Posted by James Allen on November 23, 1998 at 20:09:06:
In Reply to: Re: How Did We Miss Montesquieu? posted by R. John Howe on November 23, 1998 at 16:41:47:
: Dear Jim -
: If Lamarck won't sell, you could always try Montesquieu's "collective unconscious" as a possible alternative conveyance mechanism for design motifs. And I know you like Vico - :-)
: Regards,
: John Howe
: My goodness John it is such a threat to be confronted by a functioning memory. Let be deconstruct an image for you. The generally accepted theory that the navajo were a bunch of riff raff from the north some 1,000 years in the past and just happened to land in Pueblo land and picked up weaving and herding and slaving and raiding and superb horsemanship in what ,the blink of an eye in historical time. This image is patently wrong. The Navajo were ready willing and abel to fill this environmental niche that really no other North American Indian filled. Mitochondrial Rna studies and philological deconstruction are pointing to some surprising conclusions and even more exciting ones are on the horizon. Textiles are indeed the most exciting area of art historical reshearch in the world today. There are things of great historical interest hidden in some of the worlds historical weavings. You might even own one and not know it. jim Allen
: : The idea that ancestors weaving would influence ones ability to weave is generally discredited today. However the idea that the Altaic peoples could bear some genetic trait that influences their weaving is to the best of my knowledge untested. The idea Lamarck is now considered discredited by the "Conventional Wisdom" and Darwin is accepted does not really touch on the genetic component of weaving. I have the feeling that with advances in computing and the results of projects like the Human genome project that we are going to start addressing the questions of why a people does what it does.
: : On the other hand I tend to discount the genetic component in the similarities between Turkmen and Indian weaving. But that is just a guess.
: : Best wishes,
: : Barry
: : J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
: : http://earth.oconnell.net/rugnotes