Fractal and Dividual:An Exploration of Non-Holistic Anthropology
One of the main themes of the history of anthropology in the 20th century is the development of holism and its criticism.British anthropologist Marilyn Strathern's discussion on the relationship between individuals and society,nature and culture has had a profound impact on contemporary anthropology.She points out the defects of the concept of"society"of the British social anthropology tradition and notes that the criticisms represented in the"crisis of representation"also contain the"part-whole"premise.Based on the resources of British empiricism and Melanesian ethnography,Strathern proposes to use"fractal"to understand the true state of information in the field,and she points out that Melanesians have a"dividual"concept different from the Euro-American"individual"concept,advocating a re-examination of the part-whole relationship with the"partial connections".Furthermore,she expounds on the anti-holistic and inherently comparative anthropology from a methodological perspective,which provides important inspiration for the comparative anthropological study of civilizations.
Marilyn StrathernHolismThe Crisis of RepresentationComparative Anthropology
万方数据
维普
