Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Anthropology, June 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 1997. / Includes mounted photographs. Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-101). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Despite the emergence of narrative and humanistic anthropological perspectives on thriving indigenous textile technologies, indigo dyed textile products are often read as homogenous products, devoid of Yoruba women-dyers' symbolic narratives. This ethnographic research on indigo textile dyeing in Osogbo examines the relationship between textile production and ritual by focusing on how indigenous peoples are stimulated to create what they make and the textile makers' unit of expression. A key argument throughout the thesis is that the dyeing act is a ritual performance by women dyers in Osogbo a re-enacted symbolic performance of the formation and evolution of human sociality and the socialization of human beings. It is also a symbolic representation of motherhood (parenthood when it comes to the societal level) a process of inscribing the kadara (destiny) of a child and the development of iwa (character) and ewa (beauty) to be an omoluabi (good and cultured child) in Yoruba ontology. The thesis also explores alkaline water production processes as part of the indigenous indigo textile dyeing processes and the use of adire textile for communication in Osogbo the notions of colour and colour symbolism and the use of texts, proverbs and images on dyed textiles as communicative tools specifically to show the transformatory nature of rituals in indigo textile dyeing. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Anthropology and Archaeology / DPhil / Unrestricted

This thesis holds that the application of the archaeological method, developed by the French philosopher Michel Foucault, to the field of anthropology reveals a hitherto hidden primitive episteme. Such a project represents a rejection of a search for a fundamental Truth, available through the traditional figures of rationality, either vertically in history or horizontally across cultures. The form of reason posited by this project does not have a constant and universal occurrence but is given in the discontinuous figures of the episteme. The quest for a single manifestation of the conditions of validity in reason is replaced by a study of the conditions of possibility of the truths, discourses and institutions of a primitive peoples. The conditions of possibility for the emergence of the elements of primitive knowledge and practices are available through the application of the explanatory unities of the archaeological method. These unities replace the traditional explanatory role of the subject, with all of its psychological baggage, which has a central role in modern theories of rationality. The subject-knowledge link that dominates traditional anthropological analyses is replaced by a powerknowledge link that postulates the two axes of discursive and non-discursive concerns. The discursive axis is concerned with the objects, concepts, statements and discursive formations of primitive knowledge while the non-discursive axis is concerned with the systems of power that propagate and sustain those discourses. These two axes constitute the nature of the archaeology employed in this study. This thesis is sustained by both negative and positive evidence. The negative evidence takes the form of an antisubjectivist thrust where the subject-dependent explanatory unities of the tradition are replaced by the positivistic elements of archaeology. The positive evidence primarily takes the form of a detailed analysis of the presence of the guiding codes of the episteme amongst the Trobriand Islanders that give rise to their primitive knowledge and practices. In this area, I make extensive use of Malinowski's ethnographic observations for their breath of detail and application without employing his subject-dependent psychobiological conclusions. Further, I am proposing a transformative position such that orality becomes a feature of the episteme rather than its condition of possibility. The guiding codes of the Trobriand episteme take the form of enclosed oppositional figures that are everywhere related to space. The Trobriand episteme provides the conditions for the emergence of primitive discourses and orders the experiences of the Trobrianders. The guiding figures of the episteme are based in a form of complementary opposition, causation as vitality and a dogma of topological space that give rise to primitive knowledge which is a form of divination. A significant part of this dissertation is taken up with an examination of the detail and limitation of these figures where ideas from Levy-Bruhl, Hallpike, and others are employed to produce the most appropriate configuration for my project. A particular form of language as the manipulation of real signs, rather than ideational signs, has its possibility in this configuration which has consequences for the type of knowledge produced. The form of knowledge appropriate to the presence of such a model of language is magic. Writing has no possibility for emerging in this episteme and, therefore, there are significant consequences for the type of knowledge that can be maintained and propagated in a context which must utilise static tradition to the detriment of reflection. An archaeological analysis of the Trobriand Islanders, focusing on discourses on sex and marriage, the nature of tabooed sexual acts, economic relations arising out of marriage and the role of the polygamous chief, the nature of love-magic and magic in general, reveals a shared possibility for all of these discursive realms in the figures of the episteme. These discourses are regulated by the presence of a fundamental opposition between a brother and his sister. This opposition forms the motif for primitive problematizations and constitutes a vulnerable boundary which is the appropriate focus of taboos relating to sex and food, amongst others. This primitive episteme characterises the unity of the experiences of the Trobrianders. This experience is discontinuous with our own and does not involve a role for the individual ego. This project represents a worthwhile contribution to an understanding of human experience and knowledge in general which does not seek to reduce the natural diversity of man to just the monotonous experience of modern man. In conclusion, I tentatively speculate about the appropriateness of the Trobriand figures for primitive experience in general.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-229). Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

No description available.

