I agree completely with Willis that psychoanalytic theory, like all
theories, has its definite limitations. There has been some very
interesting work done by the anthropologist George Devereux, who works in
what he calls the "pluridiscipline" of psychoanalysis and anthropology. One
of his statements says that any event/thing/behaviour which can be fully
explained using one methodology can be equally explained using another,
equally valid, methodology. He also feels that there is an inevitable limit
to the number and variety of human actions, so that if one were able to
list all and every act/though/fantasy ever noted by anthropologists and the
same ever noted by every psychoanalyst, the lists would be identical. In
other words, he is arguing - and here I know I will get into trouble - for
a continuous, stable thing called the human mind. I certainly don't believe
that either he or Gilman, or any other theorist, offers all the answers,
but Devereux's work on people distant in geography and social structure
seems an interesting model which may be valuable for its' applications to
peoples distant in time - such as medieval people. Regards, Terry
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