Between tradition and innovation: the anthropoligical investigation of Karl von den Steinen in the region of the Xingú headwaters (1883-1887) and their significance for the German Americanism of the 19th Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/arbor.2009.i735.272Keywords:
History of science, expeditions, Karl von den Steinen, anthropology, Brazil, Americanism, Rio XinguAbstract
This essay attempts to analyze the anthropological and ethnographical studies realized by the German traveller and scientist Karl von den Steinen at the end of the 19th century in the region of the river Xingu in Central Brazil. First a short overview will be given of both expeditions directed by him and their scientific concerns. Then the ideological and thematical orientation of the americanism of this epoch will be contrasted with the research undertaken by Karl von den Steinen in Brazil, in order to illustrate the ways in which he worked in the tradition of his time and in which aspects he departed from this framework and effected innovations in his research. After this analysis of the contributions of Karl von den Steinen to the development of German americanism, this article focuses on the question of, to which point his studies are still relevant today and if his methodology and its results continue to be valid in our time. Finally, the relationship of his ideological orientation with those of his predecessors and his successors will be thematized in order to explore Karl von den Steinen’s influences and whom he, in turn, influenced.
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