Terms in place and time: A case study from the Anthropological Index Online
Max Carocci, Helen Earl-Fraser
History and Anthropology November 21, 2017 DOI: 10.1080/02757206.2017.1401535 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Articles indexed in the Anthropological Index (AIO) over the last 50 years |
| Duration | Last 50 years |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Possession linguistics Index typography Animism Cognate Anthropology World wide web |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that keyword use in anthropological literature reveals gaps in coverage shaped by geographical positioning, languages, and national histories, as illustrated by shamanism and related concepts. |
Abstract
An analysis of terms, and keywords that have appeared over the last 50 years in the Anthropological Index (now AIO) challenges anthropology's purported universal coverage of regions and topics. Anthropological article production published in specialized periodicals leaves many areas uncovered, some topics marginalized, or absent. The article takes the presence or absence of keywords in articles in anthropological literature from all world regions to ask what may have generated these gaps. We argue that keyword use can reveal the role that geographical positioning, languages spoken, and national histories may have had in anthropological production. Shamanism and cognate concepts such as animism and spirit possession are taken to guide an analysis of the anthropological production in different languages through the use of keywords that appear in the coverage of AIO. The research demonstrates how far keywords use is shaped by contingent adjustments to predicaments and theoretical concerns with complex historical roots.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |