Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Johann Jakob Bachofen" - New World

From New World Encyclopedia
m ({{Contracted}})
Line 4: Line 4:
 
{{epname}}
 
{{epname}}
  
The [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[anthropologist]] and [[sociologist]] '''Johann Jakob Bachofen''' ([[1815]] – [[1887]]), is most often connected with his theory of [[matriarchy]], or ''Mutterrecht,''  the title of his seminal 1861 book ''Mother Right: An Investigation of the Religious and Juridical Character of Matriarchy in the Ancient World.'' This presented a radically new view of the role of women in a broad range of ancient societies. Bachofen assembled documentation meant to demonstrate that motherhood is the source of human society, religion, morality, and decorum and he drew upon Lycia, Crete, Greece, Egypt, India, Central Asia, North Africa, and Spain. He concluded the work by connecting archaic mother right with the Christian veneration of the Virgin Mary. Bachofen's conclusions about archaic [[matriarchy]] still echo today.
+
'''Johann Jakob Bachofen''' (born December 22, 1815 – died November 25, 1887) was the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[anthropologist]] and [[sociologist]], famous for his theory of [[matriarchy]] and his work on the role of women in [[ancient]] societies.  
  
There was little initial reaction to Bachofen’s theory of cultural evolution, largely because of his impenetrable literary style, but eventually, as well as furious criticism, the book incited several generations of ethnologists, social philosophers, and even writers: [[Lewis Henry Morgan]], [[Friedrich Engels]], who drew on Bachofen for ''Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State,'' [[Thomas Mann]], [[Jane Ellen Harrison]], who was inspired by Bachofen to devote her career to mythology, [[Erich Fromm]], [[Robert Graves]], [[Rainer Maria Rilke]], [[Joseph Campbell]], [[Otto Gross]] and [[Julius Evola]].
+
==Life==
  
Friedrich Engels analysed Bachofen's views as follows:
+
'''Johann Bachofen''' was born in 1815 in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]], as the first son of a wealthy merchant family. His father had a ribbon factory and was a descendant of a long line of merchants. His mother’s ancestors, on the other side, were prominent politicians and scholars.
:"(1) That originally man lived in a state of sexual promiscuity, to describe which Bachofen uses the mistaken term "hetaerism";
 
  
:(2) that such promiscuity excludes any certainty of paternity, and that descent could therefore be reckoned only in the female line, according to mother-right, and that this was originally the case amongst all the peoples of antiquity;
+
After finishing high school with honors, Bachofen went on to study [[law]] and ancient sciences in the universities of Berlin and Gottingen. Already in 1838, at the age of 23, he finished his studies with a doctoral thesis. After that he went to the [[University of Paris]] and [[Cambridge]], England for two additional years of study.
  
:(3) that since women, as mothers, were the only parents of the younger generation that were known with certainty, they held a position of such high respect and honor that it became the foundation, in Bachofen's conception, of a regular rule of women (gynaecocracy);
+
He was made professor of the history of Roman law at the [[University of Basel]] in 1841, serving on that position until 1845. At the same time he was working as a judge at the Basel criminal court (1842–66). In 1845 he quit the professorial position after being accused that he has got this position solely due to his higher social standing. He remained working as the judge for the next twenty years, but completely withdrew from public life. It was in these years that he began reading and studying history. He was particularly interested in the nature and proper method of the study of history, the topic that would occupy his thoughts till the end of his life. He liked solitude and never had many friends.
  
:(4) that the transition to monogamy, where the woman belonged to one man exclusively, involved a violation of a primitive religious law (that is, actually a violation of the traditional right of the other men to this woman), and that in order to expiate this violation or to purchase indulgence for it the woman had to surrender herself for a limited period." (Friedrich Engels, 1891: see link below)
+
Bachofen remained single until he was 50 years old, living in his parent’s house. In 1865 he met beautiful and 30 years younger than him, Louise Elisabeth Burckhardt, whom he married the same year. Their only son was born in 1866.   
  
