Dumézil's Tripartite Ideology: Some Critical Observations

1974 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gonda
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Mutual Relations ◽  
The Comparative Study

In a long series of important and stimulating publications Georges Dumézil has for almost half a century not only re-established a complex of theories with regard to the comparative study of ancient Indo-European mythology, but also applied a modernized comparative method. In investigating the foundations of the Indo-European socio-religious conceptions he bases his arguments and conclusions, it is true, to a certain extent on linguistic data, but these are always amplified and corroborated by a thorough consideration of the social structure, religious beliefs and ritual institutions of the ancient Indians, Romans, Germans, Celts and Greeks. Especially these last thirty-five years his work is of great originality in that he has founded and developed the theory of the trois fonctions, of the “three fundamental activities which the groups of priests, warriors and producers must fulfil and assure in order to maintain their community”. In this theory it is not the tripartite social organization of the prehistoric Indo-Europeans that is emphasized, but the principle of classification, the ideology to which, in Dumézil's opinion, this organization has given rise. Being reflected in the groupings of, and mutual relations between, the divine powers and in the very structure of Indo-European mythology and view of the world it is here again the ideological rather than the strictly sociological aspects that invite the reader's attention.

Preferential Marriage: Correlation of the Various Modes among the Bantu Tribes of the Union of South Africa

Africa ◽  
1928 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Eiselen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cousin Marriage ◽  
Independent Origin ◽  
The World ◽  
The Comparative Study

The several forms of preferential mating, such as cross-cousin marriage, sororate and levirate, are well known and have been reported from all the ethnographic provinces of the world. Lately Lowie and Rivers have devoted special chapters in their books on social organization to the comparative study of these important institutions. Lowie has pointed out that there is strong evidence for the correlation of sororate and levirate. The later publication of Rivers hardly serves to make these matters any clearer than Lowie's work. Although the latter scholar, with Tylor and others, recognized the close connexion existing between sororate and levirate, the evidence at his disposal did not allow him to arrive at a similar conclusion with regard to the other forms of preferential marriage. Accordingly he had to treat them, for the time being, as institutions of independent origin.

scholarly journals THE EAGLE TOTEM IN THE MYTHOLOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SAKHA AND BURYATS

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-170
Author(s):  
Василий Васильевич Ушницкий
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Tribal Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Use Of Research

В статье ставится проблема культа орла в мифологических представлениях саха и бурят. Целью статьи является установление связи тотема культа с социальной организацией общества, наличие единого тотема свидетельствует о племенной организации общества. Задачами статьи можно считать изучение сведений о почитании орла в якутской и бурятской мифоритуальной культуре. Актуальность статьи проявляется в том, что сведения о архаичном тотемном культе сопоставляются с современными обрядами и фольклорными текстами. Изучение тотемных верований относится к исследованию дорелигиозного состояния общества. Новизной статьи можно считать использование методов исследований зарубежных антропологов в изучении тотемных верований. Метод исследования сравнительно-сопоставительный. Материалы и результаты. Представления народа саха об орле (солнце-творец-возродитель природы, приноситель огня, орел и космическое яйцо, орел и шаманство, орел и мировое дерево относятся к общечеловеческим. Анализ верований, связанных с Орлом, уводит в Скандинавию и в религиозные культы Древнего Египта, показывая общность мифологических представлений. В религиозных верованиях саха Орел занимает ключевое положение. Культ орла связан с хангаласским родом, однако по материалам Г. Ф. Миллера его считали своим покровителем хоринцы и батулинцы. Более того, в фольклорных текстах, сопоставляются термины хоро и Хотой — орел. В бурятском фольклоре, Орел является хозяином Ольхона и тотемной птицей племени эхиритов Верхней Лены, в старину он был почитаемым птицей у хоринцев. Тотемные верования относятся к древнейшим культам, они характерны для обществ, не приступивших к созданию собственной государственности, первобытно-родовой общины. Первобытные рода верили в свое происхождение от почитаемой птицы, олицетворяли себя с ним. Выводы. Общность культа орла у бурят и саха показывает общность предков, происходящих от единого хори-батулинского племени. Орел как тотемное животное занимал ключевое положение в якутском и бурятском шаманизме, что свидетельствует о архаичности их религиозных верований. The article studies the eagle totem in Yakut and Buryat mythology. The aim of the article is to establish the connection of the totem cult with the social organization of society, the presence of a single totem indicates the tribal organization of society. The objectives of the article can be considered the study of information about the veneration of the eagle in the Yakut and Buryat mythological culture. The relevance of the article is shown in the fact that the information about the archaic totemic cult is compared with modern rites and folklore texts. The study of totemic beliefs refers to the study of the pre-religious state of society. The novelty of the article is the use of research methods of foreign anthropologists in the study of the totemic beliefs of the Sakha. The research method is comparative. The materials and results. The ideas of the Sakha people about the eagle (the sun — the creator — the regenerator of nature, the bringer of fire, the eagle and the cosmic egg, the eagle and shamanism, the eagle and the world tree) are universal. Mythological ideas associated with the Eagle and the Sun is universal and goes back to the deepest antiquity. Interesting parallels with the Yakut and Buryat ideas are found in the mythology of the Scandinavia peoples and in the religious cults of ancient Egypt. It is showing the commonality of mythological ideas. In the Sakha religious beliefs, the Eagle occupies a key position. The cult of the eagle is associated with the Khangalas family, but according to the materials of G. F. Miller, it was considered its patron by the Khorins and Batulians. Moreover, in folklore texts, the terms horo and Hotoi — eagle are compared. In Buryat folklore the Eagle is the owner of the Olkhon and the totem bird of the Ekhirit tribe of the Upper Lena, in the old days it was a revered bird among the Khorin people. Totem beliefs belong to the oldest cults. They are characteristic of societies that have not begun to create their own state-hood, a primitive tribal community. Primitive families believed in their origin from the revered bird and personified themselves with it.

