A Princesa da Communitas e o irmao da mie na Africa do Sul | ‘A morte da princesa Diana — as. circunstincias que a antecederam,a comogio popular que a recebeu, 0 espeticulo ritual que suscitou, a iconorragia que desencadeou, as reflexées sentenciosas que permi tin — deverd dar abundante miatéria aos antropélogos. Os cole- ‘gas interessados pelas questdes da pésmodernidade ¢ do simulacro niio deixario, certamente, de em- Pregar 0s instrumentos mais avan- ados da teoria para extrair todas as ligdes pertinentes de um acontect mento que mobilizou uma imagisti- ca rica, hetersclita e heterocrénica: © conto de fadas ¢ a imprensa de escindalo, a realeza medieval ¢ a globalizagio fin-desiécle,a Catedral de Westminster ¢ a Internet, 0 badalar severo dos sinos ¢ a balada ‘melosa de Elton John. ‘Antes que se saquem tais instrumentos de ponta para a dis- secacio do fendmeno, gostaria de chamar brevemente a atengo para um momento dos funerais de Diana que ilistra a maravilha alguns dos artigos de f mais tradi- cionais da antropologia social britanica. Refiro-me ao clogio fiine- bre proferido pelo conde Charles Spencer, irmio da Princesa de Ga- Jes. Hle atesta que as teorias do pa- rentesco de RadcliffeBrown ¢ Meyer fortes, mortas ¢ enterradas pela antropologia contemporiinea, Parecem aplicar-se admiravelmen- te bem ao parentesco inglés — ou pelo menos A ideologia do paren- tesco vigente em alguns setorcs da nobreza daquele pais. ‘Transcrevo abaixo © discurso de Charles Spencer (capturado na ‘Web, ap6s uma répida procura via [BOLETIM DA ABA N27 » 1" SEMESTREIS? BAltavista), no interesse dos leitores que porventura desejarem apro- fundar, corrigir ou contestar as reves observagées que o seguem. ‘Ver'se-4 que, embora "The Mother's Brother in South Africa” tenha sido evidamente desconstruido ha anos (A. Kuper, “Radcliffe Brown, Junod, and the Mother's Brother in South Africa”, Man, 11/1, 1976), 0 discur- ‘so recente deste “mother's brother from South Africa” — pois ‘Spencer, tio materno dos principes ‘William ¢ Harry, reside na Cidade ‘do Cabo — tira da gaveta um velho paradigma analitico da tradicao antropolégica britanica, EARL SPENCER'S EULOGY “I stand before you today, the representative of a family in grief, in @ country in mourning, before @ world in shock. We are all united not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana, but rather in ‘our need to do so, for such was ber extraordinary appeal, that the tens of millions of people taking bart in this service all over the ‘world, via television and radio, who never actually met ber, feet that they 100 lost someone close to them in the early bours of Sunday ‘morning. It ts a more remarkable tribute to Diana than I can ever ope to offer ber today. Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world, she was a symbol of selfless bumanity, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girk, who transcended nationality, someone with a natural nobility, who was classless, and who Proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue fo generate ber brand of magic. Today is our chance to Say thank you for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but balf a life.We will all feel cheated always, that you were taken from us so young, ‘and yet we must learn to be grate- ful that you came along at all. ‘Only now you are gone do wetru- ly appreciate what we are now without, and we want you to kenow that life without you is very, very difficult, We bave all despaired at our loss over the past week, and only the strength of the message you gave us throughyour years of gluing, bas afforded us ‘the strength to move forward. There is a temptation to rusb to canonise your memory. There is no need to do so. You stand tall enough as a buman being of unique qualities, not to need to be seen as a saint, Indeed to sanc- tify your memory would be to miss out on the very core of your being: Your wonderfully mischie- vous sense of bumourwith a laugh that bent you double; your jey for life, transmitted wherever ‘you took your smile; and the ‘sparkle in those unforgettable eyes; your boundless energy, which you could bardly contain. But your greatest gift was your intuition, and it was a gift you used wisely This is what under- pinned all your other wonderful ‘attributes, and if we look to