Abstract

GONZALEZ VARELA, Sergio. An Anthropological Approach to the Aesthetics and Personification of Objects: The Case of the Berimbau in Capoeira Angola in Brazil. Desacatos [online]. 2012, n.40, pp.127-140. ISSN 2448-5144.

This article presents an analysis of aesthetic objects from an anthropological perspective based on the theoretical reflections developed mainly by Alfred Gell and Marilyn Strathern. Positioned as an alternative of some ideas coming from structural semiotics, the central argument is based on the relational capacity of the objects in order to become and transform themselves into persons or subjects within a cultural context. This personification potential is sustained ethnographically by describing the uses, representations and perceptions made about the berimbau, a music instrument of the ritual of capoeira Angola in Brazil.

Keywords : objects; aesthetics; personification; capoeira; music.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )