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ARCHfOLOGY
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SfMIOlfXlm DOUBlf AGfNlS SfRlfS JIM flLtlINC & \YlV£R£ lOIRING£R, £OIlORI fAlAlITRMEGIH It!H B&llilIURO
ARCHfOLOGY
fOUC�ULf LIVE
[Olumo INitWIt'> 01 MI(HH fO�!u1I MI(HH fO�lUll
Of VIOLfNCf
MCHEOLOGY Of VIOLENCE PilOt [U\lRfI
LOll DIMENIlON PAUl VIRIUO
PlfRRf CL�STRH
�mHHICS Of D1S�PPE�R�NCf PA� VIRIIIO COLLECffO INlfRVlfWS Of WILlI�M S. BURROUGHI Willi'" I. Buoru,�
I
Translated from the French by Jeanine Herman
SfMIOTfXT(f)
CONTENTS
The L.lst Frontier
This edition ('of1yright 1'1994 Scmiotl'xr(e)
This translation co pyr ight �1994 Jeanine Herman
All righ ts reserved,
Firsl published in rrench in 1980 as RC((,(c/I('s
d'(lIIrltropologif poliriqllc by
E ditions du Stui!,
Paris.
Thanks to Jeiminc Ilcr1mn. Lewanl1c Jones. SylvCrc Lotringf'f.
9
I
Savage Ethn o (JT from time to time to tell his wife:
ovtr his mouth, an expression of feigned displeasure on his fact. he lets
'"lIurry and hring some bananas to relative so-and-so! We forgot t o give him
some timC" go by. I hen we ha v e some uan;]na puree.", and we call relax,
And, Quitc simply, he continu('l'par!'!l
e(1 at their base by :,wampy lowlands. Brtween the
rJltlbu/los of tht: region,
tht· pa ths follow ("T('Sts: we climb. descend, climb again, etc. It is an effon, but ;idl'red, less tiring
(ir one is
in good hrallh] than wallowing:
t h rou gh st
O f
V I O l f N [ E
I H f
notf'. funh ermo n:. that contr ary to curre nt widl'sprtad conv it'tion . the de n si ty o f the ind ig('nous popu lation was relati vely high. Otmo graph ic rl'sear ch. r. o t burial of the deceilsed : il ri tu al hunt, dan('es ( a mo ng which.
kaves o n thtir heads), .1IHI ch a nts go o n for about tWO weeks. Thc skeleron,
anet'stors, as the mythi('al fou n ders o f soci ety. arc marked w it h iI p ositive
rid of its fl es h, is then exhumed. painlrd with IIf/1('1I a n d decorated with
dead, as potential destroyers of this samt;' soci ety, arc markt;'d with a n ega t ive
river where it will be thrown. The ancie nt Tupi-Guarani gtner:111y in h u nwd
sign a n d are therefore close to the community of th ei r '"descendants," so the
feathers. Pla('ed in a h aske t, it is flll al l y taken i n a p ro cession to a nearby
sign to such an extent that Ihe l iv in g ask: how can we get TId of them?
of the dt'ad
case o f fa mo us chiefs or shamans. they proceeded to exhume the skeleton.
among the South American peoples: far from entenaining thoughts of celr
which among the Guarani became the obje('t of a cult if t h e shaman w as
brating them. th ey are much morr concerned with ('rasing them fro m their
great. The Guarani in PCl raguay still maintain the custom of sometimes p re
[t fo l l ow s ronsequently t h at o n e cannot speak of a
(' u l t
thcir dead in gn.::at funerary urns burit'd in the earth. like the 130roro. in the
memory, Thi:-. is why ceremonies such as the Shipaya's " feast of dead souls,"
serving a child 's skclClon: invo ked under certain circumstances, it assures
morE' from the will to win Ihe b enev o lence of t he ancient dead th;"1n from a
a nd the diviniti('s.
livi n g s('('k to conclude (l ild strengthen the (l i l i ance th,H gu a r unprodu("liv(>. but ra th er to the rela tion of exclusion that separates the living fro m the dead. A
cemett'ry is i n fact an cstablished spac(' reserved for the dcad whom one can l a ter visit and who are m ai llt(l ined, i n thiS mannt:r, i n permanence tion of the ckcc-;tst'd's fam ily.
encio('annihalism is the t o tal integration of the dead into the living. sin ct' one
6 I
.. . . n t U l U b T
0 1
Y l 0 L f tl ( f
absorbs the other. One could Lhus th i nk of th is funerary ritual as the absolute o!JPosite of the customary auitudc of the Indians, to crea te as largt: a gap as possible hetwet'n thC'mselves and thl' dead. But this is only an ;"lppearancc. I n reality, tndocannibalism pushes t h e separ;ing the coast and t h £' plateau. or
world: it i s
the coastal people and i nhabitants of the-
-
thr Ouechua and the Aymara a n d the Moehiea.
