Anthropology

Chapter 1 Anthropology as Science <new> Selection 1 <comment>45105 Franz Boas, from "The Aims of Ethnology," Race, Language and Culture "The data of ethnology prove that not only our knowledge, but also our emotions are the result of the form of our social life and of the history of the people to whom we belong. If we desire to understand the development of human culture we must try to free ourselves of these shackles." <new> Selection 2 <comment>8771 Clyde Kluckhohn, from "The Meaning of Culture," Mirror for Man: The Relation of Anthropology to Modern Life "A good deal of human behavior can be understood, and indeed predicted if we know a people's design for living. Many acts are neither accidental nor due to personal peculiarities nor caused by supernatural forces nor simply mysterious. Even those of us who pride ourselves on our individualism follow--most of the time--a pattern not of our own making." <new> Selection 3 <comment>36003 Ruth Benedict, from "Anthropology and the Abnormal," Journal of General Psychology "It does not matter what kind of 'abnormality' we choose for illustration, those which indicate extreme instability, or those which are more in the nature of character traits like sadism or delusions of grandeur or of persecution; there are well described cultures in which these abnormalities function at ease and with honor, and apparently without danger or difficulty to the society." <new> Selection 4 <comment>40573 Robert L. Carneiro, from "Godzilla Meets New Age Anthropology: Facing the Postmodernist Challenge to a Science of Culture," EUROPAeA "The cornerstone of science has always been the premise that there is a real world out there, independent of our individual existences. And it is this world that, as scientists--as anthropologists--we should be studying. If anyone still doggedly prefers to contemplate his own navel, fine. But let him call his contemplation by a different name than anthropology!" Chapter 2 Doing Fieldwork <new> Selection 5 <comment>45106 E.E. Evans-Pritchard, from "Fieldwork and the Empirical Tradition," Free Press "It is indeed surprising that, with the exception of Morgan's study of the Iroquois, not a single anthropologist conducted field studies till the end of the nineteenth century. It is even more remarkable that it does not seem to have occurred to them that a writer on anthropological topics might at least have a look, if only a glimpse, at one or two specimens of what he spent his life writing about." <new> Selection 6 <comment>45107 Arturo Alvarez Roldan, from "Malinowski and the Origins of the Ethnographic Method," Fieldwork and Footnotes: Studies in the History of European Anthropology "I have spent over 8 months in one village in the Trobriand and this proved to me, how even a poor observer like myself can get a certain amount of reliable information, if he puts himself into the proper conditions for observation." <new> Selection 7 <comment>45108 Kathleen Gough, from "Anthropology and Imperialism," Monthly Review "I am asking that we should do these studies in our way, as we would study a cargo cult or kula-ring, without the built-in biases of tainted financing, without the assumption that counter-revolution, and not revolution, is the best answer, and with the ultimate economic and spiritual welfare of our informants, and of the international community, before us rather than the short-run military or industrial profits of the Western nations." Chapter 3 Theoretical Perspectives <new> Selection 8 <comment>45110 Elman R. Service, from "Evolution, Involution, and Revolution," Cultural Evolutionism: Theory in Practice "We have been long committed to the notion of imminent progress that was associated with the contemporary world view of the 18th century philosophers, and then with the later influence of the organismic analogy. It might be useful to start afresh with a look at the modern world to see what theoretical inspiration can be gained from a more recent perspective, and it may be that a useful theory of evolution thus could be inspired. If it is any good it will apply to the modern world as well as to the 18th and 19th centuries." <new> Selection 9 <comment>45111 Abram Kardiner and Edward Preble, from "Bronislaw Malinowski: The Man of Songs," They Studied Man "Malinowski's creed and advice was, 'never to forget the living, palpitating flesh and blood organism of man which remains somewhere at the heart of every institution.' The history of an institution, its form and distribution, its evolution and diffusion--all these problems are of secondary importance. The important questions are, How does an institution function now? How