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.
Abstract
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.
- Region
- South America
- Sub Region
- Eastern South America
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2015
- Field Date
- 1972-1980
- Coverage Date
- 1972-1980
- Coverage Place
- eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil
- Notes
- Aracy Lopes da Silva
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 340-341)
- LCCN
- 64005713
- LCSH
- Xavante Indians