Anthropology

Anthropology

Introduction

Cultural or social anthropology is the study of the science cultural and human behavior and its growth. Cultural anthropologists study the cultural differences that take place in humans when there is a change in the economic, political or cultural occurrences globally (Metcalf 5). The main reason for studying anthropology is to have an understanding of human ways of living and conditions from the past to the present in order to use that knowledge to upgrade those conditions. It helps people understand their culture, values and make their thinking better in relationship with these. Human beings living in diverse places acquire different types of cultures. Sir Edward gave the first anthropological meaning. The creation of cultural anthropology emerged in the 19^th century, which was then known as ethnology. At this time, it involved comparing human societies. E.B Taylor and J.G Frazer worked by using materials, which were gathered by others (Metclaf 6).

Cultural anthropologists

Franz Boas, is honored as the founder of American anthropology. Born in Germany on ninth of July 1958, he is the first person to give anthropology a scientific approach/meaning. Having been studying the Kwakiutl Indians, he was able to get the relationship between race and culture. A number of books have his name. These are such as “The mind of the Primitive Man”, published in 1911 and “Anthropology and Modern Life and Race, Language and Culture” published in1940. One of the theories that Boas came up with was cultural relativism. In this theory, it is taken that all cultures are equal in value and need to be looked at neutrally (Moore 20).

Boas felt that each culture should be looked at with a cold eye so that it can be judged based on its own good points rather than being judged as compared to another. Each culture examines its own ethical values in order to put in place the behaviors of its members. It assumes that individuals find it better to be in a culture they have been enculturated. All this is brought about by two sources. One is the response to the inexactness of the evolutionary system of the comparative school and the second is the longing to look into culture from a point value perception. Robert Lowie, Ruth Benedict, Alfred Kroeber, Ruth Bunzel, Margaret Mead, Melville Herskovits and many others helped him to come up with this research (Gerraro 50).

The tenets of cultural relativism feel that there are no major or minor cultures. Each culture is bound by its own beliefs and it can only be judged in comparison to itself. In conclusion, it was seen that systems of evolution are not objective but ethnocentric. However, the theory had its own limitations, which Boas pointed out. He found out that it is not possible to explain all the similarity in all the types of culture by alleging that they are so due to the togetherness of the human mind. Secondly, the existence of like traits in diverse cultures is not as significant as the relative school claims. Another limitation was that related traits might have been brought out for very different reasons meant in diverse cultures. Finally, the view that cultural differences are of minor importance is baseless.

In continuation with his work, and in order to give a concrete theory, he brought forth the following amendments. Culture traits have to be given a careful study and in the boundaries of the cultural whole. The second was that the allocation of a culture trait within the near cultures should also be observed. This suggests that a culture needs to be thoroughly looked at in the boundaries of its context. Boas felt that this kind of approach would be of assistance to other anthropologists in a number of ways. One is to comprehend the environmental factors that bring out a culture. This would enable them to look at them in a neutral point of view. Another is to explain the psychological factors that surround the culture, and finally yet importantly, to tell the histories of a local practice (Moore 62).

Ruth Benedict is another of the famous American anthropologists who have contributed to some of the theories known. Benedict was once a believer of Boas’ cultural relativism. However, after the outcome of the World War II, Benedict started viewing otherwise. She could not understand how the Nazi culture could be put in the same category as the other cultures. After some research and reviews, she came up with her own concept, which states that people who have a culture that is friendly to human advancements are good, but a culture that works against basic human goals is not human and evil, and can be judged, as it is (Moore 70).

Having studied under Boas at the Columbia University, terms such as racism and culture were greatly used in her works. This was a time when these two terms were viewed quite differently by the society. She is also considered as one of the founders of cultural anthropology. She became of the initial users of anthropology in advanced societies. Her main work, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of the Japanese Culture” published in 1946, greatly explain the patterns of the Japanese and is recommended as useful even today in Japanese studies. This book was very effective in influencing the Americans’ understanding of the Japanese culture in relation to World War II. Her other works are “Patterns of Culture”, published in 1934, “Zuni Mythology”, published in 1935 and ‘Race: Science and Politics”, published in 1940 (Erickson 65).

