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Eurocentric Terms
Denise Obrien (D-OBRIEN@VM.TEMPLE.EDU)
Fri, 9 Feb 1996 01:12:40 EST
that America/American derives from Amerigo (Americus in Latin) Vespucci,
(1451-1512) one of the earliest post-Columbus explorers of the "New"
World. One could argue that American Indian is somehow more Eurocentric
in that it displaces the pre-16th Century inhabitants of North America
(there we go again--America) more radically than does Native American.
Perhaps the polite or sensible thing to do is to use both terms in
discourse, unless you are very sure of your audience. I know that if
I use only Native American in teaching undergraduates that at some point
I have to stop and explain that Native American = American Indian (given
the recent sensibilities of this list maybe that = is ill-considered!).
BTW, a query re caninecentric terms: does anybody remember Leach's
(I think Leach's) article on animal terminology/names? it was at the
height of the componential analysis/ethnoscience craze; very funny and
thought-provoking too.
Denise O'Brien
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| DENISE O'BRIEN D-OBRIEN@TEMPLEVM |
| DEPT. OF ANTHROPOLOGY D-OBRIEN@VM.TEMPLE.EDU
| TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19122 U.S.A. Tel. (office)215-204-1204 |
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