Michael Taussig
Australian-American anthropologist who explored mimesis, shamanism, and colonial perceptions.
Most quoted
"To understand the present, we must delve into the past, not as a static archive, but as a living, breathing force."
— from Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses, 1993
"The magic of the state lies not in its power, but in the illusion it weaves around our perceptions of reality."
— from The Magic of the State, 2012
"The commodity is not just an object, but a social hieroglyph, a condensed history of human labor and desire."
— from The Nervous System, 1992
All quotes by Michael Taussig (102)
The anthropologist is a translator, a bridge between cultures.
The past is not a burden, but a resource, a wellspring of possibility.
The power of the gaze lies in its ability to both objectify and subjectify.
The anthropologist is a provocateur, a disturber of the peace.
The world is a text, waiting to be read, interpreted, and rewritten.
The act of writing is an act of creation, a way of bringing new worlds into being.
The anthropologist is a mirror, reflecting back to us our own assumptions and biases.
The past is not a prison, but a playground, a space for invention and reinvention.
The power of silence lies in its ability to speak volumes, to convey what words cannot.
The anthropologist is a detective, searching for clues in the labyrinth of human culture.
The magic of the state lies not in its power, but in the illusion it weaves around our perceptions of reality.
Colonialism is not just conquest; it is the rewriting of the world's senses.
In the devil's bargain, we see the commodity fetish in its purest form: labor turned to gold, soul to dust.
Ethnography is the art of defamiliarization, making the familiar strange to reveal hidden truths.
Life in the colonies was a theater of fear, where every shadow whispered of rebellion.
The wild man is not outside history; he is its repressed shadow, haunting the edges of civilization.
Writing anthropology is like casting a spell: words conjure worlds that were once invisible.
Power is performative; it exists only in the gaze that acknowledges it.
The shaman's trance reveals the cracks in colonial facades, where magic seeps through.
Commodities whisper secrets of exploitation, if only we learn to listen to their silence.
Contemporaries of Michael Taussig
Other Anthropologys born within 50 years of Michael Taussig (1940).