From: Case (Case@iSpots.com)
Date: Wed Nov 09 2005 - 02:02:13 GMT
I put this up so people could read and comment on it if they like.
It is the original version of the Zuni brujo story that sparked Pirsig's
thinking about Static and Dynamic Value. The following quote is the first
use of the word "Dynamic" and the second use of "static" in the book.
"Sometimes you can see your own society's issues more clearly when they are
put in an exotic context like that of the brujo in Zuni. That is a huge
reward from the study of anthropology. As Phaedrus thought about this
context again and again it became apparent there were two kinds of good and
evil involved.
The tribal frame of values that condemned the brujo and led to his
punishment was one kind of good, for which Phasdrus coined the term 'static
good.' Each culture has its own pattern of static good derived from fixed
laws and the traditions and values that underlie them. This pattern of
static good is the essential structure of the culture itself and defines it.
In the static sense the brujo was very clearly evil to oppose the appointed
authorities of his tribe. Suppose everyone did that? The whole Zuni culture,
after thousands of years of continuous survival, would collapse into chaos.
But in addition there's a Dynamic good that is outside of any culture, that
cannot be contained by any system of precepts, but has to be continually
rediscovered as a culture evolves. Good and evil are not entirely a matter
of tribal custom. If they were, no tribal change would be possible, since
custom cannot change custom. There has to be another source of good and evil
outside the tribal customs that produces the tribal change."
Lila page 56
This a section on withcraft is cited in Ruth Benedict's Pattern of Culture.
The citation is listed in the Chapter VIII References as follows:
261 For a native account of this witchcraft incident in Zuni, see
Bunzel, Ruth L. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, XV:44-52.
New York, 1933.
Click on the links below for the PDF files. The originals were on microfilm.
http://ispots.com/Mambo/images/stories/stories/Bunzels%20Zuni%20Brujo.pdf
It was kind of hard to run down. It is about 1 megabyte but should print out
nicely if you like it that way. If you need a different file format, Please
Send Tell.
Hope you find this interesting.
Case
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