Everything about Fetishism totally explained
» This article concerns the concept of fetishism in anthropology. For other uses see Fetish (disambiguation).
A
fetish (from
French fétiche; from
Portuguese feitiço; from
Latin facticius, "artificial" and
facere, "to make") is an object believed to have
supernatural powers, or in particular a man-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent value or powers to an object.
History
The concept was coined by
Charles de Brosses in
1757, while comparing
West African religion to the
magical aspects of
Ancient Egyptian religion. Later,
Auguste Comte used the concept to apply an
evolution theory to
religion. In Compte's theory of the evolution of religion, he proposed that fetishism is the earliest (most primitive) stage, followed by the stages of
polytheism and
monotheism.
In the end, some artifacts certain monotheist religions (Holy Cross, Consecrated Hosts, etc.) use for their rites are other incarnation of fetishism. However, this vision is denied by monotheist practitioners.
In the
19th century, Tylor and McLennan held that the concept of fetishism allowed historians of religion to shift attention from the relationship between people and
God to the relationship between people and material objects. They also held that it established models of
causal explanations of natural events which they considered false as a central problem in history and sociology.
Practice
Theoretically, fetishism is present in all religions, but its use in the study of religion is derived from studies of traditional
West African religious beliefs, as well as
Voodoo, which is derived from those beliefs.
Blood is often considered a particularly powerful fetish or ingredient in fetishes.
In addition to
blood, other objects and substances, such as
bones,
fur,
claws,
feathers,
water from certain places, certain types of
plants and
wood are common fetishes in the traditions of cultures worldwide.
Other uses of the term "fetishism"
- In the 19th century Karl Marx appropriated the term to describe commodity fetishism as an important component of capitalism. Nowadays, (commodity and capital) fetishism is a central concept of marxism
- Later Sigmund Freud appropriated the concept to describe a form of paraphilia where the object of affection is an inanimate object or a specific part of a person; see sexual fetish.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fetishism'.
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