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Re: Survival of the Fittest
Matthew Hill (mhhill@WATARTS.UWATERLOO.CA)
Fri, 15 Sep 1995 08:21:17 -0400
On Thu, 14 Sep 1995, Nick Corduan wrote:
Lots of deletion here
>
> However, there are still things which separate, in general, American Indians
> and Europeans. Things such as the centralization of ritual, the
> anthropomorphizing of Deity, the view of natures, the emphasis on
> ancestors/descendants.
>
> Nick---
Relevant to this view, I have recently been intrigued by the ideas of
K.C. Chang concerning a fundamental difference between 'western' (near-
east derived) civilization and those of East Asia and the Americas which
he sees as sharing derivation from a paleolithic 'shamanistic' cultural
focus which was overthrown in the early civilizations of west Eurasia.
I'm not convinced, but have found it worth looking further. The most
accessible introduction to his ideas (which is where I encountered them)
and further references) is in the April 95 (vol. 36,2) Current Anthropology
where Chang is the subject of an extended interview.
Matthew Hill (mhhill@watarts.uwaterloo.ca)
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