ANTHROPOLOGY and CULTURE (PHILARTS 1) o Bone structure – Cell structure

 Seek to understand biological changes over the long & short terms
- Anthropology o Evolution of the human species
o Boas, his students, and his contemporaries established this as a professional discipline o Evolution of the latest influenza virus
o Concerned mostly with understanding human beings through a careful and  Seek to understand human biological variation within LARGER
comparative study of: FRAMEWORK of the biological variation among all animals
 biological differences and similarities o Just where humans fit in the overall scheme of biological
 cultural differences and similarites evolution REMAINS an important question for deciphering
o Human Biology & Culture how we are both similar and different from other animals
 Primary concern of modern anthropology (in the years following WWII) (gorillas, chimpanzees az closest living relatives)
 Continues to be the primary focus of today o Archaeology
- Anthropologists  Shares many of its research methods with biological anthropology
o Broadly concerned w the said differences & similarities (past & present, local & int’l) (i.e.archaeological dig)
- Anthropology (20th century)  Focus on human technology or material culture
o Four main subdisciplines:
 Materials that:
 Biological/Physical Anthropology
o Human beings purposefully create either as tools to adapt to
 Focuses on human biology their environments
 Archaeology o Serve as meaningful expressions of their experience
 Centers on human technology and material culture  Artifact
 Linguistic Anthropology  Key concept in archaeology
 Concentrates on language  Object created by humans
 Cultural Anthropology
 “Point is not about collecting artifacts.”
 Addresses culture o Archaeologists place these artifacts within a LARGER SOCIAL
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 Religion – Economics
- FROM BIOLOGY TO CULTURE TO APPLICATION: ON THE SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY  Village – Large cities
o Physical/Biological Anthropology  Weapons of war – Arts and craft
 Concerned primarily with human biology o Archaeologists use artifacts to uncover the secrets of human
 Evolution (Biological Change) society (both past & present)
 Unifying concept in biological anthropology o Linguistic Anthropology
 Biological Anthropologists  Focuses exclusively on language
 Conceptualize human biology in VERY BROAD TERMS (does many  Central role in defining who we are as humans
things, in short)  Depend on language like no other animal (to survive)
o Social problem of race – Actual biological complexity of  Use to communicate complex ideas & concepts
populations  Very heart of culture
o Disease – Health  Rich source of expressing the diversity of human experience
o Heredity – Genetics
 Contains the whole range of an individual society’s collective
experience
o Love – English (may be translated as “respect” in another
language)
 Helps linguistic anthropologists understand that
NOT EVERYONE SEES THE WORLD IN THE SAME
WAY.
 Diversity of languages reflect, which, shapes our
uniqueness
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
o Idea that language NOT ONLY reflects but can also shape how
we think and how we act
o Important concept for understanding differences across
cultural groups
o “Love” and “Respect”
 May index similar human feelings
 But their historical use and development within
particular cultural contexts
 Help linguist anthropologists understand
how certain feelings are thought about and
acted upon differently
 Communication
o Central concept in linguistics
 Because language can mean both spoken and
nonspoken discourse
o Use of arbitrary symbols to impart meaning
 Certain sounds/gestures have no inherent meaning
in and of themselves
 We assign meaning to them; through them impart
meaning to others
o EXAMPLE:
 Belch
 Rude in a polite group in US
 Treated as compliment in other countries
 Slight nod of the head
 Yes – US
 Might mean less/no meaning at all – other
countries
o It’s not the gesture of nodding or
the sound of belching itself, BUT
RATHER, the meaning behind the
gesture/sound
 Help linguistic anthropologists seek to understand
the intricacies of human communication within
larger social contexts (past & present)
o Cultural Anthropology
 Often called sociocultural anthropology
 Shares with anthropological linguistics a focus on human communication
 Culture
 Central, driving concept (broader in scope)
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL SENSE: shared and negotiated system of
meaning informed by knowledge that:
o People learn
o Put into practice by:
 Interpreting experience
 Generating behavior
 Lens through which we all view the world
 Which produces the human differences found in our world
o American society vs. French society
o Town vs. Another town
o Family vs. Another family
 We all share similarities in culture
o Meanings of:
 Birth
 Marriage
 Inheritance
 Death
 Cultural anthropologists study culture to understand the powerful role it
has in our lives.
o Applied Anthropology
 “fifth” subfield of anthropology
 Application of anthropology to human problems
 More of a perspective
  Approach that’s applied in ALL areas of anthropology o AS A DRIVING CONCEPT BEHIND BOTH THE THEORY AND
 From biological anthropology and archaeology to linguistic and PRACTICE OF THE FIELD
cultural anthropology  Reminds us that REGARDLESS whether we are
o Forensic Anthropologists biological, archaeological, linguistic, or cultural
 Apply biological anthropology to solve, for example, anthropologists…
murder cases  Anthropology – ultimately concerned with
o Cultural Resource-Management Archaeologists understanding the human condition in ALL of
 Apply archaeological research to federal and state its complexities
mandates to preserve the historical and o Anthropologists realize that there are a number of was to
archaeological record for the future understand these human complexities.
o Medical Anthropologists  Literature & Art – Science & Mathematics
 Apply biological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology  Tho each are a distinct area of study that
to address health problems leads us to understand human beings in a
unique way
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 Taken together, they give us a greater
- HOLISM AND COMPARATIVISM understanding of the whole.
