This paper addresses some anthropological questions concerning the symbolic status of hybrid beings in the foundation myths. Liminal creatures par excellence, these extreme synthesis of the relationship between nature and culture often assume the functions of totemic animals, that communities turn into agents of autochthony. Giambattista Vico called them “imaginative universals”, today we would refer to them as transcultural and mestizos mythologems. They are identity logos on which societies rely in order to build and rebuild their origin.
Questo lavoro affronta alcune questioni antropologiche riguardanti lo statuto simbolico degli esseri ibridi nelle mitologie di fondazione. Creature liminali per antonomasia, queste sintesi estreme del rapporto tra natura e cultura, assumono spesso le funzioni di animali totemici che i gruppi trasformano in operatori di autoctonia . Universali fantastici li chiamava Giambattista Vico, mitologemi transculturali e meticci diremmo oggi. Loghi identitari cui le società ricorrono per costruire e ricostruire la loro origine.
Le incantatrici. Ibridazioni sireniche
MORO, Elisabetta
2010-01-01
Abstract
This paper addresses some anthropological questions concerning the symbolic status of hybrid beings in the foundation myths. Liminal creatures par excellence, these extreme synthesis of the relationship between nature and culture often assume the functions of totemic animals, that communities turn into agents of autochthony. Giambattista Vico called them “imaginative universals”, today we would refer to them as transcultural and mestizos mythologems. They are identity logos on which societies rely in order to build and rebuild their origin.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.