University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Eastern Bororo Space-Time: Structure, Process and Precise Knowledge Among a Native Brazilian People

Fabian, Stephen Michael

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Description

Title
Eastern Bororo Space-Time: Structure, Process and Precise Knowledge Among a Native Brazilian People
Author(s)
Fabian, Stephen Michael
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Anthropology
Discipline
Anthropology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Anthropology, Cultural
Abstract
  • This work examines the time reckoning practices and concepts of the Bororo Indians of Brazil, the relevance of time to space, and the manner in which these interests are related to social organization. At issue is an alleged ad hoc and imprecise character of native time reckoning and the tendency to eschew the important correlation of these facets of culture.
  • The author and his wife lived and worked among the Bororo from January through October, 1983, with an established residence in Garcas village, Mato Crosso state. Through participant-observation, the interpretation of myth texts and other media of folklore, informants' statements, and the analysis of data reported by other scholars, it is determined that by combining keen astronomical and environmental observations with the use of techniques such as layering and sequencing to organize information, the Bororo reckon time with considerable precision. Consistency in Bororo time and space concepts and their congruence yields an abstract space-time model which incorporates the complementary processes of linear progression and recursivity. Space-time is socialized via the Bororo village and the paradigmatic orientation and localization of, and relations between social groups. The village serves as a notational system for the storage of knowledge, and coordinates maps of temporal, geographic and cosmic spaces.
Graduation Semester
1987
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/70701

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