Anthropology 280 Jonathan
Andelson
Fall 2004 Harry
Hopkins House 104
MWF
Goodnow 109 andelson@grinnell.edu
Theories
of Culture
One of anthropology’s main
contributions to modern knowledge and discourse is the concept of
“culture.” In this class we will study
the emergence and development of the culture concept, the varying (and
sometimes conflicting) views of what culture means and how best to study it,
and the ways in which different anthropologists have related culture to other
aspects of human experience.
A few clarifications are in
order. First, this course is about Western
ideas concerning society and culture.
Like other Western academic disciplines, anthropology is the product of
particular features of Western experience and Western mentality (including --
in anthropology’s case especially -- interactions with peoples of other
cultural traditions). Although other
cultural traditions have developed ideas about society and culture, these ideas
are not covered in this course. Second,
course materials are arranged roughly chronologically, allowing us to
see that ideas do not form in a vacuum but develop and unfold out of the matrix
of pre-existing ideas. A chronological
organization also allows us to see ideas come, go, and then sometimes reappear
in new guises. In addition, we will pay
some attention to the socio-political contexts that have given rise to
particular ideas and theories about culture.
Third, given the course’s emphasis on the culture concept, the readings
focus mostly on ethnology and linguistics rather than on archeology or
biological anthropology. Most of the
theories used by anthropologists have come out of ethnology rather than the
other subfields, with the notable exception of
Darwinian theory, which we will examine.
Finally, this is not a course about
“what theory (or theories) is (or are) true.”
Truthfulness is not a good criterion by which to judge theories. Knowledge is always tentative and partial in
any case, and theories are simply ways to try to expand and order
knowledge. As such, they can be more or
less useful, and we will be asking in what ways particular theories are useful
for helping us see or understand something about society and culture. We will encounter differences of opinion about
the usefulness of particular theories, and we will consider why such
differences of opinion exist. This
discussion will point to an overarching theme of the course, namely the plurality
of theories. This feature of
anthropology (and it is also true of sociology, psychology, history, and some
other fields) can seem problematic, and disagreement exists as to
whether it is desirable and/or inevitable.
The course begins with a synoptic overview of the history of anthropological theory as presented by Erickson and Murphy, revealing the discipline’s overall trajectory and some of the major theoretical issues it has addressed. We then go back to read original articles by major scholars in the field, beginning with publications from the middle of the nineteenth century when anthropology first became defined as a field of study. We will cover a substantial amount of intellectual ground, and at times names, dates, and theories will seem to fly by rather quickly. However, the succession of authors will gradually reveal the bigger picture, and you will see how their individual contributions define a series of major debates within the field: synchronic versus diachronic, particularistic versus generalizing, emic versus etic, the collective versus the individual, scientific versus humanistic, and idealist versus materialist.
The pre-requisites for this
course are Anthropology 104 and one 200-level course in anthropology, or
permission of instructor.
TEXTS
Paul A. Erickson and Liam D. Murphy,
A History of Anthropological Theory (2003)
Jerry D. Moore, Visions of
Culture (2003ed)
R. Jon McGee and Richard L. Warms, Anthropological
Theory: An Introductory History
(3rd ed., 2004)
REQUIREMENTS
Three hourly examinations –
9/20, (15% each)
Twenty 1-2 paragraph commentaries
applying theories to case material
(due
at end of relevant class periods) (20%)
Final examination – 9:00 a.m. Monday, 12/13 (25%)
Participation in class discussions
(10%)
How best to do the reading: The readings you will need to do
most carefully are the original essays.
The best way to cover them is first to skim each essay quickly to
get a general view of its contents, then go back and read it more carefully,
trying to identify the author's main argument, how it reflects a theoretical
perspective, and how it resembles or differs from those you have read
before. I will occasionally prepare
questions in advance to help guide your reading. The introductions to the sections and McGee
and Warms’ footnotes are essential reading.
Read the Moore book to set the general stage. Do not dwell on specifics, but rather read it
quickly. One other thing: it is not
advisable to leave the reading go until just before class. In some cases, a fair amount of material is
assigned for a particular class, some of it rather dense. Plan ahead.
Participation in class discussion: Hearing yourself talk about what you are studying
with others who are studying the same thing is an important part of the
learning process in this class. Ideally,
you should prepare for participation in discussion. Jot down questions and ideas that occurred to
you as you read, and make a few notes about connections among the ideas we are
studying. If I have distributed study
questions in advance, consider them as you read and have something to say about
them. This should only require five to
ten minutes after you have finished the readings. Once in class, listen to what others say,
build on it when you can, and stay on the topic unless a topic shift is
indicated. Try to push yourself to
participate. I try to create an
environment where everyone feels comfortable to participate, although I also
have no hesitation about calling on people.
ASSIGNMENTS
date topic
& readings
8/27 I.
The Map Is Not the Territory...But It Can Be Useful
Erickson and Murphy, Preface
McGee and Warms, Introduction
II. A Synoptic Historical Overview
of Anthropological Theory
8/30 A.
Erickson and Murphy, Chapter 1
9/1 B.
Erickson and Murphy, Chapter 2
9/3 C.
Erickson and Murphy, Chapter 3
III. Historical Foundations
9/6 A.
McGee and Warms, “Nineteenth Century Evolutionism”
Charles
Darwin and A.R. Wallace (M&W Selection 1)
9/8 B.
Herbert Spencer (M&W Selection 2)
9/10 C.
Jerry Moore, Chapter 1 (Tylor)
Edward
B. Tylor (M&W Selection 2)
9/13 D.
