Comparativism Then and Now

William Michael Short; Maurizio Bettini

Jump to Content

Chapter 14 Comparativism Then and Now

In: Brill's Companion to Classics and Early Anthropology

Authors:

William Michael Short

William Michael Short
Search for other papers by William Michael Short in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

and

Maurizio Bettini

Maurizio Bettini
Search for other papers by Maurizio Bettini in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 365–387

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004365001_016

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

€42.00€35.00 excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship between classics and anthropology as relates to cross-cultural comparison. Despite an ancient pedigree, scholarly comparison of the classical cultures to one another (or to other cultures) has remained circumscribed. Christian Gottlob Heyne (1729–1812), who advocated understanding “the spirit of that time, its representations and relations and all its contemporary connections to things”, has been all but forgotten. German Altertumswissenschaft rejected the “savage” comparativism of James George Frazer, William Warde Fowler, William F. Jackson Knight, and Herbert Jennings Rose as haphazard and superficial. This history probably explains the lack of any real comparative method in even the most “anthropological” classical scholarship in recent decades: J.-P. Vernant and Florence Dupont, for instance, noticeably eschew that “comparative sociology” identified by Radcliffe-Brown as the essence of anthropology—not to mention large-scale intercultural comparisons along the lines of Lévi-Strauss’ Mythologiques. Some scholars, however, purposefully juxtapose Roman culture and Greek culture, with the possibility then of comparing these cultures with others both ancient and modern. Rather than predetermine the meaning of any specific cultural configuration by placing it alongside supposedly analogous representations, this “new comparativism” actively constructs meaning through juxtapositions and comparisons of what is different between cultures (see Detienne 2007; 2008). To illustrate this approach, this chapter compares metaphorical linguistic expressions in Greek and Latin, arguing that it is possible to tease out significant differences not only in how speakers of these languages conceived of certain experiences but also in their attitudes and values towards—and thus behaviours and practices in respect of—those experiences. Here, metaphors of “making a mistake” are discussed to suggest that Latin’s “wandering” metaphor has not only widespread semantic effects but also identifiable effects on culture more broadly conceived.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/edcoll/9789004365001/BP00018.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

Brill's Companion to Classics and Early Anthropology

Series: Brill's Companions to Classical Reception, Volume: 16

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004365001

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 28 Mar 2018

Subjects

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	864	188	34
Full Text Views	99	4	0
PDF Views & Downloads	61	5	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Chapter 14 Comparativism Then and Now

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Brill's Companion to Classics and Early Anthropology

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics