Anthropos: Anthropos, 69.1974

Anthropos, 69.1974

Bibliographic Data

Journal

Structure Type:: Journal

Works URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistent identifier:: BV043334262

Title:: Anthropos

Sub Title:: internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- u. Sprachenkunde

Place of Publication:: Fribourg

Publisher:: Ed. St. Paul

Year of Publication:: 1906

Collection:: Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

Domain:: Social and cultural anthropology > General overview

Journal Volume

Structure Type:: Journal Volume

Works URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711778

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711778

Persistent identifier:: 1510649436189

Title:: Anthropos, 69.1974

Year of Publication:: 1974

Call Number:: LA 1118

Collection:: Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

Journal Issue

Structure Type:: Journal Issue

Title:: Bd. 69, 1974, Heft 3-4

Collection:: Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

Journal Article

Structure Type:: Journal Article

Title:: The Magic of Transgression

Other person:: Makarius, Laura

Collection:: Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

The Magic of Transgression Laura Makarius Recent anthropological literature in Britain has devoted consideiable s Pa.ce to witchcraft and sorcery. Most of the time, lurid accounts of the malefi- Ce m use to which magic is applied have claimed attention. If ever the writer Zanders into the field of explanation, it is to theorise on the significance of tbe tensions and mediations to which magical practices give rise, or on the Personal conflicts which they are supposed to express. As a field worker, his s °metimes total absorption in the practical problems they raise is more ger- ^ane to the preoccupations of the government official which he is not, than the self-questioning of the scientific inquirer which he is. While for the 0r mer the obstinate search for correlations between social function and the ^ ar ious aspects of witchcraft or sorcery is quite understandable, it is apt to blin< i the latter to the fact that witchcraft and sorcery belong to a cultural complex which, on the whole, is yet most imperfectly understood. . Cases of poisoned food, lingering illnesses or sudden death promise to l) c bette closer ter understood when viewed from a distance than when subjected to scrutiny, surrounded by a wealth of distracting details - pio\ided, of ^°urse, that the investigator is theoretically prepared. Would he not be in a . e Ror position if already equipped with an explanation of the role of impurit} ln magic, of the relation between black magic on the one hand, and incest, Car mibalism, and necromancy on the other, of the fact that twins are often Regarded as sorcerers themselves, and that, in the case of saciifice, a bloo km is the preferred victim? Can it be maintained that, because such knowl- e< %e is acquired through theory, it is therefore irrelevant to a correct inter preta tion of the various aspects which the current practice of witchcraft re- Wals ? f The problems posed by witchcraft cannot be elucidated unless detached r °m local contingencies, viewed from a higher level of genera it\ t an a at which they express themselves in daily practices, and considered m t e general context of magic, as a complex of objectively misguided activi- les motivated by imaginary beliefs. Thus, the beliefs governing the prepara- l0n of love potions or the theft of exuviae cannot be dissociated fiom those,

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