Moore, Chapter 2 (Morgan)
Lewis
Henry Morgan (M&W Selection 3)
Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels (M&W Selection 4)
9/15 E. McGree and Warms,
“The Foundations of Sociological Thought”
Moore,
Chapter 4 (Durkheim)
Emile Durkheim
(M&W Selections 6 & 7)
9/17 F. Max Weber, “The Types of Authority and Imperative Co-ordination”
(1920 [transl. 1947]; reserve)
9/20 **
EXAMINATION***
IV. Culture Theory in the Early Twentieth Century
A.
Historical Particularism
9/22 1. McGee and Warms, “Historical Particularism”
Moore, Chapter 3 (Boas)
Franz Boas, “Instability of Human Types” (1911; reserve)
FILM: “The Holy Ghost People” (out of class showing; we will draw on this film for future written assignments and discussion)
9/24 2.
Moore, Chapter 5 (Kroeber)
Alfred
Louis Kroeber, “The Nature of Culture” (1923;
reserve)
9/27 3.
Moore, Chapter 7 (Sapir)
Benjamin Lee Whorf, “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language” (1941; reserve)
B. Functionalism
9/29 1.
McGee and Warms, “Functionalism”
Moore, Chapter 10 (Malinowski)
Bronislaw Malinowski (M&W
Selection 13)
10/1 2.
Moore, Chapter 11 (Radcliffe-Brown)
A.R.
Radcliffe-Brown (M&W Selection 14)
10/4 3.
Moore, Chapter 12 (Evans-Pritchard)
E.E.
Evans-Pritchard (M&W Selection 15)
C. Psychological Anthropology
10/6 1. McGee and Warms, “Culture and Personality”
Moore, Chapter 6 (Benedict)
Ruth
Benedict (M&W Selection 17)
10/8 2.
Moore, Chapter 8 (Mead)
Gregory Bateson, “Bali: The Value System of a Steady State” (1949; reserve)
10/11 ***MID-TERM EXAMINATION***
V. Theoretical Diversification After
Mid-Century
A. Neoevolutionism
and Cultural Ecology
10/13 1. McGee
and Warms, “Cultural Ecology and Neoevolutionary”
Moore, Chapter 13 (White)
Leslie White, “Evolutionary Stages, Progress, and the evaluation of Cultures” (1947; reserve); “The Symbol: The Origin and Basis of Human Behavior” (1940; reserve)
10/15 2. Moore, Chapter 14 (Steward)
Julian Steward, “The Great Basin Shoshone: An Example of A Family Level of Sociocultural Integration” (1955; reserve)
10/16-10/24 ***FALL RECESS***
B.
Structuralism and Cognitive Anthropology
10/25 1. McGee and Warms, “Strucutralism”
Moore,
Chapter 17 (Lévi-Strauss)
Claude Levi-Strauss (M&W Selections 26 and 27)
10/27 2. McGee and Warms, “Ethnoscience
and Cognitive Anthropology”
Harold
Conklin (M&W Selection 29)
Stephen
Tyler (M&W Selection 30)
C. Cultural Materialism and Ecological
Anthropology
10/29 1. Moore,
Chapter 15 (Harris)
Marvin
Harris, “Theoretical Principles of Cultural Materialism: (1979; reserve),
Marvin Harris, “Potlatch” (1974; reserve)
11/1 2.
Roy Rappaport (M&W Selection 24)
D.
Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology
11/3 1. McGee and Warms, “Symbolic and Interpretive
Anthropology”
Moore,
Chapter 20 (Douglas)
Mary Douglas, “The Two Bodies” (1966;reserve)
11/5 2.
Moore, Chapter 19 (Turner)
Victor Turner (M&W Selection 39)
11/8 3.
Moore, Chapter 19 (Geertz)
Clifford Geertz (M&W Selection 37)
11/10 ***EXAMINATION***
VI.
Recent Trends in Anthropology
A. Darwinian Approaches
11/12 1.
McGee and Warms, “Sociobiology, etc.”
Eric Alden Smith, “Three Styles in
the Evolutionary Analysis of Human Social Behavior” (2000; reserve)
11/15 2. McGee and Warms, Selection 31 (Barkow)
B. Historical Approaches: Structuralist
and Neo-Marxist
11/17 1. Marshall Sahlins,
“Structure and History” (Chapter 5 of Islands of History,1985; reserve)
11/19 2. Moore, Chapter 24 (Wolf)
Philippe
Bourgois (M&W, Selection
25)
C. Feminist Approaches
11/22 1. McGee and Warms, “Anthropology and Gender: The Feminist Critique”
Sherry Ortner (M&W Selection 28)
Sally
Slocum (M&W Selection 35)
11/24 2. Eleanor Leacock (M&W Selection 36)
11/26 *** THANKSGIVING RECESS ***
11/29 D. Practice Approaches
Moore,
Chapter 22 (Ortner), Chapter 23 (Bourdieu)
E. Post-Modernism, Critical Theory, and Post-Culturalism
12/1 1. McGee and Warms, “Postmodernism and Its
Critics”
Stephen Tyler, “Post-Modern Ethnography: From
Document of the Occult to Occult Document” (1986, reserve)
Brian
Morton, “How Not To Write For Dissent” (1990; reserve)
12/3 2. Lila Abu-Lughod, “Writing Against Culture” (1991; reserve)
12/6 3. McGee and Warms, Selection 40 (d’Andrade)
12/8 CATCH
UP DAY
12/10 VII. Postscript
Philip Carl Salzman,
“Reflections on Anthropological Theory” (2001; reserve)
Jerry D. Moore, Postscript: Current
Controversies, in Visions of Culture