analysewhat it was about you that bad such a wide appeal, we'd find it tn your instinctive feel for ‘what was really important in all our lives. Without your God-given sensitivity, we would be immersed in greater ignorance at the angutsb of AIDS and HIV suf. ferers, the plight of the bomeless, the isolation of lepers, the random destruction of landmines. Diana ‘explained to me once that it was ber innermost feelings of suffer- ing that made itpossible for ber to connect with her constituency of the rejected, and bere we come to another truth about ber: for al the status, the glamour, th applause, Diana remained throughout, a very insecure per son at heart, almost childlitee t ber desire to do good for others, s she could release herself fron deep feelings of unworthiness, 0 which ber eating disorderswen merely @ symptom. The work sensed this part of ber characte: and cherished ber for ber vuiner ability, whilst admiring ber fo. ben Bonesty. The last time I sau Diana was on July the first, be. birthday, in London,when typicai 4, sbe was not taking time to cei ebrate ber special day with Sriends, but was guest of bonou. at a fundraising charity evening ‘Sbe sparkled, of course, but would rather cherish the days Spent with ber in March, wher ‘she came to vistt me and my cbii dren in our bome in South Africa am proud of the fact that, apar from when she was on public ds ‘Play meeting President Mandela ‘we managed to contrive to stot the ever present paparaz=t fron ‘getting a single picture of ber.Tha ‘meant a lot to ber These wen days I will always treasure. It wa. 4s if we'd been transported bacl to our childbood, when we spen such an enormous amount 0 time together, the two youngest tt the family Fundamentally, sh badn'tchanged at all from the bi, sister who mothered me as ¢ baby, fought with me at school and endured those long trais journeys between our parent ‘bomes with me at weekends. It £. @ tribute to ber levetbeadednes and strength, that despite th most bizarre life imaginable afte: her childbood, she: remainec intact, true to herself. There is nm doubt that sbewas looking for « new direction in ber life at ibt time. Sbe talked endlessly of gétting away from England, mainty because of tbe treatment she received at the bands of the news- Papers. I don't think she ever understood why ber genuinely 00d intentions were sneered at by the media — why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their bebalf to bring ber down, It is baffling. My own, and only explanation ts that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum. It is a point to remem- ber that of all the ironies about Diana, perbaps tbe greatest was this — a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of bunting, was in the end, the most bunted erson of the modern age. She would want us today to pledge ourselves to. protecting ber beloved boys, William and Harry, from a similar fate, and I do this here, Diana, on your bebalf. We will not allow tbem to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despatr and beyond that on bebalf of your mother and sisters, I pledgé that we, your blood family will do all we can 10 continue the imagina- Hive and loving way in which you were steering these two excepiion- al young men. so that their souls ‘are not simply immersed by duty ‘and tradition, but can sing open- 4y as you planned. We fully respect the bertiage into which they have both been born, and will always respect and encourage them in their royal role, but we, Hke you, recognise the need for them to experience as many different aspects of life as possible, to arm them spiritually and emotionally for the years abead I know you would have expected nothing less from us.William and Harry, we all care desperately for you today. We * are all chewed up with sadness at ‘be loss of a woman who wasn't XOLETIM DA ABA N*27 « 1° SEMESTREOT even our mother How great your suffering is, we cannot even imag- ine. would like to end by thank- ing God for the small mercies be bas shown us at this dreadful time. For taking Diana at ber ‘most beautiful and radiant, and when ‘she bad joy in ber private fe. Above ail, we give thanks for the life of a woman Iam so proud to be able to call my sister: the unique, the complex, the extraor- dinary, and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extin- guished