scholarly journals Poetry as a Social Document: The Social Position of the Arab Woman as Reflected in the Poetry of Nizâr Qabbânî

1975 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-494
Author(s):  
Arieh Loya
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Harsh Environment ◽  
Arab Woman ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Nomadic Life ◽  
Social Document

No other people in the world, perhaps, have given more information in their poetry on their cultural and social life than have the Arabs over the centuries. Many years before the advent of Islam and long before they had any national political organization, the Arabs had developed a highly articulate poetic art, strict in its syntax and metrical schemes and fantastically rich in its vocabulary and observation of detail. The merciless desert, the harsh environment in which the Arabs lived, their ever shifting nomadic life, left almost no traces of their social structure and the cultural aspects of their life. It is only in their poetry – these monuments built of words – that we find such evidence, and it speaks more eloquently than cuneiform on marble statues ever could.

Colonization, Decolonization, and Power: Ruptures and Critical Junctures Out of Dominance

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Liu ◽  
Felicia Pratto
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
National Identity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
European Colonization ◽  
Historical Trajectory ◽  
The Impact

Colonization and decolonization are theorized at the intersection of Critical Junctures Theory and Power Basis Theory. This framework allows human agency to be conceptualized at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, where individuals act on behalf of collectives. Their actions decide whether critical junctures in history (moments of potential for substantive change) result in continuity (no change), anchoring (continuity amid change with new elements), or rupture. We apply this framework to European colonization of the world, which is the temporal scene for contemporary social justice. Several critical junctures in New Zealand history are analyzed as part of its historical trajectory and narrated through changes in its symbology (system of meaning) and technology of state, as well as the identity space it encompasses (indigenous Māori and British colonizers). The impact of this historical trajectory on the social structure of New Zealand, including its national identity and government, is considered and connected to the overarching theoretical framework.

The Social Contract as an Analytic, Justificatory, and Polemic Device

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Keyt
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Analytic Method ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Comparative Study

John Rawls, in his distinguished revival and animation of the theory of the social contract, maintains that “the procedure of contract theories provides … a general analytic method for the comparative study of conceptions of justice ” (p. 121). As a corollary, he holds, secondly, that “if one interpretation [of the contractual situation] is philosophically most favoured, and if its principles characterize our considered judgments, we have a procedure for justification as well ” (p. 122). Finally, Rawls uses the social contract as a critical or polemic device; he is prepared to reject a conception of justice if the contractual situation associated with it contains objectionable features.

