Durkheim's Totemism

In the second book of Emile Durkheim’s “The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life,” Durkheim delves into how totemism developed and the implications of its development. To begin, Durkheim describes the clans within the Australian tribes which are at the center of his studies as being united by a special bond of kinship. Each clan has a totem which unites it into a single family. Totems may be animal (or part of an animal), vegetable, or infrequently an inanimate object. The totem serves multiple functions. It serves as a badge to identify members of the group, it inspires religious sentiment, the image of the totem is ubiquitous within the clan. Totems are of particular importance for communal ceremonies. Objects may be engraved with the
totem making the object a venerated religious artifact thought to have special properties by the clansmen. There are rules governing how and when these objects may be accessed. Similarly, there are rules governing the consumption of the plant or animal that is a totem, often consumption is completely restricted. In a similar fashion that makes these totemed beings sacred, man, who has taken the name of the totem, is imbued with some of the same sacredness through duality in which he is part man, part totem. In particular, blood and hair are held in high esteem. In the same way that persons of a particular clan are classified according to a particular totem, so too are all objects in the universe. Durkheim gives several examples of the way in which things from opossums to autumn are divided up among the totems and asserts that “it is because men are organized that they are able to organize” recalling his earlier proposition that “fundamental notions of the intellect, the essential categories of thought, may be the product of social factors” (Durkheim 144). In addition to clan totems, an individual may have a patron totem given to them at birth or in adolescence, or, an individual may seek to acquire one as an adult if the need arises. Durkheim demonstrates how totemism must have originated with the group and not from the individual. Durkheim then introduces his readers to the concept of mana. The sacredness of the totem isn’t derived from the properties of the plant or animal being represented but by from the ubiquitous, unseen force. For the Sioux Native Americans, this force is referred to as wakan- a force that cannot be defined by known attributes or personified. Other tribes describe the same unseen power, giving it different names. Durkheim explains “The totem is the means by which an individual is put into relations with this source of energy” 196). Durkheim asserts that the clan’s god is the clan itself, explaining the relationship between a god and a worshiper is the same as the relationship between the clan and the members therein.
Society and god are dependable overseers of morality and sources of strength. Individuals in a group setting are emboldened in a manner comparable to that of religious stirrings. A similar effect on a larger scale, Durkheim posits, is responsible for the Crusades and other major religious based outbursts. It is the great stirring among the individuals in a group setting, that Durkheim calls effervescence, which leads to the distinction between sacred and profane. This is also how the primitive peoples came to relate the symbol of the clan, the totem, with the power they felt while gathered
together. It is the worshiping of society that gives rise to the concept of a soul. The soul is part of the mana that exists in all things and outlives the body. In reality, it is the society which outlives the individual. A spirit is distinct from a soul having more freedom and power. Durkheim explains that a few souls become ancestral spirits which in turn become tribal gods. It is from this very progression that our great deities of today are constructed. Durkheim excels in finding the holes in other scholars conclusions.
For example, when addressing what it is that makes churinga sacred, Durkheim points out Spencer and Gillen’s, and Strehlow’s, logically inept position which basically restates the cause in a different manner to explain the effect. Later in the text, Durkheim references Spencer in Gillen’s work several times, relying on it to explain the function and behavior of souls. This demonstrates how Durkheim is able to pull from others’ work useful information while disregarding elements that are unsound. He sets an example that his readers should follow while taking in his
work. An aspect of the second book that is worth analysis is the role of Native Americans. Durkheim primarily uses the tribes of the Native Americans as corroborating evidence to support his understanding of the role and formation of totems and mana (wakan). However, there are many instances where the details surrounding totemism of the Native Americans differ from the Australian tribes which are the focus of his study. One such instance is artistic expressions of the totem animals and plants; the Native Americans, when reproducing the sacred images, would try to match the likeness but the Australian clans images were more rudimentary. Durkheim describes differences that are the result of complexities common of the Native American tribes such as their developed economy. Differences between the two groups are certainly to be expected but it leaves one to question if these differences have been appropriately evaluated or if the author selectively drawn out elements which supports his ideas? To Durkheim’s credit, when these differences arise, he does his best to acknowledge and give an answer for why these things may be different. For example, the Native Americans had the image of their totems inscribed everywhere but, on the surface, it seems that the Australian clans may not have. Durkheim attributes the lack of inscriptions on common objects to the Australian’s inability to leave permanent markings because they did not have the same technology. Considering that he must contend with reaching back into history where clear documentation simply does not exist, he is doing the best that anyone can hope to do under the circumstances. Another point of interest within Durkheim’s work is the role of women as related to totemism and mana. Reference is made to the women and uninitiated being barred from touching or seeing scared things. There may have even been tribes in which women were considered to be soulless. If Durkheim is correct about totemism, and religion in general, reflecting society back on itself then we can assume that women (and children) had a lower position in the clans than the men did. That is a fair assumption since it is true of societies throughout history and around the world and in that way, Durkheim’s hypothesis is supported. However, the question remains: If mana is a force within all material objects, what is it that makes women profane? Perhaps this will be addressed in the third book. A variety of personal responses can be felt as I peruse Durkheim’s work. On one hand, I am intrigued and find myself applying the ideas that are being presented to a variety of current events. For example, Durkheim states:
“It may be objected that science is often the antagonist of opinion, whose errors it combats and rectifies. But it cannot succeed in this task if it does not have sufficient authority, and it can obtain this authority only from opinion itself. If a people did not have faith in science, all the scientific demonstrations in the world would be without any influence whatsoever over their minds. Even to-day, if science happened to resist a very strong current of public opinion, it would risk losing its credit there (Durkheim 209).
Environmentalists and businessmen have been pitted against one another in a multitude of battles, political and concerning popular opinion, which demonstrates the truth in Durkheim’s words. I cannot help but think of another argument that is similar in nature to that of Durkheim’s mentioned above. Jesus of Nazareth, as recorded in the Gospels, was asked on multiple occasions to offer proof of his majesty through signs and wonders. The Gospels record many such signs, but in these instances, Jesus declares that the testimony of the prophets (of the Old Testament) should be enough and if they are not, then no sign would be enough either. One such example is found in the parable of a rich man who dies but wants to go back and warn his brothers about the afterlife. In the parable Jesus says that Abraham tells the man “‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’” (NIV Luke 16:31). It would seem that belief is a powerful force. An area in which I did not readily agree with Durkheim regards his assertion that God is society personified. It is true that both God and society fulfill some of the same functions. Many of which are detailed by Durkheim. However, these are all functions that can be explored and understood, as Durkheim and all sociologist endeavor to do. There are things unknowable to us and it is in this realm that I believe God exists. In this manner, I find myself more attuned to Max Müller's naturism than to Emile Durkheim’s functionalism.
Works Cited
Durkheim, Émile. "Book II." Trans. Joseph Ward Swain. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1912. 87-218. Print.
Luke. Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.