Antrocom Online Journal of Anthropology
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http://www.antrocom.net
IT: Gentili Lettori e Amici Navigatori,
il nuovo numero di Antrocom, Giornale Online di Antropologia (volume 7,
numero 1, 2011), è online, mentre il sito web è stato completamente
rinnovato!
www.antrocom.net
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EN: Dear Readers and Friendly Websurfers,
the new issue of Antrocom, Online Journal of Anthropology (volume 7,
number 1, 2011), is online, and the website has been completely renovated!
www.antrocom.net
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FR: Chers Lecteurs et Amis Navigateurs,
le nouveau numéro d’ Antrocom, Journal En ligne d’Anthropologie (volume
7, numéro 1, 2011), est en ligne, et le site a été entièrement rénové!
www.antrocom.net
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HISTORY OF RELIGIONS
I re tragici di Israele – La narrazione delle origini della monarchia in
Israele come problema storico
by MARCO MENICOCCI
Nell’analisi dei documenti antichi la Storia delle religioni ha scelto
sovente di di leggere questi documenti come testimonianze di realtà
storiche religiose di epoche anteriori a quella dei documenti stessi.
Alla base di una simile scelta c’era l’implicita convinzione che la
religione fosse un prodotto culturale statico, dotata di un naturale
conservatorismo, per cui il complesso dell’universo religioso di una
certa epoca tendeva, così si riteneva, a prolungarsi nelle epoche
posteriori con mutamenti minimi. In questo modo un documento di una
certa epoca che si riferiva ad un’epoca anteriore era facilmente
interpretato come una valida testimonianza su quest’epoca anteriore.
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CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Micro-Etnografia notturna – Riflessioni di un antropologo in discoteca
by ALESSANDRO TESTA
Non sono un frequentatore abituale di discoteche o di clubs, come si
preferisce chiamarle oggi. Questi appunti sono l’esito di osservazioni
che hanno avuto luogo in alcune discoteche romane molto frequentate e da
me precedentemente sconosciute, nell’arco temporale di alcuni
fine-settimana di primavera. Essi pongono, credo, problemi metodologici
di “scala” e di rappresentatività del documento etnografico che pure
saranno affrontati brevemente nel testo, per la scrittura del quale ho
scelto un taglio stilistico molto descrittivo, non informale ma nemmeno
saggistico.
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Royal Anthropological Institute or Royal Academy? Post-Modern
Anthropology as Contemporary Art
by EDWARD DUTTON
It has been widely argued that postmodern and cultural relativism are
replacement religions in Romantic, neo-tribal tradition (e.g. Scruton
2000, Kuznar 1997) This article attempts to better understand the nature
of postmodern anthropology by looking at it through the prism of Art.
Following Scruton (2000), it argues that, since the Enlightenment, Art
has performed a similar function to Christianity in many people’s lives
and is accordingly a form of replacement religion. The article
demonstrates that while modern forms of anthropology might be deemed
‘religious,’ the cultural relativist anthropology of Margaret Mead
appears to be art whereas this is less clear with postmodern
anthropology. The article argues that the boundaries between postmodern
(or ‘contemporary’) anthropology and visual ‘Contemporary Art’ are
essentially weak and that postmodern anthropology is usefully understood
as exemplifying contemporary art. Accordingly, it has no place in
scholarly discourse. It is a replacement religion by virtue of its
artistic nature.
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"One Culture – Many Perspectives" – Understanding Cultural Diversity
Through Rural Livelhioods. A Reflection from the Rural Craft Communities
in Kandy, Sri Lanka
by CHANDIMA DILHANI DASKON
There is no universally accepted definition for the concept of culture.
Culture should be understood as a specific and unique phenomenon that
affirms community’s identity and diversity. Judging one culture by the
values of another, over-simplifies the distinctiveness and the wealth of
a particular culture. Recognising, understanding and respecting dynamics
of cultural norms, and defending and expanding cultural freedom are
crucial in assuring secure and sustainable well-being of any community.
This paper investigates different perspectives of culture by referring
to everyday livelihood activities of rural communities that engage in
traditional craft industries in the Kandyan region, Sri Lanka. In a
livelihood perspective, culture is defined as a structure, function,
product and identity, through its influence on everyday lives of people,
and accordingly people’s engagement with and uses of culture. Culture is
multifaceted and extremely diverse entity that varies from place to
place and person to person. The strengths of cultural diversity should
be respected and accepted by mainstream society, if any initiative is to
be truly about satisfying human desires.
