totemism
Noun: 1. A system of belief or social organization: Totemism is a belief system or social structure in which a human group (such as a clan or family) considers itself to have a spiritual connection or kinship with a particular natural object, animal, or plant, known as a totem. This totem often serves as a symbol and emblem of the group. 2. An anthropological concept: In anthropology and sociology, totemism refers to the complex of ideas and practices based on the totemic relationship, which can include taboos, rituals, and social regulations associated with the totem.
- The anthropologist studied the totemism of the indigenous tribe, focusing on their clan identities linked to animals.
- Totemism was a central feature of their cultural and social organization, dictating marriage rules and ceremonial roles.
- In some belief systems, totemism involves a prohibition against harming or eating one's clan totem.
- Structuralist interpretations: In academic discourse, scholars like Claude Lévi-Strauss analyzed totemism not merely as a religion but as a system of classification and a way for human societies to conceptualize their relationship with nature.
- Decline of classical theories: Modern anthropology often discusses totemism as a category constructed by early ethnographers, questioning whether it constitutes a single, unified phenomenon across different cultures.
- Totem (n): The animal, plant, or natural object that serves as the emblem or symbol of a family or clan.
- The bear was the sacred totem of the northern clan.
- Totemic (adj): Relating to or characteristic of a totem or totemism.
- The carvings had deep totemic significance for the community.
- Animism: (Note: While related, animism is a broader belief that spirits inhabit natural objects and phenomena, not necessarily creating kinship-based group identities.)
- Clan system: (Specifically when the system is organized around symbolic totemic affiliations.)
(While there are no common idioms using "totemism" itself, the concept is central to phrases involving "totem.") * Totem pole: Literally, a pole carved with totemic symbols. Figuratively, it can refer to a hierarchy. * He is low on the corporate totem pole. (This idiom uses the concept but is a distinct cultural reference.)
- belief in the kinship of a group of people with a common totem