it. This
process,
which arely
akes ess han
en minutes, ndoftena
good
deal onger, s
conductedn a very
subdued,
blique, vendissemblinganner
hose o t mmediately
nvolved
ive
t at bestbut
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disguised, idelong ttention;hose
who,embarrassedly,re,attempt
o
pretend
omehowhat he
whole hing s not eally appening.
A matchmade, he otherhopefuls
etirewith he same
deliberatendifference,nd he seiected ocks
have heirspurs
tadji)
affixed-
azorsharp,
pointed
teelswords, our
or five nches ong.This s a
delicate
ob
whichonlya small
proportion
f men,a half-dozen r so in mostvillages,
nowhow o do
properly.
he manwho attacheshe spursalso
provides
hem,and f the rooster e
assists
wins ts
ownerawardshim he spur-leg f the victim.
The spurs
are affixedby winding long engthof string
around he ootof the spurand he eg of the cock.For reasons shallcome o, it is donesomewhat
differentlyromcase o case,and s an obsessivelyeliberate ffair.The oreaboutspurs s
extensive-theyre sharpened nlyat eclipses
nd he
darkof the moon,shouldbe keptout of the
sightof women,andso forth.And heyare handled, oth n use
andout,with he samecurious
combination f fussiness nd sensualityhe Balinese irect oward itualobjects
enerally.
The spurs
affixed,he
two cocksare
placed
by theirhandlers
who
mayor maynot be theirowners)
facingone anothern the centerof the ring.A coconut
ierced
with
a smallhole s
placed
n a
pail
of
water, n which t takesabout wenty-one econdso sink,a
period
nownas a
tjengand
marked
t
beginning ndend by the beating f a slit
gong.
During
hese wenty-one econdshe handlers
(pengangkeb)re notpermittedo touch heir oosters.f, as sometimes appens,he animals ave
not oughtduring his ime, hey are
picked
up, luffed,
ulled,prodded,
ndotherwisensulted, nd
put
back n
the centerof the ringand he
process
eginsagain.Sometimeshey efuse
o
fightat all,
or one keeps unning way, n whichcase heyare mprisoned
ogether ndera wicker age,which
usually
ets
hemengaged.
Mostof the time, n any case, he cocks ly almost mmediatelyt one
another
n
a wing-beating,
head-thrusting,eg-kicking
xplosion f animal
ury
so
pure,
so absolute, nd n its
own
way
so
beautiful, s to be almostabstract, Platonic oncept f hate.Within
moments ne or the otherdrives
home
a solidblowwith his spur.The handlerwhosecockhas delivered
he blow mmediately
icks
t
up so that t will nol
get
a
returnblow, or if he does not
he match s likely o end n a mutuallymortal
tie as the wo birdswildlyhackeachother o pieces. his s particularlyrue f, as oftenhappens,he
spursticks n its victim's ody, or then he aggressors at the mercyof his
wounded oe,
With
he birdsagain n the handsof theirhandlers,he coconuts nowsunk
hree imesafterwhich
the cockwhichhas anded he blowmustbe set down o show
hat he is firm,a facl he demonstrates
by wandering
dlyaround he rink or a coconut ink.The coconuts
then
sunk
wicemoreand he
fightmusl recommence.
During his nterval, lightly ver wo minutes,he handler f the
wounded ockhas beenworking
frantically
ver
t, like
a trainer
patching
mauledboxerbetu/eenounds,
o
get
l in
shape or a last,
desperatery or victory.He blows n its mouth,
putting
he whole
chickenhead n his own mouthand
sucking nd blowing,luffs t, stuffs ts woundswithvarious ortsof medicines,ndgenerallyries
anything e
can hink of to arouse he
ast
ounceof spiritwhichmaybe hidden
omewhere ithin t.
By he timehe is forced
o
put
t
backdown
he is
usually renchedn chickenblood,
but,as
in
prize
fighting,
good
handlers worthhisweight n
gold.
Someof them
canvirtuallymake he deadwalk,at
least
ongenough or the secondand inal round.
In the climactic attle
if
here s
one;
sometimes
he
wounded
ocksimplyexpires
n the
handler's
handsor immediatelys it is
placed
downagain), he cockwho anded
he irst blowusually
roceeds
to
finish
off hisweakened pponent. ut his s far froman inevitable
utcome,or if a cockcan walk
he can ight,
and
f
he can
ight,he
can
kill,
and
what
counts s whichcock
expires irst. f the
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wounded necan
get
a stab
n and stagger n until he otherdrops,he is the officialwinner,even
f
he himself
opples
overan instant ater.
Surrounding ll his melodrama
which he crowd
packed
ightaround he ring ollows n nearsilence,
moving heirbodies
n kinesthetic ympathy ith he movement f the animals, heeringheir
champions n
withwordless andmotions, hiftings fthe shoulders,urnings fthe head,
alling
back
en masseas the cockwith he murderous
purscareens
owardone sideof the
ring
it
is said
thatspectators ometimesoseeyesand
ingers rombeing oo attentive), urging oMard againas
theyglanceoff owardanother is a vast bodyof extraordinarilylaborate ndprecisely etailed
rules.
These ules, ogether
with
he developed
oreof cocksandcockfighting hlchaccompanieshem,are
wdttendown n
palm
eafmanuscripts
lontar;
ontal)
passed
n from
generation
o
generalion
s
part
of the
general
egalandcultural radition f the
villages. t a fight,
he umpire
saja
konong;
juru
kembar) the man
who manages
he
coconut is in chargeof theirapplication nd his authoritys
absolute.
haveneverseenan umpire's
udgment
uestioned
n any subject, venby the more
despondentosers, or have ever
heard,even n
private,
charge
of unfairness irected gainst
one,or, or that matter, omplaints bout
umpiresn
general.
Onlyexceptionally ell-trusted,olid,
and,
given
he complexity
f the code,knowledgeableitizens
erform
his
ob,
and n fact menwill
bring heircocksonly o fights
presided
verby such
men.
t
is
also he umpire o whomaccusations
of cheating, hich, hough are
n
the extreme,
ccasionallyrise,are referred;
nd
t is he who n
the
not nfrequent aseswhere he cocksexpire irtuallyogether ecideswhich
if
either, or, hough he
Balinese o not care or suchan outcome,herecan be ies)went irst.Likenedo a
judge,
a king,a
priest,
anda
policeman,
e s all of these,and
underhis assured
hectionhe animal
passion
f the
fight
proceeds
within
he civic
certainty fthe law. n the dozensof cockfights
saw
n Bali, never
oncesawan altercation bout ules. ndeed,
never
sawan openaltercation. ther han hose
between ocks,at all.
Thiscrosswise oubleness f an event
which, akenas a fact of nature, s rage
unlrammeled nd,
takenas a fact of culture, s formperfected,efines he cockfight s a sociological ntity.A cockfight
is what,searchingor a name or something ot
vertebrate
nough o be calleda
group
and not
structurelessnough o be calleda crowd,
ErvingGoffman as
calleda "focused
athering"-a
et
of
persons
ngrossed
n a common lowof activity nd relatingo oneanother n termsof that low.Such
gatherings
meetanddisperse;he
participants
n
them
luctuate;
he activityhat ocuses hem
s
discreet-a
articulale
rocess
hat reoccurs ather hana continuous ne hatendures.
hey
ake
their orm rom he situationhat evokes hem, he
loor
on which heyare
placed,
s Goffman
uts
t;
but t is a form,and an articulate ne,nonetheless. or he situation,he floor s itselfcreated,n
ury
deliberations,urgical perations, lockmeetings,
itins, ockfights, y
the cultural
reoccupations-
here,as we shallsee, he celebration f status ivalry-whichot onlyspecify he focusbut,
assembling ctorsandarranging cenery,
ring t actuallyntobeing.
In
classicaltimes
that
s to
say,
priorto
he Dutch nvasion f
'1908)
hen
here
were no bureaucrats
around
o improve
opular
morality,he staging f a cockfight as an explicitly ocietalmatter.
Bringing cock o an importantightwas, or an adultmale,a compulsory utyof citizenship;axation
of fights,whichwere usually
eldon marketday,was a majorsource
of
public
evenue;
atronage
f
the ad was a stated esponsibilityf
princes;
nd he cock ing,or wantilan, tood n the centerof the
villagenear hoseothermonuments f Balinese
ivility-the
ouncilhouse,he origin emple, he
marketplace,he signal ower,and he banyan ree.Today,a few special icasionsaside, he newer
rectitudemakes o opena statement f the connection etween he excitements f collectiveife and
thoseof bloodsport mpossible, ut,
essdirectly xpressed,he
connectiontself emainsntimate
and ntact.To expose
t, however,t is necessaryo turn o the aspectof
cocKighting round
which
all
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the others
pivot,
and hroughwhich heyexerciseheir
orce,
an aspect have hus ar studiously
ignored.
mean,
f course,he
gambling.
Odda and
Even Money
The Balinese everdo anythingn a simpleway hat hey can contriveo do in a complicated ne,
and o this
generalization
ockfight
agerings no exception.
In thefirstplace,hereare wo sortsof bets,or toh.There s the singleaxialbet n the centerbetween
the
principals
toh
ketengah), nd here s the cloudof
peripheral
nesaround he ringbetween
members f the audience
toh
kesasi
.
The irst s typicallyarge;
he second ypically mall.The irst
is collective,nvolving oalitions f bettors lustering round he owner;
he second
s individual, an
to man.The irst s a matterof deliberate, ery
quiet,
almost urtivearrangement y the
coalition
members nd he umpirehuddledikeconspirators
n
the centerof the ring; he second s a matterof
impulsive houting,
ublic
offers,
and
public
acceptances y the excited
hrongaround ts edges.And
mostcuriously, nd as we shallsee most evealingly, here he irst s always,without
exception,
evenmoney, he second, qually
withoutexception,s never
uch.What s a fair coin n the center s
a biased neon he
side.
The centerbet s the official ne, hedged n againwitha webwork f rules,and s madebetweenhe
two cockowners,with he umpireas overseer nd
public
witness. hisbet,which,
as
I
say,
s
always
relatively
nd sometimes
ery arge, s never aised implyby
the owner n whosename t is made,
but by him ogetherwith our or five,sometimes evenor eight,allies- in,village
mates,neighbors,
close riends.He may, f he is not especially ell-to-do, otevenbe the majorcontributor,
hough, f
only o show hat he is not nvolved
n
any chicanery,
e
mustbe a significant ne.
Of the fifty-sevenmatchesor which haveexactand reliable ataon
the centerbet, he range s from
fifteen inggits
o five hundred,
ith
a meanat eighty-five ndwith he distribution
eing
ather
noticeably
dmodal: mall
ights
15
ringgits ither ide
of 35
)
accountingor about45
per
centof the
totalnumber;medium nes
20
ringgits ithersideof 70) or about25 percent;and arge 75 ringgits
eithersideof 175) or about20
per
cent,witha
few
verysmallandvery argeonesout
at the
extremes.n
a
societywhere
he normal
ailywageof a
manual aborer a brickmaker, n ordinary
farmworker, market
porter
was about hree inggits day,and considering
he fact hat ightswere
heldon the average boutevery wo-and -halfdays n the mmediale rea studied,
his s
clearly
serious
ambling,
ven f the betsare
pooled
ather han ndividual
fforts.
The sidebetsare, however, omething isealtogether. ather han
he
solemn,
egalistic
actmaking
of the center,wageringakes
place
ather n the ashion n which he stockexchange
sed o
work
when t was out on the curb.There s a fixedand knownodds
paradigm
hich uns n a continuous
series rom en-to-nine t the shortend o two-to-one n the ong;10-9,
9-8,8-7,
7-6,
6-5, 5-4,4-3, 3-
2, 2-1.Themanwhowants heunderdogock houtsheshort-sideumberndicatingheoddshe
wants o be
given.
That s, f he shouts
gasal,
five,"
he wants
he underdog t five-to-four
or,
or him,
four-to-five);f he shouts four,"he wants t at four-to-three
again,
e
putting
p the "three"),f "nine"
at nine-to-eight,nd so on. A man backinghe
avorite,
nd husconsidering
iving
odds f he can
get
themshortenough, ndicates
he
fact by cryingout he
color-type f that cock
"brown," speckled,"
r
whatever.
Almost
alwaysoddscalling tartsoff oward he the ongend of the range five{o-four
or
four-to-
three-and henmoves oward he shorter nd
with
greater
or lessspeedand o
a
greater
nd
esser
degree.Mencrying
five"
and inding
hemselves
nswered
nlywith criesof
"brown"
tartcrying
"six."
f
the change s madeand
partnerc
restillscarce, he
procedure
s repeatedn
a
move
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"seven," ndso
on. Occasionally,
f the cocksare clearly
mismatched,heremaybe no upward
movement t all, or even
movement own he
scale o four-to-three,hree-to-wo,
very,very arely o
two-to-one, shiftwhich
s accompanied
y a declining umberof betsas a shiftupward
s
accompanied
y an
increasing umber.But he
general attern
s for the betting o movea shorter
or
longerdistance p he
scale oward he,
or sidebets, onexistent
ole
of evenmoney,
with he
overwhelming
ajority f bets
alling n the our-to{hreeo eight-to-seven
ange.
The higher he
centerbet, he more
ikely he matchwill n actual act be an even
one. n a large-bet
fight hepressureo make he matcha genuinelyifty-fifty ropositions enormous, nd s consciously
felt as such.
Formedium ights he
pressure
s somewhatess,and or smallones ess
yet,
hough
there
s alwaysan efiort o make hings
at leastapproximatelyqual,
or
even
at fifteen inggits
five
dayswork)no one
wants o makean even
moneybet n a clearlyunfavorableituation. nd, again,
whatstatistics
have end o bear his out.
n my ifty-sevenmatches,he avoritewon hirty-three
times
over-all,he underdogwenty-four,
1.4 o 1 ratio.But
f
one splits he
iguresat sixty inggits
centerbets, he ratios urn
out o be 1.1 o
'l
(lwelve
avorites, levenundedogs) or thoseabove his
line,and
1 6
o
1
(twenty-one
nd hirteen)
or thosebelow t. Or, f
you
ake he extremes,
or very
large ights, hosewith centerbets
overa hundred inggitshe
ratio s 1 to 1
(seven
nd seven); or
verysmall ights,hose nderforty
inggits,t s 1.9 o
1
(nineteen
nd
en).
The
paradox
f
fair coin n the middle, iased
oinon the outside s thusa merely pparent ne.
The
two
betting ystems,hough ormally
ncongruent,re not really ontradictoryo one another,
ut
part
of a single
arger
ystem
n which he centerbet
s, so to speak, he
"center
of
gravity,"
rawing,he
larger t is the
moreso, he outside ets oward
he short-odds nd of the scale.The centerbet hus
"makes
he
game,"
or
perhaps
etter,
efines t, signalswhat, ollowing notionof Jeremy
Bentham's,
lam
going
o call ts depth."
The Balinese ttempto
createan interesting,
f
you
will,
deep,"
matchby making he centerbet as
large
as
possible
o that he cocks
matchedwill be as equaland as fine as
possible,
nd he
outcome,hus,as unpredictable
s
possible.
heydo not always ucceed.Nearlyhalf he
matches
are relativelyrivial, elatively ninteresting-iny borrowederminology,shallow"- ffairs.But hat
fact no morearguesagainstmy
nterpretationhan he act hat most
painters, oets,
and
playwrights
are mediocre rguesagainst he
view hat artistic ffort s directedoward
profundity
nd,
witha
certain requency, pproximates
t. The mage
of artistic
echnique
s indeed xact: he centerbet s a
means,
a device, or creating interesting,"
deep"
matches, ot he reason, r at leaslnot
he
main
reason,why heyare
nteresting,he sourceof their
ascination,he substance f
their
depth.The
question
why suchmatches re nteresting-indeed,
or the Balinese, xquisitely bsorbing{akes s
out of the
realmof formalconcerns
ntomorebroadly ociological ndsociafpsychologicalnes,
and
to a less
purely
economic
deaof what
"depth"
n
gaming
amountso.
Bentham's oncept
of
"deep
play"
s
found n his The Theoryof Legislation. y it he means
play
n
which he stakesare so high hat t is, from his utilitarian tandpoint,rrationalor men o engage n it
at all.
This, muststress
mmediately,s not to say
hat he moneydoes not matter,or that he Balineses
no more concernedabout losing
ive hundred inggits han fifteen. Such a conclusionwould be
absurd. t is because
money
does,
n this hardlyunmaterialisticociety,
matter
and
matter ery much
that the
moreof it one risks he more
of a lot of other hings,suchas one's
pride,
one's
poise,
one's
dispassion,ne'smasculinity,
nealso isks, gain nlymomentarilyut dgain
ery
publicly
s
well.
ln deepcocKights n owner
and his collaborators,nd,as we shallsee, o a lesserbut still
quite
eal
extentalso heirbackers
n the outside,
ut
heir
moneywhere
heirstatus
s.
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It is in large
part
because he
marginal
isutility
f loss s so
great
at the
higher evels
of betting
hat
o
engage
n
such
betting s to lay one's
public
self,allusively nd metaphorically,hrough he medium f
one's cock, on the line. And though to a
Benthamite
his might seem merely o increase he
irrationality f the
enterprise hat much further, o the Balinesewhat it mainly ncreases s
the
meaningfulnessf it all. And as
(to
ollowWeber
ather
han Bentham)he imposition f meaning n
life s the majorend and
primary
ondition
f humanexistence,
hat accessof significance ore han
compensates
or
the economic
osts nvolved.Actually,
iven
he even-money
uality
of the larger
matches, mportant hanges n material ortuneamong hosewho regularly
articipate
n
them seem
virtually onexistent,ecausemattersmoreor lessevenout over he long un.
This
graduated
orrelation f "status
gambling"
with deeper ights
and, nversely, money
gambling"
with shallower nes s in fact
quitegeneral.
Bettors hemselvesorm
a sociomoral ierarchyn these
terms.As notedearlier,at most cockfightshereare, around he veryedges
of the cockfight rea,a
largenumberof mindless, heer-chanceype
gambling ames
roulette,
ice hrow,coin-spin,
ea-
under-the-shell)perated y concessionaires.nlywomen,children,
dolescents, nd variousother
sorts of
people
who do not
(or
not
yet)
fight cocks the extremely
oor,
he sociallydespised,
he
personally
diosyncratic
play
at these
games,
at,
of
course,
penny
ante levels.Cockfightingmen
wouldbe
ashamed
o
go
anywhere ear hem.Slightly bove
hese
people
n standing re hosewho,
though hey do not hemselvesightcocks,bet on the smallermatches round he edges.Next, here
are hose
who
ightcocks
n
small,or occasionally
edium
matches, ut havenot he status o
oin
n
the large ones, hough hey may bet from time to time on
the side n those.And finally, here are
those, he reallysubstantialmembersof the community,he solid
citizenryaroundwhom ocal ife
revolves,
ho ighl n the arger lghtsand bet on themaround he side.The ocusing
lement n these
focused
gatherings,
hesemen
generally
ominate nd define
he sportas they dominate nd define
the society.When a Balinesemale alks, n that almostvenerative ay,
about the rue cockfighter,"
the bebatoh
"bettor"
)
or djurukurung
"cage
keeper"),t is this sort of
person,
not
thosewho bring
the mentality f the
pea-and-shellame
nto he
quite
different,
nappropriateontext f the cockfight,
the driven
gambler potet,
a word which has the secondarymeaning
of thief or reprobate), nd the
wistfulhanger-on,
hat
they
mean.For sucha man,what s really
going
on in a match s
something
rathercloser o an affaired'honneur though,with he Balinesealent or practicalantasy, he blood
that is spilled s only figuratively uman) han to the stupid, mechanical
rank of a slot machine
(....Continued...)