THE WEREWOLF IN LATGALIAN FOLKLORE

Via Latgalica ◽  
2008 ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Jana Skrivļa-Čevere
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Electronic Version ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Form ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Mutual Relations ◽  
Colloquial Speech

Latgale is the essentially most different and most peculiar Latvian region from the perspectives of language and culture and their interaction with the cultures of other nations. Hence, this article attempts to reveal how the images of werewolves in Latgalian folklore and the means of their expression used in traditional tales differ from the rest territory of Latvia. The aim of the article is to understand the use of this relatively little studied mythical image and the features of their characters in Latgalian folklore. Previously, the author studied the features of werewolf depictions in Latvian folklore in general, and also compared it to Lithuanian folklore. The main source used in the research are five tales of werewolves, which can be found in an electronic version of Pēteris Šmits’ collected fairy tales and tales on http://valoda.ailab.lv/folklora/pasakas/saturs.htm, recorded in the dialect of the Eastern part of Latvia. Different dictionaries and encyclopedias, for example the „Interpretative Dictionary of the Latvian Language” („Latviešu valodas skaidrojošā vārdnīca”) (http://www.ailab.lv/Vardnica/), the „Dictionary of Latvian Etymology” (“Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca”), the „Encyclopedia of Mythology” (“Mitoloģijas enciklopēdija”), and the „Dictionary of Foreign Words” (“Svešvārdu vārdnīca”) were used to describe the symbolical and etymological meaning of a werewolf image. The main methods used in the paper are semiotic and comparative. The semiotic method is used to explain the symbolical meaning of the werewolf image and the semantics of the word. The comparative method is used to compare the comprehension and interpretation of the werewolf image in the tales written in the Latvian and Latgalian languages, as well as to compare the structure of these tales and the use of artistic means of expression. As the result of the research, it is possible to conclude that the Latgalian tales of werewolves show features that both agree with and differ from tales of other regions. However, the means of expression in the Latgalian tales of werewolves are rather different from texts written in other regions. One of the major differences is the language which the tales are written in, as well as emotionally expressive elements in the colloquial speech of the narrators, such as the lexis of the region, dialectisms, similes, hyperbolization, and russicisms.Just like in the majority of tales from other regions, special introduction and conclusion formulas are used. The introduction formula takes the listeners into the world of fairy tales and magic, and the conclusion fromula brings them back into reality. In addition, the use of particular toponyms to gain the effect of credibility is quite common. The motive of shapeshifting wedding guests in a number of Latgalian tales is more characteristic and more common in Lithuanian folklore, but not in the folklore of other Latvian regions. Only in one of the analyzed tales a person turns into a werewolf of his own free will. What’s more, he is not a Latgalian, which subtextually implies dislike and prejudices against an alien, which is relatively typical of Latgalian folklore in general. Also, a special shapeshifting formula – a curse – is found in one tale only. Few techniques are mentioned for retrieving human form – jumping over another shot werewolf’s skin, eating a piece of bread given by a human, or cross-cutting a wolf’s skin. Among these methods the bread technique is the most common also in the tales from other Latvian regions. Also, it should be noted that the word „werewolf” is mentioned in one tale only and an expressive description of a werewolf’s appearance is missing. This probably means that this character was not very popular in Latgalian folklore, which is also proved by the small quantity of these texts. Only one tale is narrated by a man, whereas male narrators are predominant in the other regions. In addition, in some Latgalian tales there are relatively distinguished features of patriarchy, relationships between the rich and the poor, and a peculiar sense of humor for this region and its means of expression. Having conducted the research of the tales of werewolves it is quite safe to assert that the narrator’s place of residence and the region that he/she comes from has a relatively essential meaning in the choice of folkloristic motives. The social and cultural environment, the language, and mutual relations are those preconditions that form a person’s weltanschauung, perception of life and basic values. With their special mentality, emotionally colorful means of expression and an exciting, different language, the Latgalian tales are for sure distinctive from the other ones and are very important for Baltic folklore in general.

Performing International Systems: Two East-Asian Alternatives to the Westphalian Order

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Ringmar
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
East Asian ◽  
First Century ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
International Systems ◽  
Historical Periods

AbstractThis article provides a framework for the comparative study of international systems. By analyzing how international systems are framed, scripted, and performed, it is possible to understand how interstate relations are interpreted in different historical periods and parts of the world. But such an investigation also has general implications—inter alia for a study of the nature of power, the role of emotions in foreign policymaking, and public opinion formation. Case studies are provided by the Sino-centric, the Tokugawa, and the Westphalian systems. As this study shows, the two East Asian systems were in several respects better adapted than the Westphalian to the realities of international politics in the twenty-first century.

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