Carlo Severi

The Chimera Principle – An Anthropology of Memory and Imagination Carlo Severi

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-356) and index.; Translated from the French title Le principe de la chimere. Originally published in Italian as Percorso e la voce."Review Quotes: "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 UniversityBiographical Note: Carlo Severi is professor at the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales and director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Janet Lloyd has translated more than seventy books from French, including Philippe Descola s "Beyond Nature and Culture," published by the University of Chicago Press."Brief Description: First published in the French language as "Le principe de la chimere: Une anthropologie de la memoire, "Carlo Severi s "The chimera principle "breaks new theoretical ground for the study of ritual, iconographic technologies, and oral traditions among non-literate peoples. In relying on ornaments, body painting, masks, or pictograms, the memory of peoples without writing has always seemed labile, disordered, or doomed to failure. Such mnemonic techniques are regularly described by historians as abortive attempts to express basic concepts through graphic means. This book presents an alternative theoretical position based on the results of an extensive anthropological and ethnographic survey throughout the Americas and Oceania. Herein, Severi analyzes visual and mnemonic devices used in ritual contexts across many societies, arguing that religious ontologies are pragmatically produced by ritual actions that demonstrate a kind of chimeric imagination at the core of many non-Western arts of memory. With theoretical turns both philosophical and ethnographic, "The chimera principle" unfolds new approaches to research in the anthropology of memory and ritual, revealing a new ethnographic theory of imagination. Translated by Janet Lloyd, with a critical foreword by anthropologist David Graeber, this first English edition is both an invaluable resource and an instant classic for anthropologists, art historians, and philosophers. 1st Edition Publication Data (French Original): 2007. "Le pincipe de la chimere. Une anthropologie de la memoire." Paris: Presses de l Ecole Normale Superieure (Rue d Ulm) et Musee du Quai Branly. ISBN: 978-2728803934 "Review Quotes: 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"

Contributor Bio:  Severi, Carlo Carlo Severi is professor at the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales and director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Contributor Bio:  Lloyd, Janet Janet Lloyd has translated more than seventy books from the French by authors such as Jean-Pierre Vernant, Marcel Detienne, and Philippe Descola. Contributor Bio:  Graeber, David David Graeber is Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He was previously associate professor of anthropology at Yale University. He has published widely on his research in Madagascar and on anthropological theories of value.