{"title":"The Power of Mimetic Performance: Cognitive Evolution and Supernatural Agency","authors":"Deon Liebenberg","doi":"10.5325/preternature.11.2.0322","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"abstract:The very widespread belief in the supernatural agency of cultural objects and actions is arguably underpinned by a mode of thought that entails the concept, widely and variously expressed in myth, ritual, and related cultural phenomena, of the priority of culture over nature, as well as related concepts of primordial wholeness or an initial undifferentiated state. This is explained here in terms of Merlin Donald's theory of cognitive evolution, specifically that spoken language was preceded by a mimetic form of communication. Various theories of cognitive evolution are brought into play to explain the putative survival of certain forms of mimetic performance after the evolution of spoken language should have made them obsolete. It is argued here that, in spite of their apparently counterintuitive character, such mimetic performances were perpetuated and further developed because of their powerfully adaptive nature, their ability to address crucially important psychological issues.","PeriodicalId":41216,"journal":{"name":"Preternature-Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural","volume":"163 1","pages":"322 - 349"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Preternature-Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5325/preternature.11.2.0322","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
abstract:The very widespread belief in the supernatural agency of cultural objects and actions is arguably underpinned by a mode of thought that entails the concept, widely and variously expressed in myth, ritual, and related cultural phenomena, of the priority of culture over nature, as well as related concepts of primordial wholeness or an initial undifferentiated state. This is explained here in terms of Merlin Donald's theory of cognitive evolution, specifically that spoken language was preceded by a mimetic form of communication. Various theories of cognitive evolution are brought into play to explain the putative survival of certain forms of mimetic performance after the evolution of spoken language should have made them obsolete. It is argued here that, in spite of their apparently counterintuitive character, such mimetic performances were perpetuated and further developed because of their powerfully adaptive nature, their ability to address crucially important psychological issues.
期刊介绍：
Preternature provides an interdisciplinary, inclusive forum for the study of topics that stand in the liminal space between the known world and the inexplicable. The journal embraces a broad and dynamic definition of the preternatural that encompasses the weird and uncanny—magic, witchcraft, spiritualism, occultism, esotericism, demonology, monstrophy, and more, recognizing that the areas of magic, religion, and science are fluid and that their intersections should continue to be explored, contextualized, and challenged.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
