Rather, it is a web of symbols that can help us better understand what that behavior means. With the interpretation of cultures, the distinguished anthropologist clifford geertz developed the concept of thick description, and in so doing, he virtually rewrote the rules of his field. Clifford geertzs research interests gradually shifted from the field studies in indonesia bali and java resulting in the book that was based on his ph. The essays in this volume help us imagine a fully dialectical. Rather than culture as text, these are texts as culture. Ethnographic cognition and writing culture1 christophe heintz. All the human sciences are promiscuous, inconstant, and ill defined. The interpretation of cultures by clifford geertz is a collection of essays that shows the evolving pattern of geertz s thought rather than a singular work with a unified theoretical stance. Clifford geertz, victor turner, mary douglas, claude levistrauss. In its textualist attempt to challenge thenconventional. Schneider department of sociology, yale university the notion that the world is a text, often obscure in its meaning and thus in need of interpretation, has been entertained periodically since falling out of favor in the early modern period.
Clifford geertz s influential definition of religions as providing their members with both an ethos and a worldviewin his terms, both a model for and model of realityhas of late become a neuralgic point of contention in religious studies. At the time of his death, geertz was returning to the general question of ethnic diversity and its implications in the modern world. Geertz wrote about it in his article thick description. An analytic overview clifford geertz s book, local knowledge. He asserts that the essentially semiotic nature of culture has implications for the social sciences in. Writing culture and beyond before writingculture one anthropological paradigm that highly influenced writing culture was clifford geertzs interpretive anthropology, which opened the discipline. Contents preface part i 4 chapter 11 thick description. Following max webber, geertz views people as being entangled in webs of meaning that are of their own making. The most influential aspect of geertz s work has been his emphasis on the importance of the symbolic of systems of meaning as it relates to. Geertz sees rhetoric as central to his own life and work. Toward an interpretive vii theory of culture 3 part ii chapter 21 the impact of the concept of culture on the concept of man 33 chapter 31 the growth of culture and the evolution of mind 55 part iii chapter 41 religion as a cultural system 87 chapter 51 ethos, world view, and the analysis of. Clifford geertz and the concept of culture cambridge core. Oct 28, 2010 this volume, edited by james clifford and georges marcus and published in 1986, has achieved iconic status in the englishspeaking world. The interpretation of cultures clifford geertz staff uny.
Toward an interpretive theory of culture geertz outlines four parameters for an adequate thick description and a study of culture. Writing culture is the most important and sustained attempt to pass beyond isolated. With respect to such philosophical underpinnings, geertz s position remains as he outlined it in the 1973 essay mentioned above. The impact of the concept of culture on the concept of man. Debating self, identity, and culture in anthropology. Clifford geertz 1926present is best known for his ethnographic studies of javanese culture java is an indonesian island south of borneo and for his writings about the interpretation of culture. Western writers no longer portray nonwestern peoples with unchallenged authority. Geertz feminist anthropology tylor play of tropes w. Geertz s anthropological definition was the most cited in the literature at that time and still has great purchase in contemporary research. At the heart of the interpretive anthropology clifford geertz pioneered, or at least popularised. Culture is a complicated web of significance geertz argues that cultures are very complex manmade concepts. The term thick description was made famous by anthropologist clifford geertz who wrote in this style as a way of capturing his brand of ethnography in the 1970s. A few zealots persist in the old keytotheuni verse view of it.
Religion as a cultural system 91 a system of symbols which acts to. May 27, 2006 still, geertzs essay is of more than purely historical interest. Anthropologys denial of others selves anthropologists write easily about the identity of those they study in the sense of something shared with others, but they have much more dif. Like the publication of the interpretation of cultures by clifford geertz a decade earlier, one may speak of ethnographic style before and after writing culture. Toward an interpretive theory of culture i in her book, philosophy in a new key, susanne langer remarks that certain ideas burst upon the intellectual landscape with a tremendous force. This book published in 1973, and we are still in the start of 20, i can predict that this will be my favorite book for the hole of 20. Writing and interpretation article pdf available in sociologija 441 january 2002 with 1,891 reads how we measure reads. Geertz s metaphor suggests turning our anthropological subjects into texts to then read, but this dismisses the uniqueness of anthropological. Writing culture and concomitant texts, which deals with the poetics and politics of ethnography, as its subtitle reads. This is a digital version of material made under licence from the rightsholder, and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. This volume, edited by james clifford and georges marcus and published in 1986, has achieved iconic status in the englishspeaking world. Clifford geertz 1926present began his academic career at antioch college in ohio as an english major and went on to study anthropology at harvard.
Writing culture anthropology oxford bibliographies. This is no easy task, for, rather like culture, symbol has been used to refer to a great variety of things, often a. Culture is then understood to be a system of common symbols and meanings. Clifford geertz, american cultural anthropologist, a leading rhetorician and proponent of symbolic anthropology and interpretive anthropology.
Writing about the theoretical background to cultural studies, hall starts from the. By calling for a semiotic approach to culture, geertz sought to distinguish culture from social structures. Thin description for geertz is not only an insufficient account of an aspect of a culture. The most influential aspect of geertz s work has been his emphasis on the importance of the symbolic of systems of meaning as it relates to culture, cultural change, and the study of culture. Further essays in interpretive anthropology,1 picks up where his pathbreaking the interpretation of cultures2 left off. Such a tremendous weight is being put on the term symbol here that our first move must be to decide with some precision what we are going to mean by it. Writing culture argues that ethnography is in the midst of a political and epistemological crisis.
