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Female over male or left over right: solving a classificatory puzzle among the OvaHimba

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

David P. Crandall
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Extract

This article puts forward a resolution to a curious circumstance, namely, why the left, and not the right, appears to be pre-eminent among the Himba. Himba arrange gendered, domestic and ritual space, their own bodies in ritual contexts and, to an extent, time strongly in favour of the left. The fact that in their language ‘left’ connotes weakness while ‘right’ connotes strength adds to the puzzle. It is argued that, to understand this apparent contradiction of the near-universal classificatory ascendancy of right over left, one must assess the Himba dual symbolic system while drawing upon the principle of symbolic parallax which allows a single referent, in this case the sacred ancestral fire, to be viewed from differing spatial perspectives. By following this procedure the puzzle is resolved, as the human direction from which the primary referent is viewed is merely the mirror image of a transcendant view.

Résumé

Cet article présente une résolution à une situation curieuse, à savoir pourquoi la gauche, et non pas la droite, semble être prééminente parmi les Himba. Les Himba arrangent les espaces divisés selon les sexes, les espaces rituels et domestiques, et leurs corps lors des rituels, et jusqu'à un certain point le temps fortement en faveur de la gauche. Le fait que dans leur langue ‘la gauche’ dénote de la faiblesse tandis que ‘la droite’ dénote de la force augmente le mystère. On affirme que pour comprendre ce qui apparaît être une contradiction de la classification presque universelle de la droite ayant dominance sur la gauche, on doit évaluer le système dualistique symbolique des Himba tout en faisant appel au principe du parallax symbolique qui permet à un seul élément, dans ce cas le feu ancestral sacré, d'être vu selon des perspectives spatiales différentes. En suivant cette procédure le mystère est résolu, comme la direction depuis laquelle l'élément principal est vu est simplement l'image invertie d'une vue transcendante.

Type
Taking the spirits' perspective
Information
Africa , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 327 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1996

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