Tlte gods The- n atural
elements !hi'lt ordered the daily l ife of the-sr
p e asanl
peoples
were exal tl'cl to the status of d iv in e powers: S u n and Moon, often though! of
as b rot h e r and sister as well as h us ba n d and w i fe ; the evt.:ning a n d morn ing stars; t}l e rainbow; the Pacha-Mama. M o th er Eanh, etc. All tllese d iv i n e fIg u r es were thf object of cultS and i m p rrssi ve ceremonies. as we shall "ee la1t'f. The essential plant of Andea n agriculture. maize. was reprrsented by n umer o u s i magl's of ears of corn i n gold, s i l v e r or �ton('; thrse were the S(ffO-1II0ma, mothers of co rn from whkh abundant Ilarvc
by the extremely rapid d i ffusi o n of a l l news from b{'yond the seas. Let us limit ourselves to reveal i n g a few chronological points,2 Staning in 1 493.
Christopher Columbus ' letters regardi n g h i s discovt:ry were p u b l i shed i n
Paris. One could read i n 1 503, again i n Pa ri s
.
the Li1tin translation o f the
story of the flfst voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. America, as the proper name of the New World, appeared for the flTSt time i n Ihe voyages of Vespucci. From
1 507 i n another edition of 1 5 1 5 on, the French translation of the voy
agcs of the PortUgUf:S{' became best-sell{'TS. I n shon, one did not have to wait
very long i n the Europe of the- beginning of the century to know what was happening in America. The abundance of news and the spe-e-d of its c i rcula
tion - despite the diffIculties of transmission at the time - indicate among
the cultivated people of the tim(' as passionate an interest i n these new lands and the people who lived there as in th{' ancient world revealed by books. A
d o u b l e d iscovery. the same d('sir(' to know w h i c h invested at o n c c I h (' ancient history of Europe and its new geographical CXie-nsion.
We should note that this w{'(11th o f travel litemture is mostly of Spay a little more about this. we·11 offer h i m a free subscription to Lihft'. Gode1ier"s l)fef,H:e is a bou([uct: the most exquisite nower,> compose j{. A work of art. let us pick one last quote: '·For - and many are n ot aware of thi s - then' hav(' existed and still exist n umerous sOrle- ties divided i n t o orders or caSI('5 or cl asses, in t o exploiters and exploitrd, and w h o, neverthe less, do not know the State." Why doesn't he tell us fIrst, for prec ision is important. to whilt societics he is. alluding? Coy of him. As for tht' rest, he clea rly wants to say that one Ci1nnot think of social division without the State, that the division into the dominating and the dominated does not nec ('ssarily im pl icille I�e State. What exactly is the State for Godelier? Surely. the ministers, the [Iysee, tile White Iloust', the Kremlin. This i n n ocen ce of the- bumlJkin in the capital is chamling. Godelicr forgets ont" thing. the pri n ciple (which the Marxists manage to r('member when they control the Stale apparatus): namely, that the State is the exercise of political POW('T. We can not think power without the- State and the State without power. [n other words: there wht're one locates an eff('clive exercise of power by a p not rweeI t in
S(
.
�ltll �
to
.
u
.
' • to so\ •ICll WI ·lICh ·IS IH'rfectly capitble of satisrying all its needs WIthout hilvlllg . l ' ncr of other>' I d I I produce all that we need toO( (I n toO s , wt: arc I · we .. 1e a-;sl'> " tI thl'refort, i n a position to do witho t others. I n o h r words, the allt rk I' C . . ' I ·, .s '·;0 ,'lI1ti-comml'TCIal itlcil!' !.Ike (I l l Ideals, 1t IS nOt always. ,\c( omI·d {,,, . plish('ci ('verywhr:rC': but ly atttJltiv(' to prestrv i n g its autonomy, a socie-ry in (he full sen sl' of tile
word. A unity in that its homogeneous being continues 10 refuse sodal divi�
�i()n, to e-xclude in equality. lO forbid alienation, Primiltvc socicty is a singlt' t otality in t hlt .: tile pri nciple of its unity is not exterior to it: it dol'S not allow dlly eon fIguration of One to dl'lach itstlf from thl' social body in ord('r to rtp�
rcsent it. in order to e mbody it as unity This is why the criterion of n0I1�diyi4 .
