An image is archetypal only when it is an individual value, which through natural analogs allows a person to learn about himself, obtain information about his individual qualities recorded in the individual structure of psyche, which ultimately allows a person to legalize his own innate qualities. The authors reason that logically an archetype in its traditional consideration cannot be that prototype (preimage), which, as an initial idea, determines the individual human psyche because by definition it belongs to culture—it is its artifact. Consequently, according to existing semantics, an archetype can be anything except an archetype as an idea. This scientific paper examines whether semantics of an archetype in its traditional sense corresponds to the concept of “an image” if an image is considered in terms of “a copy”, ”a duplicate”; can an archetype of culture be seriously considered as something that directly forms individual human psyche, as a structure that appeared long before symbolism? The authors think that not every image is archetypal because not every image is equal to prototype (preimage), as an initial idea corresponding to the concept of “an archetype.” An image is archetypal only when it is an individual value, which, through natural analogues, allows a person to learn about his own self and learn about his individual qualities, recorded in the individual structure of psyche, which, as a result, provides a person with a possibility to legalize his own innate qualities.

Introduces the major elements of semantics in a simple, step-by-step fashion. Sections of explanation and examples are followed by practice exercises with answers and comment provided.

"The main thrust of this book is to deliver a major critique of materialist and rationalist explanations of social and cultural forms, but the in the process Sahlins has given us a much stronger statement of the centrality of symbols in human affairs than have many of our 'practicing' symbolic anthropologists. He demonstrates that symbols enter all phases of social life: those which we tend to regard as strictly pragmatic, or based on concerns with material need or advantage, as well as those which we tend to view as purely symbolic, such as ideology, ritual, myth, moral codes, and the like. . . ."—Robert McKinley, Reviews in Anthropology

"Eco wittily and enchantingly develops themes often touched on in his previous works, but he delves deeper into their complex nature . . . this collection can be read with pleasure by those unversed in semiotic theory." —Times Literary Supplement

Presents a systematic rethinking of the power and limits of comparison in anthropology.

This book teaches us to read the contemporary Chinese city. Li Shiqiao deftly crafts a new theory of the Chinese city and the dynamics of urbanization by: exploring the rise of stories of labour, finance and their hierarchies examining how the Chinese city has been shaped by the figuration of the writing system analyzing the continuing importance of the family and its barriers of protection against real and imagined dangers demonstrating how actual structures bring into visual being the networks of safety in personal and family networks. Understanding the Chinese City elegantly traces a thread between ancient Chinese city formations and current urban organizations, revealing hidden continuities that show how instrumental the past has been in forming the present. Rather than becoming obstacles to change, ancient practices have become effective strategies of adaptation under radically new terms.