Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
SeeingisBelieving.AnthropologicalVisionsofCulture
13
weretakingtheidea,thatculturaldiversityseeninthemuseumscabinetshasalso
anaturalbasis,forgranted.Again,theaestheticevaluationofsocalledprimitive
art,howeveralsomuchappealingtothe19thcenturyartistsmilieu,tookoverand
rationalizationofthecategoryofculturaldifierencehasbeenmovedontothefield
ofnaturalsciences.meholisticapproachofanthropologyinitsinfancyafiected
thestudyofcultureintermsofrace,naturalorderanddevelopment.Western
civilizationwasconsideredasthemostadvancedformofculturalachievement
ofMan.mepictureoftheOtherhadgainedmuchinitscontrast.Monochrome
visionsofculturebecamecommonanddominant.AsGeorgeStockingstates,the
industrialrevolutionhadputasymbolicmarkinwhatwasbackthen(i.e.tradi-
tionalsocieties)andwhatisnow(theVictoriansocietyinBritainforexample)
(StockingJr.,1987:187).Culturalprimitivismwasexaggeratedandoverexposed
throughcollectionsofcuriosities-stonetoolsofAborigines,Egyptianmummies,
orAfricanfetishes.Ontheotherside,culturaldevelopmentwasmeasuredintech-
nologyandscience;London’sCrystalPalacewherethesemummiesandfetishes
weredisplayedwasagoodexampleofit.Itwasaclearsymbolicself-expressionof
Westerncivilizatoryandtechnologicaldominationthrougharchitectureandart.
Astechnologicalmeansallowedtograspthepictureofanthropologicalfield
ofresearchthroughphotographyandlateralsomovies,thevisualaspectbecame
slowly,butsurelyanintegralpartoftheethnographicdescriptionofthecultural
universe.mevisualparadigm,stillboundedbythedirectexperienceofanimage,
wasslowlyenteringmassproductionandreproductionpushingitbeyonditscon-
textoforigin.mustheimagebecameindependentandhadgainedmuchautono-
my.Nevertheless,thebestwaytolookataearly19thcenturydaguerreotypeswas
toseetheminperson.Asthistechniqueisbasedbyputtingtheimageonasilver
plateitmayalsobetakenasaspecificLacanianmirroroftheviewer.CivilizedEu-
ropeanslookedatthemselvesalsoońenthroughtheimageofthesavagedepicted.
Whattheydidsee,wasanastonishing.Astrikingresemblancewasfoundinthese
images,whichlinkedtheEuropeanswiththesocietiesoutsideEuropethrough
afragilethreadofhistoricalassociations.menatureofthemaindifierencebe-
tweenbothpartiesinvolvedwasgroundedintermsoftemporaldiscrepancyon
thelevelofculturaldevelopmentandmodernization.Accordingtomany,thenbon
sauvagé”wasadirectreflectionofaunspecificNeolithiccommunityoffirstun-
namedEuropeanslivingsomewhereinthemidstofadistanthistory.Intheeyes
oftheEnlightenmentphilosophyfollowers,thensavagewithin”couldbedomes-
ticatedifonlyonewouldrejecteverythingwhatwasirrational,i.e.superstition,
magic,religionetc.-thatisrelatedtothepast.Onehadtobeorientedtowards
amodernistfuture,wheretherewasnoplaceleńforallofthesepeculiarartifacts
oftheprimitivepast.Science,alsosocialanthropology,wasregardedasatoolfor
thistransition,aswellitsvisualaspectwasinstrumentalizedbytheideologyof
