Taking Animism Seriously, but Perhaps Not Too Seriously?
2013; Berghahn Books; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.3167/arrs.2013.040103
ISSN2150-9301
Autores Tópico(s)Posthumanist Ethics and Activism
ResumoHow do we take indigenous animism seriously in the sense proposed by Viveiros de Castro? In this article, I pose this challenge to all the major theories of animism, stretching from Tylor and Durkheim, over Lévi-Strauss to Ingold. I then go on to draw a comparison between Žižek's depiction of the cynical milieu of advanced capitalism in which ideology as “false consciousness” has lost force and the Siberian Yukaghirs for whom ridiculing the spirits is integral to their game of hunting. Both know that, in their activity, they are following an illusion, but still they go along with it; both are ironically self-conscious about not taking the ruling ethos at face value. This makes me suggest an alternative: perhaps it is time for anthropology not to take indigenous animism too seriously.
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