What makesBalinese ocKighting eep s thus not money n itself,
but what, he more of it that is
involved
he moreso, moneycauses o happen:he migration f the Balinese
tatushierarchynto he
body of the cockfight.Psychologically n Aesopian
representation f the ideal/demonic,ather
narcissistic, ale self,sociologicallyt is an equallyAesopian epresentation
f the complex ieldsof
tensionset up by the controlled,muled,ceremonial, ut for all that deeply elt,
interaction f those
selves n the contextof everyday ife. The cocks may be
surrogatesor their owners'
personalities,
animalmirrorsof
psychic
orm, but the cockfights
-
or more exactly,
deliberatelys made o be
-
a
simulation f the social matrix, he involvedsystemof crosscutting, verlapping, ighlycorporate
groups
-villages,
kingroups, rrigationsocieties, emple congregations,
castes"
-
in which its
devoteesive.And as
prestige,
he necessityo affirm t, defend t,
celebratet,
ustify
t, and
ust
plain
bask in it
(but
not
given
he stronglyascriptive haracterof Balinese
tratification,o seek it),
is
perhaps
he central
driving
orce n the society, o
also - ambulant
penises,
blood sacrifices,
nd
monetary
xchanges side is it of the cocKight.This apparent musemenl
nd seeming port s, o
takeanother
hrase
rom
ErvingGoffman, a
status
bloodbath."
The easiestway
to
make
his clear,and at
least
o somedegree o demonstrateet, is
to invoke he
villagewhosecockfighting ctivities observed he closest
the one n which he raid occurred nd
fromwhich
mv statistical ataare aken.
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Consider,
hen,as support f the
general
hesis hat he cockfight, nd especiallyhe deepcocKight,
is fundamentally dramatization
f statusconcerns,he oilowingacts:
1. A
man virtually everbetsagainst
cockownedby a member f his own kingroup.Usually e
will eel obliged o bet for
it,
he
moreso the closer he kin ie and he deeper he fight. f he is
certain n his mind hat
t will not win, he may
ust
not bet at all,
particularly
f it is onlya second
cousin's irdor
if the fight s a shallowone.
But
as a
rule
he
will
eel he mustsupport
t
and,
n
deep
games,
nearlyalwaysdoes.
Thus
he
great
majority
f the
people
cailing
five"
or
"spes
the greatmajorityof the peoplecalling"five" r "speckled" o demonstrativelyre expressing
their
allegiance o their kinsman,not their evaluationof his bird, their understanding
f
probability
heory,or even heir
hopesof unearnedncome.
2. This
principle
s
extended
ogically.f
your
kin
group
s not nvolved
ou
willsupport n allied
kingroup
against
an unalliedone in the same way, and so on through he very
involved
networks f allianceswhich,as
I
say,
makeup this,as any other,Balinese illage.
3. So, oo, or the villageas
a whole. f an outsider ock s fighting ny cock rom
your
village
ou
will
tend
to support he local one. lf, what
s
a rarercircumstance ut occursevery
now
and
then, a cock rom outside
your
cockfight
ircuit s fightingone inside t
you
will also tend to
suooorthe"home ird."
4. Cockswhich come rom any distanceare almostalways avorites, or the theory s the man
wouldnol havedared o bring t if it was
not
a
good
cock, he moreso the
urtherhe has
come.
His ollowers re, of course,
bliged o support im,and when he more
grand-scale
egal
cocKights re
held
on
holidays nd so on) the
people
of the village ake what hey regard o
be the
bestcocks n the village, egardless f ownership, nd
go
off to support hem,although
they will almostcertainly
ave o
give
odds on themand to make arge
bets
o show hat hey
are
not
a cheapskate
illage.Actually, uch "away
games,"
hough nfrequent,end to mend
the rupturesbetweenvillagemembers hat the constantly ccurring home
games,"
where
village actions re opposed
ather han united, xacerbate.
5, Almostall matches
re sociologicallyelevant.You seldom
get
two outsider
ocks
ighting,or
two cockswith no
particular roup
backing, r with
group
backingwhich s mutually
unrelated
in any clearway.Whenyoudo getthem, hegame s veryshallow,betting eryslow,and he
whole hing
erydull,withno onesave he mmediate
rincipals
ndan addict
ambler
r two
at all interested.
6. By the same oken,
you
rarely
get
two
cocks rom
he same
group,
even more rarely
rom
he
same sub{action, nd virtuallynever rom the same sub-subfaction
which
would be in most
cases one extended amily)
ighting.Similarly, n
outside
village
ights wo members
of the
villagewill
rarely
ight against
one another, ven hough,as
bitter
ivals, hey woulddo so with
enthusiasm
n heirhome
rounds.
7. On
he
ndividualevel,
eople
nvolved
n
an institutionalizedostilityelationship,alled
uik,
in
which hey
do not
speak
or otherwise aveanythingo do witheachother
the
causesof this
formal breaking of relations are many: wife-capture, nheritancearguments,
political
differences) ill bet very heavily, ometimes lmostmaniacally,gainstone anothern what s
a frank and direct attack
on the very masculinity,he ultimate
ground
of his status,of the
opponenl.
8. The centerbet coalitions, in all but he shallowest
ames,
alwaysmadeup by structural llies
-
no
"outside
money" s involved.What s "outside" ependsupon he context,of course,but
given
t, no outsidemoney s mixed
n with he main
bet; f the
principals
annot aise t, t is not
made.The centerbet, again
especiallyn deeper
games,
s thus
the
most
direct
and open
expression f socialopposition, hich s one of the reasonswhy both t and matchmakingare
surrounded y suchan air of unease,
urtiveness,
mbarrassment,ndso on.
L The rule about borrowingmoney
that
you
may borrow or
a bet but
not in
one -
stems
and
the Balineseare
quite
conscious
of this) from similarconsiderations:
ou
are never
at
the
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economic
mercyof
your
enemy hat way. Gamblingdebts,which can
get quite
arge on a
rather hort-term asis,are always o friends,
ever
o enemies, tructurallypeaking.
10.When wo cocksare structurally
rrelevant r neutral o far
as
you
are concerned
though,
s
mentioned,hey almostneverare to each other)
you
do not even ask a relativeor a friend
whom he is bettingon, because
f
you
know how he is
bettingand he knows
you
know,and
you go
the
other
way, t will lead o strain.This rule s explicitand rigid; airly
elaborate, ven
rather
artificial
recautions
re taken o avoid breaking t. At the very east
you
must
pretend
not o noticewhathe is doing,and he what
you
are doing.
11.There s a specialword or bettingagainst he grain,which s also he word or "pardonme"
(mpura).
t is considered bad hing o do, though f the centerbet s
small
t is
sometimes ll
rightas longas
you
do not do it too often.
But
he
arger
he bet and he more requently
ou
do
it.
the
more he
"Dardon
me" ackwill ead o socialdisruDtion.
'l2.ln
fact, he institutionalizedostility elation,
uik,
s often ormally nitiated
though
ts causes
always ie elsewhere) y sucha "pardon
me"
bet
n
a deep ight,
putting
he symbolic at in the
fire.
Similarly,
he
end
of
such
a relationship nd resumption
f normalsocial ntercourses
often signalized
but,
again, not actuallybroughtabout)by one
or the other of the enemies
supportinghe other's ird.
13.
n sticky,cross-loyaltyituations, f
which n
this extraordinarilyomplex ocialsystem here
are of course many,where a man is caught between wo more
or less equally balanced
loyalties, e tends o wanderoff for a cup of coffeeor somethingo avoid
having o bet,
a form
of behavior
eminiscent
f thatof
American oters n
similar ituations.
14.The
eople
nvolvedn the center et are,especiallyn
deep
ights,
irtually lways eading
membersof their
group-kinship,
illage,or whatever.Further,
hose who bet on the side
(including
hese
people)
re,as
I have
already
emarked,
he moreestablished embers f the
village
the
solidcitizens.Cockfightings for thosewho
are nvolvedn the everyday
olitics
f
prestige
s well,not or
youth,
women, ubordinates,nd so forth.
15.So far
as money is concerned, he explicitlyexpressedattitude oward it is
that
it is
a
secondarymatter. t is not, as I have said,of no importance;
alinese re no happier o lose
severalweeks' ncome han anyoneelse.But hey mainly ookon
the
monetary
spectsof the
cockfight s self-balancing, matterof ustmovingmoneyaround, irculatingt amonga fairly
well-defined
roup
of seriouscockfighters. he really mportant
wins and lossesare seen
mostly n other erms,and he
general
ttitude owardwagerings
not any hopeof cleaning p,
of
making
a killing
addict
gamblers
gainexcepted),
ut that of the horseplayer's
rayer:
Oh,
God,
please
et me breakeven." n
prestige
erms,however,
ou
do not want o breakeven,
bul,
in
a momentary,
unctuate
ort of
way,win
utterly. he alk
(which
goes
on
all
the time)
s
about ightsagainst uch-and-such cock of
So-and-So hich
your
cock demolished, ot
on
how much
you
won, a fact
people,
even or largebets, arely emember
or any engthof time,
though heywill rememberhe day heydid
in
Pan Loh's inestcock or
years.
16.You mustbet on cocksof
your
own
group
aside rom mere
oyalty onsiderations,or if
you
do
not
peoplegenerally
will say,
"What
s he too
proud
or the ikes
of us?
Does
he have o
go
to
Java or Den Pasar the capital own] o bet, he is such an importantman?"Thus there s a
general
pressure
o bet not only o show hat
you
are
mportantocally, ut that
you
are not so
importanthat
you
ookdownon everyone lse as unfiteven o
be
rivals.
Similarly, ome eam
people
mustbel against utside ocksor the outsiders ill accuse t
-
a serious harge
ofjust
collecting ntry ees and not really being nterestedn
cocKighting, s well as again being
arrogant nd nsulting.
17.Finally,
he Balinese
easants
hemselves re
quite
awareof all his and
can and,at
least
o an
ethnographer,o state most of it in approximately
he same ermsas I have.Fighting ocks,
almosteveryBalinese haveever discussedhe subjectwith
has said, s like
playing
with ire
only not
getting
burned.You activate illageand kingroup ivalries nd hostilities,
ut in "play"
form,
coming dangerously nd entrancingly lose to the expression
of open and direct
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interpersonalnd ntergroup ggression
something
hich,again,almostneverhappensn the
normal ourseof ordinary
ife),but not
quite,
because, fterall, t is "onlya cocKight."
More observations
f this sort couldbe advanced, ut
perhaps
he
general
point
s, if not made,at
least well-delineated,nd the whole aqument
thus far can be usefullysummarized n a formal
paradqm:
THEMORE MATCHS , , ,
Between earstatusequals
and/or
ersonal
nemies)
Between ighstatus ndividuals
THEDEEPER HEMATCH.
THEDEEPER
HEMATCHO/OO
1.
The
closer
he identification f cock and
man
(or:
more
properly,
he deeper he match he
more he manwill advance is best,
mostclosely-identified-withock).
2. The iner he cocks nvolved nd hemoreexactly heywill be matched.
3.
The
greater
he emotionhatwill be involved nd he more he
general
bsorptionn the match.
4. The higher he individual etscenterand outside, he shorter he outsidebet odds
will
end o
be, and he morebetting here
will be over-all.
5,
The less
an economic
and the more a "status"view of
gaming
will be involved,and the
"solider"
hecitizens howillbe
gaming.
Inverse rguments old or the shallowerhe
fight,culminating,n
a
feversed-signs
ense,
n
the
coin-
spinningand dice-throwingmusements.
or deep ights here are no absoluteupper imits, hough
there are of course
practical
nes,and hereare a
great
many egend-likealesof
great
Duel-in-the-
Suncombats etweenordsand
princes
n
classical
imes
for
cockfighting
as
alwaysbeenas much
an eliteconcern s a popular ne), ar deeper han anything nyone, ven aristocrats, ouldproduce
loday
anwhere in Bali.
lndeed,one of the
great
cultureheroes
of Bali s a
prince,
alledafterhis
passion
or
the sport, The
Cockfighter," ho
happenedo be awayat a very deepcockfightwith a neighboring
rince
when he
whole of
his
family-father, rothers,wives,sislers-were ssassinated y commonerusurpers. hus
spared, he returned o dispatch he
upstarts, egain he throne, reconstitutehe Balinesehigh
tradition, nd build
ts most
powerful, lorious,
nd
prosperous
tate.Alongwith everything lse hat
the Balinesesee in fighting cocks{hemselves,
heir
social order, abstract hatred, masculinity,
demonic
power-they
lso see he
archetype f statusvirtue, he arrogant, esolute, onor-mad
layer
with
real
ire.
he
ksatria
rince.
Conclusion
What sets the cockfightapart rom the ordinary
course
of life,
ifrs
it from the realm of everyday
practical
ffairs, nd surroundst
withan auraof enlargedmportances not,
as
functionalistociology
would have t, that it reinforces tatusdiscriminations
such
reinforcements hardlynecessaryn a
societywhere every act
proclaims
hem), but
that it
provides
a metasocial ommentary pon the
whole matterof assorting
uman
beings
nto ixed hierarchicalanksand then
organizing
he major
part
of collectiveexistence
around that assortment. ts function, f
you
want to call it that, is
interpretive:t is a Balinese eadingof Balineseexperience; story they tell themselvesabout
themselves.
1.
2.
)9
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What he cockfight ays t says n a vocabulary f sentiment-thehrillof risk, he despairof
loss,
he
pleasure
of triumph.Yet
what it
says
s not merely hat risk is excitjng, oss depressing, r triumph
gratifying,
anal autologies
f affect,but that t is of theseemotions,hus exampled,hat society s
builtand ndividuals
ut
ogether.
Attending ocKights nd
participating
n
them
s, or
the
Balinese,
kind of sentimental ducation.
What he learns here is what his culture'selhos and his
private
sensibility
or,
anway, certainaspectsof them)
ook ike
when spelledout externallyn a collective
text; hat the two are nearenoughalike o be articulated
n
the symbolics f a singlesuch ext; and-
the disquieting
art-that
he text n
which
his
revelations
accomplishedonsists f a chicken acking
another
mjndlesslyo bits.
Every
people,
he
proverb
has it, loves its own form of violence,The cockfight s the Balinese
reflection n theirs:on its
look, ts
uses,
ts force, ts fascination.
Drawing n almostevery evel of
Balinese
experience,
t
brings
together themes-animal avagery, male narcissism,
opponent
gambling,
tatus ivalry,massexcitement, loodsacrifice-whose ainconnections their nvolvement
with rageand he fear of rage,and, binding hem
nto a set
of
rules
whichat once containshemand
allows hem
play,
buildsa symbolic
tructuren which,over and over again,
he
reality
of their
nner
affiliation an be intelligiblyelt. f, to
quote
Northrop ryeagain,we
go
to see Macbetho learnwhata
man eels ike after he has
gained
a kingdom nd
ost
his soul, Balinese
o
to cockfightso f ind out
whata man,usuallycomposed, loof,almostobsessively elf-absorbed, kind of moralautocosm,
feels ikewhen,attacked,ormented, hailenged,nsulted, nd driven n result o the
extremes
f fury,
he has otally riumphed r beenbrought otally
ow."
Obiective
a) Temele ecurente leantropologiei
iterare.
b) Lectura n antropologie ipostaze
i
demersnterdisciplinar.
c) Practica ntropologici: econfigurare,anguage
urn.
10. A ntopolo gia cogn tivd.,
Texte
propuse:
A. Sperber,
Dan, 1995, <How do we communicate >, In
John Brockman& Katinka
Matson
eds)
lou, things
are: A
science
oolkit
or
themind.
New
York: Monow, 1995)
l9 l-199)
".HOW
DO
WE COMMUNICATE?
DAN SPERBER
Conmunicate. We humansdo it all the time, and most of the time we do it as
a matter of course,without
thinkingabout t. We talk,we listen,
we
write,
we read asyou
aredoilg now
-
or we draw,we mimic,we nod,
we
point,
we shrug,
aild, somehow,
we manage o makeour thoughtsknown
to one another.Of couse, thereare
times when we view communicationas somethingdifficult or even mpossible o achieve.Yet, comparcd
o
other
iving
kinds,we ale amazingly
good
at
it. Other
species,f they communicate t all, have a narow
repertoireof signals hat they
use
o conveyagainand agail things ike:
"this
is my tellitory,"
"danger,
nm " or
"ready
or sex."
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To
communicate
s 10 attempt o
get
someoneo share
your
thoughts well, at least sorre of them.
But how
can
thoughtsbe sharcd?Thoughtsaren't h;ngs
out therc n the open, o be sliced ike cales or usedcollectively like
buses.They are strictly
private
affairs,
Thoughtsarebom, live, and die inside our brains.They never ruly come
out
of our heads
althoLrgh
e talk as
f thcy did, but this is
just
a
metaphor). he
only thing that
is
ever
produced
by one
person or
another
p€$on to seeor hear s behaviorand he traces t leavesbehind:movement,
noise, broken
twigs, ink spots, etc. These hings aren't thoughts, hey don't
"contain"
thoughts
(that
is
just
another
metaphor).nd
yet
some fthesebehaviors r
traoes
eryeo convey houghts.
How is such conrmuication possible?There is an old story
-
it dates back at least to the ancient Greek
philosopher
dstotle and
no
doubt
you
haveheardt many imes.Whatmakes
ommunication
ossible,
o
he
stor]
goes,
s a common anguage.A language ucbas English s a kind of code n which soundsare associated
to meanings ndmeaningso sounds. o,
f
Jill
wants o communicate
ome
neaning
o .lack, he ooksup in
her mental
gramrnar
of English the sound
associatedo that
padicular
meaning,
and
produces
hat sound or
Jack o
hear.
lack
hen ooks up in,4is mental
gammar
the meaningassociated ith that
padicular
soul1d.n thal
manner,Jack finds out what Jill had in mind. Of coursc, all this
"looking'up"
is automaticand rmconscious
(exceptwhen you
cant find
your words,and
become
ainfully
aware
of searchingor them).Thanks o this
double onversionthe encoding fmeaning nto sound, nd he decoding fsound nto meaning Jill andJack
arenow shaxing thought.Well,
"sharing"
may still be a metaphor,but at leastwe krow now how to make
good
sense fit. Or do we?
Tlre
old
'we-communicate-lhanks-to-an-common-language'
tory s cleverand
simple.
t would makea
great
explanationf only it
were
rue.Actually,somcsuchstory s true of most animalcon'ununication.eesalld
monkeys ave hoir own rudimgntary odes, nd
whatever
heycommunicate,heydo so hrough ncoding nd
decoding. ot so with ushumans.
Irue,
we haveour rich anguagesndmanyminorcodes
oo,but
-
and his s
where he old storybreaks own we manageo communicate uchmorc hanwe
gncode
nddecode, ndnot
just
occasionally,ut all the ime.So,our
having anguages,
at best, mere
part
ofthe truestory.
