{"title":"即兴创作、集体结构和文化变革:混合理论","authors":"Jules Zhao Liu","doi":"10.1177/14634996231218568","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The concept of bricolage was formulated by Lévi-Strauss in The Savage Mind to provide an analogy for how mythical thought works. In the following decades, scholars have frequently deployed the concept, not only in anthropology, but also in sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Inheriting Lévi-Strauss's structuralism, French-speaking scholarship has tended to emphasize the structural patterns or constraints of bricolage, while English-speaking scholars have shown more interest in the individuality, subjectivity, or contingency of bricolage. This article seeks to integrate the merits of both strands of scholarships, transcend the collectivist/individualistic divisions, and develop bricolage into a multidimensional concept: Bricolage is a generative principle of regulated improvisation responding to restrictive or limited conditions. My ethnographic study of Kitchen God worship in one region of China shows that the entire process of creating bricolage is an individual embodiment of collective structure. Although bricolage is a product of structure intended to reproduce the structure, it can occasionally affect or change the structure. Thus, it is an important micro mechanism for culture change.","PeriodicalId":51554,"journal":{"name":"Anthropological Theory","volume":"51 25","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Improvisation, collective structure, and culture change: A theory of bricolage\",\"authors\":\"Jules Zhao Liu\",\"doi\":\"10.1177/14634996231218568\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"The concept of bricolage was formulated by Lévi-Strauss in The Savage Mind to provide an analogy for how mythical thought works. In the following decades, scholars have frequently deployed the concept, not only in anthropology, but also in sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Inheriting Lévi-Strauss's structuralism, French-speaking scholarship has tended to emphasize the structural patterns or constraints of bricolage, while English-speaking scholars have shown more interest in the individuality, subjectivity, or contingency of bricolage. This article seeks to integrate the merits of both strands of scholarships, transcend the collectivist/individualistic divisions, and develop bricolage into a multidimensional concept: Bricolage is a generative principle of regulated improvisation responding to restrictive or limited conditions. My ethnographic study of Kitchen God worship in one region of China shows that the entire process of creating bricolage is an individual embodiment of collective structure. Although bricolage is a product of structure intended to reproduce the structure, it can occasionally affect or change the structure. Thus, it is an important micro mechanism for culture change.\",\"PeriodicalId\":51554,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Anthropological Theory\",\"volume\":\"51 25\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-01-02\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Anthropological Theory\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"90\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1177/14634996231218568\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"ANTHROPOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Anthropological Theory","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14634996231218568","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Improvisation, collective structure, and culture change: A theory of bricolage
The concept of bricolage was formulated by Lévi-Strauss in The Savage Mind to provide an analogy for how mythical thought works. In the following decades, scholars have frequently deployed the concept, not only in anthropology, but also in sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Inheriting Lévi-Strauss's structuralism, French-speaking scholarship has tended to emphasize the structural patterns or constraints of bricolage, while English-speaking scholars have shown more interest in the individuality, subjectivity, or contingency of bricolage. This article seeks to integrate the merits of both strands of scholarships, transcend the collectivist/individualistic divisions, and develop bricolage into a multidimensional concept: Bricolage is a generative principle of regulated improvisation responding to restrictive or limited conditions. My ethnographic study of Kitchen God worship in one region of China shows that the entire process of creating bricolage is an individual embodiment of collective structure. Although bricolage is a product of structure intended to reproduce the structure, it can occasionally affect or change the structure. Thus, it is an important micro mechanism for culture change.
期刊介绍:
Anthropological Theory is an international peer reviewed journal seeking to strengthen anthropological theorizing in different areas of the world. This is an exciting forum for new insights into theoretical issues in anthropology and more broadly, social theory. Anthropological Theory publishes articles engaging with a variety of theoretical debates in areas including: * marxism * feminism * political philosophy * historical sociology * hermeneutics * critical theory * philosophy of science * biological anthropology * archaeology