
The Explorations of Edmund Snow Carpenter
Anthropology Upside Down
Richard Cavell(Author)
McGill-Queen's University Press
Published on 15. October 2024
Book
Hardback
324 pages
978-0-2280-2271-8 (ISBN)
Description
Edmund Snow Carpenter (1922-2011), shaped by an early encounter with Marshall McLuhan, was a renegade anthropologist who would plumb the connection between anthropology and media studies over a thoroughly unconventional career.
As co-conspirators in the founding of the legendary journal Explorations (1953-59), Carpenter and McLuhan established the groundwork for media studies. After ten years teaching anthropology at the University of Toronto, hosting radio and television shows on the CBC, and doing major research in the Arctic, Carpenter left Toronto and became an itinerant anthropologist. He took up a position in Papua New Guinea, where he countered anthropological practice by handing his camera to the Papuans. Carpenter's marriage to the artist and heiress Adelaide de Menil made him a truly independent scholar. With the support of the Rock Foundation, founded by de Menil, he collected ethnographical art, curated exhibitions, and edited the materials for a twelve-volume study of social symbolism based on the massive archives created by Carl Schuster. Richard Cavell shows Carpenter - austere, generous, and unpredictable - to also be unwavering in working throughout his career within the framework established by Explorations.
The anthropological impetus for media studies has largely been forgotten. This study restores that memory, tracing Carpenter's work in media and in anthropology over a lifetime of cultural achievements and intellectual convolutions.
As co-conspirators in the founding of the legendary journal Explorations (1953-59), Carpenter and McLuhan established the groundwork for media studies. After ten years teaching anthropology at the University of Toronto, hosting radio and television shows on the CBC, and doing major research in the Arctic, Carpenter left Toronto and became an itinerant anthropologist. He took up a position in Papua New Guinea, where he countered anthropological practice by handing his camera to the Papuans. Carpenter's marriage to the artist and heiress Adelaide de Menil made him a truly independent scholar. With the support of the Rock Foundation, founded by de Menil, he collected ethnographical art, curated exhibitions, and edited the materials for a twelve-volume study of social symbolism based on the massive archives created by Carl Schuster. Richard Cavell shows Carpenter - austere, generous, and unpredictable - to also be unwavering in working throughout his career within the framework established by Explorations.
The anthropological impetus for media studies has largely been forgotten. This study restores that memory, tracing Carpenter's work in media and in anthropology over a lifetime of cultural achievements and intellectual convolutions.
Reviews / Votes
"Through a constant and convincing dialogue with different sources, Cavell constructs a narrative that illuminates various aspects of Carpenter's work and life, going beyond interpretative cliches." Elena Lamberti, author of Marshall McLuhan's Mosaic: Probing the Literary Origins of Media Studies "Cavell charts the intellectual life of an epoch, constellated around a particular individual, and provides many fascinating insights into Carpenter's life and times. The book is also a landmark contribution to the new sensory museology, material culture studies, and the interdisciplinary field of sensory studies." David Howes, author of The Sensory Studies Manifesto: Tracking the Sensorial Revolution in the Arts and Human SciencesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Montreal
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
40 photos
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-2280-2271-8 (9780228022718)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2024
1st Edition
McGill-Queen's University Press
€64.99
Available for download

E-Book
10/2024
1st Edition
McGill-Queen's University Press
€64.99
Available for download
Person
Richard Cavell is professor of media studies at the University of British Columbia.