article
A public sphere in Amazonia?: the depersonalized collaborative construction of discourse in Xavante
American ethnologist • 20 (4) • Published In 1993 • Pages: 717-741
By: Graham, Laura R..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article discusses language use in men's council meetings (warã), highlighting distinct features of Xavante discursive practices. Unlike Western societies in which the individual acts as an autonomous political agent, the locus of political activity in Xavante society lies in the relationships between individuals established in multiple social situations. Consequently, Xavante oratory is detached from the interests of individual speakers; instead, they are primarily directed at promoting collectivity and an egalitarian ethos by counteracting factionalism and individualism. Examples are given of discourse that nevertheless recreates and reinforces age- and gender-based relations of dominance.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Oratory
- Community councils
- Age stratification
- Sociolinguistics
- Speech
- Status and treatment of the aged
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Xavante
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern South America
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2015
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1981-1987
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1981-1987
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil
- NotesAdditional notes
- Laura Graham
- Includes bibliographical references (p.738-741)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74644326
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Xavante Indians