Though Bachofen applied [[evolution]]ary theories to the development of culture in a manner that is no longer considered valid, and though modern archaeology and literary analysis have invalidated many details of his historical conclusions, the origins of all modern studies of the role of women in classical antiquity begin with Bachofen, extending him, correcting him, denying his conclusions.
+
Bachofen started to focus his career on research in 1860s. He undertook several long journeys to Italy, France, Spain and Greece, where he studied ancient civilizations. His masterwork ''Das Mutterrecht'' was published in 1861, but it went mostly unnoticed. Bachofen continued to do research until his death.
 +
 
 +
He died in November 25th, 1887
 +
 
 +
==Work==
 +
 
 +
Bachofen was interested in the development of social organizations. He analyzed [[myths]] and archeological artifacts in order to reconstruct the social landscape of the ancient world. He argued that human thought has evolved from symbolical to mystical, and finally to the logical form of today’s society. He was also able to show that in different societies [[marriage]] and [[family]] took different forms, and that social system developed from matriarchal, in early societies, toward predominantly patriarchal, of Bachofen's time.
 +
 
 +
In 1861 Bachofen published his seminal work ''Das Mutterrecht'' or ''Mother Right: An Investigation of the Religious and Juridical Character of Matriarchy in the Ancient World.''. In it he presented a radically new view of the role of women in a broad range of ancient societies. Bachofen assembled documentation meant to demonstrate that motherhood is the source of human [[society]], [[religion]], [[morality]], and decorum and he drew upon Lycia, [[Crete]], [[Greece]], [[Egypt]], [[India]], [[Central Asia]], [[North Africa]], and [[Spain]]. He concluded the work by connecting archaic mother right with the [[Christian]] veneration of the [[Virgin Mary]].  
  
 
Bachofen proposed four phases of cultural evolution which absorbed each other:
 
Bachofen proposed four phases of cultural evolution which absorbed each other:
  
1) Hetairism. A wild nomadic 'tellurian' phase, characterised by him as communistic and [[polyamourous]]. Whose dominant deity he believed to have been an earthy proto [[Aphrodite]].
+
1) '''Hetairism'''. A wild nomadic 'tellurian' phase, characterized by him as communistic and [[polyamourous]]. Whose dominant deity he believed to have been an earthy proto [[Aphrodite]].
  
2) Das Mutterecht. A matriarchal 'lunar' phase based on agriculture, characterised by him by the emergence of chthonic [[Mystery Cults]] and [[Law]]. Whose dominant deity was an early [[Demeter]] according to Bachofen.
+
2) '''Das Mutterecht'''. A matriarchal 'lunar' phase based on agriculture, characterized by him by the emergence of chthonic [[Mystery Cults]] and [[Law]]. Whose dominant deity was an early [[Demeter]] according to Bachofen.
  
3) The Dionysian. A transitional phase when earlier traditions were masculinised as patriarchy began to emerge. Whose dominant deity was the original [[Dionysos]].
+
3) '''The Dionysian'''. A transitional phase when earlier traditions were masculinised as patriarchy began to emerge. Whose dominant deity was the original [[Dionysos]].
  
4) The Apollonian. The patriarchal 'solar' phase, in which all trace of the Matriarchal and Dionysian past was eradicated and modern civilisation emerged.
+
4) '''The Apollonian'''. The patriarchal 'solar' phase, in which all trace of the Matriarchal and Dionysian past was eradicated and modern civilization emerged.
  
While based on an imaginative interpretation of the existing archeological evidence of his time, this model tells us as much about Bachofen's own time as it does the past.
+
While based on an imaginative interpretation of the existing archeological evidence of his time, this model tells us as much about Bachofen's own time as it does the past. A selection of Bachofen's writings was translated as ''Myth, Religion and Mother Right'' (1967).  
  
A selection of Bachofen's writings was translated as ''Myth, Religion and Mother Right'' (1967). A fuller edited English edition in several volumes is being published.
+
Though Bachofen applied evolutionary theories to the development of culture in a manner that is no longer considered valid, and though modern archaeology and literary analysis have invalidated many details of his historical conclusions, the origins of all modern studies of the role of women in classical antiquity begin with Bachofen, extending him, correcting him, denying his conclusions.
 +
 
 +
==Legacy==
 +
 
 +
Although there was little initial reaction to Bachofen’s theory of cultural evolution, largely because of his impenetrable literary style, it was only with the beginning of the 20th century that public became aware of the importance of Bachofen’s work. It eventually inspired several generations of ethnologists, social philosophers, and even writers: [[Lewis Henry Morgan]], [[Friedrich Engels]], who drew on Bachofen for ''Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State,'' [[Thomas Mann]], [[Jane Ellen Harrison]], who was inspired by Bachofen to devote her career to mythology, [[Erich Fromm]], [[Robert Graves]], [[Rainer Maria Rilke]], [[Joseph Campbell]], [[Otto Gross]] and [[Julius Evola]]. Bachofen's conclusions about archaic [[matriarchy]] still echo today. 
 +
 
