symbolic and empirical reality: a new approach to the analysis of food avoidances

Food avoidances have been explained either as fitting into a cognitive system which operates through symbolic logic, or as part of a society's largely unconscious codification of pragmatic strategy. An examination of the Malay humoral system and the concept of bisa shows that pragmatic and symbolic reasoning are not mutually exclusive. On the most abstract level, the strength of the system comes from its internal logic and coherence; on a middle level of abstraction, it provides metaphors for reasoning and understanding; on the most concrete level – that of direct sensory experience – the system is reinforced by moorings in empirical reality that act as structural supports to the symbolic edifice. [food avoidances, humoral systems, cultural ecology, symbolism, Malay studies]