Let mc llustrate.magiue
ou
arc
killing
timeat
an airport.Therc s
a
woman
landiug earby nd
you
overirear
hersay o hercompanion,
it's
ate."You haveheard ndevenutteredhese ery samewordsmany irnes.Do
you know what heymean?Of course, ut do you knowwhat he womanmeant n uttering hcsewords ighl
now?
Think
about
t.
Shemighl
lave
been
alkingabout
a
plane
andmeaning hat 1 would arrive or maybe
depart late.Shemayaswell havebeen alkingabouta lettershewasexpecting.
r about pdngbeing
ate.She
need ot havebeeDalkingaboutanythingn
particrLlar;
hemightjustmean bat t's ate n the
afternoon,
r in
the day.
or
in her ife. Moreover
late"
s always elatjve o someschedule,
r expeclatiou:t might be ate
br
lunchand
yet
early or supper. oshemusthavemeantate
elative
o something,ut
what?
I could
go
on, but the
point
shouldbe clear:although
ou
know
perfcctly
well wlnt the words he woman
uttered
mean, ou
don't
know
what
rfte meant.Strangely nough, er
companion oesnot seem
puzzled.
le
seems o have unde$tood her. And come o think of it, on the maDyoccasionswhen
you
were
the
person
old
"it's
atc,"you
knewwhat he speakermeant.
ou
didn't
have
o think about he manymeaningshat
"it's
ate"
mightsenreo convey.s this sentence special ase? ot at all. Any English or french,or Swahili sentence
may conveydifferent meanings n different occasions, nd might have served o illustate
the same
point.
Because f such acts, inguistshave ourd it necessaryo distinguish
sentence
eaning" rom
"speaker's
meaning."
Only
linguists
are
interestedn sentence eaning br its
own sake.For the rcst of us, seDtence
meaning s somethingwe are
generally
unawareof. lt is somethingwe use unconsciously, s a rnean owards
our rueend,which s to understand
eople,
nd o
make
ourselvesnderstood.peaker's eaning thestuffwe
care bout always
oes
eyond entence eaning:t is lessambiguous
although
t
mayhaveambiguities f irs
own); t is more
precise
n someways,andoffen ess
precise
n otherwaysi t has
ich
nlplicit
contcnt. entence
meaning s but a sketch.We arive at speake/smeaningby filling in this sketch.
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How do we
go
from sentence
meaning o speakerrsmeaning?How do we flesh
out the skeloh?
n the
past
twenty
years
or so. it has becomeobvious thal, in order to
gmsp
a speakedsmeaning we make use of of
inference.
Inference"
s
just
the
psychologisls'
erm
for
what we ordinarily call
"reasoning."
Like reasolfng, t
consisls
n
starting
tom some nitial assumptions nd
n
aniving throtrgha series
of steps
at
someconclusion,
Psychologistsowever renot
ust
being
preteotiousn
usinga rarerword:whenmostofus talk of reasoning,
we think of an occasional,onscious,
ifficult, and ather low mental
activity.Whatmodern
sychology
as
shown
s that
something
ike re.rsoning
oes
on all the time
-
unconsciously.
aiDlessly,
nd fast. When
psychologists
alk
of
inference, hey are refering fiIst a1ld oremost o this ever
present
meltal
activity. I{ere,
then, s how today's inguists andpsychologistsunderstand ow one personunderstandswhat anotherperson
says.
When
you
are
old
something,or instance
it's
ate." irst
you
decode
he sentence eaning, nd hen,
you
i42r the speaker's eaning. ll this, however, akes
place
so fast and so easily hat it seemsmmediate
nd
effortless.
l_low,
hen,should
we revise
ur understanding
fhuman
communication?he irst rcsponses 1() ta) asclose
as
possible
o the old coding-decodingheory. The updatedstory might go
like this. What makes
communication
ossible
s the
possession
f a common arguage, s we always
aid.
However,
iven
human
intelligence,
ou
don'tneed o encode ll
your
neaning,or to encode
t exactly.n order o be understood.ou
can rust
your
audience
o infer
your
full meaning rom their knowledge
f the situation,aken ogelherwith
what
you
actually aid.Why indeed ay,
"The
plane
on
which your
molher s coming s late,so late
hat we
oannotwait for her any Jonger, told
you,
we should
have
stayed t home."whensaying
it's
ate " ,,,ith
he
right toneof voicecanconveyall this
and
more.The ole of inference
n communications thatof an optional
add-on. 11hat s reallyneededor comrrunications a commonangrLage,ut nfercnce
rovides
ast outines
andshortcutshataie oo cftbctive o do without.
Many
psychologists
nd jnguists ccepthis updated ersion
fthe old story.Others or't. Trying1(] nderstand
the killd ofinferencenvolved n conmunication as ed some f us1() urn he
old storyupsjde own.We now
think
that
human
commuricalion
s fil.st
and
ofemost
matterof i
'erence
and hat anquases the add-on,
Here s the newstory.
A millionyears go,Jetrs ssume, ur ancestorsadno anguage t all. Oneofouf ancestors,allhim .lack,was
watching n ancesfess call her lill
-
picking
berries,Whatdid Jackunderstandf what lill
was doing?
He
miglrthaveseen erbehavior sa meresequencefbodily movernents,
r he mighthaveseen t as he carrying
oLlt of an intelltior,
perhaps
he intention o
gather
berries or eatitg.
Understandinghe behaviorof an
intelliged animalas he
canyjngout of an
rtention s, n geDelal,
uchmore nsightf'ul nduseful hanseeing
it asmeremovement. ut,wereour ancestorsapable frecognizingntentions
n oneamother'sehavior?
You have o be doubly ntelligento see hc ntelligencen others. ou need
heability o representn
your
own
mind he mental eprcsentatjonsf othercreatures.
ou
need, hat s, the ability o el11e
in
representations
f
representations.
hat.
in our
jargon,
we call
"meta-represeDtations."
ost animals have no meta-
representationalapacitywhatsoever.n the world as heysee t, thereareno ninds,
only bodics.Chimpanzees
andotherclose elativ€s f oursseem o havesome udimeDtary eta-representationalapacity. s for Jack,
bet he did
perceive
Jill's intention,
aild
not
ust
her movemenls. n f'act,
he was
probably gifted
enough o infer
from herbehavior otjust her ntention. ut alsoore ofher beliefs: hat hose
erieswcreedible.
If you
areable o
infer
other
people's
eliefs
rom
their behavior,
ou
can benelit iom
their
knowledge
nd
discover actsol'which
you yourself
haveno dircct expe ence. ack
miglrtnot haveknown hat hese erlies
wereedible, ut secing ill
pick
them
gave
him Evenwithout he use
of
language
r of communication,t may
be
possible
o
discover ther
people's
houghts
nd o make hem
one's wn.
Now, Jill was
ust
as
smart
asJack.She
hadnoticed hat
Jackwaswatching er,andsheknewwhat
he would
infer from her behavior. She rnay have liked Jack aM felt
glad
that her
picking
berries would serve
two
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puq)oses
nsteadofone:
providing
her with
food, and
providing
Jack with information. n faot,
it
could
be that
Jill didn't
really need he beries. alld
that her main
purpose
n
picki|g
them was o
let Jackknow thal they were
good
to eat. Mind
you,
it could also
be that she hated Jack, and,
knowing
thal
these
parlicular
berries were
poisonous,
he
was tJing 10mislead
him We are comingcloser o true conmunication
with its tricks, but
la.nguages not
yet
in the
picture. There is another big difference between Jill's
attempt a1 nlbrming or
misinforming Jack and
ordinary human communication.
Ordilary col nunication s
pursued
openly. I-lere,on
the otherhand,Jack
s not meant o realize hat Jill
is hfing to alter his thoughts.
What fJack understandshatJill's ue intcnlion n pickingberriess to makehim believe hat hey areedjble?
If he rusts ill, hewill bclieve
er; fhe doesn't, ewon't.Now what f Jill understandshatJack
grasps
er eal
purpose'l
Wcll then,
o andbehold,a world of
possibilities pensl f Jack s capable 1'understandinghat her
pu$ose is to inform him. shemight as
well be openabout t. Jill doesnot have o actually
pick
the berries
anymore.
A11 he nust do is show Jack
hat shewantshim to k11owhat they areedjblc. Shemay,
for
that,
resort
to symbolicmeans.
.lill
might, or instance,tare t heberies and
henmovehermouth,or shemightmimic eating hebenios. lack
would ask himselt
why doesshe do that?ODce
he recognized
hal shewas cloing
hat for his berefit, he
wouldnt find it hard
o infer her ntention, r, in otherwords,
her
meaning.
his s true
overt
commLmication,
although till without anguage. ll Jili doess
give
evidence fher intention, ndall Jackdoes s ilfer whal
her
intentions liom the evidcnoc hc
has
given
him.Noneofthat evidences linguistic r even odelikc.
For creaturesapable f commrnlicating
t't hjs nferelrtialmanner, language ould b€ tr€mendoulsy
seful.
Wordsare
even
betler
hanmimicry or
puttitrg deasn
people's
rind. fJill had
been
blc o utter
ust "eat,"
or
"good."
Jackcouldhave nferred er ntcntion,
er 'ull meaning,rom her verbalbehavior s easilyas he did
tiom her miming. With a
ricber anguage, ill would have been able to
give
evidence [ more conplex
mearlings. clually, in those days our ancestors
id not
speak, -lowevcr, heir capacity
or inf'erential
communicationreated r environment
n
whioh
anguage ould comcasa nrajoradvantage.ndsureenolrgh,
a eapacityor
anguagcvolvcdn rhchumuu p.'cles.
Thenew story, hen, s that humanoommunications a by-producl f hunan meta-represenLationalapacjties,
The
ability
o
pedbrm
sophisticatednf'erencesbout
cachothcr's 1a1es
l'mind
evolved n our ancestorss a
means d understandingnd
predicting
ach
other's ehavior. his in tuflr
gave
isc to the
possibility
f acling
openlyso
as o
revealone's
houghtso others.As
consequence,he
condilionswerecreatedo(
the evolulion
of
language.
anguagemade nt'erelrtial
onmlunicationmmenselymore effeclive. t did not chalgc its
character. ll human
ommrmication,inguisticor nonlinguistic, s cssentiallynfcrential.Whetherwe
give
evidence f our
houghts y
picking
bcrries. y
rninicry,
by speaking, r by writing
-
as
have
ust
done
,
we
rcly first and oremost n our audience'sbility
1o nfer ourmeaning."
Obiective
a) Demersul ognitivist
principii,
deologie, outate.
b) Elemente efinitorii.
c) Ce aduce ou
$i
caresunt
punctele
entrale
33
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lI. Antropologia
emo(iilor
Si
a sensibilitdtjlor
Texte
propuse
A.
"Le
corps, es sentiments t leurs repr6sentations
Nicolas oumet. c ierces umaines. o 6/2004
La symbolique
u oorpset desdmotions uvreur champ
d'6tudes
ui permet
d'accdder ux
normes t aux
pratiques
essoci6t6s.
Depuis
ne rentaine 'aDndes,n assiste unemontde
e 'intdrot
ou{
'dtude omparde
es h6ories e a vie
inlddeureet de la
persome
chez es ethrologues. ux
Etats-Unis, et iDt6ret
rest ristallisd
utourd'une
anthropologieesemotions
ont escnjeux hdoriquesnt
portd
successivement
ur es imitesde a nature
e a
culture,
uis
sur esBpportsentreexpression
t communicationans
a ma dredont
sontvdcus t congus, ans
des soci€tds ifferent€s, es
sentiments,es humeurs, es
imotions.
Cette
probl€matique
'est vue alols
directementnformde
pzLr
e
d€veloppernent,
aralldle,
des
approches ognitives
de la culture et
de la
philosophie
c I'esprit.
En France.es ravaux
nt
port6
de
prdl'drence
ur e
ddveloppemente 'heritage
e MarcelMauss
A
ravers es
articles Les echniques
u corps , 1936. t
(
La notionde
personne
, 1938),
travers,dtude es
conceptions
de I'identit€
persorulelle,
es composantes
c la
personne,
t
donc de celle du
corps,de ses dldments
t
fonctions.
Deux
h6matiques
our
un territoir€
nouveau
En €ppelaflt
es
points
d'histoire, hilippeDescola
t Frangoise
6ritier. out en
opdrant'ouverture u colloque
(
Corpset
affects
D, e[u
au Colldge e Francees 20,
2l et 22 novembrg
erniers..nontraielt quelpoint
ces
deux hdmatiquesvaient vantage se encontrer. on pasqu'ilexiste, ujourd'hui, nebaseh€oriqueeme
capable
e es soutenir,mais
qu'elles
eprdsententn territoifenouveau,
ordd
par
un horizoncommun relier
entreelles esdonl€es
qui
reldvent c a vie corporelle
t alt'ective es
peuples
t esstructlres
ongues e eur
vie sociale.
'dclairage ppoftd
ar
Jean-Didier incentesquissait
n cadre
eurobiologique
ertinent our
une
telle approche
ar 'opposd es \ues compulalionnistes.ui
tendent
d abstraire,esp
des ddterminismes
corporels,a neuropsychologie
endauiourd'hui lclure
les Ctats u corps,
esaffects,es6notions
et Ia
pensie
symbolique
ansur continuum
d'interactioDs,omme
s'il n'y avait
pas
de
rupture ondamentale
ntre es
mdcanismes
u
<
ressentir ,du
(
comaitrcD
et de
(
I'agi )).
Une approche ymboliqueet
sociale u corpset des
sens
Lestravauxexposds I'appui
de ces
perspectives,
ssusen
bonne
patie
du
s6minaire enu depuis
rois a.ns
ar
F.
H€
tier,
portaient
ur
un corollaire nthropologiquee
cette
proposition,
savoir a maniire
dont e corps ses
parties,
es iquides, es
propddtds,
essens, esaffects
est cultuellement
onguet mis en
oeuvrcdans a
rep€sentation
esEpportssociaux, ans a
reproduction,ans es
appofis nfe les
sexes, ans a ddfinition
de
la
personne
travers
diffdrentsexemples.
Pouren
citer
quelques-uns,
orinne
Follier montrait omment.
ans a socidtd
maure
Mau
tarie), coexistent
des rdgles
d'€vitementudsstrictes
entre es sexes,et des
conditions
articulidres
ans esquelles
e d6sir
masculin, onQu
omme n6pressible,
ouvait
se satisfaire uprds
u corpsdes emmes
ivorcdes_ean-piere
Goulardexposait a manidre
dont, chez es Tikunas
d'Amazonie,'appafienance
laniquedes
personnes
st
objectivdesous la fome de compofiements -"*:
"0"
saveurs,de couleurs empruntdesd la nature, bref
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consistaiten un systdmed'attributs corporels.Cristina Figueircdoexposait
une thdorie de l'espdt touvde chez
les Touaregs allada-r
elon
aquelle 'individuhdritait,
d tavers le lait et le
sangde la mOrc, 'affects t de
peN6e
consciente. ais recevail
e$
qualit€s
'intelligencct de bon
ugemenl
de sa ignde
paleinclle.
Saskia
Walentowitz
oursuivait
n montrant omment, hez esTouaregs
u
Niger.
es
qualitds
obles e a personne
pouvaient
etle ddmultiplides
pa.r
e biais de a
parentd
de ait,
compldmentaire la
parentd
<
du dos r>masculine.
Salvatore 'Onoftio aisait6tat,dans a traditionde 'Italie
du Sud,d'une onception
e 'allaitement istinguant
entreun
(
lait du coeur> fdminin,
peu
substantiel, t un
(
lait
de 1'6paule , masculin,
acteurde bome
croissancee 'enfant. nfin,etpour llustrer a diversitd es erraiDsbordds, arikaMoisseel'fd6vcloppaitne
analyse es dcitsmodernes e
science-fictioneployant n imaginaire e dissociation
adicale ntre es usages
sexuelsdu corps fdminin immaturcet stdrile,e1 es mdcanismes
e la reproduction,ejetds
du c6t6 de
l'animalitd.
Cet maginaire erait-ilcelui de la nodernitd
?
Bi€n
d'autresmat6riaux,
u'on
oc
peut
ous
prdselter,
taient
mobilisds
I'appui 'me approcheymbolique t sociale u corps,
essens, n
particulier
nce
qu'ils
oucheDt
la
place
ndgale es
sexes ans
es
socidtds umaines,hdmes ont 'inspiration remidre
dt€ddvelopp€e
ans
les ravaux eF. Hdrilier,et
qui
trouvent ans e colloquematidre
de
phs
anrples
6veloppements."
B.,,R6flexionsur uneanthropologie
es6motions
VincentCrapanzano
Uneanlhropologieesdrnolions st-elle
ossible
Depuis
a
publication
e Knowledge nd P(tssion llongol
Notbns
of Sef and&).ial Lilit de MichelleRosaldo
1980),
n s'est ngagd 1Amdriquc
ans ettedircction n
insistant ur le r6lc des
motions dans a collstruction u soi. C)n
peul
m6mc
parlcr
d'une
cole. ou
plus
exactemenl
rune rientation, ilibdtdment onslructiviste,
etleentreprisc 'estpas
sans
ricident:
cn France,
par
exemple, vec
,dvy-Bruhlet sanotionde <
pensde rimilive
, en Angleterre.
vecRadclifl'e-Brownt sa
thdoriedes sentiments
(qu'il
att bue
d'ailleurs
Durkbeim). rx
Etats-l,lnis,veo 'dcoledite
Cultureand
Personality,
assemblant uth Benedict,MargarelMeadet
bjen d'autres. a
rdflexionanthropologiqueur es
inrotions eflCte ue attitude
'anrbivalenceis-d-visdesaffects aractiristiquc
e la
pens6€
ulopdenne. n
lrouvccetteattitude hezDurkheimorsqu'il
avance
'iddequc
a raison
edigagc
progressivement
e
a
sphdrc
des motions
dans
e
ddveloppemente a civilisation. a raison
civilisde , c'est-i-dire
a raison uropdenne,
serait
purilide
des dnotions qui
(
temissent
)
la
pensde
auvage...
aurait-ildans a manidre
dont nous
concevonscs
dmotions'h]?olhese
u'elles rdvaLrdraient
I'origine, t. dans
notre hdoriede I'dvolution,
u
progrds,
n essai 'dvacuationesaffects
Il es1 lair
qu'on
ne peutpas
s'interrogerur es dmotions ans
isposer 'uneddlinition
de la catdgorienCme
d'dfrotionainsi
que
sur sesconnotations
at'fectives). t,'ethnologiexige,
ci commeailleuN.une
critiquede
sor propreapparcil onceptuel, ne critiquequi ne saurait trc otalementucidepuisqu'on e peut amais
selonWittgenstein
constmirc ne anguede coDmentaire
Lll'te
mitalangue)otalementndipendante
e la
languc-objet.i rdside,me semble-t-il,'un
dcs
grands
dangers e I'ethnologie
chez soi >i: elle risquc
de
perdre
e
point
de vue critique,
lus
acile
pr6server
orsqu'elle
tudie esautres
ocidtds,elles u rnoinsqui
parlent
une langue
distinctede la n6tle. Pour crderun < vrai
I regardethnographique
otreanthropologie
europdanistee doit-elle
pas
rccourird une
midiatjon,
celle de l'expdrience
e I'ahddt6.
qui
passe ar
les
rccherches,cs
lectules. es
prejugds
ulttuels,1esengagementsenonnels,
es
fantasmes Ces mddialions,
toujous ar a limite
du non-conscient,ne sorte de condensation,
mprdgnde
'dmolion, dsultantde nos
rencontes
vec 'alt6ritd, onlcetainemenl armi es
acteurs dcisifs
e toutes es recherches
ur
es
affects.
