As duas naturezas de Lévi-Strauss

Aborda-se aqui a complexidade do status do par conceitual natureza e cultura no pensamento de Lévi-Strauss. Ao mesmo tempo ferramenta de análise, cena filosófica dos primórdios e antinomia a superar, revisita-se os diferentes usos e significados na obra de Lévi-Strauss do conceito de natureza e sua relação com o de cultura. Mostra-se como é possível reconhecer na obra de Lévi-Strauss dois conceitos de natureza: por um lado, uma natureza que se opõe à cultura num programa científico formulado em termos classicamente dualistas e, por outro, uma teoria do conhecimento decididamente monista que considera o espírito como parte e produto desse mesmo mundo. Argumenta-se que se o dualismo entre cultura e natureza fundou o pensamento estruturalista de Lévi-Strauss, é na própria obra deste que encontramos os argumentos e meios de superá-lo. A vocação do estruturalismo na antropologia de hoje, no entanto, é de ir mais longe neste caminho do que foi o próprio fundador

LANDSCAPE AS TRANSFIGURATION - Edward Westermarck Memorial Lecture, October 2015

Definitions of what is a landscape vary between a very loose meaning—an environment transformed by human action or subjectively apprehended—and a very narrow one: the pictorial or literary depiction of a piece of land embraced by sight. A third approach will be favoured, based on the study of the process of transfiguration thanks to which a landscape is constituted. Transfiguration deliberately changes the appearance of a site—through its representation or its arrangement—so that it becomes an iconic sign that stand for something else and renders manifest some of its implicit features. Traces of this process will be examined in native Amazonia, among cultures where there traditionally exists neither figuration of landscape nor pleasure gardens

Chimpanzees, sorcery and contestation in a protected area in Guinea-Bissau

In Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau the construction of meaning made upon encounters with chimpanzees is associated with local social life. If a chimpanzee makes an unprovoked attack on a person, its actions are often understood as those of a sorcerer. Chimpanzees are involved in two parallel accusation discourses, one is played in intimate spheres of sociability where sorcerers harm their kin to benefit from secret alliances, and the other addresses a wider audience perceived to benefit from chimpanzees which are being protected at the expense of other humans. Both narratives represent local criticism against transgressions to calculations of redistribution and reciprocity

Framing the relationship between people and nature in the context of European conservation

A key controversy in conservation is the framing of the relationship between people and nature. The extent to which the realms of nature and human culture are viewed as separate (dualistic view) or integrated is often discussed in the social sciences. To explore how this relationship is represented in the practice of conservation in Europe, we considered examples of cultural landscapes, wildlife (red deer, reindeer, horses), and protected area management. We found little support, for a dualistic worldview, where people and nature are regarded as separate in the traditional practice of conservation in Europe. The borders between nature and culture, wild and domestic, public land and private land, and between protected areas and the wider landscape were blurred and dynamic. The institutionalized (in practice and legislation) view is of an interactive mutualistic system in which humans and nature share the whole landscape. However, more dualistic ideals, such as wilderness and rewilding that are challenging established practices are expanding. In the context of modern day Europe, wilderness conservation and rewilding are not valid for the whole landscape, although it is possible to integrate some areas of low-intervention management into a wider matrix. A precondition for success is to recognize and plan for a plurality of values concerning the most valid approaches to conservation and to plan for this plurality at the landscape scale

Les dues natures de Lévi-Strauss

Ningú no ignora el rol crucial que juga en l'obra de Claude Lévi-Strauss l'oposició contrastiva entre la natura i la cultura: la fa servir en contextos tan diversos i amb finalitats tan nombroses que ha acabat encarnant per a molts una de les característiques de la seva manera de pensar

Écologie symbolique

Philippe Descola, directeur d’études Les cultures de la chasse Le fil conducteur du séminaire fut une exploration critique de l’hypothèse selon laquelle, dans les sociétés où la chasse joue un rôle économique et symbolique important, les humains nouent avec les animaux un rapport d’un type particulier qui se traduirait par une ontologie et une cosmologie distinctives. On s’est tout particulièrement attaché à discuter deux variantes de cette hypothèse, celle développée par R. Hamayon à propos ..

Écologie symbolique

Philippe Descola, directeur d’études Une anthropologie du paysage est-elle possible ? (suite) Poursuivant la réflexion critique engagée Tannée précédente sur l’usage de la notion de paysage en anthropologie et en archéologie, le séminaire a exploré quelques pistes qui permettraient de déceler un « souci paysager » dans des cultures qui n’ont pas développé une esthétique paysagère – soit la plus grande partie de l’humanité. On s’est d’abord intéressé à l’artialisation des jardins de subsistanc..