Atavism (sociology)

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Sometimes castaways became cannibals . The painting The Raft of Medusa (1819) by Théodore Géricault deals with this atavism.

An atavism (from Latin atavus , “ancestor”) in the sociological , cultural-historical or socio- scientific sense is a cultural relapse into assumed primal, primitive or assumed conditions of human societies. The term is derived from biological atavism , has negative connotations and characterizes developments that are interpreted as a civilizational or social regression.

In the conception of history , atavisms refer to connections that appear as a relapse into historical social relations . Obsolete forms of government , which formally show characteristics of past stages of development, are also called atavisms.

In relation to an individual, atavism denotes a conception or behavior that corresponds to an outdated view of the world .

example

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding from 1954 offers the literary representation of a cultural atavism. After a plane crash, the 6- to 12-year-old boys, shaped by the culture and civilization of the 20th century, find themselves on an island without the influence of adults. The behavior of the children becomes more and more brutal, conflicts are resolved violently, and finally torture, blood revenge and idol worship occur .

literature

  • Sibylle Tönnies : The celebration of the concrete: left Salonatavism. Steidel, Göttingen 1996, ISBN 3-88243-392-2 .
  • Veit Loers, Gregor Jansen: Avatar and Atavism, Outside the Avantgarde. Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (translation: Anthony DePasquale), Kehrer, Heidelberg / Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-86828-664-9 .
  • Stephanie Nestawal: monstrosity, malformation, mutation: from mythology to pathology. Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / Bruxelles / New York, NY / Oxford Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-631-59932-7 (Dissertation University of Vienna 2008, 313 pages, 21 cm, under the title: (T) he (r) ata - from miracle to error ).

Web links

Wiktionary: Atavism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Fuchs-Heinritz and others (ed.): Lexicon for sociology . 5th edition. Springer, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-19670-1 , pp. 62 ("Colloquially from this has developed [from the evolutionary biological term] in sociology: relapse of individuals or social units into assumed early or pre-human behavior or ideas.").
  2. ↑ Cf. Friedrich von Hellwald: Cultural history in its natural development up to the present . Second revised and much increased edition. tape 1 . Augsburg 1876, p. 28 f . From there it was Friedrich Nietzsche adopted, see Andreas Urs Sommer : Comment on Nietzsche's The Antichrist. Ecce homo. Dionysus dithyrambs. Nietzsche contra Wagner = historical and critical commentary on Friedrich Nietzsche's works . Ed .: Heidelberg Academy of Sciences. tape 6/2 . Berlin / Boston 2013, p. 374 f .
  3. ↑ The New Brockhaus . Fifth, completely revised edition. First volume A – EIC. FA Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1973, p. 144 .
  4. ↑ Evil Parable. Reprise: "Lord of the Flies". In: Zeit Online . July 22, 1983. Retrieved April 23, 2015 .