Une
ocaLisation
ou mieux
peut-Ctre,
ne
projection
sur esdmotions
'unAute.
qui
opdrc ogiquement
la
faQon
'un
iers,
nous
permet
erepdrcresdmotions e ceuxque
nousdtudions
ils
sontalors< ibdrds de nos
35
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projections
affectives), de distinguer le climat aflectif des relations
que
nous entlelenonsavec eux, fajt de
distance,de rupture.
Dal1s intoduction de eur collection
Zarguageand he Politics oJEmotion. CatherineL\tz et Lila Abu-Lughod
soulignenl
es liens dtroits entre e discours
populaire
et le discourssavantsur es 6motions
(
Intimement ides
i la
parole
ur e soimaisconsiddriesomme
ldmentsnf'drieurse celui-cj
du ait
qu'elles
ouveot
place
dans
le coes,
les
dmotions
estent
nvisagdes
e cette agoD 6sobligealteans e discours
n*ropologique,
ises
d
part quelques
xceptions
outes dcentes. lles sont donc reprdsentdesomme a dimension e I'erpdrience
humainea moinscont616e,a moinsconstruite,a moinsapprised'oilsonuniversalitd),a moinspublique t,
du m€mecoup,
a
moinssusceptible
'Ctre
oumise
r 'analyse n
temes de soci6t6 t de culture
> (1990:
1,
traduction e a.ddaction).
Pourtant,es rechercheses
plus
riccntcs,notamment
elles
pdsentdcs
ans ettecollection, oulignent, elon
elles, a
richesse
es nterpr€tations
n temes de socidtd t de cultue. Elles
mettcnten
questio[pricisdment
l'idde egue elon aquellees
(
6motions eraient e 'ordre e 'intfuiodtd, e 'irrationnel, e a nature
(1990
2. notle raduction).
Cetteapproche
oserait
ussi esbascsh€oriques
oLu
ne
histoircdcs
motionssusceptiblee rendre ompte
des
changements
ans 'economie
assionnelle
'une soci6t6.des rddvaluationsorceptuelles,moralcs
et
esthdtiqueses6tats ffectifs, insiquede 'apparition t de a dispaxit ionesdmotions omme 'ac6dieJackson
1985),e transpoft
Nahoun-Grappe
rapro) t
la melancolie.l faut
encore ignaler '61udeocio-histodquee
l'almout, iebe rls Passiotl. ue d NiklausLuhmann, 'odentationonctionnaliste
t
qui
tend A
natualiser
es
dmotions,VdroniqueNahoum-Crappe ous rappelle es dtroiles elationsentre I'expressionittifaire du
tmnsport ux xvllc et
xvttlc
sidcles t
lcs
coDnaissances
idicales
de I'dpoque.es mages, a figurationdes
symptomes.
es
changements
ans a description u lrarsportsont-ils iis
d
fivolution
du discours
mddical
Assiste-t-onr a disparition 'unsymptdme omologue celuidu ranspoft
Dansnombred'dtudes, otamme en anlhrcpologie
sychologique
t
psychanalytique,
ais aussi
dans
celle
d'orientalion
hdnomdnologique,
es motionssolrt onsiddrdesotnneLtldvefselles;
lles
pourmient
ertes tIe
ddclenchdes
ar
divers acteurs ociauxet culturelsmais elles resteraientemblables our l'esselltiel, 'une
socidtd uneautre. -espsychologuesommeP. Ekman, oujours nquCte 'expressionsorporellescsaffects
(Iaciales) ui
seraient
pancultulelles
),essaient e distinguer
es
dmotions
ldmentaires
la
coldre. a
peur,
a
tristesse,e degoirtet le bonheu) et des dmotions eoondaircs
l'amour,
a nostalgie),Daos une entative
(naturalisante)
'insdreres motionsdans a hdorie
e
'dvolution, es
psychologucsdans
a
pluspure
radition
darwinienne)
herchent
ans
es animaux esanalogics vec 'expressiones
allects
humaiDs pax
exemple,
c
froncenrent e nez ct la rdtraction c la ldvre supdrieureans c ddgott
(Rozrn
et al. 1993).Ces approches
universalistesontsouvent ccompagndes
'd
prloli
sur 'existence
e besoins motionnels,nndset ndcessaires
(le
besoin 'aimer, elui
d'eheain€) ainsi
que
d'une ociopsychologie:nctionnaliste.
es ites
rt
es
pratiqucs
th&apeutiquesveilleraient,
ar
exenple, esaffects epoussis ans a
psychd ui
cherchent lors s'exprimer
(abr€action,
atharsis).
Cathe ne Lutz et Lila Abu-Lughod constatelt
que
cetto dimarche tend
d masquer es rappons entre la vie
affectiveet soncontexte ocialet culturel.
Elles dafhnnent our eur part
a ndcessitd'dtudieres dmotions
d'un
point
de vue comparatil ron
(
natualiste en ce
qu'il
montre eur variabilitdet souligne es relations
qu'elles
ntretienne avec e contexte. ourelles,on doit considdreres€motions
ornme esconstructions
ui,
tout d la fois,€pondenta ccrtaines onditions ocioculturellest
ouent
un rdle determinantans a fbrmation,
ou tout au
moins
dans
a
ddfinition, de ce
contexte.Autrement
dit,
les
dmotionsont un effet
pragmatique
dans
divers discourset, en signalantun contexte,elle
peuventjusqu'd
un certain
point
contribuer le faire naitre.
Plusieurs uteus dansce num6rode Te ain choisissent 'dtudieres dmotions n tant que
discours;mais
commeLutz, Abu-Lughodet d'aubeschercheusde
eur
orientation, ls emploientcettenotion de discours,
dans
36
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la signifrcation
que ui a dotu16Michel Foucault,
avec me semble-t-il un mCmemanquede dgue et sans
se
pencher
sur sa
dimension
politique. Lulz et Abu-Lughod,
quant
elles,
parlent
des discou$ sur
les dmotionset
des discours
qui provoquent
es imotions.
mais ne cherchent
pas
d diff6rencier entre
e
discours
qui parle
des
affectset
le
discours
qui
les exprime;
de
plus,
elles ne
prennentpas
en compte es intenctions entre
rcprdsentation
t expression es motions.
Mais
peut-Cte
aut-il commencq
par poser
a
question:y
a-t-il desdiscours, esenoncds, es
parcles peu
impofie ci la distinction)
ui
ne soient
as
dmotionnels
Il
estdvident
ue
oute€nonciation
st ourded'une
dimension ffcctive< portdeDpar e style.EllcpeutCtre oulignee,gnorde,masqude u ni6ed'emblde ar es
conventions
u discours u encorc
ar un choix conscient u inconscient
celui-ci
estant epondant
oujours,
m6medans edernier as,
assujetti ux dgles iscursives).
I-'ideememe
de discours motionnel oit €tre
considdrdeoinme onstitutive e la thdode
ou
de I'iddologie)
desdmotious I'intdrieur 'une ocidtd
t, d mon avis,elle
y participe
onnne
participent
cs affccts
ommds t
attribuds, u reprdscntds
l'amour,
a coldre, 'eovie)
dans 'organisation
onceptuelle
es
passions
e cette
socidtd.
es cal€gories
dndriques
6motion.
ffect,sentiment,
assion)
t leurssous-catdgories
amour,
oldrc,
d6go0t,envie) lbnctionnent omme
des reprdsentationse l'€tat
physiologiclue
u mental
(e m'enfonce
indvitablementci en thisant
ommesi
'admettais
a
possibilite
e
localiser
t de repr€senter
es dmotions) t
comme es
ocutions ontextualisa[tesu
performatives.
ette lldo e de a localisation t de a repr6sentation
des affects opdre aussi d un niveau
mdtapragmatiqueelle nous fou
'ft
la notion meme d'iruotion
(l'dmotio[aliti).
c'cst-d-dire
a
possibilitd
e sdpaicr ntrc
<
motion > ct des motions,de
les
situer
dansun
champde rdfdrelces t de es nsdrcr ans
esprocessus
ragmaliques.
lle nousoffre de
plus
a
possibilitd
e
les< ire >, de es noorporer ans ng
visjondu monde.
Je le
peuxpas
d6velopper ot argument
ans es imitesde ce conrmenlaire, ais
e
tiensA nsislersur son
impoltancc.Mitapragmaliquernent,
e
pouvoir
au
scns
argc)
sc rnanilcsto ans ous
cs
discoufs,
comptis
ceux
qui
sc disent dmotiomrels). Toutes es
tudes connues e moi
sur
es
dmotions
t
qui
s'intdressellt
u
discours e s'adressent
u'aux
fltts du
pouvoir
esdiscours motionDelst nonauxmdcanismes
ar
esquelsls
obtiennent e
pouvoir.
llles nc srint6ressent
as
noD
plus
aux mdganismes
u
travers
desquels es
discours
contribuonti dissimulereur lbrce, eur < nldgration dans es relations nstitutionnalisdcse pouvoir.Cc
faisant, llesooutribuent
cette mystificatiorl.
Dans
son
tr"rde esdmotiolls n G|dcc gicnne.
EvlhymiosPapalaxiarcltis
cl.
tupra) oriliquece
qu'il
appelle
(
une ormemodirie de constructivisme
; c'estA-dire
u'il
c tiqueune
position
onstructivistc
ui,
supposant
quo
cs ddes ontconstfuites
partirde
quelque
hose
riexistant
t nc sont
pas,
de cc fait, de
pures
et simples
constructions,
istingue dmotions
prdculturelles
de
(
sentiments ulhrels . Il remarque un
certaill
essentialisme
eut
imprigner lcs arguments nti-essentialistes.
1 aut lire,
d ce
propos,
'essai out.i fait
remarquablce )anicl Rosenberg
1990)
dans a collection e Lutz et Abu-Lughod. osenbergonstatc
ue a
manidre ont
MichelleRosaldo
1980)
et JohnKirkpalrick
1985)
extrayaicnt t commentaien[
ubslro :led
n.l
g/osse{
lesnomsdes dmotiorls a
permis
'dlablir
eur
place
et donc a
possibilil6
e eur
(
existence
)
dans a vic quotidjenne. n soulignant ar exemplec temc qui ddsigreune dmotiondansune angue ui ne
s'oriente
asgrammaticalement
utour e a nominalisation,D
isque
c fabriqucr hezautli uneautre
ttitLde
l'ace ux6mo1ions,'imposer cetauhuiure autre
sychologie.
n
peut
certes nvisagerne
psychologiesi
on
peut
memeemployer e mot)
qui rdsisterait louteddlimitationerminologiquees 6tats nlerieurs
. ll
faut
analyseresconversationsoncrdtes.
elonRosenberg,
our
dicouvrir es oyersd'interct ndigdn€s
endus
ar
le exique t a syntaxe.ls sontaccentuds,
monavis,
par
es< thdories)ddrivdes
e
a stfuctureinguistique 1
solltarticul6s, oit directement,oit
ndirectement
mdtaphoquement ar
exemple), n tennes
sychologiques
(Crapanzano
992).
Les langueseurcpdennes nt en commun
(malgrd ceflainesvariantes)une
grammaire
de
nominalisation,ou du
moins
qui
focalisesul les cat6gories elimitdes
1ddlimitables
voir
nos sysldmes e classification t leur
37
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valorisation scientifique); elles
pounaient
donc nous rendre aveugles ace aux aufes
champs
inguistiques
(6pist6nes)
dans esquelsce
que
nousd6signons
ar
(
dmodon
)
est d€ploydet dvalu6.ConrmePapataniarchis,
on
peut
critiquer une optiquen6ocartdsienne
ui postule
un objet
((
une dmotior
preculturelle
>) auquelune de
nos catdgories ffectivesse r€Gre, mais l faut admettre
que
cettecritique restedans es limites
de
note
systime
linguistique
ui
donne, omme
Michael
Silverstein
1976)
e
souligne,a
prioritd
d la fonction dfdrentielle
ar
rapportaux fonctions angagid.es
pragmatiques, odtiques).
Peut-on ns6rercette
critique
dansune argumentation eaucoup
lus
vastesur a stucture de a signihcation,sur
la relalion entre e mot et son r6f6rent(reel ou mental), et par extension
sur la nature de I'imitation ? Cette
approche
ous permet.me
semble-t-il, e
considdrer ote
th6orisation es dmotions ommeune sorte
de
(
thdatralisation de nos obsessions pistdmologiques1 de nous interoger
sul les relationsentre ces
obsessions eul thdatralisationet escooditions ociales ans
etpar)
esquelles
llesse
pfoduisent.
I1 aut
se
appeler u'd
cdtddecettc hdorisation
l existe
nednormeitt6rature escriptive
t
dramaturgique
es
6mo1ions,
ui
bascule ymptomatiquementntre e rdelet e fictif
-
une ittdrature ui
a doftrd ieu d desddbats
morauxd'une
gravitdparlbis
mofielle.Les
paramdtres
e cesddbats n changd
u coursdessidcles,mais ls
s'afliculentrdssouvent
utour e
a relation
nfe
le contenunoral et,par
consdquent
l'1'ectif)
'une
uvre et
les 6tats
assionnelsu'elle
uscite. ans< Le voile d'hometetd
t
la
contagion es
passions
, CeciliaGallotti
nousmontreque a
(
querelle w la moralitd u theatre de a deuxidmemoitiddu xvrf sidcle rangais une
pdriode
narqu€e ar la
transition t theatrummundian theAtedes
passions
s'est onstitude
€ cette
agon.
Lesaccusateurs,es
ansdnistes
t lesoratoriens,esontmoins ntdressd
u contenu
u'au
onctionnenent e a
communicationhdatrale, oinsd une
passioDarticuliCre
u'd
a concupiscence
ommune touteses
passions.
(
Le th€atlene
peut
Ctre 'objctd'unemoralisatjon
quelque
soit e s{et
qu'il
met
en scdne,irt-il le
plus
moral,
il libire une dnergie
passionnellear
essence ontraire la morale,
et comme elle non rdlbrmable. Les
dangers duoncdsisent e corys, esdtats
hysiologiques.
a contagion es
dmotions,e transpofi orsde soi...
Un siCcle
lus
dt, au emps u concile e'l'rente,esPdres e 'Eglise,
ui
s'inquidtaiente 'ell'et e a musique
nouvclle
ar,r
nola)
sur
escdldbrants,
sdrent 'une
argumentation
emblable.
elle-ci
rouve
sesorigines hez
saintAugustin t Platon. Go0ter a mdlodie outeDsLrscitanta dCvotion .
remarque enisLaborde,ellc dtait
la aonlradiction rdsoudre ar l'auto td ecclisjastique. Il convientde se mdiierpar principedes motions
qdune
ealisatiormusicale st
s$sceptible
'dveiller n nous ce peut
etre a
porte
ouverte to
s
lesabus.Mais
en m6mc cmps.d condition
qu'elles
oicntmaitrisdes
ar
I'auto
t6 religieuse. e tellcs motionsne
peuvent
qu'embellir
a
pridre...
Et les Pdres ssaydrenle maltriser esdmotions n conl'erart
es iglcs
prdcises
u stylemusical.
Nous nous
trouvons n
pr6scnce
'unediscipline esdmotions
ui
rappellea
discipline c la sexualjtdmiseen dvidence
par
Foucault.l faut souligner'obietde cette dglenentationle style, e registre
xpressif
ui portc
esaffects
-
et a ruptue entre e
support esemotions t sa
perceplion.
ll estcefiaincment
lus
acilede rdglementere style
que
d'imposer n rdgime
6motionnel un individu.Mais
lotons I'existenceen Eurcpe d€ toute une industrie (religieuse,pddagogique, sychothdrapeutiqu
chimiothdrapeulique)
ui
vise
d une
telle imposition.
Elle m6 te 1'6tude.Dans
plusieurs
modes de
psychothdrapie, par
exemple, on rcgarde le
patienl
comme
une sofie de
(
contenetu ) d'dmotiols
pathologiquement
ndigudes
ui
doiventohe relachdes afiiculdes. xprim6es,
iarliculdes ahn d'obtenira
gudrison.
'est
gdn6ralement
a
parole
qui
ddclenche
es
€motions t les soumel
L
une
articulation isciplin6c.
Le silenceest toujourssuspect crestun symptdme e r6sistance,
e refor ement,d'oubli. Les victimes
d'agressionencontrdes
ar
DominjqueDray
prdfdrent
souvent e silence
d
la
parolequi
rcnvoie d leul entourage
qui
(
parle
trop . DominiqueDray s'estoblig6ed se taire
et a appris e
pouvoir
communicatif
u silence.
(
Toute
'intense ctivitddeveloppde
ar
esvictimes t eut
entourage
our
essayer e retouver Lrn
rdre,alors
que
oe
retour
d l'6tatantdrieur st mpossible
(sapra).
Victimes,elles
csterontouiours, t comme elles
en
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marge du
grcupe
sooial
(en
France du moins).
< La
peur
enldve une
partie
de vorrs-meme
,
dit Andrde, une
femme gressde.
On
voit ioi
que
e r61ede la
parole n'est
pas
seLementde d6clencheret d'ordonner
es dmotions.ElI noDmant
les affects,elle
peut
aussi
prot6gerceux
qui
6coutent
de I'expdrience es dmotionsddsigilees. a reprdsentation
desdmotions ert
ainsid imposer r ordre
d I'dmotivitd
ui
est oujou$ d la limite du contr61e.e silence,
me
semble-t-il,
oit Ctrecompdsdanscette
perspective.
l
peut
ouer
un r61e ransgressif ans
'organisalion
affective
d'unesocidt€ d'oi sonef'ficacitd
hetoriqueet thdrapeutique.
II est remarquable
ue les trait€s de rhdtodquedu
xvlf
siecle
ne
comparent
pas I'omteurd l'acteur alors meme
quc,
chacunr
leurmanidre,ls dveillcnt ous
deux es
passions
u
public.
La rh€torique
assait
meme
pour
etre
supdriewe l'art dramatique.
'estcertainement
i6 d ce
que
'on estime trede 'ordrede la vddt€ainsi
qu'd
l'6valuation onventionnelle
e la moraliti des
praliciens.
la diffdrence u comddie4€crit CeciliaGallotti,
I'orateur
doit
(
eprouver rdellementet
exprimer sincdrementes
passions
>. [n situant e sidge des
dmotions
dans e corps, u dans
'6me,
n
cr€e a brdche nte
les
peftrbations
physiologiques
u
psychiques
ppeldeses
(
dmotions et
euf expression. ette rCche,
uj
doit Ctre onsiderdeuniveau onceptuelommeunedom6e
variable elon a culture,
ermet
ous
esddbats ur a condition u comddien
faut-i1
prouver u dissimuler
es
dmotionsde son
personnage
), sl"tl
'dtat moral
(hypocrite
ou sincdrc)d'un acteursocial, et sur
la transparence
ou l'opacitd e l'ame.Peut-on onsiddrer os descriptions
uasi
obsessionnellesesdtats
passio
els dans a
littdrature,
a
philosophie,
a
psychologio
omme
une dponse la teneurde 'inconnu
ui peut
otredoartic
par
I'att butiond l'autre 'unedmotion
dfinie, itude ans e trdfonds e celui
qui
vous ait face?