'>Ion IS fundamcllt? I t is Ihe Stall'. Let us go back. What is the- StOlte? It is the TOtal sign of division in soci
ety. i n that it is a sepamtc organ o f political power: society is ht'ncefonh divided into those who exercise power and those who submit 10 it. Society is no longer ;'In undivided We. a single- totality. b ut a fragmen ttel Ltody. a het ('rog{'neous social being. Social division and the ('mergen("(' of the State art' till.' deat h of primitive society. So that the commun ity might asst'rt its ditTtr t'll a po l it ic a l means of a soc i ol ogical st rategy - letting celHrifugal forces play thl'mselves ou t i n order to w;ml off all forces o f u n ifIcation - but i n deed as a private go,t!. as rhe IN1";0r 'S personal ('lid. W d Woul war, then. be the sale arfair of the warrior in this case? Despite [he extrt'mdy pe rson a l i:le d aspect of w a rl i ke activily in this type of society. '
it is rathe-r clt"a r that it dots have an ('ffect on the sociol og ical level. What the twofold dimension that war assumes here assign to the nl'W figure does sod:!1 body? It is u pon this body thal a strange space - a fo re i gn space - is outlined : an unforeseeahle- orga n is alt:!ched to it: rl/r particular social grollp rOIl�ril U/('(1 by rile cllsclllblr of Il'arriors. And not by the ensemble or men. For not ;lll me n i n these societies art necessarily warriors; illl do not hear the call to ,"\rms wi th equal i ntrnsiry; on ly some reali:le their warlike vocation. In other words, the w arri o r group is made up of a mi nor i ty of men in thi s type of sodety: those who have delib erately chosen to devote t h emselvt.'s . full tillle, so to speak, to w a rli ke Clctivi· \Y. th ose for whom war is the v('ry fou ndat io n of tlleir being. tht:: ul ti mate J;o i nt of hon or, the exclusive meaning of their livt::s . The difference hetween lht' p:en era l case of primitive societies and the panicular case of th e se soci etit '> appears i mmed i at el y. Primitivt' soc iety be i n g warlike by essence, a l l men there art" warriors: potential wMrio rs. because the st pH'ciscly because all men af(' always ready for war that a special group. more warlike than the othe rs, Cilnnot differentiat(" itself from the hean of lhe masrul ine community: tht' rdation to war is e-quClI fo r all. In (he casc o f "warrior ,>oc ie( ies. howe-ve-r, Wilr ;'!Iso ass u mes the character of a personal vocation op('n to all males. sinct each is free 10 do what he W cult ure : it stands
either external ( fo r example, neighboring groups' increased aggressiveness o r, o n the co nt rary, the ir weaken i n g. inciting a n i ncrcase of artac ks on them)
{'ultural area. O f the numerous tribes thai oeeu sharpness of a determineu i n effect, i l l ustrate perfectly. no doubt better them. of most pird this te rrito ry,
orders collective l'xi:'.tcnce). Furthermore, the path can be tr,wl'led i n the
is tilt' ;]ctivity most highly valorized hy society, it is the quasi-exclusive occupat ion of re", Wt' would have, in such a hypothesis. a , mmorny of young men - til(' warriors - waging a permanent war for their
own account - the" {juest for presligC' which socitty would 101e"rate b{'cause
of the �rimary �Ild secondary benefits that the warriors would proCUrt: for it:
coll crtlvc sccuTlty ilssure"d by the constant weakening of enemies. the cap
turts and spoils of war resulting from the pillagC' of enemy selliemcnts. A �i m i l a r �ituation could reproduce itst'lf and rt'pC'at itsC'lf indt'flnittly. with no , innovatIOn alteflng the bC'ing of the social body and the" tradit ional function , i n g of SOciety We would have to observe, with Maretl Duchamp, that there
is no, solution bccaust thtre is no problem. The (' nt i re queslion is precisely , tillS: IS there a problem? l Iow should it be anirulatcd?
It i s a quesli ?1l of k n �w i n g whether primitive society i s ru n n i n g a risk , 1cttmg a p;'lrt l cular soria! grouP. that of (he warriors. grow i n its breast, by
There is some basis, then. to e x a m i n i n g them: the existence i n primitive
sociery of a grou,p of sjng� rs or d a n crrs, for eX;'l mple. c10es n ot in any way affect the establishtd SOCial order. But it is a question here of wa rriors, namely. the m e n , wllO hold a quasi-monopoly on socit'ly's m i l i t a ry rapaci
ty. a m o nopoly, In a sense. on organ ized violence . They exercis(' this vio lence on their enemies, But could they eventually exercise i t as well o n
the�r own society? ,NOt physical violC'ncl' (a rivil war o f warriors against
socIety), but a (aklng of pOl/ler by the warrior group which would from
then on exercise i [ on, and if necessary. against society? Could the warrior
group. �s a specialized org.:1n of the social body. become (J separate organ , oj political pOII ("r ,I n othe � words. lIoes war harbor within it the possibility
� �
of w h a t all p n m,Hlve socletks, in C'Ssence. arc devoted to warding off: , , n a m e l y. .the diVISIon of the social body into Masters (the warlike m i nority) and S uhJC'cts (the rest of society)?
We havt' just seen. in the tribes of the Chaco and among the Apache, . of war could transform the search for prtstigious spoils �ow the �yn
phy). the Sioux
Bl ac k
Elk
du r i n g the night. he attempted to steal the Sioux's horses, I3lnck I -.lk also
(cpons t h a t
in a famous battle alone. ahead
horseman charged
against the American a r m y., n Ch eyen n e
of his b ro t h ers. into the r