anatrópico

English translation: reversible

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:anatrópico
English translation:reversible
Entered by: Charles Davis

20:26 Apr 6, 2019
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Archaeology
Spanish term or phrase: anatrópico
This is from a wall text for a show of pre-Hispanic ceramics:
En el cuerpo de personajes humanos y animales, se reiteran motivos pintados, escalonados, rombos y triángulos. Completan el conjunto seres híbridos que aúnan rasgos humanos y felínicos, a veces a través de formas anatrópicas: según se vea la pieza, rotándola 90º o 180º, adquiere un aspecto u otro. Es posible que este procedimiento y la iconografía híbrida aludan a la transformación chamánica.

Thanks
Wendy Gosselin
Argentina
Local time: 11:12
reversible
Explanation:
This is derived from a Greek root, anatrope (Ανατροπή), meaning inversion or reversal. It has political and medical applications.

"Anatropy" is a term in biology:

"(of a plant ovule) the condition of being inverted during development by a bending of the stalk causing the nucleus to point toward the base"
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/anatrop...

So the idea is reversible. Here's an Argentine source on ceramics that confirms it:

"SOBRE LA DUALIDAD EN UNA MISMA FORMA. FIGURAS ANATRÓPICAS
[...]
El término anatrópico aplicado a las figuras reversibles ha sido utilizado por diversos investigadores, especialmente historiadores del arte precolombino [...]
La importancia de las figuras o formas anatrópicas (reversibles) y las con ellas relacionadas y las proyecciones de su sentido dual fueron advertidas de manera clarividente por Lévi-Strauss [...]"
http://www.cehsf.ceride.gov.ar/america_27.pdf (pp. 50-51)

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Note added at 52 mins (2019-04-06 21:18:45 GMT)
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You could, in fact, use "anatropic" for this in English:

"Anatropic images
Images which may be viewed from different angles"
https://quizlet.com/108281098/americas-art-flash-cards/

"Such double-profile figures and anatropic (reversible) images appear sporadically in pottery"
George Kubler, The Art and Architecture of Ancient America: The Mexican, Maya, and Andean Peoples, p. 369
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1c1SPM7CrPcC&pg=PA369&lp...

"Anatropic organization, in which design elements can be rotated 180 degrees and still be visually meaningful."
Mary B. Brown, The Emergence of the Bird in Andean Paracas Art.c. 900 BCE - 200 CE, p. 136

However, only specialists in the field will understand it. It's certainly new to me.

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Note added at 53 mins (2019-04-06 21:19:33 GMT)
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Last ref. cited above:
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2...
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:12
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3reversible
Charles Davis
3 -1anthropic
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
anthropic


Explanation:
Of a human form.

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 09:12
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  ormiston: confusion with anthropomorphic
18 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
reversible


Explanation:
This is derived from a Greek root, anatrope (Ανατροπή), meaning inversion or reversal. It has political and medical applications.

"Anatropy" is a term in biology:

"(of a plant ovule) the condition of being inverted during development by a bending of the stalk causing the nucleus to point toward the base"
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/anatrop...

So the idea is reversible. Here's an Argentine source on ceramics that confirms it:

"SOBRE LA DUALIDAD EN UNA MISMA FORMA. FIGURAS ANATRÓPICAS
[...]
El término anatrópico aplicado a las figuras reversibles ha sido utilizado por diversos investigadores, especialmente historiadores del arte precolombino [...]
La importancia de las figuras o formas anatrópicas (reversibles) y las con ellas relacionadas y las proyecciones de su sentido dual fueron advertidas de manera clarividente por Lévi-Strauss [...]"
http://www.cehsf.ceride.gov.ar/america_27.pdf (pp. 50-51)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 52 mins (2019-04-06 21:18:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You could, in fact, use "anatropic" for this in English:

"Anatropic images
Images which may be viewed from different angles"
https://quizlet.com/108281098/americas-art-flash-cards/

"Such double-profile figures and anatropic (reversible) images appear sporadically in pottery"
George Kubler, The Art and Architecture of Ancient America: The Mexican, Maya, and Andean Peoples, p. 369
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1c1SPM7CrPcC&pg=PA369&lp...

"Anatropic organization, in which design elements can be rotated 180 degrees and still be visually meaningful."
Mary B. Brown, The Emergence of the Bird in Andean Paracas Art.c. 900 BCE - 200 CE, p. 136

However, only specialists in the field will understand it. It's certainly new to me.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2019-04-06 21:19:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Last ref. cited above:
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2...

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 116
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marie Wilson
17 mins
  -> Thanks, Marie :-)

agree  Robert Forstag: I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t trace the term all the way back to proto-Indo-European. Ah, well! Maybe next time.... :) / Not at all! It is what gives your answers a depth and richness that sets you apart from everyone else....
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Robert :-) I believe the expression these days is "too much information"; I'm afraid it's a tendency of mine.

agree  neilmac: What Robert said. I'd got as far as "ana + tropos"... :-)
20 hrs
  -> Thanks very much, Neil ;-) Much appreciated.
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