Papers by Eric Franc
Antrocom Online Journal of Anthropology, 2023
The purpose of this paper is to outline a general theoretical framework regarding the cultural, l... more The purpose of this paper is to outline a general theoretical framework regarding the cultural, linguistic and phenotypical symbols that can mark ethnic boundaries. Reflection on ethnic symbols will be guided by an anti-essentialist, relational and dynamic approach to ethnicity, as well as the idea that, beyond its various local embodiments, ethnicity presents a unitary core that transcends the distinction between the pre-modern and modern worlds. In the paper, the relationship between the symbols used to signal or determine ethnic membership and the myths of origin translated into the principle of recruitment by birth will be investigated. The distinctions between symbols of auto- and hetero-identity and between criteria and indicia of identity will also be discussed. We will then explore some aspects of the selection, organisation, mobilisation and evolution of the sets of symbols. The focus will subsequently be placed on the symbolic dimension of the interactions between the malleable aspects of ethnicity and the constraints that limit the freedom of social actors. Finally, we will look at the complex contextual variations in sets of auto-identity symbols.
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Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, 2022
The aim of this paper is to propose an articulated reflection on some theoretical and methodologi... more The aim of this paper is to propose an articulated reflection on some theoretical and methodological problems inherent in the study of a crucial aspect of the way ethnicity works in social space. We refer to the practices of ethnic naming, that is, the kind of social categorization that makes use of ethnonyms. The analysis will be guided by an anti-essentialist, relational and dynamic conception of ethnicity, as well as by the idea that ethnicity, beyond very different local embodiments, possesses a basic unitary core that transcends the distinction between premodern and modern world. In the author's opinion, the theoretical and methodological investigation of ethnic categorization and ethnonyms, on the one hand, will contribute to support the correctness of this approach to ethnicity, on the other, will provide a rich set of conceptual tools useful for analyzing a particularly complex aspect of identity constructions within both living and extinct populations. With reference to the contemporary world, this "toolkit" should be of decisive help in understanding a phenomenon, ethnicity, whose global impact on a social, political and sometimes legal level is still very noteworthy.
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Doctoral thesis, 2017
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IpoTESI di Preistoria, 2020
Against the backdrop of the various attestations of the ethnonym “Boii” in the ancient world, thi... more Against the backdrop of the various attestations of the ethnonym “Boii” in the ancient world, this work aims to explore the subject of the Cisalpine boicity on the basis of textual sources consisting of epigraphs written in different languages and, above all, of Greek and Latin literary passages. We will analyse both the exoethnic representation of the Cisalpine Boii recorded in classical literature and, as far as possible, the ethnic phenomena inside the human community made up of the Cisalpines who, in Antiquity, were defined and/or possibly defined themselves as Boii. The investigation will be conducted by applying the analytical tools of a post-essentialist, relational and dynamic theory of ethnicity.
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Quaderni Friulani di Archeologia, 2018
The aim of the paper is to reflect, in the light of an anti-essentialist theory of ethnicity, on ... more The aim of the paper is to reflect, in the light of an anti-essentialist theory of ethnicity, on the hypothesis according to which some Celtic-speakers of the second Iron Age would have used the Lugano alphabet as an ethnic symbol. As the best context in which to evaluate this hypothesis, we select the Veronese plain of the II-I century BC. It is shown that, here, there are good reasons to recognize the expression of an ethnic identity of a supra-local scale, which however cannot be translated automatically into the expression of a Celtic or Gaulish identity.
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Book Reviews by Eric Franc
Le parole e le cose². Letteratura e realtà, 2020
Book Review: Van Aken M. 2020, Campati per aria, Milano, Elèuthera
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Conference Presentations by Eric Franc
Definition and Redefinition of Celtic Identities in the Ancient World. An Interdisciplinary Approach. Florence - Edinburgh, 2022
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Papers by Eric Franc
Book Reviews by Eric Franc
Conference Presentations by Eric Franc