ABSTRACT

Lévi-Strauss argues that Amazonian mythology reveals a moral philosophy concerned with control of entries and exits to the tubes and apertures of the body. But which body? Following clues from attitudes to female singers in renaissance Italy, this essay suggests that this Amerindian body is not the one we take for granted but rather one very similar to the body that figures in the writings of Galen and other classical authors. This insight sheds new light on Amerindian mythology, where tubes and apertures are a dominant theme, and on ritual where music and tobacco smoke lend substance and fertility to life-giving breath and control of body orifices is emphasised. Such ideas, rooted in a common-sense anatomy and physiology, are also familiar in the modern West but have been submerged in Elias' civilizing process.

摘要

Lévi-Strauss 认为亚马逊神话揭示了一种道德哲学，涉及控制身体的管子和孔的进出。但哪个身体？根据意大利文艺复兴时期女歌手态度的线索，这篇文章表明，这个美洲印第安人的身体不是我们理所当然的，而是一个与盖伦和其他古典作家的作品非常相似的身体。这一见解为美洲印第安人的神话提供了新的思路，其中管子和孔是主要主题，以及音乐和烟草烟雾为赋予生命的呼吸提供物质和生育力的仪式，并强调对身体孔口的控制。这种植根于常识性解剖学和生理学的思想在现代西方也很熟悉，但已经淹没在埃利亚斯的文明进程中。