The Chimera Principle: An Anthropology of Memory and Imagination (Hau - Malinowski Monographs) - Softcover

Severi, Carlo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990505057 ISBN 13: 9780990505051

Publisher: HAU, 2015

Synopsis

Available in English for the first time, anthropologist Carlo Severi’s The Chimera Principle breaks new theoretical ground for the study of ritual, iconographic technologies, and oral traditions among non-literate peoples. Setting himself against a tradition that has long seen the memory of people “without writing”—which relies on such ephemeral records as ornaments, body painting, and masks—as fundamentally disordered or doomed to failure, he argues strenuously that ritual actions in these societies pragmatically produce religious meaning and that they demonstrate what he calls a “chimeric” imagination.

Deploying philosophical and ethnographic theory, Severi unfolds new approaches to research in the anthropology of ritual and memory, ultimately building a new theory of imagination and an original anthropology of thought. This English-language edition, beautifully translated by Janet Lloyd and complete with a foreword by David Graeber, will spark widespread debate and be heralded as an instant classic for anthropologists, historians, and philosophers.

About this title

About the Author

Carlo Severi is professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. 

Janet Lloyd has translated more than seventy books from the French by authors such as Jean-Pierre Vernant, Marcel Detienne, and Philippe Descola.

David Graeber is professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and the author, most recently, of The Utopia of Rules. 

Review

“The translation of The Chimera Principle: An Anthropology of Memory and Imagination is a major event in Anglo-American anthropology. Remarkable for its scholarly depth, its ability to recast the whole field of memory and imagination through its relation to visual and sound images, and above all its complete mastery over comparative ethnography, this book is a stunning landmark in anthropological theory.” 

(Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University)

"Carlo Severi’s The Chimera Principle is a forceful study for anyone who wants to move beyond conventional concepts of 'text' and 'image.'... In this brilliant translation of what is certain to become an instant classic in visual anthropology, we come to understand how sound and image become alive in acts of communication." (Thomas Cummins, co-author of Beyond the Lettered City: Indigenous Literacies in the Andes)

Edition details

• Publisher: HAU
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0990505057
• ISBN 13: 9780990505051
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 400