Les approches esdiscours
motionnelse
patagent
en dcux. l
y
a d'abord e lles
qui
regafdent
e discours
commeune sortc
de monologue la notionde
discours 'est
qu'un
substitut
our
es notions otalisanlese
< cnlture> ou de ll/eltanschauungel
il
y
a celles
ui
le considdrent
lus
dynamiquementomme n dispositif
interlocutoire.a
premidre
pproche
tendalrce isoler 'dmotion e sonconlexte ocialen
a
cantonnant
ans
I'individu. ,a
seconde
eut
a localiserdans
e
ieu
entre es interloculeurs
u
elle
-
son expression. on
attribution
peut
ddtenniner
pragmatiqucnrcnt)
a <llinition u coDtexte'6nonciation,'dvaluationu contenu
de 'interlocutiont
a caract6risationes nterlocuteursleurs
positions
'tm vis-d-vis e 'autre,
Cette pproche
sorLlignea dimcDsionoliliquede out discou$Cmotif, compris cluide a rdsistanccu'ondoit conrprcndre
dans n sens eaucoup
lus
actil'el
plus
crdatifquecsethnologuesmdricainse e fon1.
ll cst fod
possible u'au
nivear
t-h6orique,
ar
son nsistanceur a localisation 'un affect
quelque a
dans
l'individu,
a
premidre
pproche,
uc
nous considdrons
ci idiologiquement ommeLm
sympt6me
,onotre
individualismc, ontribued masquer
e r6le rhdto
que
de I'expression t de l'attibution des dmotions:
autrement it, elle dissimule
a
(micro-)politiquc
d€s€motions.l se
peut que
dars d'autres
ullures
qui
ne
partagentas
notre ndividualisme,ette
olitique
qlre
nous
lons
dissimulons ans os
propos
ur esdmotions
se€vdle
par
exemple ans es discnssionsur
a nomativitd des elatiolssociales
Howel1
981).Livrant a
valeur
p€gmatiqu€
de
I'dmo1ivit6. n
pounait mdme
dire
quril y
a touiours un€ compdtition
entre les
irlerlocrteurs d
qui
appartient ne motion ?
(voi
mon essai. Glossing motions, dtJ]sHermes'Dilemma).
Rappelons-nousesconv€rcationi friquentes ansnoscomddies eboulevard, t dansnosvies ( - Je 'aime.
-Non,
c'est
noi qui t'aime.
Tu
ne m'aimes
as,pas
vraiment,
as
commemoi.
Pas
comme
oi ? Comment
peux-tu
e dire ?
Que
sais-t$
de moi ? Ne te fAche
pas,
e
t'er
prie.
-Je
ne
suis
pas
6chd.
Mais si,
tu es u err.'(.
-Non.
c'est
ueje
'aime.>
Cettecompdtition modonnelle
st
gouvenlde ar les
conventions iscursjves, comprisdans
e fait
qu'elle
prendplace
dansun
genre
de communication
onvenable.
Quand
es femmesbddouines 'Egyptesont touchdes
au
vif
par
les connirages, elles
peuvent e
protdger
elonAbu-Lughod
ar
rrn changementramalique e
propos,
eregistre u discours.
lleschantent n
petitpodnequi
ddcritsouvent e
qu'elles
e
peuv€nt asdire
dans eurs
conversationsrdinaires, savoir eurssentiments
ntimes 'isolement,
e
regret, e vuln6rabilit6. e
fait
qu'elles
soient obligeesd'exprimer ces senliments
dans une forme litt6raire contaignante est sans doute
39
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rdvelateu de eul notion de soi et de
la valeu
qu'elles
donnentd la vie affective et,
plus gdndralement,
ntdrieue
Oesoin
de conttole,
ormulation esthdtique, ttitudede stoibisme).
Dans
esvillagesde 'Alentejo, u Po{ugal,or)a tEvaille
Miguel Vale
de Almeida, es hornmes ontsoumisA
un rdgime affectif rigoureux
qui
les €mpeche
d'expriner toute une
gamme
d'6motions,
plu16t
ddpressives,
ui
sont assocides ux
femmes.Commeailleus dans e mondemediteran€en, es hommesde l'Alenteio
(
ne sont
iamais
supposds
xpdmer ibrementdes sentiments
t
des Cmotions
qui
mettent eDcause image de la force et
de
'autosuflisanceasculinesl. Mais certains
oemesdlcimax)
dcites
ans escaf6s
ermettent
uxhommes
d'exprimer es sentiments f6minins
>
-
l'amour. a trahison,a peurde la mort
-
inadmissiblesn d'auttes
circonstances.
a rdcitation e cette
podsie
eur
permet,
elonVale de Almeida, sinonde briser,du moins
d'assouplires rontidres
ui
s€parent
€mininet masculinD.
Dans es cafds gdens,selon
Papataxiarchis,es hommes ntreeu{ ont l'occasion 'exprimer ertains ffects
(comme
a borure umeur. elf
qui
sedistinguent csaffects
u'ils
cssententorsde a communaut€ asculine
(synphercn)
t
q:ri
diff6rent
lus
encore u sentiment,
ssentiellementiril,
de
'honneur
hez
es
bergers
6crits
par
JobnK. Campbell
1964)
et MichaelHeflztbld
1986).
Il
fautattirer 'attenlion ur 'imponance 'une dgdre
ivresse c'estun sujetd approfondir dans 'dvcildesdmotions.) onstatant'importancee I'identiti sexuelle
(gender)
darc l'dconomie
passionnelle
g€enne,
Papataxiarchis
oulignc e rdle dcs dmotionsdans
la
construction u moi. Pour ui, les Orecsdisposent de multiplesconceptionsu moi applicables, t donc
collstitutives
u moi, dansdill'drents ontextes. Poudantl n'est
pas
du tout cefiain
qu'une
onception u moi
soit corlslitutive u moi. Les emotions
ui
naissent
ar
exemple
e 'intdret
ersonnel ouraient
valoriser ne
relation u moi
qui
n€ rendlait
pas
cornpte u t6le de I'autre. e 'intetlocution ans
on
expressionde l,)eme,
d'autres motions omme
e
phiktimo
(l'amour
'horureur)
ounaient
ccroite e r6le.ainsi
que
Papata,\iarchis
lui-m6mee remarque,e cel autre, e cette nterlocution.
'dmotivitr eut
donc1'avorisern regard w le moi
qui
rnet en dvidence ne nd6pendance,
ne continuitd,e
gdndral
u hien un autre egard
qui
souligne. u
contraire,
a
d€pendance
I'dgardde I'autre, a discontinuitd, e
pa|ticulier.
Conlbndre e conceptuel 1 e
corlstitutif, 'est 'empecher'apprdciere
pouvoir
desdmotions aff lejeu social.
Il se
peutque
celte dflexion ritique rouve
a
source
ans e fait
que
e
vis auxEtats-Unis,
ays
oi
la
question
du moi et de 'autre eposed'une ranidre ncore luscruciale u'ailleurs. roduit 'une oci€tid'immigrisaux
originesrdsdiverces, 'un ndividualismexubduntjamais
ibird
dlur conformismexigeant, 'une dticence
toutecentralisationt d'ure culture
ontestataireoujours ux imites
de
a
violence.'anthropologiemdricaine
des dmotiors,surtoutdans
son nsistance ur les relations ntre es dmotions t le
Jell;
est ndcessairemen
marqude
ar
sesorigines.Utreanthropologie
aite
par
es
Europdensur es motions
europeennes)
oit aussi
prendre
onscience e
son enracinementfin de
pouvoirprendre
de la distanoe
ar
rapport
aux
assertions
psychologiques
t
philosophiques
allantde soi )).Une ellecritiquea besoin e mddiations. lle requiert ette
perspective
ide d la confrontat ion vec une autre hdorie
qui
pemret
a triangulation icessaire u rcgard
cthnographique)dme i
paradoxalemenl
etle
hdorie
roviert
d'une
ocidtd
ui,
malgrd adiffdrence,
artage
la m€me rigine.
_Bibliographie
Abu-Lughod L., 1986.Veilecl entiments
Ilohor and Poetry n a Bedouin
Socieq,, erkeley,Universilyof
CaliforniaPress.
Abu-Lughod L. et C, Lutz, 1990. Introduction emotion, iscou$e, nd hc
politics
of everydayife >, lr
Lutz C. €t L.
Abu-Lughod, anguage d thePoliticsof Emoliotx, ambridge,
ambridgelniversity
Press.
CampbellJ.
K., 1964.Honour,FamilyandPatronage. xford,Clarendon ress.
CrapanzanoV,, 1992.Hemes'Dilemma d Hanlet'sDesire,Cambridge, arvardUniveNityPress.
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Darwin C.
R, 1965
(1872).
The
Expressionof the Emotions n
L'Ian
and
Animals, Chicago, University of
Chicago
ress.
Ekman P., 1992.
An argumentor basicemotions
, Cogzition ndEmotion,yi,
pp,169-200,
Hertzfeld M.,
1986. ThePoetics of Manhood
Contestand ldentity in a Creton Mountain
l/illage, Pttnceton,
Princeton niversity
ress.
Howell
S., 1981.< Rulesnot words , i, HeelasP. et A. Lock, ndigekoussychologie.r,ondon,Academic
Press.
JacksonS.W.,
1985.< Acedia he sin and
ts relationshipo sorow andmelancholia
,
itr Kleinman
A. et B.
Good,
Culture and Depression:
Studies n the
Anthtopohtgy and
Cross-Cuhural
Psychiatly of Afect and
Disorder Berkeley University
of Califomia
Press.
Kirkpetrick
J., 1985.< SomeMarquesan
nderstandilgsof action and dentity
)),
tn White G. et
J. Kirkpatrick,
Person,Selfand Experience Expbring
Pacific Ethnoptychologies, erkeloy,
University of Califomia Press,
Luhmann N., 1982.-Liebe lsPassion Zur Codierungvon Inlimilztt, Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp.
Lufz C, et L. Abu-Lughod,
1990.Language6nd the
Politics
oJ
Emotk n,
Cambridge,
CambddgeUniversity
Press.
Rosaldo M., 1980.KtlowledgeuwJ
Passion Ilongot Not,ons of Self and Social Life, Cambridge,
Cambridge
UniversityPress,
Rosenberg
D.,.1990. Languagen thediscoursefthe
emotions) txLutz
C.
et L. AbLtLnghod, p. cil.
Rozin P.,
Haidt
J.
et C. Il. Mccauley, 1993.
< Disgust , in Lewis M. et J. M. Havila.nd. ctndbook f lhe
Emotior.r,New York, Guilford Press.
SilyersteinM,, 1976.
<
Shifters,
inguisticcat€gories, nd aulturaldesoription ia Basso
K. et H. Selby,
Meqning n
Anthropolo&',,Albuqueque, University of
New Mexioo Press."
Obiective:
a) Identificarea biectului ntropologiei
motiilor.
b) Demers ntropologic iferitvizdndproblematicarezenta
4t
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12. Antrop olo
gia
corpul uL
Texte
propuse
A.
Le
Breton, Davrd - 2002 < Antropologia corpului
gi
modemitatea >,Ed. Amarcord,
Timiqoara,cap.4:<Astdzi ,corpul>,pp.81-87,cap.5:<Oestezieavief i icotdiene>
pp.
89-110
B.
Jacques aliba_-
Le corpset les constructionsymboliques, in
Socio-Anthropologie
no
NoS
Mddecine t santd
Synboliques
escorps
((
La
littdrature
nthropologiquest
ichede desciptions u corps.Elle nous es
i\,.re n €s hdorisant, ettart
en valeu toute a complexitd e eursconccptions.
ais,
si
la
miseen
perspective
ndropologiclueccentuea
pertinence
u ddbatNatur€/Culture,lle
permet,
ussi,d'interoger
a dCfinition livoque
que
a civilisation
occidentale conl'drdeisto
quement
u corpset
qu'elle
a imposde, omme euls egard t discoursdgitimes.
En effet, es disciplines iologiques t mddicaies nt acquisun monopole e savoiret de gesliondu corpsd
I'exclusion e ouleautre orme,
Dans es
socidtds xotiques,
e
corps
s'exprjme travers esmythes,
€scroyancost dcs tuels hdrapeutiques
dont 'efficacitdsymbolique st ddmontrde
ar
les havauxethnologiques.es dcrnicrsmettcnt
en avant
es
aspects
ationnels,
ien
que
sp€cifiques, e
ces
trpes dc
pensCe
u de
pratique,
mernesi les tennesde
(
mentalit6
rimitive
),
pensCe
auvage
,
(
empidsme t ddterrrinisrne
ausal
)...peuvenl araitre
mbigr.rs.
Le recul anthropologique,vec e ftavail
qu'il
impose ur soi et sur es cultures,nterroge
on seule:nenta
pensde
nagique
mais arLssi a confrontatjon
vec la
pensde
echlico-scientifiqr.re.l
pennet
de mieux
comprendree sens e
ce
qui
esten.lcte,dansnossocidtis, orsque
ens6e
avante t reprCseutatiolls
rofanes
se encontrent,omme arexemple ans a relationmddecin/malade.l donne, ar i, nnedimension istorique
ir
nos nstitutions, os
croyances
t nos
pratiques
ans
€duire
a
conl'rontation
ulturelle l'opposition e deux
grands
moddles:Tradition/Modemiti,
ocidtds
oides/Sociitis haudes.
[
fait,
a modemite ccidentale,n
se
heurtant uxsocidtds ppelldes'abord
rimitives uis
exotiques,e
qucstionne
travers escult resalLtres
Il
appartient la sociologie,
onme
ar
'anthropologiet encore h.rs
la socio-anthropologie.e resituer,
ans
dessocidt6selles
que
esn6tres,e ddbat w la cultureet ses ormes
ymboliques.l s'agitdc lcur rcndre oute
lcm rationalitd, ans e lieumdmcoir dominea conceptionnatidelleet echnique
u monde,D'autant
plusque
cetteapproche nidimensionnel lees
aits
sociaux
stau coeurm€me
descrises
ui
traversentotre modemitd.
Le corps, r uaversa difiicultddes
questionsu'il pose,
n estunebonne
llustration.
Mais
qu'est-ce ue
e corps? Comment
e penser
Sous
quel egisfte
e ddfinfu Ses ormationseldvent-elles
de
'essence
ntrinseque'une chose ou obdissent-ellesu,\aspectselationnclst mdtaphoriquesnhdrents
tout socialet i toute slmbolique ?
Objet de sciences
ositives,
ommede sciences umaines,e corps, orsqu'il
est souffrant, st e centredes
th6ories
mddicales
t de eurs
pratiques. a
clinique
psychanalltique,
lle-m€me. ien
que
n'abordante corps
qu'en
ermes e signifiants, 'aumit
pas
vu lejour sans neconsfuction
u corps
ar
a sciencemodeme.C'est
le ddcriptagedes slmptdmes hystdriqueset le caractdre aumatique de la
sexualitd
qui
conduisirentFreud, en
rupture vec 'hyplose,d ses6parer e a m6decine
ourposer
'inconscient.
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Le corpsse
prdsente,
insi, dansnos soci6t6s ousdiff6renles acettes.
La
question
de ses dl'drences evient
une
questioll
contempo@ine. oulant elle apparait
pamdoxale
ant domine
aujourd'hui la ddfirition naluralistedu
corps.Cett€ demidre end I'enfemrer dansun
questionnement ui pa1l
de
l'6vidence
de son apparclceavec e
prdsupposd
ccidentald'un corys-maliere, ir fonctionnement t dysfooctiomement
de sa
substance achent,en
fait,
sa
6alitd qui
est
e produit
d'une construction
istorique.
Les
ph6nomdnes
orporelsont I'objet de discours t d'intelprdtations.ls
appartiennent,insi.d cdt6de leurs
caractdresrganiques, des egistres
e
repr€s€ntation
t de langage. u
coeurdesdtuels et des croyances
magiquesou religieuses,e rapport des hommesd la souffralce est un des dldments onstitulifs,par
rationalisationl,
dcs
grandes
eligions.
4:$ gtlglq- 4_ 941i-t
4( t9ll9rl9'c-o,1ps
9
pS,u _tolrg
iqsqcid
dc rout
clr.qd
liqqclil
dan a cqllurqet Ie
langage.
l n'est
plus
possible,
ujourd'hui,
e Le
enser
n dehors e ces
dfdrenticls.Dansun contexte u se
perd
'euphorie topique
u
progds,
esapproches
n €mes do
positivisme
scieltilique et technique
rouvent eurs imites. En effet, dans e
cadrede la sdculasation
qui
est
lide
d
l'avdnemenl e a modernitd.a
Science 'estconstrujte ansunesubversion
u
paradigme
eligierLx,herchant
m€mc
d
l'6ljminer
et d r6pandre,ans 'ensemble e a culture
t des nstitutions,'esprit
desa
propre
ddmarche.
Le d€bal
actuelautou du corps ait de la
perspective
nthropologique
me des oppositiots
essentiellesr
I'imp6rialisme u scientismeechnologique. esituer
ans etu histoirel
cesdeux
positions,
'uneculturelle t
relativiste,
'aute homogdndisante1 eductrice
af
son
)?e de rationalit6,'ait
Cmergera
possibilite
'une
r€llexion ritique
oi seconfrontente
paradigme
u colps-matietet
ccluidu corps-rndtaphorique.
Los camctdresontradictoirest exclusifs
e cesdeuxoonceptioilsu corps
ne ooncernent n effet, que
nos
socidtds.
ls
nous ntroduisent une ecture riliquedenotte
cultweet bnt
apparaitrea coDstructionoci0le es
cadres nstit[tionnels
t discursifs e la rdaliti du corys.Cette
cu]tuleest,d'ailleurs,
a seuled i[tenoger a
place
de celte r6alitddans cs registrcs
ymboliques u imaginaires,
c m€me
que
a nature
cl le sensdes
symboles
u'elleproduit.
Le l'aitcorporel e
pr6sente,
ci,
de manidre xplicite,
ommeun fait
parld
et
pcnsi.
maisaussimanipuld,
aDse
rdfdrentiel
'une ulture ont e modo
d'orgar sation
n
Cglemente
a
geslion.
Il ['est
plus
contradictoire,
lors.de
questiourer,
u
point
de vue
dc a cultureet du langagc,
ette dalitdou ce
leeldu corys
qui,
outen se
pdsentant
omrDeimpies onndese a
madere, onl ravcrs6s
ar
desdiscours
ui
n'ontni lc memes1a1u1i la meme egitimitd t qui n'ob6issentasaux m6memodesde ldgitimation. ctte
interrogationu ajt corporcl
e
place
insidans nedoublc upture.
D'une
part,
l se diffdrencie e
I'approche
sychologique,
liniqueconrme
expirimentale,
ui
acoentuees
dinensionsbrmalisdes
u exptessivesu corps, elles
ui
dmarrentessens t
desdmotions.
D'autrepalt.
l se distancie 'un
abordbiologique t
physiologique,
eluide 'r:rganisme.
ui
se
prdsente
ous
desaspects
na114iques,esc
ptils
et bnctionnels.
Cesapproches
ont aussinatu?listes es unes
que
es autres.
Ellesont
pour
efflt. si cc n'est
pow
objectif,
d'( il'lstnmlentaliserle corps. l
dcvicnt, lors, orcede
production,
ource 'dnergie
u systdncd'adaptalion.
