Emile
Durkheim's concept of the totem or totemic principle is illustrated through the
aboriginal practice of creating figures in the shape of plants and animals (see Totemism) that
represent, according to Durkheim, the group itself which takes on the shape of
fetishism. According to Emile Durkheim, when a group worships the totem it in actual
fact warships itself, thus creating social cohesion and a sense of identity
through the totem.
One
of the interesting questions that can be, and often is, asked regarding to
Durkheim's concept of the totemic principle is whether and how it translates
into society's that don't have an actual totem. In other words, is a totem, or
the workings of the totemic principle on society, can be traced and located in
the abstract god of monotheistic religions and in modern western culture.
In
searching for Durkheim's totem or totemic principle in modern times what we
should be asking ourselves, or looking for, is what serves as the symbolic manifestation
of society in its own eyes. Also, the totem has to be something public,
something that is not only shared by all or most members of the group but also
something which has ritualistic characteristic which brings the group together.
The modern totem has to create unity in order to exert society's power over its
members. For that reason the modern totem has to distinguish sanctity and
profanity, which are according to Durkheim the basic opposition on which
religion is established. The modern totem has to be some object in which
society imagines itself and to which it subjects itself.
Durkheim himself gave the national flag as an
example of a modern object which resembles the totem in its function and as
something which assumes the role of the totemic principle. Another candidate
for the modern totem is of course the television. Television can serve as an
example of the modern totem or totemic principle in that that it is a symbolic
manifestation of society itself which is ritually celebrated (think of various
award ceremonies), has the capacity to create deities (celebrities) and
something through which society can understand itself.
Additional article summaries by Emile Durkheim:
Anomie according to Durkheim
Suggested reading on and by Durkheim:
