The symbolist Victor Turner challenged the notion that symbols unambiguously stood for the 'real' world, because symbols can possess different interpretations in the same way that words can have multiple meanings. An example is the way in which the the mudyi tree, which oozes milky sap when cut, stands for a nexus of ideas among the Ndembu of Zambia. Whether its use refers to breast milk, purity, dependency, or matrilineal descent depends on the specific context in which it is used, and the level of interpretation the individual wishes to make. However, this approach has been criticized for being over-reliant on linguistic parallels. Dan Sperber argued against making too much of native explanations over other ways of relating symbols, because of the limitations of using semantic explanations for a conceptual system that is not located in the realm of words.
Symbols are symbolic precisely because they are inexplicable through normal modes of explanation.
He argues that symbols cannot simply be made to stand for something else. They have different meanings for different individuals. By rejecting Western assumptions of symbols standing for something else in a straightforward manner, anthropology can explore the various and complex ways meanings within a social discourse are conveyed. Anthropology Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 2. Interpretative Anthropology Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 3.