article
Social practice and ontology in Akwe-Xavante naming and myth
Ethnology • 28 (4) • Published In 1989 • Pages: 331-341
By: Silva, Aracy Lopes da.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article examines the social functions of Xavante naming practices and concepts, arguing that personal names provide creative empirical solutions to structural challenges peculiar to the Gê-speaking societies of Central Brazil—most importantly the challenge of producing (and reproducing) multiple and simultaneous moiety (dual) pairs across different groups organized along the domains of kinship, residence, political loyalties, ritual, age, and sex. With increasing incorporation into the Brazilian state and the rise of commercial pressures on land—which disrupted traditional land holding and settlement patterns—Xavante personal names allowed individuals and groups to maintain culturally integral ties to lineages, ancestors, age sets, and other groupings across vast regions.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Naming
- Personal names
- Mythology
- Community structure
- Ethos
- Social personality
- Ethnosociology
- Kinship terminology
- Etiquette
- Inter-community relations
- Lineages
- Moieties
- Social relationships and groups
- 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
- 1972-1980
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1972-1980
- 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
- Aracy Lopes da Silva
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 340-341)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 64005713
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Xavante Indians