Cescadres onceptuels,ui font du corpsun objetde savoir, onditionlent amanipulationechnique. outcs
ces
probldmatiques
articipe[t,
en e1let, 'unehistoire
qui
pritend
Ctre elledu
corps del,alors
qu'elle
n'est
que
cellede
ses
conceptions. roduites
t tansmises
ar
des nstitutions,
ont a rnddecine
odeme n est e
meilleurexemple, llescherchent
distingueresdiscours fin d'en unifier
utl et de 'intdgrer
ans
e
chan'tp e
la Science,
ssayant,
ar
d, demieuxmaitriser ne echnologie
'intervettion.
Parcoltre, Iorsqu'il
est
pis
comne fait culturel, e corpsdevient
n objet anthropologique.
odeur e sens,
sans uctme isde dl6ologique,l
seconshuit traverses
pratiques
t es nstitutionsndependamment
e oute
finalitd
biologique.nqglt
qan:
lla
prlori
du
angage,
l
participe
'un fonctionrement
ollecrif.
43
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Mais au-deld
du simple rejet du biologisme, 'int€tprdtation anthropologique u oorps rouve sa spdoificiteen
e
constuisantcomme ait historiqueet social.
Etabli
par
une symbolique
ollective
qui
l'intdgredans a
complexit6d'ue culture, e corpsen devient
un des6l6mentsndissociables.1 est nsdparable 'uneaperception
holistique,dont a
place
et la forme difltrent de celles
que
ui donne a d€marche
nalyique moderne.
La
pensde
'uncorps-matidfe,€tachd
e 'nme-estconsensuellement
osd
omme
n dldment onstitutif e
a
civilisationoccidentale
modeme.Mais cette demidre ntroduit en outre l'idde d'un corps ndissociable e
findividu, de
'extdrieur e
son
mageet de 'intdrieur e sonvdcu.La culturedu corpsn'est
plus,
conrme hez
les Crecsl. une igurationpour autruiqui 6volue, out au loqg des nteractions, ansune altdrit€. Elle estp1ut61.
ici, l'incorporation 'une subjectivitd
ui
se d6ploiedansune dentildstable,
onstruite
ar
identification
t
transmiseocialement.'individu accdde la modemitd
ar
ul1
processus
istorique '( autocontrainte4.
qui
socialise
iolence
t
pulsions
t
qui
e fait, ainsi,
se €aliser
ans
a
sublimadon:. a valorisalion ontemporaine
de I'dthique t de I'ethos e
a
(
maitrise e
soi > commemoddle
e comportement,ur equel epose 'ailleurs
toute
personnalisation
ncorpor€ede a domination,eo est ule boture lluslration.
Le corpsse touve alorsau centredu
phdnomdne 'individuation ui
oamct6risees soci€t€smodemes. e
suinvestissement
arcissiqueont l estactuellement'objet, sur e
plan
social, stun
des
ndicateurs ajeurs
de cette ra[]sformation.'individu devient n 6trede droit, de
ouissance
t de besoin, ef€ndant ne ntinlit€
qui
est indissociableu statutde
la
personne.
ce titre, le cotps
se donned voir d I'interstice 'espaces
juridiques,
conomjques,
sychiqucs ui
sont r l'intersectionu
public
ct
du
p
vd.
Mais
c'est
par a
scicnoe t
par
la
publicit€,
et aussi
par
e sport,
que
es
phdlomdnes
u colps bnt une entrde ans 'espace
ublicf.
ll
apparait, lom,dansun discoursmddiatisd
ui
est ouiourc n discousnormatifparlant 'hygidne, e maladie t
de santi, sous ouvertde ldgitinitd mddicale. ette
dea'iere epose
ur un calactCrcationnellementonstruit
d'dnoncds
ui
obdissent, la fois, au
principepoppdrien
e thlsiliabilildet d l'efficacitd
pectaculaire
e eurs
applicationseclmiques. a mesurc. 'exp6 mentation t I'obseryation mpirjque ont, ci, les seules etre
valorisCes,e
qui,
dansun
contexte
e
(
rationalisationu monde ,
confirme a mddecinenodeme ans e
bien-fondd e sanouvelle rientation istolique
ui
a conduit aligner es
savoirs
t
sa
pralique
ur
e moddle
de a soience.
Le fait corporel, anscetteacceptionndividuelle, st aussi |lr obiet sociologique.l peul Clre eli6 ii unc
conception
ragmatiste
e l'individu
qui
le oonstruit ansune forme
sociale 1
qui
I'inscdt dansun espace
d'interactionsz.'y ddli[ritentdes rontidres, 'ilaborenl esstratdgies,e mcttent n
place
des actiques utotr
d'images u moi et de
I'autre.
Se crdentainsides
epr6sentationsui
ddifientdes dentitds ansun contexte
d'alt6dt6.
Celte
marquendividualisdeu corps, i elle
peut
CtIesaisie omme onsciencet comme
straldgie,
nc
oelneipas
]4
pfsg
en comptede son appartenance
olistique
d un systdme
lobal,
culturellement t
histodquement
roduit.
Sa transmissiou
ommesa transformationistofique, ar
la dynamique es
groupes
'sociaux
ju ilesblaises, chappent I'ana1yse.,a dimensionantasmatique.lle-meme,
erd
de sonacuitd
au
profit
d'unesuwalorisationcs laborations ognitives.
Une telle
probldmatique
cculte
ce
qui
reldvedu Slljet au
profrt
d'uo individu-acteur
tudi6d tlaversdes
logiques 'aclion.Ce demier,soit en statdge8,oriente ationnellementa conduite, e fixe des objectil's t
analysedes situations, oit, au contraire,est ddflni comrne un Ctre ddtemin69,
produit par
des
jeux
d'intemctions u des systdmes
ui
l'alidnenten le
positionnant.
'autressociologues nt 6tudi6 e corys r
tlavers 'usagesociallQ
qui
le fagorme n le socialisant des contraintes
e consommationu de travail.
D'autes encoree
posent
ans n a
priod
de a d€temination iologique.ls recherchentans 'hdr6dit6,
lutdt
que
dans
'hdritage,'explication
e
'action.L'acteest, ci,
ddfinicomme 6ponse une
poussde
nerg6tiquee
l'organisme t non comme raduction 'ru1 dsir.La capacitd 'adaplation
evient nevaleurvitale.Fllleest e
Foduit
d'ure silection
qui
obiit aux ois de
'6volution.
Ces h6ories ociales e onfrontent des
paradigmes
behavioristesu
sociobiologiques,
ommed'autres. onctionnalistes,ejettent
es thdses tilitaristes, nalyses
qui
sontd l'oeuvre mplicitement ans es conceptionsiologisantesu corpset qui
en
dgitiment
a
gestion
u
le contrdle.
44
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logique du fantasme t d celle du don
pris, ici, dansson acceptiond'6change.Comment dsoudre, e la manidre
1a
lus
ationnelle
ossible,e probldme
e
a
penurie
esorganesr
greffer
? La rdponse stcherch6e u c6t6de
la rationalisation
ar
'€conomique,
'organisatiofilel,oire e marketing.
Enlre,ainsi,
dans institutionm6dicale,
eapproprid
ar
esm6decins. I'exclusion e out
discous
concruaent,
en
particulier
religieux,
les
pathologies
ou les dysfonctionnements u corps deviennentmatidre
premidre
d'un
tavail de natule
professionnelle.
Dans son champ, et d I'exclusive de toute inteNention extd eure, se
d€finissent es
savoir-faire, e transmettentes
pratiques
t s'enseignentes connaissancesh€oriques. es
competenceseldvent e positions tatutairest hi&archiques ui ddlimitentdes dentit€s t des espaces e
qualification
t de
reglementation.oute
prise
en charge nstitutionnelle bdil d un
principe
de sdpaxation
Bdicale
avec d'un cdtd e mondedes soignants
ui produit
ses
propres
ignesde
distinctionet
de
I'aute
1'univers essoign6s.
En s'inscrivant insi
darlsurl champ
professiomel,
a m€decinemodemes'approprie'autorite €gitimede
d61inLescriteres u nonnalet du
pathologique,e '6tatde sant€ t de maladie. lle d€chargea famille.
Seule
I'auto t6
professionnelle
u mddecin
eut
dgitimerune
personne
ansun
statut
de malade.ui donnant es
droits
et
des
devoirs.Contairement la manidre ontelle est aitde da.nsessocidtdsraditioflnelles,a maladie
deviertune enlit€spdcifique
ui
sediffircncic de
l'ensemble
es nfortunes, lle seule
ustific,
d'ailleurs, es
inteNentionsm6dicales
n matiCrehdrapeulique.outeaulxe orme de soufliance u de malheur
qui
l1'entre
pas
dars ce
cadre rationnel-l€gal ne reldve
pas
de cette dgitimitdmddicale. outeune symptomatologie,
excluede ce champ hdrapeutique.e tourne
vers les
mddecines
opulaires
t
paralldles,
el6gudes ans a
marginalitd unomde 'exercicc
lldgalde a mddecine.
Quelle
place
a
psychanalyse
ccupe-t-elleans e mouvement e
(
rationalisationu monde> ? S'yreconnait-
elle
une
iliation? Y inscrit-elle ne upture
Nde dans 'Europe
positiviste
u XIX" siCcle,a
psychanalysc
,
poul particularitd,
'interroger e manidre
qitique
la science, e ddfinir e statutde son
discours t de travailler 'origiltaljtd
e sa
pralique.
,ide d la
mddecine,
ar
ses
originoset
ses
effets hirupeutiques,lle en rdcuse on apparteoance,
rdnant,
la suitcdc
Frewl,la <,,aienanulys?. Ddtachde e 'hypnose-12,llerdorienteapraxisautour u langage t de a culture,
qu'elle
se dapproprie
parth
d'un
processus
e ddconstruction,ecolmaissad
ar
ir sonaftiniti avgc
a
langue
po6tique..,
Sc
plagant
orsdu charnp e la science,
out en dtalt
partieprenante
e sesddbals pisldmologiques,
ejetant
ndanmoinse
posilivisme.
a
psychanalyse
e attache-t-elle
our
autant la
pensde
ythologique u A cellede
la <
pensde
auvage ?
Quels
peuvent
tre ses apports vec a cure rnagique'lAutant d'interogatioDs
ui
posent,
omme
pour
a mddecine,
a
question
es iliations.mais
qui
ne
peuvent
Ctreapprdhenddes
ue
dans
I'( historialDd'unecultlue.
D'autrescontextes,
ar
leur exotisme,
osent e
corpsdansun registe discursifet institutionnel iffdrent.
Cornme e montre ldrodote, e recoursAL'enq$Cte,hez espquples u'il appelle< Barbares , est une autre
maniCred'dclairer
es
discours
et les colrtumeset de mettre ainsi
en
relief leur
pluralitd.
Plus tard.
l'antltopologiehira 'apologie ecette dmarchet s'imposeravec e relativisme.
Se rdfdrcrd desobservationse tenain ethnologique
I'avantage
e mette au
premierplan
es dimensions
culturelles u corpset de le
presenter, e maniere xpliciteet empirique,
ornme
roduit
d'uneconstruction
sociale.
La forctionnalitd non naturalistede I'enveloppecolporelle et de ses organes
petlt
ainsi Ctremise ell
€vidence t th6o sde.Cesexetnples limentert
a rdflexion
ur
'enjeuque
eprdsentee fait corporel orsqu'il
entre ans e discours ocial t
portent a vue a
place u'il
occupe ans 'imaginairendividuel
u collectif.
46
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En effet, outesescultures onnues.
I'exceplion esn6tes, bnt
du corps ne
partie
ntdgrante u social.l est
au coeurdes
pratiques
agiques t thdrapeutiquesomme escroyanceseligieuses
u des
m)thologies.I
est
inclu dansdes systdmes e reprdsentation il se n€lent imaginairescollectifs, observations
mpiriques,savoir-
faire
et
interpretations.Dans oute
(
pens€e
auvage )
qui
est aussiune pensde
u double,diffdrents niveaux de
la rdalitd, ntinomiques
orr
nous, ontappr6hend6sans nem6me ohdrence'ensemble.
La critiquedu
primat
de I'explication rganiciste st a condition
pour
construire 'obiet
et
fonder
'intdrCt
heuristique e la ddmarche t de sesdsultats.Position
amais
acquise,ant e recorus La
preuve
bioiogique
rejoint,dansnos ypcsde sociitis, rur maginaire ussibien ndividuelquecollectif.Ce demierddldgue la
science, LlI le mode de la < bi >, un
pouvoir
ldgitime de validation
s'appuyant ur des
procddures
d'expdrirrentationu de ormalisation,e
mesure
mpirique u de
pragmatisme
t d'observation. celles-ci e
confronte
n
autre yped€
pensde,
elui
de dominds u d'exclus,
ui
se rouvca1i6n6srmeautre otalitd, elle
de la croyancemagique t de sesmisesen scdnes, molionnellest expressives,
u corpsct dcs
nfortunes.
Dissocid,
ar
n6gation u
par
ddfaut,de la
parole
ct de sa capacitd 'dlaboration,eur corpsne
pcut
s'inscrire
dans
une
histoire,
elle
du
sujet,et
etre positionnd insi
dansun contcxteavec ses ogiques, ulturelles t
langagidres,e elation.
Comment endrc compted'une
probldmatique
u corps
qui
puisse
associe.'organisation
iologiqued un
principe
eclassificationonorganique,arsymbolique t angagier
Paradigmeubversif I'igardde a
pensde ositive.
mais
qui permet
'articuler
es
polaritds
u corps, a droite
e1 a
gauche,
'intddeuret I'ext€deur,e corps-matidret l'esprit..., une
polariti
socialc oDctionnelle 1
organisatrice'uDordre ntellectuol omposd 'aff'ects. ette
polarilC
ejointcellede a division
Sacre/Profane,
Pur/Impur.Construite
ar
de
(
l'IntcrditD.elle se retlouveau coeurmelll€
de la structuration u langage, c
I'incolrcientet de a cultere.Elle rdinteroge a technique t la science u
c0tC c scsorigines, e ses iliatjons
e1de
ses
effcts et la
conflontcd d'autres
heminerrents.llle
donnesa mesurc r la violence t au modede
domination
ue
ecdle'imposition e oule dgitinlite
ui
ne repose
uc
sur unevdritd otalisante,pAque scs
dldrnenlst I sa ogique econstruction
Notesde basdepflge umdriques
M.
Webe\
Le
udalNne
unlique,Paris,
Plon,1970.
2
N'est-cc
as
a tache 'un avail de
g6nialogie
uqucl ous onvieMiclrel
Foucault
3
J.-P,Vernanl,
'rrdividu,
d morL 'arrcar,
Paris,
Gallimard,
989.
4
J.-J.Coutine,
(
Les stakhalovistesu narcissisme.ody building
et
puritanismc
stentatoireans a culture
amdricaincu corps r,
:ommunicalion\
6,1993.
5
N. Elias,
a ciyiir'Mlion el moeurs, aris,Calmanrl-Ldvy,
973.
0J.
Habemas,L'espace
ublique,
orchlologie
de la
publiciv
comme onstitutiwde la socitti bourgcoise,
I'aris,Payot,1978.
7E,
Goffmln,Stiguate.
es
usuges ociaux es
handicuTts,Pwl,s,
inuit, 1975.
I
Cf,
par
exemple.es rava[xdeM. Crozier t deR. Boudon.
P.Bourdicumctpafticuliircment'accent ur a ddterminationbjective essujets ociaux tde sesef'fets, ur
leurconduite,
ar
a mddiation c a subjectiviti.
0
L. Boltanski, Lesusagesociaux u cotps>.Annales,l,
anvier-fdvrier
971.
LlM.
Douglas, e /a ouillure,eitsaisut esnotions e
pollulioh
et le abou,Pais,Maspero, 971.
f
H. Ellenberger,lstoire de a dicout'crte e 'inconscient, ad,s, ayard, 994.
Bibliographie
Boltanski
.
<
Lesusagcs ociaux u corps
), 1rr?a/s. ,,
anvier-
ivrier 1971.
Bourdieu . e
ser?sraliaae.
Pa-ris. inuit. 1980.
4'7
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Bo$\ier
P,
Socio-anthtopologie
u contempo,'air.Pads,Galild€,
1995.
Coutine J.-J.
(
Lqs
stakhanovistes
u narcissisme.
Body
building et
pudtanisme
ostentatoireda.ns a culhue
amddcaine u corls > Communication,
6, 1993
DouglasM. De /a so?illure,
essais ur les notionsde
pollution
et de tabou. Pwis,Masperc,791l.
EhrenbergA.
/
'rrdividu
ikceftain. Paxis,Calman-L€vy,1995.
Elias N. La cililisdtion clesmoeurs.Paxis,Calmann-Levy,
1973.
EllenbergerH. lliJtoil e de q ddcowefte de 'ihcofiscient
Palis, Fayard,
994.
FoucaultM. lfa,i,rarcede q cli
ique.Psis,PUF,1963.
Goff'';.€nE,Stigmqte.
es
usages
ociata deshawlicaps.Paris,Minuit, 1975.
Haherrflas . L'espoce
ublique.
Arch4obgie de
lq
publicitd
comtkecohstituth'ede la soci'ft boutgeoise.
Paf:.f,
Payot, 978.
Parcons , Evments
pour
unesociologie
de I
'aclion,
Puis, Plon, 1"954.
Verrrar\t
.-P.
L'indi' du, a mort, 'amour.Pads,Gallima.rd,989.
WeberM. Le
udaisme
ntlque.Puis,Plon,1970."
Obiective;
a)
Corpul
-
obiect al studiului istoriei reprezentbrilor olective
qi
al
antropologiei:iferente,
semdniri.
b) Corpulsocial
$i
cultural
identit5li
ontemporanele omuluide ast6zi.
13. Antrop o o
gia
comunicdrii.
Texte
propuse
A. sub dir. Yves Winkin
- 1996 < La
NouvelleCommunication, Ed. de Seuil,cap.2 :
< Textes.Recherchesur 'interaction",EdwardT. Hall
-
,Broxemique",
p.
1.9I 223,
Erving Goffman
,,Engagement",
p
267
284i
Obiective:
a) Caresunt emeleantropologiei
comunicdrii?
b) Identificarea
procesului
comunicirii in diverse nstitulii sociale familia, interac.tiunea.
Logiciqi strategii leactorilor ociali.
48
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74. Antropologia contuctelor intercultarale.
Texte
propuse
A.
"Ethnocentrisme
t relativisme ulturel
Chaque culture est l'expressiond'une forme d'adaptationsp6cifique d un milieu naturel. Cet argument est
primordial puisque
il
pemet
de constater
que
toute forme
d'adaptatiol est satislilisa[te
pour
la
socidtd
correspondante.onc
on
peut
dire av€c eftitude
u'il
n'y a
pas
de bonne u mauvaise
r tureet bienentendul
n'y a
pas
non
plus
decultures updrieuresu nfdrieures.
Une cultureen totaled6sintegration
ourrait
dventuellement
tre
qualifide
d'inl'6rieure, ais oujours
cette
situation eraitdue d une brutale nteNent ionextemeet non vouluecomme
dansdes cas de colonialisme.
d'exploitation,
'esclavagc,edorriDation,tc.
