Narratives of Human Evolution - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

According to Landau, the various theories of human evolution are versions of the universal hero tale in folklore and myth. The narratives all have similar structure, featuring a humble hero (in theories of evolution it is a nonhuman primate) who departs on a journey (leaves his natural habitat), receives essential aid or equipment from a donor figure (through evolutionary principles such as natural selection or orthogenesis), goes through tests (imposed by predators, harsh climate or competitors), and finally arrives at a higher (that is, more human) state. Analyzing both classic and modern tales on evolution, Landau reveals not only their common narrative form but also how this form accommodates differences in meaning - widely varying sequences of events, heroes, and donors. Landau shows how interpretations of fossil record differ according to what the anthropologist believes is the primary evolutionary agent. Concluding that scientists have much to gain from an awareness that they are tellers of stories, she argues that an understanding of narrative can provide tools for creating new scientific theories and analyzing old ones.

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