Limit symbolism

Limitic symbolism (from Latin limes "border") or limit structure are terms of cultural sociology and ethnology and denote practices with which a culture (a people , a group , a clan ) delimits itself in its own collective identity from foreigners and at the same time strengthens inner cohesion.

This includes practices of self-portrayal and external representation as a means of drawing boundaries between one's own and the other such as costume and hairstyle , tattoos , body painting and jewelry, building and settlement forms, flags and inscriptions, forms of greeting , dance , cuisine, language, marriage bans and in sum everything that marks one's own attitude to life as a tendency to be superior to the culture or non-culture of others. As a result, the members themselves become bearers of signs that act as "boundary signs" instead of or in addition to forms of territorial delimitation.

The term was introduced in 1985 by Wilhelm E. Mühlmann in connection with his concept of "arming the limit structure" and has since found its way into numerous other works in cultural and social sciences.

See also

• Ethnogenesis , ethnogony , ethnocentrism , enemy image

literature

• Wilhelm E. Mühlmann: Ethnogony and Ethnogenesis. Theoretical-ethnological and ideocritical study . In: Studies on Ethnogenesis , Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1985 (= Abhandlungen Rheinisch-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften , 72), pp. 9-27