On the limits of symbolic interpretation in anthropology

pp. 197-211

in: I. C. Jarvie, Thinking about society, Berlin, Springer, 1986

Abstract

An ethnographer observes a man killing a sheep by cutting its throat. A bystander, when asked what is going on, replies: “He is making an offering to the ancestors”. What is the logical status of such a statement? What does it “mean” apart from its standing as a description of the sacrificer’s actions? How does it come to mean what it means? Does it always mean the same thing? These are issues of great complexity and, for anthropologists anyway, of great importance. Does it always mean the same thing? These are issues of great complexity and, for anthropologists anyway, of great importance.