A TALE OF TWO SISTERS: AGE, AGENCY AND TRADITION AMONG THE
Abstract: Categorical oppositions such as Tradition and Modernity are often employed to explain conventional behavior, because there is a presumed conso-nance between the goals of the agent and the values of the context in which the agent acts, but such categorical oppositions do not seem to effecti...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.577.298 http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol41/khanty.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract: Categorical oppositions such as Tradition and Modernity are often employed to explain conventional behavior, because there is a presumed conso-nance between the goals of the agent and the values of the context in which the agent acts, but such categorical oppositions do not seem to effectively model acts of choosing. An individual Khant experiences a sense of participating in several social identities, each providing a context for forming intentions to act, mobilizing resources, seeking legitimation, and following through on commit-ments to act. Among the Khanty the sense of belonging to an age cohort differs from other biologically-marked categories such as clan, patriliny, even gender, by having no particular prescriptions associated with it. It is a ‘modern ’ phe-nomenon in two senses of the word: first, historically, it seems to have been brought into being through a modern institution, the boarding school; second, it is ‘modern ’ in the sense that it is perceived as an empowering category, liberat-ing one from the constraints of tradition. This paper, based on the authors’ fifteen-year-long association with two Khanty sisters, raised in a taiga settle- |
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