3. Ethnologie und Anthropologie
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Christian Moser
Abstract
Chapter 3, Ethnology and Anthropology, investigates the role assigned to lines and linearity in anthropological discourses between the 18th century and the present. In what fields of ethnological research do lines figure, either as tropes that regulate narratives of cultural evolution, or as constitutive schemes that help organize anthropological thinking? As a first step, the 18th-century prehistory of scientific anthropology is surveyed. By focusing on the example of Johann Gottfried Herder, the chapter demonstrates how heavily enlightenment theories of anthropogenesis rely on the guiding metaphor of linearization. The chapter goes on to concentrate on lines of progress and lines of descent, which play a major role in the evolutionary anthropology of the 19th century (Lewis Henry Morgan) as well as the structuralist anthropology of Claude Lévi-Strauss, but which have come under attack in recent innovative developments of the discipline (Tim Ingold). Subsequently, anthropological theories of the origin of art, which ascribe a foundational function to lines, are taken into account (Alois Riegl, Ernst Grosse, Franz Boas, Leo Frobenius). This is followed by a discussion of anthropological reflections on lines in the context of semiotics, systems of notation, and epistemic practices (Wilhelm Wundt, André Leroi-Gourhan, Bruno Latour, Tim Ingold). Finally, the chapter traces lines in anthropological approaches to the social construction of space (Arnold van Gennep, Claude Lévi-Strauss, André Leroi-Gourhan, Marc Augé, Tim Ingold).
Abstract
Chapter 3, Ethnology and Anthropology, investigates the role assigned to lines and linearity in anthropological discourses between the 18th century and the present. In what fields of ethnological research do lines figure, either as tropes that regulate narratives of cultural evolution, or as constitutive schemes that help organize anthropological thinking? As a first step, the 18th-century prehistory of scientific anthropology is surveyed. By focusing on the example of Johann Gottfried Herder, the chapter demonstrates how heavily enlightenment theories of anthropogenesis rely on the guiding metaphor of linearization. The chapter goes on to concentrate on lines of progress and lines of descent, which play a major role in the evolutionary anthropology of the 19th century (Lewis Henry Morgan) as well as the structuralist anthropology of Claude Lévi-Strauss, but which have come under attack in recent innovative developments of the discipline (Tim Ingold). Subsequently, anthropological theories of the origin of art, which ascribe a foundational function to lines, are taken into account (Alois Riegl, Ernst Grosse, Franz Boas, Leo Frobenius). This is followed by a discussion of anthropological reflections on lines in the context of semiotics, systems of notation, and epistemic practices (Wilhelm Wundt, André Leroi-Gourhan, Bruno Latour, Tim Ingold). Finally, the chapter traces lines in anthropological approaches to the social construction of space (Arnold van Gennep, Claude Lévi-Strauss, André Leroi-Gourhan, Marc Augé, Tim Ingold).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Inhaltsverzeichnis VII
- Abkürzungsverzeichnis XIII
- 0. Linienwissen und Liniendenken. Einleitung in ein Forschungsfeld 1
- 1. Philosophie 19
- 2. Mathematik 79
- 3. Ethnologie und Anthropologie 141
- 4. Geographie und Kartographie 202
- 5. Kunsttheorie und -geschichte 282
- Literaturverzeichnis 425
- Namenregister 467
- Sachregister 470
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Inhaltsverzeichnis VII
- Abkürzungsverzeichnis XIII
- 0. Linienwissen und Liniendenken. Einleitung in ein Forschungsfeld 1
- 1. Philosophie 19
- 2. Mathematik 79
- 3. Ethnologie und Anthropologie 141
- 4. Geographie und Kartographie 202
- 5. Kunsttheorie und -geschichte 282
- Literaturverzeichnis 425
- Namenregister 467
- Sachregister 470
