By Carlos Eduardo Conceição • LISA Communication
Published: 09/27/2024
The event aims to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the essay "Techniques of the Body" (1934) by French anthropologist Marcel Mauss (1872-1950). The event's purpose, not only is to commemorate the text, but also to encourage a reinterpretation of it by the Brazilian public. Often cited in Brazil as inspiring the anthropology of the body, the essay is also considered the founding father of the anthropology of technology in France. This second line of research repositions contemporary anxieties surrounding technophobias and techno-utopias, as well as outlining methodological paths, including audiovisual ones, for the perception and description of the "traditional and effective acts" that constitute technology. In keeping with the interdisciplinarity that characterizes the essay, the event will foster connections between anthropology and archaeology, understanding that Marcel Mauss's emphasis on mastering technology through the body underscores the continuity between the biological, the psychological, and the social.
Schedule
October 3 (Thursday) 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM:
Opening Panel: Life and Movement: Impacts and Perspectives of Body Techniques between Brazil and France, with Perig Pitrou (Maison Française d'Oxford) and Carlos Sautchuk (UnB)
Marcel Mauss's proposal on "The Techniques of the Body" condenses various inflections of his thought, especially regarding the role of techniques, materiality, and the vital dimension in the configuration of social life. Mauss not only postulates this relevance, but also launches a veritable research program and a path of theoretical innovations, which would unfold in different directions and are in line with various contemporary interests in the social sciences, in the wake of criticisms of the opposition between nature and culture.
Moderator: Rafael Antunes Almeida (Unilab)
Location: Auditorium of LISA/USP - Rua do Anfiteatro, 181 - favo 10
October 3rd (Thursday) 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM:
Lecture: Techniques of the Body and Technical Bodies - Marcel Mauss on Industry and Crafts, with Nathan Schlanger (École Nationale des Chartes)
Mauss's article on "Techniques of the Body" is well-known for the philosophical and phenomenological approaches it sparked in the humanities and social sciences. However, what about the technical body, that is, the instrumentalized body and the labor embodied in a productive regime? Drawing on his comments on the notions of effort and psychotechnics, I propose exploring some avenues for reflection on artisanal activities and industrialization, especially in colonial contexts, which makes Mauss a precursor of development anthropology.
Moderator: Guilherme Moura Fagundes (DA/USP) Simultaneous translation will be available. Location: FFLCH/USP (Auditorium 8 of the Social Sciences Building)
October 4th (Friday) 10am-12pm:
DA Seminars: André Leroi-Gourhan from material civilizations to technical behavior, with Nathan Schlanger (École Nationale des Chartes) This lecture aims to introduce the major contributions by French ethnologist and prehistorian André Leroi-Gourhan (1911-1986) to the field of technology - that is, the study of techniques in the human and social sciences. In the course of his career path - coming to several junctures in contact with his contemporary Claude Lévi-Strauss - Leroi-Gourhan shifted his interests from a museum-based, object-centered "civilizational" approach, including questions of borrowings, migrations and inventions, to a psychologically informed focus on technical behavior, drawing notably on animal studies, cybernetics and experimental archeology to formulate the currently popular notion of "chaîne opératoire".
Mediation: Eduardo Neves (MAE/USP) Location: FFLCH/USP (Room 24 of the Social Sciences building)
October 7th (Monday) 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM:
Lecture: Learning in the Paleolithic: Technical Gestures, Operational Chains, and Skill Building in Prehistory, with Nathan Schlanger (École Nationale des Chartes). Presenter: Joana Cabral (IFCH/Unicamp) Moderator: Chantal Medaets (FE/Unicamp). Event included in the course "Anthropology IV - Contemporary Anthropology"
Location: Room IH07, IFCH, Unicamp, Campinas
The program file is available here.