296 research outputs found
Review of: Marta, Claudio: A Group of Lovara Gypsies Settle Down in Sweden: An Analysis of their Acculturation; and The Acculturation of the Lovara
Selvdestruktion: Et islandsk eksempel på kollektiv afvikling
Collective self-destruction is a kind of »catastrophe« in the theoretical sense of representing a non-linear logic of change. The historical situation in 17th and 18th century lceland was catastrophic in this sense. All social domains were marked by disintegration and disruptive development. Old technologies were »forgotten«, ecomic rationality was repressed, and hunger was a commonplace. A demographic crisis was an imminent threat to the population. The marriage ratio was extremely low, and the mortality rate was high. Mothers gave up breast feeding and the infants died from the raw cow's milk they were given instead. The sexual organization disintegrated. Incest was frequent. Briefly, there was a remarkable negligence of all cultural standards; chaos and disorder ruled the social space. Generally speaking, it was a case of achieved helplessness connected to a collective depression.It may be read as a cultural psychological reaction to increasingly difficult historical conditions. Apart from natura( catastrophe and political submission, the Icelanders also found themselves with no symbolic exchange with »others«, and the only mirror ofself-identification was their own past. The illustrious ancestors made the Icelanders acutely aware of their own powerlessness - and their reaction was one of cultural destruction.Kollektiv selvdestruktion udgør i teoretisk forstand en katastrofe eller et kvalitativt spring, som fornægter sædvanlig udviklingslogik. Islands situation i 16-1700 tallet kan bedst beskrives som netop katastrofal i denne betydning. På alle områder af samfundslivet var der opløsning og tilbagegang. Gamle teknologier glemtes, økonomiske vækstpunkter undertryktes, og hungersnød blev hverdagskost. En demografisk krise truede med at udslette befolkningen. Ægteskabsfrekvensen var extremt lav og dødeligheden stor. Mødrene ammede ikke længere deres børn, og få nyfødte overlevede den rå komælk. Incest var almindeligt. Der var kort sagt tale om en opgivelse af enhver kulturel standard; kaos og uorden havde overtaget det sociale rum.Generelt kan man tale om en formfortillært hjælpeløshed i forbindelse med en kollektiv depression. Den kan læses som en kulturpsykologisk reaktion på en historisk situation, som blev mere og mere vanskelig.Naturkatastrofer og politisk underkastelse gjorde deres. Den symbolske udveksling med andre var gået helt i stå, og det eneste spejl, islændingene kunne se sig selv i, var fortiden. Spejlingen i forfædrenes bedrifter tydeliggjorde deres egen afmagt - og reaktionen var en næsten stædig destruktion af kulturen
Hinsides videnskaben om det konkrete - Antropologiske reflektioner over »stammer«, og »stater« og andre metaforer
RADIKAL FORTOLKNING: Humanistisk teori ved årtusindskiftet
The renaissance view of humans as ffee and
responsible agents is the starting point for
this article that seeks to delineate the task of
the humanities today, at an age which has had
to accept the fail of Objectivism. The time is
marked by a switch from seeing the task of
science in general as one of clarifying what is
already there, in nature, to seeing it as a kind
of radical interpretation that adds its own
layer of understanding, and thereby of
reality, to the object. The conclusion is that
the object of study for the human Sciences
cannot and should not be seen in naturalistic
terms; instead we have to work with fluid
objects and ontologies that seriously
question the disciplinary boundaries
established in the nineteenth century
VILJENS SVAGHED: Hamlet og Macbeth
The concept of person derives from latin persona, originally referring to the
ritual or dramatic mask. In classical Rome, the category came to include the
juridical person, who – like other dramatis personae – had a particular position
in society. In this article, an analysis of two well known characters in Shakespeare’s
plays are used to rethink the conflation of the dramatic and social
character in any person. By focussing on the idea of the will as an immanent
feature of the modern person, it is shown how he or she is both cough caught up
in a drama beyond control and contributing to its – unforeseen – course. In this
sense the modern person is like Hamlet or Macbeth, whose destinies were partly
a function of a larger unfolding drama, and partly of their own decisions to act
upon and within it.
 
- …