- •Emile durkheim
- •Introduction
- •New Introduction © George Alien & Unwin Ltd 1976
- •Isbn о 04 200029 7 hardback о 04 200030 o paperbackIntroduction
- •New York, 1975 contents
- •Introduction by Robert Nisbet
- •Introduction subject of our study : religious sociology and the theory of knowledge
- •Book I preliminary questions
- •Book II the elementary beliefs
- •The Totemic Animal and Man
- •Chapter IV totemic beliefs—(end} The Individual Totem and the Sexual Totem
- •Critical Examination of Preceding Theories
- •Chapter VI origins of these beliefs—(continued) The Notion of the Totemic Principle, or Mana, and the Idea of Force
- •Book III the principal ritual attitudes
- •[XVIII]
- •Chapter V
- •Conclusion
- •Index……..………………………………………………………………………………451chapter II
- •Leading Conceptions of the Elementary Religion
- •Chapter IV totemism as an elementary religion History of the Question.—Method of Treating it
- •Chapter II totemic beliefs—continued The Totemic Animal and Man
- •Chapter III tutemic beliefs—continued The Cosmological System of Totemism and the Idea of Class
- •Chapter IV totemic beliefs—end The Individual Totem and the Sexual Totem
- •Chapter V origins of these beliefs Critical Examination of Preceding Theories
- •Origin of the Idea of the Totemic Principle or Mana
- •Chapter VIII the idea of the soul
Book II the elementary beliefs
CHAPTER I totemic beliefs The Totem as Name and as Emblem
I.—Definition of the clan—The totem as name of the clan—Nature of the things which serve as totems—Ways in which the totem is acquired —The totems of phratries ; of matrimonial classes ……………………………………………………………………………………………..102
II.—The totem as emblem—Totemic designs engraved or carved upon
objects; tattooings or designs upon the body ……………………………………………...113
III.—Sacred character of the totemic emblem—The churinga—The
nurtunja—The waninga—Conventional character of totemic emblems…………………. 119
CHAPTER II totemic beliefs—(continued)
The Totemic Animal and Man
I.—Sacred character of the totemic animals—Prohibition to eat them, kill them or pick the totemic plants—Different moderations given these prohibitions—Prohibition of contact—The sacred character of the animal is less marked than that of the emblem …………………………….128
II.—The man—His relationship with the totemic animal or plant— Different myths explaining this relationship—The sacred character of the man is more apparent in certain parts of the organism : the blood, hair, etc.—How this character varies with sex and age— Totemism is not plant or animal worship ………………………………………………………………………………..134
CHAPTER III totemic beliefs—(continued) The Cosmological System of Totemism and the Idea of Class
I.—The classification of things into clans, phratries and classes …………………………141
II.—Genesis of the notion of class : the first classifications of things take their forms from society—Differences between the sentiment of the differences of things and the idea of class—Why this is of social origin…………………………………………………………………………….. 144
III.—Religious significance of these classifications: all of the things classified into a clan partake of the nature of the totem and its sacred character—The cosmological system of totemism—Totemism as the tribal religion ……………………………………………………………148
Chapter IV totemic beliefs—(end} The Individual Totem and the Sexual Totem
I.—Individual totem as a forename ; its sacred character—Individual totem as personal emblem—Bonds between the man and his individual totem—Relations with the collective totem ...157
II.—The totems of sexual groups—Resemblances and differences with the
collective and individual totems—Their tribal nature ……………………………………165
CHAPTER V
origins of these beliefs
Critical Examination of Preceding Theories
I.—Theories which derive totemism from a previous religion : from the ancestor cult (Wilken and Tyior) ; from the nature cult (Jevons)— Criticism of these theories………………...168
II.—Theories which derive collective totemism from individual totemism— Origins attributed by these theories to the individual totem (Frazer, Boas, Hill Tout)—Improbability of these hypotheses—Reasons showing the priority of the collective totem………………………………… 172
III.—Recent theory of Frazer : conceptions! and local totemism—The begging of the question upon which it rests—The religious character of the totem is denied—Local totemism is not primitive …………………………………………………………………………………………..180
IV.—Theory of Lang: that the totem is only a name—Difficulties in explaining the religious character of totemic practices from this point of view ……………………………………………184
V.—All these theories explain totemism only by postulating other religious
notions anterior to it ………………………………………………………………………186