Search

Discussion and analysis of contemporary borders and frontiers research Non

The Distant Worlds Journal (DWJ) is an online peer-reviewed journal established especially for presenting the research of early-career scholars on the ancient world. Each edition of the DWJ centres on a specific question or topic pertinent to the diverse disciplines engaged in the study of ancient cultures. In our fourth edition, we explore cultural anthropological theories and methods in the ancient studies, both in terms of the opportunities they offer for the study of ancient cultures and the problems they pose when applied

The paper proposes a critical reflection on Remo Cantoni’s philosophical thought, with particular regards to his anthropological point of view that addresses concepts such as “critical humanism” and “horizontal connection”. The strict relationship between anthropology and participation are his main topics on which he has made outstanding remarks in the second decade of XXth century in the Italian cultural panorama. Since his early works, Cantoni points out the need to develop a different way of analysing the pluridimensionality of human beings and widely debates contemporary European cultural context after the end of World War II. The paper tries to put in evidence how Cantoni’s anthropological thought originally tends to a knowledgical intentionality dimension which should be taken into account for ethnographic investigation. In order to apply his point view, he suggests to consider an epistemological approach which could connect all the social-scientific sciences through a “horizontal connection”, whose aim is to gain a vital relationship of culture with the existing variety and alterity.

Review, Aethiopica, Vol 19 (2016)

Recent studies in anthropology have stressed the need to reconsider the issue of otherness and pluralism by drawing inspiration from indigenous ontologies and, thus, reassessing human/non-human relations. Starting from this premise, this article develops an analogous paradigm by offering the case study of ethnographic research on an aboriginal group (ādivāsī), the Kuttia Kondhs, living in one of the most remote and pristine jungles of India (Odisha). It presents a twofold journey through the symbolic analysis of the Myth of Creation (Kui Gaani) and the unprecedented documentation of a sacred site that is believed to be the centre of the cosmos. This is Sopāngaḍā, a sacred hill covered with forest, the womb of mother earth, from which beings emerged. One of the earliest pieces evidence is the close kinship and consubstantiality among human/non-human agencies composing the hill, a real living entity that embodies the ādivāsī macrocosm., Internationales Asienforum, Bd. 46 Nr. 1-2 (2015): Internationales Asienforum

The Indian Government has defined the Birhor as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). They live in small, scattered communities in Jharkhand and Odisha. Until the 1950s, their lifestyle was primarily nomadic and depended on the availability of forest game and market trends. The government of India then began to limit Birhor access to the forests, forcing them into low-skilled agricultural and mining jobs and settling them in resettlement colonies. The majority of the Birhor still live in these colonies, in houses that they use and inhabit, yet cannot completely appreciate. The reason for this lack of appreciation derives mainly from their religious beliefs and their cultural perception of living spaces. Consequently, many Birhor have made considerable changes to their allotted housing, not only to adapt it to their cultural concepts, but also to serve the perceived requests of the invisible, yet omnipresent, hapram bonga, spiritual ancestors, who are always treated with the greatest consideration in Birhor settlements., Internationales Asienforum, Bd. 46 Nr. 1-2 (2015): Internationales Asienforum