 +
==Bibliography==
 +
 
 +
* Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1973. ''Myth, religion, and mother right''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691017972
 +
 
 +
* Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1984. ''Mutterrecht und Urreligion''. A. Kröner. ISBN 3520052067
 +
 
 +
* Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1997. (original work from 1861). ''Das Mutterrecht''. Suhrkamp. ISBN 3518277359 (English translation: ''Mother Right: A Study of the Religious and Juridicial Aspects of Gynecocracy in the Ancient World'', 2006, Edwin Mellen Press, ISBN 0773458832)
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
 
 +
* Freke, Timothy & Gandy, Peter. 2002. ''Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians''. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1400045940
 +
 
 +
* Gadon, Elinor. 1989. ''The Once and Future Goddess: A Sweeping Visual Chronicle of the Sacred Female and Her Reemergence in the Cult.'' San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0062503545
 +
 
 +
* Hildebrandt, Hans-Jürgen. 1988. ''Johann Jakob Bachofen: Die Primär- und Sekundärliteratur : mit einem Anhang zum gegenwärtigen Stand der Matriarchatsfrage''. Edition Herodot. ISBN 3924007497
 +
 
 +
* Illies, Joachim. 1975. ''Adolf Portmann, Jean Gebser, Johann Jakob Bachofen: Drei Kulturforscher, drei Bilder vom Menschen''. Vertrieb für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. ISBN 3720150674
 +
 
 +
* Salmony. 1980. ''Johann Jakobs Bachofens Geschichtsdeutung''. Birkhauser. ISBN 0817615792
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
*[http://www.artemiscreations.com/scienceofmatriarchy/mother-right-bachofen.txt excerpt from Bachofen's introduction to ''Mother Right'' 1861]
 
*[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/preface2.htm Engels gives Bachofen a Marxist spin in his 1891 introduction to a new edition of ''Origins of the Family'']
 
  
 +
*[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/preface2.htm Frederick Engels  - Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State] - Engels gives Bachofen a Marxist spin in his 1891 introduction to a new edition of ''Origins of the Family''
 +
 +
*[http://www.myrine.at/Bachofen/bachofen_e.html Johann Jakobs Bachofens] – Short biography
 +
 +
*[http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/bachofen.html Myth, Religion, and Mother Right] – Book review
  
 +
*[http://www.bookrags.com/Matriarchy Patriarchy and Matriarchy] – Good informative article on these two social organizations on BookRags.com
  
 
{{Credit1|Johann_Jakob_Bachofen|68588625|}}
 
{{Credit1|Johann_Jakob_Bachofen|68588625|}}

Revision as of 07:49, 12 October 2006


Johann Jakob Bachofen (born December 22, 1815 – died November 25, 1887) was the Swiss anthropologist and sociologist, famous for his theory of matriarchy and his work on the role of women in ancient societies.

Life

Johann Bachofen was born in 1815 in Basel, Switzerland, as the first son of a wealthy merchant family. His father had a ribbon factory and was a descendant of a long line of merchants. His mother’s ancestors, on the other side, were prominent politicians and scholars.

After finishing high school with honors, Bachofen went on to study law and ancient sciences in the universities of Berlin and Gottingen. Already in 1838, at the age of 23, he finished his studies with a doctoral thesis. After that he went to the University of Paris and Cambridge, England for two additional years of study.

He was made professor of the history of Roman law at the University of Basel in 1841, serving on that position until 1845. At the same time he was working as a judge at the Basel criminal court (1842–66). In 1845 he quit the professorial position after being accused that he has got this position solely due to his higher social standing. He remained working as the judge for the next twenty years, but completely withdrew from public life. It was in these years that he began reading and studying history. He was particularly interested in the nature and proper method of the study of history, the topic that would occupy his thoughts till the end of his life. He liked solitude and never had many friends.

Bachofen remained single until he was 50 years old, living in his parent’s house. In 1865 he met beautiful and 30 years younger than him, Louise Elisabeth Burckhardt, whom he married the same year. Their only son was born in 1866.

