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Plural World Interpretations The Case of the Tyvans of South Siberia
Abstract
"Plural World Interpretations" are part of our everyday life even if we are not aware of the fact. They result from the simultaneous existence of different but equal models for interpreting the world we live in. These models are products of human creativity and coexist as parallel realities, complementing and contradicting each other. Based on fieldwork among the Tyva of southern Siberia, the article discusses the practice of dealing with this multiplicity of world interpretations and shows how individual actors oscillate flexibly between two of many possible models for interpreting specific situations, and act on them. The rules Tyvans apply in varying contexts, the reasons behind their choices and the consequences they have to deal with, are also analyzed. The result is an account of contemporary culture that explores the flexibility and plurality of human interpretation, action, and behaviour.
... 8 A further analysis of this assumption could build on studies that discuss different styles of causality attribution (Istomin 2012) or multiple, co-existing world interpretations (Oelschlaegel 2014) with regard to indigenous peoples of the Far North and Siberia. ...
Even though hangover is a widespread phenomenon in many societies, it has received very scant systematic attention in social sciences. This article is based on publications from different disciplines (medicine, cultural history, social anthropology, sociology, etc.), my own observations, and interviews with fellow social anthropologists. After a general outline of the phenomenon, I will focus on some psychological aspects of hangover: guilt and vulnerability, but also the idea of complicity. These seem to combine in different ways not only in the selfperception of hung-over individuals: they also inform social perceptions of the consequences of excessive alcohol intake. They may be related to specific practices and patterns of drinking (as exemplified by observations from Siberia and the Far North of Russia), though large-scale comparisons are methodologically and ethically problematic. Examining the interrelation of hangover, responsibility, and transgression, the article concludes that the social perception of hangover involves different modes of human non-perfection. © 2015, FB and Media Group of Estonian Literary Museum. All rights reserved.