does it satisfy individual and cultural needs in the given society, and How is it related to other institutions?" <new> Selection 10 <comment>45112 Paul Bohannan, Mari Womack, and Karen Saenz, from "Paradigms Refound: The Structure of Anthropological Revolutions," Anthropological Theory in North America "Paying homage to one's anthropological ancestors is not enough; one must also supplant the powerful lineage head, either by killing him or her or through 'neolocal residence,' that is, by establishing a new lineage based on a newly generated or newly defined paradigm." <new> Selection 11 <comment>45113 Micaela di Leonardo, from "Margaret Mead vs. Tony Soprano," The Nation "In the 1920s, counter to the assertions and interpretations of more recent commentators, Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa was written, and was read, not as a paean to free love or women's rights or even the romantic lives of 'noble savages,' but rather as a scientific account of certain differing cultural features in a "more simple" society that 'we,' meaning middle-class white Americans, might wish to adopt in order to raise 'our youth' in a less stressful manner." Chapter 4 Language and Culture <new> Selection 12 <comment>45114 James P. Spradley and Brenda J. Mann, from "How to Ask for a Drink," The Cocktail Waitress "Asking for a drink becomes an occasion to act out fantasies that would be unthinkable in the classroom, on the street, and even perhaps when alone with a female. But here, in the protective safety of the bar, a customer can demonstrate to others that he has acquired the masculine attributes so important in our culture." <new> Selection 13 <comment>14972 Deborah Tannen, from "Why Don't You Say What You Mean?," The New York Times Magazine "I am not inclined to accept that those who give orders directly are really insecure and powerless, any more than I want to accept that judgment of those who give indirect orders. The conclusion to be drawn is that ways of talking should not be taken as obvious evidence of inner psychological states like insecurity or lack of confidence." <new> Selection 14 <comment>166 Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall, from "The Sounds of Silence," Playboy "Nonverbal communications signal to members of your own group what kind of person you are, how you feel about others, how you'll fit into and work in a group, whether you're assured or anxious, the degree to which you feel comfortable with the standards of your own culture, as well as deeply significant feelings about the self, including the state of your own psyche." Chapter 5 Social Relationships <new> Selection 15 <comment>45115 Marshall Sahlins, from "The Original Affluent Society," Stone Age Economics "A good case can be made that hunters and gatherers work less than we do; and, rather than a continuous travail, the food quest is intermittent, leisure abundant, and there is a greater amount of sleep in the daytime per capita per year than in any other condition of society." < /Blockquote> <new> Selection 16 <comment>45116 Laurens Van Der Post and Jane Taylor, from "Woman the Provider," Testament to the Bushmen "Meat may be their favourite food, and the only food to arouse real enthusiasm, but if the Bushmen had had nothing but the meat that the hunters provided, they would have disappeared without a trace thousands of years ago. It is the prosaic unsung work of the women that has kept them alive." <new> Selection 17 <comment>180 Ernestine Friedl, from "Society and Sex Roles," Human Nature "Patriarchies are prevalent, and they appear to be strongest in societies in which men control significant goods that are exchanged with people outside the family. Regardless of who produces food, the person who gives it to others creates the obligations and alliances that are the center of all political relations." Chapter 6 Marriage and Family <new> Selection 18 <comment>45118 Kalman D. Applbaum, from "Marriage with the Proper Stranger: Arranged Marriage in Metropolitan Japan," Ethnology "Clients are buying an imagined community, or 'tradition' as it is now marketed in Japanese popular culture. The candidates are also buying their place in society as well as buying off anxious parents!the pro nakodo capitalize on this wave of cultural nostalgia as well as their clients' uncertainty regarding the appropriate cultural model for one of life's most important rites of passage." <new> Selection 19 <comment>45119 R. Jean Cadigan, from "Woman-to-Woman Marriage: Practices and Benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Comparative Family Studies "Despite the fact that woman-to-woman marriage may also be