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Does Indigenous Knowledge have anything to deal with Sustainable
Development?
by ASHOK DAS GUPTA
In this paper, the author investigates that whether indigenous knowledge
has anything to do with sustainable development. First of all this has
been targeted to work out that how could knowledge be treated as a
integral part of culture that has very broadly a material and a
non-material part. This has been tried to see that what happens to
knowledge of a folk life when culture develops in civilization. Next
step is to see how knowledge of the local/folk/indigenous communities of
human society systematically work and construct Traditional Knowledge
System (TKS). Traditional knowledge is very much functional and still it
is heavily value-loaded and dependent on non- adaptive socio-cultural
features. Traditional knowledge traits are not always open but sometimes
very much hidden in type- so these have to decode from cultural symbols
exclusively in the religious laboratory of survival. In a global context
this has been tried to understand the necessity of Indigenous Knowledge
System (IKS) constructed by summation of TKS worldwide scattered. The
aim is to gain Global Public Services from IKS to meet the negative
impacts of Globalization especially falling on nature. This looks like a
passive support towards Globalization with virtue of Indigenous Rights
for the Indigenous Peoples (not to be much discussed here). However,
failure of unidirectional development in Global Market Economy has been
tried to be mitigated by IKS that has nothing to deal with romanticism
but sustainability even at an extra-scientific humanitarian ground. Out
of so many services by IKS so to attain a sustainable development;
biodiversity management at a community-specific level within a
particular ecosystem is exclusive and probably the timeliest approach.
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The Rebellion in Heaven – The beginning
by MAXIMILIANO E. KORSTANJE
>From Middle Age onwards, the philosophers and theologians devoted
notable endeavors to explain the evilness in the Hebrew-tradition.
Whether one figure out God is an entity characterized by love,
compression and omnipresence, it remains to be seen why he creates
exactly his most staunch enemy, or why one of his loved and wisest
angels converts in a corrupted being decisively launched to tempt the
humanity. Grammatically speaking, there is no status in the language for
the death of a son (a person who loss its father is orphan, the wife,
widow but what about the son?. This reveals of course, the taboo that
represents the nominal state of a person one looses its off-spring. The
founding myth of Lucifer exhibits two contrasting beliefs: For one hand,
the interconnection between the humans and betrayal are symbolized under
the figure of pride and arrogance marked the end of Lucifer at defying
the god-will. But for the other hand, it demonstrates the strong
attachment of a father by his son. The Seraphim Lucifer seems to be in
fact the negation of death of children, a belief en-rooted in the
idiosyncrasy of late-capitalism.
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The Parihaka Cult
by KERRY R. BOLTON
Parihaka is a Maori community in Taranaki, New Zealand, established
during the latter part of the 19th Century as an enclave of “passive
resistance” to colonial land development, based around the personality
cults of Te Whiti, and his deputy and later rival, Tohu. After years of
obstruction, theft and vandalism, Parihaka was occupied by colonial
troops and volunteers in 1881 and its non-local inhabitants dispersed in
an effort to eliminate the resistance. Te Whiti and Tohu have over the
past several decades been accorded the status as precursors of Martin
Luther King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela and the colonial occupation is
widely portrayed as one of the greatest injustices inflicted on the
Maori. This paper offers a more critical view, and attempts to put the
Parihaka phenomenon in context historically and socially.
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Secondary Burial of the Chakpa Lois of Phayeng Village, Manipur, India
by HOABIJAM VOKENDRO SINGH
The Chakpa Lois of Phayeng village despite of a lot of influence from
major communities still embrace their traditional death ritual by
burning the body and picking up the bones by misubis and kept into a
luphu and buried with due ritualistic observation.
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PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Appraisal of risk factors for diabetes mellitus type 2 in central Indian
population: a case control study
by RAMA LAKSHMI G., BANDYOPADHYAY S.S., BHASKAR L.V.K.S., SHARMA
MADHUBALA, RAO RAGHAVENDRA V.
Background: Diabetes mellitus is characterized by high levels of blood
glucose, late onset of disease and associated with serious
complications. Genetic and environmental risk factors are known to exist
and the importance of elucidating these risk factors in different
populations will be of importance in view of the ultimate goal of
personalized medicine. The objective was to assess the impact of risk
factors such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), and
Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) on diabetic and control subjects using
statistical tools in a specific geographical category of Indian population.
Methods: 92 diabetic patients and 123 controls living in urban areas of
Nagpur city, Maharashtra, India, were selected for a case control study.
BMI, WC, WHR, fasting glucose, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic)
and skinfold thickness at four points were assessed. For logical
interpretation, the data have been subjected to statistical analysis
such as risk ratio, odds ratio and chi square. Multivariate regression
analysis was carried out to adjust for age and sex.
Results: The plasma glucose, HDL cholesterol and Waist to hip ratio are
significant in between control and diabetes subjects even after
adjusting to age and sex.
Conclusion: Comparison of diabetic and control showed that the central
obesity (WHR) and HDL were most important risk factors for type 2
diabetes in the studied population.
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Natural Selection Intensity in Settibalija - A Mendelian Human
Population from South India
by DEVA S.R.S. PRAKASH, GODI SUDHAKAR
The selection intensity indices were computed based on the demographic
information pertaining to fertility and mortality among Settibalija, an
endogamous Mendelian population of Andhra Pradesh, South India. The
total fertility and mortality indices are slightly lower than other
Andhra populations studied earlier. In the present caste population, the
selection is manifested primarily through differential fertility rather
than mortality, which is a not deviation from general trend. The results
are discussed in the light of earlier studies on some caste and tribal
populations inhabiting Andhra Pradesh, South India.