o How do anthropologists MAKE SENSE OF ALL THIS VARIED INFORMATION about o Anthropology continues to be heavily influenced by the:
humans?  Sciences (biology, physics, chemistry)
o Doesn’t a focus LIMITED ONLY to biology or culture leave us with an incomplete  Humanities (history, literature, music)
picture of the human experience in all of its complexities?  EXAMPLE:
o Could Boas have formulated his critique of social evolution and race WITHOUT  Scientific method
UNDERSTANDING HUMANS in both biological & cultural terms? o What biological and archaeological
o Anthropology anthropology heavily depend on
 Extremely broad & far-fetching discipline  Interpretive method
 TWO MAIN CONCEPTS (organize subfields into a larger whole): o what linguistic and cultural
 Holism anthropology heavily depend on
o Emphasizes the whole rather than the parts o also common in fields like historical
o Also called ‘holistic perspective’ and literary studies
 Understanding of the big picture (can often be lost  HENCE, there are anthropologists who consider
by focusing solely on details) themselves as scientists or artisans, or both.
o Encourages us to understand humans as both biological and o Most anthropologists realize that, ultimately, we are part of
cultural beings (living in both past and present) a much larger disciplinary project
o “The relationships in all that is human is especially  Regardless of our individual methodologies or
important to holism.” interests
o Inherent to anthropology o Anthropology
 Philosophical construct that underlies anthropology  Indeed MUCH BROADER than the sciences or
humanities taken by themselves
 
Comparativism o What is culture, anthropologically speaking?
o Broadly based approach  ANTHROPOLOGISTS: has a different meaning from the way that “culture” is
o Makes the holistic perspective possible used in everyday English.
o Search for similarities and differences between and among  USUALLY… when we think of culture, what comes immediately to
human beings (in all of their biological and cultural mind might include various traditions, customs, beliefs, ceremonies,
complexities) foods, or the kinds of clothes people wear
 “We regularly compare ourselves with others, with o Idea of culture
other religions, or with other ways of life”  Comes closest to one of the first culture definitions used by anthropologists
 HENCE, we define for ourselves how we are  Edward Burnett Tylor (written in 1871)
similar and different from others. o Early British anthropologist
o ANTHROPOLOGY: o “Culture… taken in its WIDE ETHNOGRAPHIC SENSE is that
 Comparativism – use of DIVERSE INFORMATION complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
from all of the subfields (both biologically & law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired
culturally based) by man as member of society”
 From many different populations to make  Tho he developed his definition of culture to
generalizations about the complexity of elaborate the stages of social evolution
human beings  But NONETHELESS, Tyler’s definition helped to hint
 To “compare” – understand the GENERAL TRENDS early on that…
that make human life what it is  behavior, or knowledge, or customs, or
 Evolution – Language – Society habits were PRIMARILY LEARNED rather
 “Without comparison, we become lost in than inscribed in our biology.
the details.” o Tyler’s definition of culture
o HENCE, makes comparativism the  BOAS & MODERN ANTHROPOLOGY:
method that makes holism possible  Tyler’s definition took on a new meaning outside the framework of
o Anthropology, the subfields, Applied Anthropology, Holism, and Comparativism social evolution
 What does it all mean? o Meaning close to the idea of culture most often used in
 AZ ORGANIZING CONCEPTS: important because they constitute the English today
conceptual tools that anthropologists use to critique simplistic  Employed by anthropologists for many years
notions of human diversity  Common in introductory textbooks in 1950s & 1960s
o Critique begun by Boas (carried out by succeeding (some even seen today)
generations of anthropologists) o To be sure, we can see differences among people in culture
 CORE CONCEPTS: that anthropologists use to build a more complex  Ancient Greeks
understanding of human biology and culture  Often bury their dead
 Ancient Parsees
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 People of Southeast Asia
- DEFINING CULTURE  Once exposed their dead to the elements
 Bedouin
  Middle Eastern people Culture is a complex system of meaning created and maintained by
 Men may have multiple wives people.
 Pahari o Same can be said for all systems/networks of interacting
 People in the Northwest Nepal people who inscribe meaning on experience
 Women may have multiple husbands  OVERALL in an ANTHROPOLOGICAL SENSE:
 Southern Baptists  Culture is a shared and negotiated system of meaning informed by
 Live mostly in Southern US knowledge that people learn and put into practice by interpreting
 Often encourage witnessing to the “unsaved” experience and generating behavior.
 Primitive Baptists
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 Also live mostly in Southern US
 Often discourage witnessing to the unsaved - CULTURE AS A SHARED AND NEGOTIATED SYSTEM OF MEANING
 Tyler’s definition of culture, HOWEVER, emphasizes on things and -
expressions
o Whether we are identifying different burial customs,
marriage, practices, or beliefs
 We are THOUGH identifying the by-products or
artifacts of culture (not the culture itself)
 We should not be fooled into thinking that the by-product or artifacts
of culture ARE CULTURE ITSELF!!!!
o We should not be fooled into thinking that:
 The messenger is the message
 The means that point us to an end are the end itself
o By-products/Artifacts of culture
 Point us to deeper human meanings
 HENCE, Culture is the meaning behind that which humans produce
o Morals, beliefs, customs, laws
 Things
o Significance that humans give these things
 Meaning
o EXAMPLE:
 American flag
 IS NOT American culture
 But its negotiated meanings are
 American culture is not static
 Not a thing/group of things
