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The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

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transformed and new relations are generated <strong>in</strong> and between the fields <strong>of</strong> the human body<br />

(senses, emotions), the social body and the cosmos” (Devisch & De Boeck 1994: 100).<br />

Meanwhile <strong>in</strong> France similar studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> were carried out by Jean-Pierre Vernant<br />

and Alfred Adler & Andres Zempléni. <strong>The</strong> classicist Jean-Pierre Vernant was work<strong>in</strong>g with<br />

<strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> <strong>in</strong> historical cultures. A similar endeavor had already been undertaken by André<br />

Caquot and Marcel Leibovici, but their two-volume study <strong>of</strong> <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> as a global<br />

phenomenon, La <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong>, did not have the same depth <strong>of</strong> theoretical explanations (Caquot<br />

& Leibovici 1968). 14 Vernant edited the volume Div<strong>in</strong>ation et Rationalité (Vernant 1974)<br />

with the purpose to <strong>in</strong>vestigate the div<strong>in</strong>atory systems “as a mental attitude and a social<br />

<strong>in</strong>stitution” (Vernant & Zeitl<strong>in</strong> 1991: 303). This volume is a collection <strong>of</strong> historical studies <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong>. <strong>The</strong> most theoretically fertile paper is Vernant’s own: “Paroles et signes muets”.<br />

What <strong>in</strong>terests Vernant is the type <strong>of</strong> rationality expressed <strong>in</strong> div<strong>in</strong>atory procedure and the<br />

classificatory frameworks used by the div<strong>in</strong>ers. He po<strong>in</strong>ts out that <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> does not form a<br />

separate sector or isolated mentality. <strong>The</strong> mental function <strong>of</strong> <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> is to suppress<br />

uncerta<strong>in</strong> events by <strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>g certa<strong>in</strong> objects with a symbolic value. <strong>The</strong>se form a microcosm.<br />

Through the agency <strong>of</strong> the objects <strong>in</strong> this microcosm, knowledge <strong>of</strong> the real macrocosm<br />

might be achieved (Vernant & Zeitl<strong>in</strong> 1991: 310). Div<strong>in</strong>ation is founded on a tension<br />

between a formal frame <strong>of</strong> classifications and the multiplicity <strong>of</strong> concrete situations. This<br />

idea is traceable to Durkheim and Mauss’ Primitive Classification, and expresses a typically<br />

French concern with classification and cosmology.<br />

A similar tendency can also be seen <strong>in</strong> the elaborate monograph on Moundang <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong><br />

by Alfred Adler and Andres Zempléni (Adler & Zempléni 1972). In this monograph they<br />

elaborately show the symbolisms implied <strong>in</strong> Moundang <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong> and how it relates to<br />

society and the <strong>in</strong>dividual. Here the div<strong>in</strong>atory system is likened to a l<strong>in</strong>guistic system<br />

(langue) that br<strong>in</strong>gs together cultural symbols (Adler & Zempléni 1972: 210-212). <strong>The</strong>y<br />

explicitly use the terms and ideas <strong>of</strong> structural l<strong>in</strong>guistics to analyze this l<strong>in</strong>guistic system and<br />

how it comes to be expressed <strong>in</strong> actual situations.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se examples reflect a French tradition <strong>of</strong> connect<strong>in</strong>g classification to the social. Here<br />

the problems are engaged with the theory <strong>of</strong> structural l<strong>in</strong>guistics. “Decision mak<strong>in</strong>g” is not<br />

<strong>of</strong> central concern as it is <strong>in</strong> the British and American tradition.<br />

14 Although Volume 2 has an <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g chapter <strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g psychoanalytic theory to understand <strong>div<strong>in</strong>ation</strong><br />

(Devereux 1968) the articles are predom<strong>in</strong>antly descriptions.<br />

39

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