André Leroi-Gourhan
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André Leroi-Gourhan (August 25, 1911 – February 19, 1986) was a French archaeologist, paleontologist, paleoanthropologist, and anthropologist with an interest in technology and aesthetics.
[edit] Evolution, memory, program
Crucial to Leroi-Gourhan's understanding of human evolution is the notion that the transition to bipedality freed the hands for grasping, and the face for gesturing and speaking, and thus that the development of the cortex, of technology, and of language all follow from the adoption of an upright stance. What characterises humanity in its distinction from animals is thus the fact that tools and technology are a third kind of memory (in addition to the genetic memory contained in DNA and the individual memory of the nervous system), and thus a new form of anticipation, or programming.
[edit] Influence
The French philosopher Jacques Derrida discusses Leroi-Gourhan in Of Grammatology (Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997, corrected edition), in particular the concepts of "exteriorization," "program," and "liberation of memory."
Leroi-Gourhan's work has also influenced the French philosopher Bernard Stiegler, who gives an extensive reading of Leroi-Gourhan in his book, Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998).
[edit] Bibliography
Leroi-Gourhan's major works are the following:
- L'Homme et la matière (Paris: Albin Michel, 1943).
- Milieu et techniques (Paris: Albin Michel, 1945).
- Le geste et la parole (Paris: Albin Michel, 1964-65). Translation: Gesture and Speech (Cambridge, Massachusetts & London: MIT Press, 1993).
- Les religions de la Préhistoire (Paris: PUF, 1964).
- Préhistoire de l'art occidental (Paris: Mazenod, 1965).