Bachofen started to focus his career on research in 1860s. He undertook several long journeys to Italy, France, Spain and Greece, where he studied ancient civilizations. His masterwork Das Mutterrecht was published in 1861, but it went mostly unnoticed. Bachofen continued to do research until his death.

He died in November 25th, 1887

Work

Bachofen was interested in the development of social organizations. He analyzed myths and archeological artifacts in order to reconstruct the social landscape of the ancient world. He argued that human thought has evolved from symbolical to mystical, and finally to the logical form of today’s society. He was also able to show that in different societies marriage and family took different forms, and that social system developed from matriarchal, in early societies, toward predominantly patriarchal, of Bachofen's time.

In 1861 Bachofen published his seminal work Das Mutterrecht or Mother Right: An Investigation of the Religious and Juridical Character of Matriarchy in the Ancient World.. In it he presented a radically new view of the role of women in a broad range of ancient societies. Bachofen assembled documentation meant to demonstrate that motherhood is the source of human society, religion, morality, and decorum and he drew upon Lycia, Crete, Greece, Egypt, India, Central Asia, North Africa, and Spain. He concluded the work by connecting archaic mother right with the Christian veneration of the Virgin Mary.

Bachofen proposed four phases of cultural evolution which absorbed each other:

1) Hetairism. A wild nomadic 'tellurian' phase, characterized by him as communistic and polyamourous. Whose dominant deity he believed to have been an earthy proto Aphrodite.

2) Das Mutterecht. A matriarchal 'lunar' phase based on agriculture, characterized by him by the emergence of chthonic Mystery Cults and Law. Whose dominant deity was an early Demeter according to Bachofen.

3) The Dionysian. A transitional phase when earlier traditions were masculinised as patriarchy began to emerge. Whose dominant deity was the original Dionysos.

4) The Apollonian. The patriarchal 'solar' phase, in which all trace of the Matriarchal and Dionysian past was eradicated and modern civilization emerged.

While based on an imaginative interpretation of the existing archeological evidence of his time, this model tells us as much about Bachofen's own time as it does the past. A selection of Bachofen's writings was translated as Myth, Religion and Mother Right (1967).

Though Bachofen applied evolutionary theories to the development of culture in a manner that is no longer considered valid, and though modern archaeology and literary analysis have invalidated many details of his historical conclusions, the origins of all modern studies of the role of women in classical antiquity begin with Bachofen, extending him, correcting him, denying his conclusions.

Legacy

Although there was little initial reaction to Bachofen’s theory of cultural evolution, largely because of his impenetrable literary style, it was only with the beginning of the 20th century that public became aware of the importance of Bachofen’s work. It eventually inspired several generations of ethnologists, social philosophers, and even writers: Lewis Henry Morgan, Friedrich Engels, who drew on Bachofen for Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State, Thomas Mann, Jane Ellen Harrison, who was inspired by Bachofen to devote her career to mythology, Erich Fromm, Robert Graves, Rainer Maria Rilke, Joseph Campbell, Otto Gross and Julius Evola. Bachofen's conclusions about archaic matriarchy still echo today.

Bibliography

  • Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1973. Myth, religion, and mother right. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691017972
  • Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1984. Mutterrecht und Urreligion. A. Kröner. ISBN 3520052067
  • Bachofen, Johann Jakob. 1997. (original work from 1861). Das Mutterrecht. Suhrkamp. ISBN 3518277359 (English translation: Mother Right: A Study of the Religious and Juridicial Aspects of Gynecocracy in the Ancient World, 2006, Edwin Mellen Press, ISBN 0773458832)

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Freke, Timothy & Gandy, Peter. 2002. Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1400045940
  • Gadon, Elinor. 1989. The Once and Future Goddess: A Sweeping Visual Chronicle of the Sacred Female and Her Reemergence in the Cult. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0062503545
  • Hildebrandt, Hans-Jürgen. 1988. Johann Jakob Bachofen: Die Primär- und Sekundärliteratur : mit einem Anhang zum gegenwärtigen Stand der Matriarchatsfrage. Edition Herodot. ISBN 3924007497
  • Illies, Joachim. 1975. Adolf Portmann, Jean Gebser, Johann Jakob Bachofen: Drei Kulturforscher, drei Bilder vom Menschen. Vertrieb für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. ISBN 3720150674
  • Salmony. 1980. Johann Jakobs Bachofens Geschichtsdeutung. Birkhauser. ISBN 0817615792

External links

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.