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Obesity, Diabetes and the Thrifty Gene - The Case of the Pima
by FLAVIA BUSATTA
What is diabetes? Diabetes is a disease. According to WHO: “Diabetes is
a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce
enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it
produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of
uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of
the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.” The CDC’s
National Diabetes Fact Sheet (2007) defines diabetes in this way:
“Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose
resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both.
Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death, but
people with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the
risk of complications.”
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Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of PARKIN Gene in Ten Indian Populations
by JAYA SANYAL, LVKS BHASKAR, AVISHEK CHATTERJEE, BISWANATH SARKAR,
BIDHAN CHANDRA RAY, VADLAMUDI RAGHAVENDRA RAO
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common progressive
neurodegenerative brain disorder after Alzheimer’s disease. Due to the
complex etiology of PD, there is possibility that single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNP) in PARKIN gene could be associated with the disease
and lead to the pathogenesis by genoenvironmental interactions. Role of
PARKIN polymorphisms as risk factors varies in different populations
among various ethnic groups. Indian populations, known for their rich
diversity, are not included in the genotyping of single nucleotide
polymorphisms in the global survey for all the genes associated with PD.
Further detailed study in this field will give a greater insight to
analyze the haplotypic and Linakage Disequilibrium (LD) and decipher the
pathogenesis of PD patterns in this region. A total of 1000 individuals
belonging to ten ethnic populations of India were included in the
present study. Five PARKIN gene polymorphisms (rs1801474, rs72480421,
rs1801582, rs1801334 and rs35125035) were screened by PCR and
sequencing. The present study shows that the rs72480421 (His200Gln) is
monomorphic for all populations. Five major haplotypes accounted for
almost all chromosomes (90-98%) in all populations studied. LD was more
fragmented across PARKIN locus in all populations. The haplotype
diversity and the fragmented LD across PARKIN gene in all populations of
the present study suggest the existence of frequent recombination within
the large introns of the PARKIN gene.
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Sul rapporto tra Athena e Medusa
by IGOR BAGLIONI
Hartswick in uno studio dedicato alle rappresentazioni di Medusa
connesse all’egida della dea Athena, pone in relazione lo Ione di
Euripide – nel quale è la dea stessa ad uccidere direttamente Gorgo –
con un processo, iniziato con l’instaurazione della democrazia ad Atene,
che avrebbe visto la messa in ombra di Perseus in quanto entità mitica
strettamente legata a Pisistrato e ai suoi discendenti. Lo studioso,
infatti, tramite un’analisi delle fonti iconografiche, sostiene che le
figure di Perseus e Medusa potessero essere state utilizzate da parte di
Pisistrato a simboleggiare la sua alleanza con Argo: città dalla quale
proveniva la sua seconda moglie Timonassa e le truppe mercenarie che
consentirono il ritorno al potere del tiranno nel 560 a. C. Pertanto,
l’eroe di Argo e Gorgo, come sembrerebbe potersi rilevare dalle fonti
iconografiche del periodo, sarebbero stati inseriti nel generale
programma di promozione della dea Athena attuato dal tiranno, cosa che
comportò, con l’instaurazione della democrazia e la promozione di
Theseus come eroe rappresentante la nuova polis, la “marginalizzazione”
del figlio di Danae. Per lo studioso, quindi, la variante mitica per la
quale è la dea Athena stessa ad uccidere Medusa andrebbe interpretata
come parte integrante di questo processo: come riflesso della
“marginalizzazione” di Perseus sul piano della tragedia.
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Contrastive Study of “Time” in Iranian-Indian Mythology
by BIBIAGHDAS ASGHARI, ANNAPURNA M.
The main aim in the study is to compare and contrast the textual
contents and the formal structures that are involved in the myth of
‘time’ in Indian and Iranian mythologies. Three questions will be
replay: What are the divisions of time? What is the function of time in
the mythical system in both myths of Iran and India? And what is the
formal structure in this myth in the both mythologies? Data collection
for this article has been done with a documentary approach. The Primary
sources involved the Avesta and the RigVeda and secondary sources
(include: 31 books, related article) were reviewed, after data gathered
from those, the data analysis has been done in this study.
Comparison of two myths is done with following mythical three indices:
1. Structure (trinity) 2.Binary Oppositions 3.Archetypal patterns time.
In the Iranian myth, like the Hindu myth time is divided into three and
then again four part horizontally. In Hindu myths, time is cyclical.
Lord Brahma in Hindu mythology is referred to as the creator. The
Zoroastrian concept of time is linear not cyclical. In the creation myth
Unlimited/limited and Numeric /Divine time are cosmic oppositions;
Golden Age / Iron Age indicate sociological opposition.
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