Maintenantl nous 'aut appeler ertains
onsequenoes
e 'autoreproduclion
e a crlture.Tel
que
nous 'avons
d6javu, tout ndividu,de sa naissance la vie adulteest mprdgnd
ar
la cultue de sa soci6td. insi chaque
personne
stmodelde niformdmentommeesautrcsodividus e a meme
ocidtd t tousagissentJaisonnent.
pensent,
e la m€me 'aqon,
'est-d-dirc
u'ils
ont
tous
exaoternenta memeoulturc
ct solrt compldtement
idenfilids elle.A ohaque ccasion
u'un
ndividua desoontacts
vecd'autres ultures,e choc
qu'il
va
scrtir
facoaux
nroeurs u couturnes es auftes 'estautrechose
ue
sa eldance
d
les
traduirc,d les expliquer r'r
lbnctionde sa
propre
ulture.Etant
donnd
ue
ous es ndividus
onl mbusde gurs
propres
otmes l valeurs
culturellesls sontainsi ncapables
e
comprendrea culture
desautes sociaes.Non seulementes ndividus
ont unc tendaoce l c
pas
conpreldre es autresmais,en
plus,
ls vont
affirmer
que
eur
prcpre
cultureest
mcillcurc
quc
toutcs
cs
aufcs . Ccs attitudes
uc
(Ious
venons
e ddcrire onstitucnl n comportementue
I'althropologie omme thnocentrisme
l,es manifestationsesplusooura.ntese I'ethnoceulrisnee retrouvent ansdesattitudes llanl des sintplcs
moqucrics u riresau refus
des
appofls
vecd'auhesndividusde diffdrentes ultures.
,e
tout
peut
afiiver a
ddvelopperes dics de mipris d I'igarddcsautres. cllcs
que
soutenir
ue
es autres ont nf6rieurs, oleurs,
sales.
tc.
L'ethnocentrismestpropre
toutes
es
cultures
uisqu'il
stbel et bisn un
rdsullat e
'appreotissagc
d'une ulture.Pourcette aison, 'ethnocentrismestuniversel.l lbut
signaler
ue,
malgrd on uni\rersalitd,e
oomportementthnocentrique'estabsolument
as
avorable I'acceptation
t la comprdhcnsionesautres; t
ce,
sutout dansdessocidtds dveloppdest rnodern€s
ui
ont une endance exprimer
€ur ethnocentlisme
haversdes attitudes e supdriorild t de domination. ans
cet contextc es cons6quences
ont
g6n6ralement
tldsaslreusesour c<
ocii l is
nondcvcloppicq.
Lorsqu'une
ulture
prend
ontact vecuneou
plusieurs
ulres ultues l n'y
pas
de ruisons alables
our
aire
des comparaisonsastidieusest pour dmettre es ugements e valeurs.Tout ce qu'on peutconclure ans
probldme
est
que
es culturessont differcrtes et
que
cesdifllrences n'ont pas
d'ich€lle hidrarchique. a situation
prdcddente
st
uneattitude 'esprit cientifique
ue 'anthropologie
dsigne ous e nom
de
relativisme
ulturel.
Cefiainement
que
si on se sert du relalivisme culturel on
peut
diminuer considdrablement 1rndme
eliminer
l'ctlrnocentrisme.
Il
y
a un
dsque
avec
e relativisme
ulturel: eluide ransfomrere relativisme
ulturelen ddologje xtreme. e
relativisme ulturelcornme ddologie
permis
d certains nlhropologues
e soutenir 'idJe
qu'il
ne faut
Fas
intervenir dans certainescultues afin
qu'ellespuissentgafder
eur
originalit6 d I'dtat
pur.
Ceci veut dire
qu'ils
prdtendent
oonservercertainessocidtdscomme de vdritables
"musdes
ivants".
Cette endance, eueusement
peu
idquente,est d'une absurdit6
ompldte
Les contacts ntercultuels
sont aujourd'hui ndvitables,
et c'estune
49
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inesponsabilitdde ne
pas
ouver les
moyensaddquats
our que
ces contactssoient e
plus
favorable
possible
ct
se assent ans ouleversements
rdpambles."
ttp://$MN.ethnociel.qc
B.
.,Le
enversement u ciel
De 'Empire evenu nenation, t de
a
pertinence
e a compr6hension6ciproque
our
a Chine
Wang Mingming
Lotque le
grand
oiseau,Peng,vena
la Tefte d'etxha t, cotnme ousaulres vryofi le ciel de
pal
efi dessous,l
cesseld e
gtilcyer t com encela rolel Nerse sud.
ZhuangZI
Il existeun
phenomdneue
nousappelons
6sormais l'anthopologie€ciproque
.
Notredefinition ommune
de ce
phdnomdne
st elle
que
celui-ci ait
partie
d'un
projetplus
argede restucturation e I'espace ntre a
culture esautres t a
"
ndtre
-
la
"
n6tre"ddsignant
ci la
possibilitd our
des
Europdens
u
pour
desChinois
ou d'autres e aireallusion leur our d " nos" contrepadiesltemativesespectives.n tantquecomposantes
humaines anscette
nouvelle ntreprisentellectuelle,ousemployonse terme a.nthropologiedciproque
(appellation ui
n'existe
ue
depuis rledizained'anndes)
our
signifietune
vision
du mondeet une
pratique
ahematives.onsistar']t
rincipalement
reconnaltrea signification ntologique
e
a
conjonction
essystdmes
de culture
et
desdchanges
ntreeux,ainsi
q
d respecter€selfortsvisantA crderune dispositioniciproque
ou
'i
co-prdsence
parmi
es different€sultures umaines
le
Pichon,1995),Cette ,ome d'antluopologie et
I'accent ul e concept e a
"
rdciprocild
,
d savoir a ftciprocitdentre iff'drentes
agons
e
percavoir
e monde.
Mds
peut-on letendte u'il
s'agit d dtrne
quele
novaticede a connaissancet des elationsnterculturelles
lendant
prcsque
out le XXe sidcle, es anthropologuesnt cherchd
percevoir
e soi
"
i travers 'autre
.
A
parlir
de leursobservatioDs,es anthropologues,onsid6railt l€s contrastesullurelscommeun moyende
connaissance(Sahlins, 000),ont cherchd rexplorer es diverses istes ultuellesafin de rdfldchirsur'leur
propre
connaissanceocale
(Geeftz"
983 voir aussiWolker,
1993).
Parmicesanthropologuestructurels,
nous
pourrions
iter desauteurs xemplaires
els
que
-evi.Strauss,
ui
a
fonddses hdories ur a
"
thdode
de
I'alliance
et
su|
la nolion de contraires omplimentaires,out en soulignante schdmanconscient
ui
sous-
tend
a
comnunication
rans-cultuelle ans I'esprit
rimitif
".
D'autres ntlrropologues
arlent
de mystiques
hostiles u march6
Sahlios,
972).
e tribuset de castes pposdes l'irdividualisme Dumont.1q86)- 'Etats
d'op6rettepposds
"
l'Etatsubstantiel
(Geetz,
1980), t de biend'autles ntagonismesompl6mentairesn
tant
que
dimensions e notreco-preseuce
dflexive.Plus
p|es
de nous,
es
anthropologues
ost-coloniaux
u
r6flexifsont cherchC
rdinterprdteres dcilsdesanthropologues
ui
sont
partis
de chezeux.en Europe, fin de
"
classer 'humanitd
on-euop6ennee telle manidre
quc
leur interprdtationoit en accordavcc e m)'the
europ6en u hiomphedu
progrds
(Asad,
1990).Ces chercheurs,uoiqueparfois
cn d6saccord vec
es
approches tructuralistes t interprdlativesantd eues, sont en train de produiredes dtudes [tdressantes ui se
mpprochentussi e a
"
disposition6ciproque
.
Pour ure rddvaluation e I'anthropologie
Cependant, ce constat
ne nous amCne
pas
A renoncer A nos efforts. Dans la foulde des tladitiol]s
anthropologiques odemeet
post-modeme,
'anthropologie 6ciproqueexige cefiaines ormesde ftciprocit€
qui
ne sontexpdmdes
ue
de fagon rnplicite hez
es anthJopologues
ntdrieurs. n a suggdri
que
nousdewions
lier nos recherches la Dotionbakhtirienne de
"
I'imagination
dialogique
",
ainsi
qu'd
un chronotopeou d une
"
perceptionparticulidredu temps,en relation avec espace,
qui
se ddveloppedans es sc6na os humainset
qui
lui attribue un caractere
particulier
"
(Femandez,1995).
S'inspirant
peut-etrepeu
ou
prou
de la
"
prestation
50
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totale
"
de Marcel Mauss,une aute
prcposition
avance
que
nous
devrions rdaliserun
principe
d6coulantd'un
postulat qui
"
pdsuppose
une approcheengageantdeux sujets ou deux
cultures dans un
processus
6gal de
connaissance€ciproque
(le
Pichon, 1995).Les deux
propositions
soulignent e
fait
qu'uoe
nouvelle orme de
connaissance,elle
qu'elle
st
proposee,
'estconcevable
ue
si l1ous'abordons
omme ne
pratique
lternative
impliquant ure r€dvaluation
de
la formation
disciplinaire de I'anthropologie.Mais
comment distinguer cette
rddvaluationdes ddvaluations hlcturaliste, nterpr6tativeet
post-coloniale
?
La base e a r6ponse
eut
sembler
uelque eu
contradictoire.
arrse domaine ulturologique,
'anthropologie
rdciproquepeut6tre consid6r6e omme apparent6e rrx approchesntorprdtatives es dcits etlmographiqucs,t
surtoutd I'anthropologient€rprdtative
u
point
de
\ue
des auttes
ou
des rdigdnes)
ex.
Geertz,1973).
Nianmoins, ette echerchentellectuelle insiddfinieenglobe
ussi a
possibilitd
e relalionsransoultuelles.
Elle s'intdgre
ans
a
protestation
ntellectuelleontre a divisiondu monde
en
"
l'Occident t
puis
€ reste
("
the West and the rest
"),
Ainsi,
devons-oous dmettre
ue
nos efforts
nous coofiontentd tme situation
ambivalente.'un cdtd, 'anthopologie6oiproqueelle
que
nous 'avons
dfinieencouragees
anthropologues
estimer
que
es
differencesculturellesdes autres
par
rappofl ,r
"
nous
"
constituentLrnsystdme e valeurc
et de
connaissanceout A fait distinct.
De l'autre.e suiet ui-mCme sl ellementi6
d la r€lutation e cettedivision
anthropologiqueodeme u monde et de
"
l'identitdemporelle ("
coevalnessl'time
",
voir Fabian, 983)
althropologique ui
en ddcoule
qu'elle
'odenle ercunecritique
de a
pratique
e
"
l'alterit€
("
othering
)
dans 'anlhropologie oderne. e probldmc-cld ui
doit retenir ci notreattentionest de savoir comment
l'anthropologie
iciproq$e
eut
assurera continuitdntellectuelle
t ontologique
u seindu conhadictoire.
La notion
enthousiasmantee corespondance dveloppde
ar
le
Pichon selor laquellc
"
l'observation t
l'aDalyse e l\rn correspondent I'observatjon
t I'analyse e I'autre
(lc
Pichon,
1995)apporte ne solution
partielle
au
probldme.
Par-deld e concept e la correspondance,
l
propose
gaLement
ue
nous cherchions
commentes
diffdrentesultuessevoie[t lesures esautres
ans eurs ol-rtextesistoriques.
la suitcdecette
proposition,
l me
semble
que, pour
crder e type de co espondance
dsird,nous devonsd'abord viter la
rdduotionraditionnelle e I'anthropologie6ciproque
une vocationeuro-centriquc,
e veux dire
par
ld
que
nousavons
besoin e communicat ion ultila t6rale u lieu
de
la
tenlative abituelle e la
Dartde la
"
culture
occidentalc de rdaliser
es
propres
dentitiset d'acqudrir esconnaissances
son
proprc
sujet
tentative ui
aboutix ouvent des distinctionsiflexives) out en instituantes 6changesouhaitds dgalitdentreculture
occidentale t cultures
non-occidentales. nres
yeux.
I'un dcs prohlemes
vec c node
de
pe$6e
latdral
siugulier 'est
que
"
l'dgalitd
es
dcharges
a souveqt td haitdecomme
une critiquounilatiraledes
d6fauts
inhirents
au raitement urocentriqueidrarchiquee I'Autre,
c'est-a-dire'Autreel1
ant
qu'objet
'une haute
culture scientilique
t miroir iDversidu
"
progris
"
et de l'expansion
ccidentale
Wa11ers1ei4
997 voir
l'argument
ansSahlins. 000).
D6passer
a
podtique
e 'innocence
C'est
un bit
que
'anthropologieccidentaleraditionnelle.
ui
respecte
lesnobles auvages
.
par
sinciritdou
parpolitesse.
souventini par
ouvrir
a
voie d
fimp6rialisrne.
insi,
dans
e
contexte e r6ciprccit6
ui
est e
n6tre,aut-il econnaitreescont butions esanthropologuesost-coloniauxla critiquedisctnsivc u discours
anthropologique.outefois,dans e domainede l'dpist6mologie
ommedans celui
de
l'ontologie,
e
que
l'anthropologiedciproque
herche
promouvoir
'est
qu'une
inple remise
en
queslion
e la
"
cosmologie
native
de I'Occident. ouI nous.
elle constitue ne
rddvaluationlus
ef'l'ective,ui
cherche esquisser ne
nouvelle
pptoche
uclque eu
semblable cellede
"
l'tmiversitd
mmulde
,
selon aquellee
savoir niversel
y
compris e ddterminisme
u
pouvoir
et 1'6conomie
olitique
marxiste propose
un systdme
ulturelde
significationout aussiethnocentrique
Sahlins,
996).
Ceci constitue'expression
isto
que
et tansculturelle
d'un
"
langagem6ta'scientifiquearfait
,
de mome
qu'un
etour
d
I'ordre
sdmiotique u langage husivement
intelprdtd onlrne utant
e
"
symboles veugles
(Eco,
1995).Ceci mpliqueque
a comprdhensiondciproque
doit
peImettle
desdchanges
lus
larges,desEchanges ntre
r
cettecosmologie-ci
et
les
autresmodes ld-bas
"
de connaitrc
et de
repr6senter
e mondeaux hommes,modes
qui,
pour
moi, compreiment'dchange
ntre
"
vos
"
5l
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probldmes
occidenlauxet
"
nos
"
probldmes
on-occidentaux.
Qui
plus
est, a hnalitd desdchanges €td ddfinie
d€
faQon rds dilferente
par
mpport aux
perspectives ritiques
de
1a
modemite coloniale
(et
du sidcle
des
Lumidres).Nots cherchonsd reddcoul.rirun domaine
inguistique et sdmiotique
panni
nous-mCmes, t entre
nous-nomeset
les
autres.
Nous sommes orl ddsireux
de
comprendrees
points
d'incomprdhension
utuelle qui
nuisenl notre co-prdsenceransculturelle
et A 'existence
paisible
de dif}'drentes uhuresdans un
"
monde en
voie de mondialisation
(Eco,
2000).En un mot, il n'est
pas
dansnotre ntentiond'apporter e simples
rectifications
olitiques ux
politiques
ruo-centrdesonddes ur e socio-6conomiquet sur a dynamique u
pouvoir,
elle,
par
exemple
u fameux systdme ondialmoderne
.
Il a €t6
posluld ue
"
I'harmonie u seinde difftrences
(ge
er bu ong),pour
employer €s emes
chinois
qui
ont 'avantage '€tre
lus rappants,eprdsentee thdme ental de note symphonie
Yue
et Le Pichon, 000
Fei,2000).Pourtant,es
polyphonies
onstitudeses
dflexions dciproques
ur es incomprdhensions
evaut
€tre issdes ans a s)mphonie e a compr€hension
ont r rechercher
vec
encore
lus
d'urgence
rc
ce hdme
fuluologique. es
polyphoniesmpliquent neapproche on-occidenlale.ar es h6ories e a
post-modemitd
ont appo(6
A beaucoup 'intellectuelson-occidentaux
'espoir
d'un renouveau ultwel,
y
compriscelui du
vieux concept hinoisde tongou
"
unit6
".
Maintenant
ue
es
pidges
rdsents
ans
es
sciences
umaines u
coulsde I'expansion ccidentale
e sontetlectivemert v6rds, os colldgues on-occidentauxomlrlencent
dmergerde
leur
pessimisme
l'6gard de lerus
propres
culturcs. En Chile. rm appel a 6td larcd er faveur de
"
l'auto-consciencee la culture" (wenhuazijue) co(espondant I'anthropologieuto-rdflexive u monde
occidental. otamDlent
ors
d'un
congrds ur le dialogue mnsculturel Beijing,oir dtaienl
pr€sents
edains
Occid€ntaux
par
exemple. ei, 1998). es dvdnementse ceftedemidre icennieont
proovd
ajustesse 'une
description escritiques e 'impdrialismeomme
ibouchant
nrun discous idempteur e a
qu6tc
d'identitd
de notle empire-devenu-natioo,
'une
des taches
de l'ranscultura st
ainsi de comprendre
e
processus
e
transnrission
a s esmondes
ost-modemes,
t decomprendrea ftansrnissionn ant
que
haduction 'uDmode
auto-rdl'lexil'e
production
ulturelle n auto-confirmation'un
enouveau
ulttrel.
lL se
peutqus
a transmissionansculturelle
e a connaissance'opdre
ar
des
cycles
ans
ln. Mais
pour
nous,
La 6futation
ost-coloniale
u discours t son desti[ dars des
"
situations oloniales
,
devenues utantde
"
situations ationales
,
conl]rmenl n
point
mportant, e
ne
sont
pas
seulementesEuropdens,esAm6ricai:rs,
et esJaponaispour esCorions t lesChinois) ui n'ontpas dussi comprcndrccs autrcs.Cc sontaussi cux
qui, pendant
cs
quclque
emiers idcles, e sont
nanife$es
en
tarlt
que
suietsde I'bistoricitd oloniale.Des
tenains e m6sentente,ussi ien
que
d'enteDte,
xistent hezdiversesribus
et civilisalions ouvent
xclues e
notre travail critique,
du
simple bit
que
notre rdflexioncritique ne couvresouvenl
que
Je discoursdes
grcupements
oi-disant
puissants
.
Mais,ce faisant^ 'a-t-on
as
oublii
quc
desexemples 'iucomprchcnsion
se rouventdgalement hezdes
"
peuples
ndigdnes
(d
l'exception
eut-etrc
es
Chinois
dont a socidt6 tait
tenue
our
Ctre complexe
)
considirds onnnc es enfants
nnocerts par
esantl,opologuesraditionnels
A non avis, a missior de l'antbropologieiciproque
ne
doit
pas
se imiter d la rdcitation 'une
podtique
e
l'inlocence. luscomplexe, lle doit appeler
otreattenlion ur a mise
au
point
d'un
ensemble e
mesures
ui
nouspemettrontde d6celer os sujets 'incomprdhension6ciproque
orlrpouvoir,
on I'espdre,es 6viter.Afin
de oumir un cadre isto que,e me suis oumdvers 'histoire e diversaspects e a civilisation hinoise, ont
lesschdmasosmologiquesc
a
Chineantique
t 'anthropologien ant
que
discipline ir
nous
percevons
es
dil'ficultds
emblables ceux
qui
apparaissentans es dtudes urop6ennesnodemes.2 etle6tude ouwe
plus
de deux mille ans, de 1'6poque lassiqued l'dre contempooine.Ce cl'nmp de vision dtenduseraune approche
utile du
"
point
de \,'ue des autochtones a
I'dgard des autres, meme
si un domarneaussi
vaste pose
des
probldmes
n misonmemede son mpoJtance.