Thesis (DPhil (Drama)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study aims to describe the puppet, mask and actor as icons or mediums in performance in Africa. The types of performances that will be discussed are religious performances, as well as liminal and hybrid performances. It is in the cases where the mask and puppet are used in religious performances, such as rituals, that the iconic characteristics or values are added to the mediumship of the object. In such cases, these objects do not represent concepts/thoughts/persons/spirits; they are these things in the space of the ritual. Matters pertaining to representation and acting are discussed, since iconic representation does not allow for acting from the performer. The actor can function with, or independently, as an icon, while all these performance elements can function as mediums in a performance using acting or role-play. These different concepts are then applied by discussing the term performance. The different elements of a performance and its characteristics – such as the use of time, space, objects, productivity and rule of a performance – are explained. The creation of a performance through the use of restored behaviour as well as the possible results of a performance in the sense of transportation and transformation as temporary or permanent changes in the performers or audience members is then addressed in the discussion. Different performance genres such as rituals and social drama will be used to describe the function of the mask, puppet and actor in liminal and liminoid performances, and to show how these different performance objects function as icons and/or mediums in these genres. Hybrid forms of performance that cannot be classified as purely liminal or liminoid performances are also studied, since these types of performances are often found in contemporary performances in Africa. The production Tall Horse is used to apply performance theory to see how the different performance objects function in changed context in a hybrid performance.

[pt] Durante muito tempo, a maioria das pesquisas feitas na área de design, ficaram restritas aos estudos das circunstâncias que tinham o design industrial como tema principal. Desta forma, o design limitou-se a ser entendido como algo relacionado a produtos produzidos em grande escala e com características que estivessem relacionadas com o contexto contemporâneo do capitalismo. Nesse sentido, entendeu-se que design era só aquilo que estava inserido no meio de produção de nossa sociedade. Ficou então a cargo da antropologia estética ou simbólica, a função de investigar os significados dos desenhos inseridos no corpo dos artefatos produzidos pelos povos indígenas e de outras etnias, ou seja, do universo simbólico dos povos que nos antecederam no processo de produção de artefatos. Tais povos desenvolveram recursos tecnológicos criativos e originais, entretanto os designers de um modo geral sempre desprezaram os produtos resultantes desse trabalho como um produto de design. Neste trabalho a compreensão do que é um produto de design vai além da definição comumente disseminada do que seja um produto de design. O etnodesign surge com uma forma de resgatar os processos, a tecnologia e o entendimento daquilo que é produzido por etnias que contribuíram através de seu meio de produção para a formação do universo simbólico dos materiais e produtos que fazem parte do cotidiano da população brasileira. Com o objetivo de romper as fronteiras étnicas, que o design ao longo do tempo deixou alongar, surge o etnodesign. Entender este universo, interpretar essas construções simbólicas é também interesse de pesquisa dentro do etnodesign. Os objetos produzidos por diversas etnias que compõem o Brasil são normalmente observados apenas como um elemento exótico que utilizamos como um adorno ou como objeto decorativo em nossas casas. Desta maneira, desprezamos sua riqueza simbólica e tecnológica, seu entendimento com o místico e com a história de seus antepassados. No texto que segue são destacadas através de citações, referências bibliográficas e depoimentos que permitiram através do olhar do designer analisar (em um breve estudo de caso) os desenhos (grafismos) inseridos nas cestarias dos índios M`byá Guarani residentes no sul do estado do Rio de Janeiro, mais especificamente nos arredores da cidade de Paraty, em um local conhecido como Paraty-Mirim. / [en] For a long time, the majority of researches in design area were restricted to studies of circumstances that had the industrial design as main subject. This way, the design was limited to be understood like products made in a great scale with characteristics related with the contemporary context of capitalism. In this idea, the design was only what was inside of the production of our society. The aesthetic or symbolic anthropology received the mission of investigating the meanings of the drawings in devices made by indians and another`s ethnic groups, it means, to study the symbolic universe of the people that had preceded us in the process of devices production. This people developed technological resources creative and original, however the designers (in a general way), had always ignored the products of this work as a product of design. In this work the understanding about a design product goes beyond the definition commonly disseminated about what the design product may be. The ethnic design appears like a form to rescue the processes, the technology and the understanding of what is produced by ethnic groups that had contributed through this means of production for the formation of the symbolic universe of the materials and products that are part of the daily of the Brazilian population. To understand this universe, to interpret these symbolic constructions is also an important interest of research inside of ethnic design. The objects produced for diverse ethnic groups that compose Brazil are normally observed only as an exotic element that we use as an adornment or as decorative object in our homes. In this way, we ignore its symbolic and technological interest, its understanding with the mystic and of its ancestor`s history. In the text that follows are detached through citations, bibliographical references and interviews that have allowed through the look of a designer to analyze (in a briefing case study) the drawings inserted in the baskets of the indians M`byá Guarani.

(in English) The main topic of this thesis is both analysis and interpretation of the relationship between funeral rites, political power and society. Funeral rites are understood as a complex of performative, symbolic social acts, which are themselves comprised of various distinctive phases and signs. The meaning of these acts and signs is important because it can change the features and practice of the collective it is assigned to. The main purpose of this thesis is not only to perform a thick description of different kinds of communist funeral rite in the given time period but to interprate it in the wider social and cultural context as well. The concept of political religion as a heuristic tool was used in the thesis in order to distinguish an ambivalent nature of communist ideology which manifested itself in funeral rites. Funeral rites are analyzed as models for human behavior, which represent key values and norms of communist ideology. At the same time, funeral rites are analyzed as forms of cultural management. That is the reason, why are put under scrutiny not only the rites which are significant for society as a whole but also the funeral rites of individual actors.