from our minds” © discurso € clarissimo. Temos aqui um caso exemplar de reivindi- ‘caGio agressiva de un tio materno sobre scus sobrinhos. uterinos, frente’aos parentes paternos. Além de avancar sutis insinuagdes contra a real familia de seu cunhado que evocam as acusagSes de bruxaria em estilo africano (“ber desire to do good for others, so she could release herself from deep feelings of unworthiness, of which ber eat ing disorders were merely a symp- tom"), opondo a “magia branca’ de ‘Diana 4 “magia cinza” de seus afins reais (‘she needed no royal title to ‘continue to generate her particu: Jar brand of magic”), 0 discurso de Spencer tematiza uma série de variages sobre a classica dicoto- ‘mia “direito versus afeto”, tio cara a antropologia britanica’ (ver E. Viveiros de Castro & R. Benzaquem de Araijo, “Romeu & Julieta e a origem do Estado”, in G. Velho org., Arte e Sociedade, Zahat,1977). ‘Assim, Spencer, tio materno dos filhos de Diana, afirma seu contro- le sobre os aspectos emocionais, espirituais e individuais dos sobri- hos William © Harry, em contra- Posi¢ao a transmissdo “jural”, nor- mativa, piiblica € social de suas fungGes reais, a serem herdadas Patrilincarmente do Principe de Gales — “I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these 1wo exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing open- 4y as you planned”. Notar a parti- cular énfase na sua qualidade de “parente de sangue” de seus sobri- nhos,¢ como isto da a ele direitos de zelar por sua formacio psi- coldgica, protegé-les contra a bru: xarla da midia (e dos parentes aternos), formar 0s aspectos com- plementares de seu cariter — “we fully respect the heritage into which they bave both been born, and will always respect and encourage them in thelr royal role, but we, like you, recognise the need for them to experience as many different aspects of life 4s possible, to arm them spiritu- ally and emotionally for tbe years abead: Um perfeito cxem- plo da “filiacio complementar* de Meyer Fortes: de um lado, a descent © seu arcabougo jural- PUblico-social; do outro, a comple- mentary filiation, que recorre a ‘uma linguagem afetivo-doméstico- natural para fazer valer direitos de ‘outra ordem. Além de Radcliffe Brown © Fortes, Victor Turner. © conde Spencer evoca a nobreza natural da irmd, contra a artificialidade ‘convencional da nobreza de seus afins. Diana, princesa da “commu- nitas", transcende barreiras de classe © de nacionalidade (ao mesmo tempo em que € dita ser uma “very British girl", expressio dos valores: da terra), comunican- dose diretamente com a condi¢ao humana universal, em contraste ‘com os Windsor, que seriam assim ‘como reis da “estrutura”. Ougamos novamente 0 trecho mais contun- dente do clogio: “All over the 16world, sbe was a symbot of self- less humanity, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly down- “trodden, a very British girl, wbo transcended nationality, some- one with a natural nobility, wbo was classless, and who proved in the last year that sbe needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic? ‘No momento da morte da irma, portanto, Spencer nio apenas reivindica a morta para sua familia terra, como faz valer seus direitos avunculares misticos sobre 0s so- brinhos, os quais se tornam, neste contexto ritual,"mais" membros da linhagem da mie que da linhagem do pai, em uma demonstragio daquele “pouvoir des maternels* (mas neste caso, um tipico “poder dos fracos") analisado por Lévi- Strauss. Em suma: 9 enterro de Diana Spencer sugere que outro enterro, 0, das teorias clissicas do parentesco, talvez tenha sido um ‘potico prematuro,e que o irmiio da mie continua desempenhando seu papel arquetipico de representante do grupo que cedeu a mulher’, Para evocarmos a conhecida for mula do pai do estruturalismo. Mas © grupo, a parte representada pek conde Spencer, coincide neste cast com 0 todo. Pois o grupo qu cedeu Diana € ninguém menos que © povo inglés (a quem deven servir os soberanos desde o fina do século XVID, senio mesmo ¢ “povo" virtual da midia, a platéi: planetiiria dos funerais televisados © infimo tomo de parentescc primitivo © a macrocosmologi: Pésmoderea do giimowr global encontram, assim, na “princesa de Povo" que morreu € virou estrela. Eduardo Vivetros de Castro