L'empirc devenunation
Plus
precis6ment,
n
peut
ddcrire esuniversde
a cosmologie
hinoise n emes de ansfomration istorique
d'un
"
empire devenu
nation
".
Il s'agit, en un mot, de la transformalionde la vision cosmique
de
"
Tout ce
qui
52
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est sous e Ciel
"
(tian-xia)
d 1'6poque e l'Empire, en
une sddede rdcits de la
ddemption
produits par
la nation
pendanl
e XXe
sidcle
pour
des exemples ntdrieurs,oir
aussiDuara,1995).
Jusqu'ici, ans es sciences
sociales,aussi
bien en Occident
qdailleurs,
il a 6td largement
admis
que
l'eurocentrisme
ddjd sutfisammetrt
s6viet
nui
d notle
quCte
e a connaissance.uisque on nombre
'anthropologues
ccidentaux.r savoir es
"
anthropologuesu Nord
",
semblent ttribueroutes es ddes ausses
I'esprit ccidenlal
insi
qu'd
1'6conomie
occidentale, ous sorlmesbien
placdspour
nous
poser
une
question
diff6rcnte.Pouvons-nous
implement
af'firmer
que
"
la vdrit6 existe d-bas
quelquepafl
"
parmi
les
peuples
non-occid€ntaurr
Et
pouf
les
besoinsde
nohe
enquete
ntellectuelle
t dans e contexterds
prdcis,
'approchehinoise
onsistant
poshLler
la
Chineet
les autres" - parsym6trieavec" l'Occidentet les autres"
-
est-elledifffuente de, et sup6rieure , la cosmologie
ocoidentale
ativebas6e ur e
"
systdme ondial ?
En d'autreermes,
ne
"
convention
rientale distincte
peut-elle
apporterune
solution d note rccherche 'un
"
espace e rdciprocit6
oi se touve modifid
l'ethnocentrisme
e a connaissance(...)
Que
signifient
esconsiddrationsu
point
de
lue
de I'anthropologiedndrale
Tant en Europe u'aux
Etats-
Unis, de rdoentes
tudcs,A I'int6deru t A l'ext6rieur e Ja
discipJine, nt
amene ombred,anthropologues
reviserceflainsaspects
rbitraircs 'un discours ulturelcontradictoire.
insi,
dans e travail de Marcus
et
Fischer
ur
e
"
momentexpdrimental (1986)et
danscelui de Rabinow
sw 1"' anthropologie
e la raison
,
(1997),
est-il ait appeid une
"
repat ation
de
l'anthropologie
.
Dans
cesdeur
perspectives,
'expansion u
systeme ondialoccidentalo-cenfd
u seinde
"
petites
ommunautis (xiao
shequ) e 'Autre,et 'univ€rsalitd
ou la
globalisation
e a raisonoccidentale
ontvuescomne es ormations olitico-€conomique
t discursive
de a modernitd
ui
ont enhainda disparit ion e 'Auhe.
La tAche e I'anthropologie,
elle
que
a dessinentes
de[x rdflexions, st de
sdparera discipliDe e ses ormes
spdcihquement
ssocides la rdflexion
sur la
dif}&ence
cr turelleet donc
aussi a rdflexionsur e suppos€
rogrds
niversel
c la raisonet de l'histoitc.
Cependant,a
question
esmdthodes apables e divelopper
desvisions
du mondeet
dcs
praliques
ociales
altcrnativesepuis e lointain,
ou, en tout cas,depuis 'ext€rieur
es
proprcs
ociCtdst visions
du mondedes
anthropologucs,
este e
probldme
entral
u discours dhropologiquc,
ourmoi, I'avanlage
e ,anthropologie
sw lesautres ciences
ociales t humaines c rouvc
p(dcisdmert
ans e
fait
que
cctte
discipline cujtivi dcs
L'ormesussidlabordes
c
connaissance.
'esten voyant e
Soi culturel
dans e miroir de l'Autrc.
ou, aulrement
dit, encberchant
nchumanitd otnmune
ansdes brmesde vie
plulielles,
ue
es
a hropologuesccidentaux
ont pu transcenderes cosmologies thnocentriques1 acilitcr la connaissanceransculturelledciproque
(Wang,2000).
Participant
epuis
lusieurs
nn6es ux
ddbats dversitaires n
Chine.
'ai
ddveloppd
ne consciencencam6€
"
(tihui)
dc la
prdoccupation
oale
pemranente
'une
prise
de conscience
ulturelle t de ses
progrds
fgturs
en Chine.
Pour es
partisans
e "' anthropologie
u Sud
",
le ddveloppement
ational
eprisente
eut-ehe
ne
entreprise encourager,
nealtcmative l"' anthopologie
u Nord
",
quj
se concenlre
dncipalement
ur a
rdllexivitd.
Cornmee laisse ntendre
uinlan
arlant
e a
"
recherchenlhrcpologique
ppliqude
', '
l€s
soucis
desanthropologucs
u Sudconcemant
a logiquc t la
pratique
u dCvcloppement
dbouchantur e
ptobldme
do savoircomment'axiomc
dc rdflexivit6, t la discipline
lle-m6me, euvcnt
tre ltdgrds
dans es
pratiques
desmdtiers
elevant e fing6nierie.
(Quinlan,
000)Pourmoi,
cette
prdoccupation
ocale,
qu'elle
e raduise
au niveaude 'ingdnieric, u ddveloppementational, u de 'expression,une olitiquede civilisation, dtd e
produit
de 'histoire
alticulidre
escontactsnterculturels
t des nfluences
dciproques.os
discussjonsurce
sujetdev.aient tle encouragdes,
fin decrderune
prise
de consciencel'6gard
es elations
ransculturelles
ui
n'a
pas
dtd
clairernentdfinied.rs le systdme landtaire
ontemporain.3
En
quete
'un roisidme
space
Au XXe s idcle, es
d€batsauthrcpologiquesn Occident
se sont focalisds
ur le
probleme
de I'Autre.De
diversesagons,
e
qui
estd6somais
onnusous 'appellation "'
anthropologie odeme
,a
dtdd6crit
grosso
modo cotune
un espaceou une discipline dans lesquels
des cultures
contemporaines
t coexistantes
sont
examindesen tanl
qu'dquivaleDts
u mircirs r6flexifs les
uns des autres.
DarN un tel esfJacenlellectBel.
es
5i
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culnues
qui
ont
"
sulvdcu
I'
dansdifferentes
parties
du monde ont 6td vues commeun
patrimoine p€cieux
de
l'humanit6,et le travail de
l'anthropologue consistden de bonnes aductions de culturesautres
que
la sienne.
Ainsi, toute recherche nthJopologique
e
qualitd
ourre une 6chappde
ui permet
aux chercheurs
rofessionnels
de se libdrer des contraintes du
pouvoir et de 1'6conomie
politiques qui
ont entavd note
quCte
de la
connarssa]rce.
Ndalrnoins, comme
nous venonsde nous en reDdre ompte, € travail entepris
par
les antbropologues scindd
le mondeen Occident 'un c6t6,et restedu monde
de I'autre West
alld the rest).Ainsi,
pour
certains
ost-
modemistes, 'anthropologie erait a ldgitimation
de la division entre e cente (Soi) et la periphdrie l'Autre)
da.lls e systdne
mondial modeme. L'anthropologie de la r€ciFocit6 a
participd
,i la tentative
qui vise
i
transcender ettedivision. Partisa.ns e cette
approche. ous ne r6futonspas ndcessairemenl
t en bloc
le travail
de nos
prdd6cesseurs.
ependant,oussommes
rdsddsiretxde savoirsi certains espacesiers
"
existent
ue
nouspourrons
dcouvrir
et exploiter.C'est
pour
satisfaire e ddsir
que
nousavons ait entrer a civilisation
chinoise
ans e rayonde nos ntdr6ts.Mais un
probldme
emeure ar, s'il cxistedcpuis
plus
d'un sidclcdes
dtudesantbropologiquesur
la
Chine,
elles n'ont
pas
appeld 'attentionde ceux
que
lron nomme es
"
anthropologues
€ndralistes
(voir
aussiun cassemblable
our
'lnde du SuddansAppadurai, 984).Ce n'est
pasque
esanthropologues
ui
s€sont
pclrchds
ur
a
Chineont ecritdes6tudes thno$aphiqu€s
ddiocres
u
mis en
place
des cadres hdoriques
naddquats. ux
yeux
de beaucoup e thdoriciens e I'anthropologie,a
civilisationchinoisen'dtaitpasune cultue suffisamment tribale et bizarre" pour faire avancerDos"
connaissancesdciproques
(Wang,
1997).
Vue
sousun angle
plutdt
opposd. arrs 'anthropologie
e Ia
r6ciprocitd,a Chine a 6td hautenlent onsiddrde,
our
les memes aisons
qui
ont
provoqud
'€checdes
anthropologuesinologues
ccidentaux
uand
ls cherchaientL se
prisenter
comme des andropologues
gdndralistes.
otre souhait, 'est
que
a cosmologie hinoise 1
es
modeles hinoisde la
vie
sociale
uissent
proposer
n
"
troisidme space ente civilisation
uropdennet
"
mentalitd auvagg et
que,
de cettemanidre,
ils nous
ou lisscntdesoutilsefficaces
our
epenser os elatiolrs ulturelles.
Cette
uCte
'un toisidmeespace nousa amend
esquisser
lusieurs
ransfomalionsmportantesans
I'histoire e a
visior chinoise u monde t de 'humaniti.Note
projet
nitial61ai1e uaceres lajectoires
historiques
ar
csquelles
nt 6t6 ransmisesn Chine es hioriesanthropologiques,fin d'illustrer otro
argumentoncernanta comprdhensionl a cotrespondanceulturcllemuhilat6rale.'approcheosmr:rlogiquc
historique, son our,
nousa
pern1is
evoir commentm empirc-devenu-uncationa rcconstruit cs apports
avec
ui-mCme t avec esautres. n fin de
parcours,
ous
ommesmoinsd l'aiscavec 'idde ous-.iac€nte
ue
notre dflexion nthropologiqueoit 6tre
ddfinie ommee seul eflet
de
"
situatiousoloniales
.
Au contraire.
nousavons touvd
que
s'il
exisledans a cosmologiet dans a visionmondiale e a Chine
une
elationSoi-
Auhe distincte, ous
pourrons
irealo$
qu'un
el systCmee connaissancesubi eschangementsuivants
ui
ne doivent
as
6tleconsiddrdsomme
urmoddle lternatifprCt
porter
de a co-prdsencetansculturelle
-
1. Le
systeme
vu lejour
pendant
es
pdriodes
lassiquesn ant
que
systdme nglobant es isionsdu monde
diverses.elonesquelleseshidrarchiest l€sconjonctureses
humains,
eshumainsnfirieurs,et desnon-
humains, taient isposdesn accord vec
'elbnocentdsnehinois, t
dans
esrquelles
Lneclisposition
rdciproque n'dtait iscernable
ue
dans esdemeurese montagnest dans eschants .lmpagnards.
- 2. Pendantesdynastiesmpdriales ltdrieuresesTang,Song,Yuan,Minget desQing,unepercde dtd
rendue
ossible ar
e voyage-pdlerinageu
moineTangen nde maiscelle-ci rapidementddd e
pas
e une
cosmographie
as6e urun sysldmedbutaire inocentriquet dans equel 'empire hinois dfinissait ussi ien
"
le cornmercenondial et a civilisatior'r.
-
3. A
partir
du [rilieu du
XIXe
sidcle,
es
savants
hinois vaient djdcompris
u'il y
avait
eudesdquivalents
de
leur empireailleurs dans e monde.et
que
cefiains d'ente eux dtaient
plus puissants ue
e
"
royaumedu
centre
.
Alors, ls ont ait d'immensesfforts
pour evigorcreurvision
du monderaditionnelle
r6ce laquelle
ils espdraient
nsuffler,r a
Chineune
noulelle orcevitale-
-
4.
Quoique
e
darwinismesocialait
6td
pergupar
la Chine,vers a fin du XIXe sidcle,
un
peu
comme
un Aute
ve ueu\,
pendant
es ddcennies
ui
ont suivi, s'est
progressivementmpos6e
une orme d'anthropologie entrde
sur a nation
qui
n'a
pas
aissd eaucoupe
place
depuis
our
a r€alisation
'une nthropologiennsculturelle,
54
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Nous avonsadopt6en
paxtie
'argumenlavancd
par
Cai Yuanpeiet d'autes
anthropologues hinois antdri€urset
nous avons
cherchd
reddcouvrires racines
fondations)
osmologiquese l'Altdritd dans es classiques
descriplionshinoises u monde u dans e
qui
dtait eprdsentd
ous 'exprcssion Tout ce
qui
estsous e Ciel
".,1
Si
I'on
compare
nos
contemporains l
nos
ancetresde l'6poque antique,
on
trouve,
d
l'dre
antique,
que
certaines epr€sentations e l'Autre ont el'fectivement u un impact
sur I'id6e
que
se faisaient es Chinois
d'eux-
mCmes.,e zonagede l'univers, es expdditionsdes Taag, Songet Yuan et les
ddcouvertes u monde,de meme
que
es voyages
es
Ming vem es
ocdans e
I'Occident
pportent es
preuves
e ce
que.Toseph
eedham
appe16
les
gdographies
nthropologiqueshinoises
lNeedham,
992).
Qui
plus
est,si noussommes 'accord
avec escritiques e imp6dalismentellectuelratiqu6 ar 'Occident,
ous
pouvons
galementjouler
que
es
g€ographies
nth.opologiqueshinoisesessemblentux epr€sentationsccidentales
e 'Autre.
Ndanmoins, ous
avonsdgalement
el€vd
que
c€s
perceptions
e l'Alt6dtd
sonl
quelque
eu
diffdrentes es
reprdsentationsccidentales. l'exception u r6cit de voyage
du moine Tang, ous es rddacleurs
'index
gdographiques
ans la Chine arilique ont cherchd,en
parlant
des
"
sauvages
,
i ddcrire une civilisation
universellet un systdme
ributaire
ui ne relevent as
de
a
"
relativitd r-rlturelle
.
On obsclvea
pr6sence
ans
les
gdographies
[thropologiqueshinoises 'un ceflainsensdu
tempsdiachlonique. ais I'opposition '6tait
pas
de
nature
traduire ne ihospectionntersubjectivei d servir 'obj
ctif
consistant
"
opposer
our
mieux
connaite
".
Au contraire, 'o entation
principale
a 6ti foumie par
un mode hibutaire
de mald aux et de
productionultuelle,ou bienparcequi,depuisesanndesuatrc-vingtans e angage e 'iddologieiformiste
du rdgirno
ctuel, iti nomm€ es
"
deuxcivilisations
(liangzhong
enming). e rdsultat long ermea dtd.
pendant
e sidcle coule,
n
manque
'intdret e
a
paft
desChinois.
our
d'autres
ultules
ue
es eurs.MCme
si I'Aliique, 'Europe,es Amdriques 1 'Oc€anie
nt
dtd es
ciblesde a
polilique
et de a
diplomatie hinoises,
elles
n'ont
pas
dtdsdrieusementtudides n ant
qu'dventuelles
ources
e
visions
alternativesu monde.Depuis
quelques
nndes,l est
vrai,
cs
ddbats ur des
probldmes
ids d 1amondialisation
t aux diftErencesulturelles
oDtdonnd ieu d desouvragesntdressantsurtoutorsque
eux-ci
uxtaposent
e Soi et l'Aute
dans c domaine
des
contacts ulturels.Ceperdalt, ls ont dtd lirnitds soit
par
la notiol'r
de
"
progrds
,
de
"
changemcnt
institutionnel
,
et de
"
rdformes
,
soit
par
'idde
'inddpendanceationale,
t cecid tel
point
que
e
probldme
n
respect esdiff'drencesulturelles, ussibiend I'intdrieur
e
a
Chine
qdavec
'extdrieur, 'a
gudre
t6 I'objet
d'dtudesdrieuses.
Cetteciractdristiqueellemertspdcifique e I'anthropologie
hinoise
eut
€tre llustrie dans
e oontexte es
anthopologies e a Chinedlabordesn Chinecommcd l'itranger.
esanthropologucs
inologuesccidenlaux
ont abordda
Chinesous esangles ivers.s ouscependantherchent ddcouvrir
ne 6gionethnographique.
Et si
peu
d'entlceux voientdans a
Chineune
"
legon
de cullure
pour
eurs
propres
ultures, ertains Dtdu
respect
nvers
es grandes
t les
petites
raditionsde la Chine en
ce
qu'elles
ettent
de la lumidresur les
institutions 1 es ddologies entr6es
n
I'Occident. 'ailleurs,
ls s'y sont
pris
cofime
draulres nlhropologucs
rdgionalistes
ui
ont dtudi6des tribus en tant
que
formations
ociales ifferentes e celles
qui
existenl
en
Occident
Beteille,
1998). e
ploblime
est
quren
mettant u
point
une
vision sino-cenft6ede a culture,es
anthropologues
inologues nt dgalement td li6s
paI
leurs
propresprdoccupations
pistimologiqueset
iddologiques.
ertaines e ces
pr6occupatiom
rouventeur origine
dans a
quCte
'un
"
langage
arfait pour
dicrire a Chine.Au cours e a quote, e nombreusesonfusionsocales nt6t6crddes, e el1emanidre u'elles
n'ont
plus
den d voir avec essujets e eurs ravaux, savoir
es Chinois
.
La
podtique
e 'hospitalit6
En
Chine, a
quCte
d'une dentitd spdcifiquement hinoise a mis
d contfibution bien des conceptsoccidentaux.
Par exemple,
un
groupe
d'anthropologucsnend
par
Wu Wenzao,a cherchd
endant
es am6es ente et
qualante
d
fonnuler
une6colechinoise e sociologie.ls dcrivaient n anglais
onrme n chinois.Ainsi, en
appliquanta
ddmarcheethnographique e Malinowski ainsi
que
sesvues sociologiques
w la communautd, e
groupement
de sociologues
hinois voulu
onder
n€dcole hinoise, aissans vouer u'il
s'agissaitn ait d'un
pot-pormi
de sociologie nglo-amdricaineodeme.l estclair
que
i
oii les anthopologuesinologues
ccidentauxont
55
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Traduit de 'anglais
par
GeorgeMorgan
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Appadurai
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2000b,
"
Guoqu
shiniande wenhua
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laizi
neibu
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"
Qianyan
Foreword)
,
Kuaweirhua
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(Dialogues
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o 4"
ftttp://www.t
bues.com/tribune/alliage/45/wane_45.htn)
Obiective:
a) identificarea
arilor emealeanhopologiei ontactelornterculturale.
b) Evolulia storicI a
privirii
artropologicen ceea e l
priveqte e
Altul
-"+
Celilalt.
c) Distinclii ln antropologie:global/local,mondializare/localizare,ltuliCeldlalt,
exotic/cunoscut,
uropocentrism/obiectivism.
d) Literaturadldtoriei.