beneficial to men, the institution is not simply given by men to women in order to appease them in the male-dominated system; rather, woman-to-woman marriage has been a way in which women could substantially advance their social status and/or increase their economic standing in their communities." <new> Selection 20 <comment>45120 Veena Talwar Oldenburg, from "Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime," Dowry Murder "The crime occurs in the kitchen, where the lower- and middle-class housewife spends a lot of time each day. Kerosene stoves are in common use in such homes, and a tin of fuel is always kept in reserve. This can be quickly poured over the intended victim, and a lighted match will do the rest. It is easy to pass off the event as an accident since these stoves are, indeed, prone to explode." <new> Selection 21 <comment>45121 William R. Garrett, from "The 'Decline of the Western Family'," The Family in Global Transmission "These data indicate that persons who divorce have not given up on marriage; they have simply given up on the particular partner to whom they were married. Or, as Spanier and Thompson have observed: 'Divorce is a response to a failing marriage, not a failing institution. The family system can remain strong while divorce rates remain high.'" Chapter 7 Magic, Religion, and Witchcraft <new> Selection 22 <comment>45122 Abram Kardiner and Edward Preble, from "Edward Tylor: Mr. Tylor's Science," They Studied Man "As modern highways are often laid upon remains of ancient tracks of barbaric roads so, thought Tylor, was modern thought and behavior following the courses of primitive existence. To a university man, steeped in the traditions of academic learning, the commonplaces and trivia of daily life might seem a strange place to look for the origins and development of cultural history. To Tylor, who was denied a university career, it seemed natural to study the living for knowledge of the dead." <new> Selection 23 <comment>45123 Bronislaw Malinowski, from "Essay I," Magic, Science and Religion: And Other Essays "Magic, based on man's confidence that he can dominate nature directly, if only he knows the laws which govern it magically, is in this akin to science. Religion, the confession of human impotence in certain matters, lifts man above the magical level, and later on maintains its independence side by side with science, to which magic has to succumb." <new> Selection 24 <comment>45124 E.E. Evans-Pritchard, from "Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events," Reader in Comparative Religion "I found it strange at first to live among Azande and listen to naive explanations of misfortunes which, to our minds, have apparent causes, but after a while I learned the idiom of their thought and applied notions of witchcraft as spontaneously as themselves in situations where the concept was relevant." Chapter 8 Cults and Ritual <new> Selection 25 <comment>188 Peter M. Worsley, from "Cargo Cults," Scientific American "However variously embellished with details from native myth and Christian belief, these cults all advance the same central theme: the world is about to end in a terrible cataclysm. Thereafter God, the ancestors or some local culture hero will appear and inaugurate a blissful paradise on earth. Death, old age, illness and evil will be unknown. The riches of the white man will accrue to the Meslanesians." <new> Selection 26 <comment>45125 Ralph Linton, from "Totemism and the A.E.F.," American Anthropologist "A rainbow over the enemy's lines was considered especially auspicious, and after a victory men would often insist that they had seen one in this position even when the weather conditions or direction of advance made it impossible. This belief was held by most of the officers and enlisted men, and anyone who expressed doubts was considered a heretic and overwhelmed with arguments." <new> Selection 27 <comment>45126 Clifford Geertz, from "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight," Daedalus "In the cockfight, man and beast, good and evil, ego and id, the creative power of aroused masculinity and the destructive power of loosened animality fuse in a bloody drama of hatred, cruelty, violence, and death. It is little wonder that when, as is the invariable rule, the owner of the winning cock takes the carcass of the loser--often torn limb from limb by its enraged owner--home to eat, he does so with a mixture of social embarrassment, moral satisfaction, aesthetic disgust, and cannibal joy." <new> Selection 28 <comment>45127 Marvin Harris, from "Mother Cow," Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture "To Western experts