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Looking for 95 AAA session
M.D.Fischer@UKC.AC.UK
Sat, 4 Feb 1995 15:16:16 +0000
Following are three proposed paper abstracts, two by Laura Rival and
one by John Knight. They are seeking a session organiser for the AAA who
might want to include these papers Please reply directly to
Laura, l.rival@ukc.ac.uk
Thank You,
Michael Fischer
Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing
University of Kent at Canterbury
http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk
Dr Laura Rival
Eliot College
Dpt of Social Anthropology and Sociology
University of Kent
Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS
England
Tel: 44-(0)227 76 000 X3148
Fax: 44-(0)227 47 54 71
E-MAIL: l.rival@ukc.uk.ac
AAA November 1995, Washington D.C., USA
Paper Proposal
Trees and Wood as Social Symbols
ABSTRACT
Anthropologists have long debated the fact that cultures as symbolic systems
derive meanings largely from natural elements. Ever since the seminal "Essais
sur quelques formes primitives de classification" by Durkheim and Mauss, they
have pondered on the social origin of the human representations of natural
categories, as well as on the emergence of objective natural history. While a
great number of these anthropological writings deal with animals, landscapes,
and domesticated crops, very few concern trees per se. However, trees clearly
provide one of the most visible symbols of human society.
The paper presents ethnographic data from the Huaorani Indians of Amazonian
Ecuador, and shows that they imbue the largest trees in their territory with
moral qualities. Their perceived great age symbolises the continuity of human
generations. Associated with particular communities, they have symbolise their
continued existence, their unity, and their distinctive identity. The
conclusion discusses the cognitive processes by which age is attributed to
these valued trees.
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Dr Laura Rival
Eliot College
Dpt of Social Anthropology and Sociology
University of Kent
Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS
England
Tel: 44-(0)227 76 000 X3148
Fax: 44-(0)227 47 54 71
E-MAIL: l.rival@ukc.uk.ac
AAA November 1995, Washington D.C., USA
Paper Proposal
Modernity and the Politics of Identity in an Amazonian Society
ABSTRACT
Recent work in the anthropology of practice shows that cultural transmission is
a complex and active process rooted in everyday activity. It follows that
cultural continuity depends more on 'understanding in practice' which enables
transmission to take place than on the internalisation of collective
representations. These insights are used to examine critically the provision of
state bilingual education to the Huaorani, a small group of Amazonian
hunter-gatherers. This case study is used to discuss some recent theories of
the politics of culture, identity and difference (Friedman 1992, Gupta and
Ferguson 1992, Linnekin and Poyer 1990, Moore 1994, Watanabe 1995). I argue
that current thinking on cultural identity fails to take into account that
culture is acquired and transmitted within communities of practice (Lave and
Wenger 1991).
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Hunting and Ecological Change in Japan
John Knight, Wadham College, Oxford
This paper analyses the hunting of wild boar and deer among the present-day
Japanese mountain villagers. In the post-war period, the upland ecology of
Japan has been transformed through the spread of timber plantations. One effect
of this has been the loss of wildlife habitat and the displacement of forest
animals. Using ethno-ecological data, this paper explores the ways in which
postwar ecological changes are experienced by hunters today.
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