Discuss the key messages of the works of "the gift" by Marcel Mauss and "Rites de Passage by Arnold Van Gennep. How are the two authors in the continuum on the basis of work to be classified to Durkheimian structuralism
terms:
David Emil Durkheim 1858-1917
He was born in France, died in Paris. He was a Frenchman sociologist and gild as one of the founders of sociology as an empirical science with an independent method. He gild as a founding father of social anthropology in Western Europe
He was professor of education and sociology at Bordeaux. Marcel Mauss was a student of Durkheim. His most famous work is "Le Suicide" (The suicide). Other important works are "De la division du travail social" ( About the division of social work) and "Les formes de la vie religieuse element aires" (The Elementary Forms of Religious Life). He coined insbesonderse two major theories of Anthropology / Sociology: The British functionalism and French structuralism [3] an important statement by Durkheim, was that in non-industrial societies do not need the division of labor to produce cohesion, but religion and ritual. In his theory of cohesion is the main interest of Durkheim. On the question "Why do people live in society? How to hold a society together? Washalb breaks a company coming undone? Stability? "Developed his two terms, the "mechanical solidarity" and "organic solidarity." The "mechanical solidarity" are primitive societies to adopt and the "organic solidarity" highly complex societies, with the former as a "unity of social groups and individuals on the basis of common conviction of a mandatory, shared by all self-identity" is defined, and the "organic solidarity" as a "social model, with great recognition and importance of instrumental rationality, it is important to the delivery of objectives" [1]. This gild that none can exist without the other. He is also to auseinader as a mass of individuals or a society is how social order is established [7]. The answer to this question lies in the division of labor, which in this Eassy can not be treated. Durkheim says that holds together what the groups is religion. Marcel Mauss, however, says not only religion holds the group together, but also social ties. [4] As soon to be tried on the basis of the work of Marcel Mauss "The Gift" and Arnold Van Gennep "rites of passage" to this detail illuminated.
Marcel Mauss: The Gift
He lived from 1872 to 1950 and was the nephew of Durkheim and probably the most outstanding students. He was much more empirically oriented than Emil Durkheim and tried to see social phenomena in their totality and to understand. He was also to Emil Durkheim sociologique editor of L'Annee and held a chair at the College de France in Paris. Together with Paul River, he founded the Institut d'anthropology in Paris. Most important of his students was Louis Dumont and Claude Levi Strauss. Macel Mauss shows in his essay "the gift" which is the converging nature and fundamental importance of institutions such as the potlatch and the kula.
The potlatch (especially the Polynesian potlatch)
First of two important concept to clarify taonga and Run. In Maori taonga understand a certain subject. If I am the subject I have received a third party and give it to me is another object, then the mind has led to the first object that I got this subject. This spirit is called hau. The subject I have received from third parties I have to give first-person. Since it is not quite the subject that I have received through the hau keep. If I were to keep this second taonga for me, I could evil come of it, very determined, even death (as the Maoris believe) that I have written to illustrate what the driving force the potlatch is. There are three elements of the gift, the obligation of giving, of taking and the Erwiderrns. A chief can keep his authority over the trunk of his village, even about his family, his place among the chiefs within and outside his nation only upright, whom he can prove that he is favored by the spirits that he is lucky and wealth has. His wealth he can only prove the fact that he spends so distributed and the other humiliated. To refrain from giving the undertaking or, as mentioned in the Erwiderns means a loss of dignity. Likewise, if the person to repay the gift at the potlatch can not lose his rank and even the status of a free man. In societies where the potlatch is operated there is a huge redistribution of goods. The chiefs may hoard wealth, which he then gives a credit hard to inform his subjects further. Thus he secures his position in the clan. [5] At
potlatch is clear what are the mechanisms that a society together. It is also clear that the belief in hau, which has a religious character, which is the reason why you have to reciprocate for a gift in return. The result that the social position of the person who is involved in the give and take is stable or answered by the extent of handing his position in "society" claims. The whole System of giving, corporate and reciprocate, which is also known as reciprocity, strengthens the cohesion of the individual in the group. This creates a self-contained funktionierentes system that can not be compared with our economic system.
Arnold Van Gennep (Les rites de passage-rites of passage)
He lived from 1873 to 1957 and were due to his criticism of Durkheim by him and his followers attacked and ignored, and therefore had an academic life outside the French Universitätshierachie lead. He earned his living mostly as a freelance translator and journalist. According to the rites of passage he was concerned mainly with the theory of folk tale and the problem of myth formation.
In his book of rites of passage, he establishes a category of rites of passage. This consists of rites of separation, threshold or conversion rites and Angliederungsriten. Similarly, this means separation phase, transition phase, which as Laminalität (it is neither in the separation phase, the re-establishment phase) and re-integration phase [7] is the life of a person of a sequence of stages, the final and Anfagsphasen are similar.: birth, social puberty, parenthood, promotion to a higher class, activity specialization. For each of these Events include ceremonies, whose goal is the same, namely, the individual from a defined situation to another, over perform equally well defined. The individual changes from one phase to the next.
Even when the potlatch is characterized in that the subjects of the rulers are gifts which can then be divided again. It therefore forms a bond by a separation rite be lifted kann.Trennungsriten are used especially in funeral Angliederungriten and Hochzeitszeremonienvor. Conversion rites can pregnancy, engagement and initiation play an important role. When Angliederungsriten is the integration phase to the integration of nennen.Daher a position in "society" in the next [6].
rituals are universal [4] and in all societies finden.Riten expression in differentiation also have the task to mitigate possible disruptions in the social order [6] In a ritual, the individual receives of particular importance. It gets the attention of all Gruppenmitglieder.Die affinities to the individual person is strengthened by it. The individual is a part of the whole and is always new, through rituals, symbolized in the "Company" added. This also shows that ritual strengthens the cohesion of the group.
Conclusion:
Whether Durkheim, Mauss and Van Gennep, all three were great heads the cultural and social anthropology with a strong influence on their works. With the works of "the gift" or "rites of passage" they have created something with which we cope students of cultural and social anthropology very well even though they only "armchair" anthropologists were. All three had spoken aloud a good sense of cultural relationships, otherwise I can not explain how anthropologists that time, no field research could create such great works.
Appendix:
[1] http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:HRXUC9jDyxsJ:www.lernrausch.ch/upl/sozialwissenschaft Enterprise History / gso.brit_sozantr_zus.afr.pdf + What + + Durkheim + with + Structuralism + + & hl = en do
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[3] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Durkheim
[5] Mauss. Marcel 1990 the gift Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp
[6] Van Gennep, Arnold 1999, rites of passage, Frankfurt / New York, Campus Verlag
[7] See tutorial for introduction to the history of cultural and social anthropology WS/05, 06, Vienna