it looks as if 'the Indian farmer would rather starve to death than eat his cow.' The same kinds of experts like to talk about the 'inscrutable Oriental mind' and think that 'life is not so dear to the Asian masses.' They don't realize that the farmer would rather eat his cow than starve, but that he will starve if he does eat it." Chapter 9 Social Change <new> Selection 29 <comment>45128 Lauriston Sharp, from "Steel Axes for Stone-Age Australians," Steel Axes for Stone-Age Australians "The most disturbing effects of the steel axe, operating in conjunction with other elements also being introduced from the white man's several sub-cultures, developed in the realm of traditional ideas, sentiments, and values. These were undermined at a rapidly mounting rate, with no new conceptions being defined to replace them." <new> Selection 30 <comment>191 E. Richard Sorenson, from "Growing Up as a Fore Is To Be 'In Touch' and Free," Smithsonian "This new road, often impassable even with four-wheel-drive vehicles, was perhaps the single most dramatic stroke wrought by the government. It was to the Fore an opening to a new world. As they began to use the road, they started to shed traditions evolved in the protective insularity of their mountain fastness, to adopt in their stead an emerging market culture." Chapter 10 Medical Anthropology <new> Selection 31 <comment>45129 Ann McElroy and Patricia K. Townsend, from "The Ecology of Health and Disease," Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective "An important aspect of the training of the young was to pass on knowledge and awareness about the sea ice, the snow, the weather, animal behavior, geography and navigation. Children, learning not from books but from observation and from trial and error participation, became highly sensitive to subtle environmental cues such as shifts in the wind, changing humidity, the color of ice, the restlessness of a caribou herd. This sensitivity was extremely important for survival." <new> Selection 32 <comment>184 Thomas Adeoye Lambo, from "Psychotherapy in Africa," Human Nature 'The character and effectiveness of medicine for the mind and body always and everywhere depend on the culture in which the medicine is practiced. In the West, healing is often considered a private matter between patient and therapist. In Africa, healing is an integral part of society and religion, a matter in which the whole community is involved." <new> Selection 33 <comment>45130 Edward T. Hall, from "Proxemics: The Study of Man's Spatial Relations," Culture, Curers, and Contagion: Readings for Medical Social Science "Western medicine stresses the isolation of the sick and the minimization of their contact with the healthy. Yet, there are a number of instances, in other cultures, where leaving the patient alone or with only a very few people around him would signify approaching death." Chapter 11 Applied Anthropology <new> Selection 34 <comment>45131 Marianne Elisabeth Lien, from "Fame and the Ordinary: 'Authentic' Constructions of Convenience Foods," Advertising Cultures "Many authors have argued that food provides a particularly suitable medium for representing 'the other,' making ethnic cuisine an excellent paradigm, or metaphor, for ethnicity itself. However, such representations of the other are also locally constructed, as they tend to be influenced not so much by the 'others' they claim to represent as by cultural configurations of 'otherness' among the consumers they address." <new> Selection 35 <comment>43202 Montgomery McFate, from "Anthropology and Counterinsurgency: The Strange Story of their Curious Relationship," Military Review "Regardless of whether anthropologists decide to enter the national security arena, cultural information will inevitably be used as the basis of military operations and public policy. And, if anthropologists refuse to contribute, how reliable will that information be? The result of using incomplete "bad" anthropology is, invariably, failed operations and failed policy." <new> Selection 36 <comment>45252 Lee Cronk, from "Chapter 7: Gardening Tips," That Complex Whole: Culture and the Evolution of Human Behavior "College students in particular tend to be relativistic and tolerant to a fault. When I have raised the issue of cultural relativism in my own classes, some students--students with otherwise mainstream political and moral opinions--have earnestly used the idea of 'culture' to exonerate the efforts of the Nazis to exterminate European Jewry. 'It's their culture, so who are we to judge it?' is the reasoning offered, implicitly putting the Holocaust on the same moral level as eating bratwurst."