The Burden of Tribalism: The Social Context of Southern African Iron Age Studies

The Burden of Tribalism: The Social Context of Southern African Iron Age Studies
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部落主义的负担:南部非洲铁器时代研究的社会背景

DOI:
10.2307/280354
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发表时间:
1984
期刊:
影响因子:
2.8
通讯作者:
M. Hall
M. Hall
中科院分区:
人文科学1区
文献类型:
--
作者:
M. Hall

文献摘要

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对南部非洲农业社区的考古研究本质上是一项政治活动,但很少有批判性分析对社会背景在形成问题和确定答案方面的作用进行分析。本文认为,赞比西河以南的铁器时代研究历史显示了殖民意识形态的普遍影响,无论是在对非洲过去性质的最早推测中,还是在当代考古学方法应用于次大陆的适应中。种族等概念在南部非洲获得了特定的含义,这与在澳大拉西亚等其他情况下使用类似概念形成了鲜明对比。这种相对性强化了这样一种观点,即对不同社会环境中的考古实践进行具体、详细的批评,对于理解现在塑造过去的方式是必要的。
The study of the archaeology of farming communities in southern Africa is an inherently political activity but there has been little critical analysis of the role of social context in forming problems and in shaping answers. It is argued in this paper that the history of Iron Age research south of the Zambezi shows the prevalent influence of colonial ideologies, both in the earliest speculations about the nature of the African past and in the adaptations that have been made to contemporary archeological methodologies in their application to the subcontinent. Concepts such as ethnicity have acquired specific meanings in southern Africa that contrast with the use of similar ideas in other contexts such as Australasia. Such relativity reinforces the view that specific, detailed critiques of archaeological practice in differing social environments are necessary for an understanding of the manner in which the present shapes the past.