1
anthropology 3 midterm ucla
(Key) informant - ANS -anthropologists have to learn from their
R
"informants" in order to grasp their cultural logic
Alfred Kroeber -
HEANS "Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences
and the most scientific of the
IG
humanities"
H
anthropology - ANS the comprehensive study of the human kinds present
G
and past biological, linguistic, social, and cultural variations
IN
Armchair anthropologist - ANS -influence of Darwin and social evolutionism
-relied on the writings of amateurs
Y
-a universal human culture is shared, in different degrees by all societies
L
-different cultures represent different stages in the unilinear evolution of human
F
culture
-same sequences of stages; hunter gatherer societies as living fossils
-James Frazer (1854-1941), Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881), Edward Burnett
Tylor (1831-1917) all believed that their own societies were the most evolved
, 2
Balinese - ANS "The imposition of meaning on life is the major end and
primary condition of human existence" (Geertz: 16)
Cockfight and status, honor, social groups
Cockfight dramatizing life (a sentimental education)
R
Meaning, interpretation -- both as method and as significance
E
-- It dramatizes the dark side of status difference, the possibility of violence, the
H
pleasure of honor and status (but status doesn't change)
-- "Its function, if you want to call it that, is interpretive: it is a Balinese reading of
G
Balinese experience; a story they tell themselves about themselves." (26)
H
Blood quantum laws -
I ANS defining identity by percentages of ancestry- are
G
still on the books
Initially established by colonial settlers, and then used by the US government,
N
and then incorporated into the tribal constitutions of Native American nations
I
(often because the government requires such laws for federal recognition of tribal
Y
sovereignty.)
L
Double edged sword
F
Bronislaw Malinowski - ANS -malinowski defined the goal of ethnography
as to "grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of
his world"
-how do people understand what they are doing?
-how do they see the world?
, 3
-trobiand islands
-argonauts of the western pacific
-kula ring
-guidelines for constructing fieldwork
R
-stay for long periods
E
-learn the local language
H
-get "off the veranda" (mingle with locals, engage in participant observation)
-explore the "mundane imponderabilia" the seemingly common place, everyday
G
items and activities of local life
Clifford Geertz -
HIANS -the interpretation of cultures (1973)
G
-symbolic and interpretive anthropology
-"Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of
N
significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs, and the
I
analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an
Y
interpretative one in search of meaning."
L
-According to Geertz, anthropologist's work and task is thick description, i.e.
F
explaining cultures through as many details, conceptual structures and meanings
as possible.
-"Thin description:" A factual account without any interpretation.
Colonialism - ANS -nation-state extends control over others' territories,
markets, policies (but also a cultural project)
, 4
→ takes various forms
→ a world-shaping historical process
Cultural relativism - ANS -understanding + evaluating something according
R
to the cultural standards of its context (opposite of ethnocentrism; more about
E
understanding than judging)
H
→ 1st step in cultural critique
G
culturally constructed - ANS traditions devised by a specific culture group
I
way of doing things is natural, inevitable, and necessary
Culture - ANS
GH
is a very complex term
Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.
N
raymond williams: culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in
I
the english language
Y
the concept has changed over time dramatically and has different popular and
L
academic uses
F
culture is our manual for understanding and interacting with the people around
us
it includes shared meaning, beleif systems, and cultural knowledge-in other
words ways of seeing, understanding, and acting upon the world
anthropology 3 midterm ucla
(Key) informant - ANS -anthropologists have to learn from their
R
"informants" in order to grasp their cultural logic
Alfred Kroeber -
HEANS "Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences
and the most scientific of the
IG
humanities"
H
anthropology - ANS the comprehensive study of the human kinds present
G
and past biological, linguistic, social, and cultural variations
IN
Armchair anthropologist - ANS -influence of Darwin and social evolutionism
-relied on the writings of amateurs
Y
-a universal human culture is shared, in different degrees by all societies
L
-different cultures represent different stages in the unilinear evolution of human
F
culture
-same sequences of stages; hunter gatherer societies as living fossils
-James Frazer (1854-1941), Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881), Edward Burnett
Tylor (1831-1917) all believed that their own societies were the most evolved
, 2
Balinese - ANS "The imposition of meaning on life is the major end and
primary condition of human existence" (Geertz: 16)
Cockfight and status, honor, social groups
Cockfight dramatizing life (a sentimental education)
R
Meaning, interpretation -- both as method and as significance
E
-- It dramatizes the dark side of status difference, the possibility of violence, the
H
pleasure of honor and status (but status doesn't change)
-- "Its function, if you want to call it that, is interpretive: it is a Balinese reading of
G
Balinese experience; a story they tell themselves about themselves." (26)
H
Blood quantum laws -
I ANS defining identity by percentages of ancestry- are
G
still on the books
Initially established by colonial settlers, and then used by the US government,
N
and then incorporated into the tribal constitutions of Native American nations
I
(often because the government requires such laws for federal recognition of tribal
Y
sovereignty.)
L
Double edged sword
F
Bronislaw Malinowski - ANS -malinowski defined the goal of ethnography
as to "grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of
his world"
-how do people understand what they are doing?
-how do they see the world?
, 3
-trobiand islands
-argonauts of the western pacific
-kula ring
-guidelines for constructing fieldwork
R
-stay for long periods
E
-learn the local language
H
-get "off the veranda" (mingle with locals, engage in participant observation)
-explore the "mundane imponderabilia" the seemingly common place, everyday
G
items and activities of local life
Clifford Geertz -
HIANS -the interpretation of cultures (1973)
G
-symbolic and interpretive anthropology
-"Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of
N
significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs, and the
I
analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an
Y
interpretative one in search of meaning."
L
-According to Geertz, anthropologist's work and task is thick description, i.e.
F
explaining cultures through as many details, conceptual structures and meanings
as possible.
-"Thin description:" A factual account without any interpretation.
Colonialism - ANS -nation-state extends control over others' territories,
markets, policies (but also a cultural project)
, 4
→ takes various forms
→ a world-shaping historical process
Cultural relativism - ANS -understanding + evaluating something according
R
to the cultural standards of its context (opposite of ethnocentrism; more about
E
understanding than judging)
H
→ 1st step in cultural critique
G
culturally constructed - ANS traditions devised by a specific culture group
I
way of doing things is natural, inevitable, and necessary
Culture - ANS
GH
is a very complex term
Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.
N
raymond williams: culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in
I
the english language
Y
the concept has changed over time dramatically and has different popular and
L
academic uses
F
culture is our manual for understanding and interacting with the people around
us
it includes shared meaning, beleif systems, and cultural knowledge-in other
words ways of seeing, understanding, and acting upon the world