Ralph Linton, who was born in 1893 and died in 1953, started as an archaeologist. He was involved in doing thorough research in ethnography. He particularly dealt with Madagascar, a tribe known as the Tabala. In his research, he found out the difference between status and role, which is widely used in anthropology. In his name, there are a number books and articles, but one of his major books is “The Study of Man”, published in 1936. According to many teachers, this book is not only relevant in anthropology, but also in sociology, geography, psychology, biology and many more fields. It portrays a level to obtain evidence, interpret it and then use it without distorting it. His other works include The Tree of Culture, published in 1955 and other articles in different journals (Moore 80).

Margaret Mead, who was born in 1901 and later passed on in 1978, is an anthropologist who has contributed to the growth of anthropology. She was also a student of Professor Boas and a colleague of Ruth Benedict. She was involved with a number of field studies in the Pacific. She is mostly remembered for her study in the sex role in girls. This was due to the study on sex roles in Samoa girls. In her study, Margaret studied adolescence sex in the Samoan girls and saw that their transition into women was without crises. She thought that the American families could learn something from the Samoan girls about raising children. As a result, the book Coming of Age in Samoa was published in 1928 (Erickson 89).

However, an Australian Researcher known as Derek Freeman made a critique of his research. He felt that Mead had not taken the biological factors in favor of sex roles in culture. Another of her works was Growing up in New Guinea, which was published in 1930. Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World was also published. This was mostly based on the observations made of the people of the Pacific and the East Indies. In this book, she defended the rights of women and their wish to develop their talents (Moore 90).

Claude Levi-Strauss is another of the great anthropologists who have made a difference in the anthropology field. Born in 1908, he studied philosophy and law. However, he majored in structural anthropology. He is known to have developed the law of binary opposites. This is the competition of good and bad, cooked and raw. In this theory, he reveals how the structures of myths give foundational structures of comprehending cultural relations. According to him, these relations appear as two and oppose each other as to how the good is opposed to the bad or the cooked is opposed to the raw.

Levi felt that myth is a language and has to be told in order to come into being. The myth is both specific and historical for it is based on some time long ago. He continued and explained that myths can be paraphrased, expanded, translated, reduces, unlike something like a poem, without losing it original structure. In his study, he felt that there are a number of similarities between myth and language. Both are made of sections that are joined in accordance with certain rules. Secondly, these sections associate with each other based on opposites, which give the foundation of the structure (Moore 200).

There are a number of works, which have been published in his name. These include Structural Anthropology and Totemism published in 1962, The Raw and the Cooked published in 1969 and The Savage Mind published in 1972. In his conclusion, Strauss felt that the structural myth method brought order out of chaos. He felt that his method was scientific and thus exceeded all the others that had been derived (Ferraro 100).

Conclusion

All these are a few out of other people who have greatly contributed to the scientific world anthropology. More theories and researches are being developed as time goes by since humans change with time and their behaviors, tastes and preferences are sometimes dictated by their environment. Due to civilization and the coming up of technology, the culture of the different societies is changing and more research work is being carried out. All these anthropologists mentioned above have since died, Strauss’ death being the latest but their research work is greatly used and a critique of their work done as time goes by.

 

Works Cited

Erickson, Paul & Liam Murphy. A History of Anthropological Theory. New York, NY: University of Toronto Press, 2008. Print.

Ferraro, Gary. Cultural anthropology: an applied perspective. California, CA: Thompson Learning, 2008. Print

Metcalf, Peter. Anthropology: the basics. Oxon, OX: Routledge, 2005. Print

Moore, Jerry. Visions of culture: an introduction to anthropological theories and theorists. California, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004. Print

 

 

 

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