Geertz 1988, tends to substitute the facile delights of selfexploration for the. Working in the present 1991 lila abulughod editors introduction when clifford geertz wrote that a semiotic approach to culture challenged the assumption of a clear divide. Geertzs response to this situation is most succinctly laid out in his famous essay, thick description, from which the following selection is excerpted. You can read that article for free here, but its pretty hard to read so ive provided a summary of this seminal text below. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. Geertz is distinguished not only by his interpretive method with its focus on the study of symbolic action and meaning, but also by his verbose, witty, and hyperliterate writing style, best represented in the essay form of which he was a master. Pdf the interpretation of cultures download full pdf book. Province to consider oral religious texts and the writing of culture. Geertz s preoccupation with seeing science and scholarship as rhetorical, as socially constructed, that makes his work so eminently appealing to many of us in rhetoric and composition. The geertz article, thick description geertz 1973 takes issue with the state of anthropological practices in understanding culture. Navy in world war ii 194345, geertz studied at antioch college, ohio b. I think also that this book made a so great impact on my imagination that i have changed my focus from sociologyphilosophy to cultural anthropology. Geertzs anthropological definition was the most cited in the literature at that time and still has great purchase in contemporary research.
From his college days as an english major at antioch college and a copyboy at the new york post to 1988. The continued popularity of this piece is due in no small part to geertz s fluid prose, sharp observation, and selfdepreciating humor. Clifford geertz anthropology oxford bibliographies. Writing culture anthropological movement britannica. Clifford geertz was a cultural anthropologist whose work focused on interpreting the symbols he believed give meaning and order to peoples lives. The authors analyze classic examples of cultural description, from. The essays produced were a result of intensive discussions held at the school of american research in sante fe, new mexico in 1984. May 06, 2012 culture is the center of clifford geertz s discussion in thick description. Instead a wellelaborated framework and a vocabulary in which core concepts culture. Each set presents a full contextualizing introduction by the editor and draws upon articles that map.
In understanding the artifact, one must understand the flow of social discourse that produced it, the discourse it freezes, and the way it is used in subsequent social action. Womens rich expressive culture, including religious culture, is oral. Perhaps one of the most widely read anthropological essays, deep play. According to geertz an ethnographer must present a thick description which is composed not only of facts but also of commentary, interpretation and interpretations of those comments and interpretations. Having called various sorts of spirits from the vasty deep, writes geertz, i thought it necessary to show that at least some of them had come geertz 2000.
Clifford geertz american anthropologist britannica. Geertz is in fact trying to turn ryles concept into the pillar. A summary of thick description the interpretation of. Although writing culture was to give rise to multifaceted debates on reflexivity, objectivity, epistemology, culture, ethnography of the world system, and the politics of representation, the text itself primarily dealt with the poetics of ethnography, largely sidelining political and epistemological matters. The ethnographers role is to observe and analyse a culture by interpreting signs to understand deeper meanings within the context of that culture. Toward an interpretive theory of culture study questions 1. On the accounts of the proponents of culture themselves e.
Theory of culture 3 part ii chapter 21 the impact of the concept of culture on. Apr 09, 1995 in writing culture, a collection of essays on the anthropologist as writer, crapanzano contributes by far the fiercest attack on geertz, lacing with exuberant contempt into geertz s penchant for. In this essay, i will be discussing geertzs contributions to anthropology, and what i have interpreted these contributions as myself. Clifford geertz i have chosen this essay on geertz, as the information i received in class i found interesting and wanted to elaborate on the knowledge i already had. Geertz s response to this situation is most succinctly laid out in his famous essay, thick description, from which the following selection is excerpted. Clifford geertz, cultural anthropologist, is dead at 80. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Origins of organizational culture the field of organizational behavior and. Beyond the analysis of specific authors, wprks and lives hints at geertz s literary epistemology, his underlying notions of what and how ethnographic writing com municates about cultures. He would reflect an early leaning toward functionalism in his essay ethos, worldview and the analysis of sacred symbols, writing. In these new essays, a group of experienced ethnographers, a literary critic, and a historian of anthropology, all known for advanced analytic work on ethnographic writing, place ethnography at the center of a new intersection of social history, interpretive anthropology, travel writing, discourse theory, and textual criticism. Notes on the balinese cockfight by clifford geertz is available online in standard html format, as well as a pdf file.
Selected essays clifford geertz basic books, 1973 chapter i thick description. When discussing what can be referred to as writing about writing anthropology and the scene of writing in geertz 1988, geertz notes that, first of all, there are very few anthropologists that have a distinctive literary style edward sapir, ruth. The interest in quick fixes in much management writing and thinking is unhelpful. His excellent writing and the way in which he captures the spirit of the anthropological process ensures that notes on the balinese cockfight remains one of the most widely used texts in introductory anthropology courses. Geertzs deeply reflective and expressive writings provided profound and cogent insights on the scope of culture, the nature of anthropology and on the understanding of the social sciences in general. In the interpretation of cultures geertz emphasizes that he has borrowed the concept of thick description from ryle and this is not just a case of a borrowed term. How does geertzs example of the difference between a twitch and a wink demonstrate the interpretive relevance of thick description. Nov 01, 2006 clifford geertz was a cultural anthropologist whose work focused on interpreting the symbols he believed give meaning and order to peoples lives. Writing culture is the title of a highly influential volume, edited by james clifford and george marcus in 1986 see clifford and marcus 1986 cited under writing culture debate.
Thick description is a way of writing that includes not only describing and observation usually of human behaviour but also the context in which that behaviour occurs. Between the introduction by james clifford and the afterword piece by george e. Clifford geertz, cultural anthropologist, is dead at 80 the. Geertz 1989, different ways of interpreting culture and the. During geertz s long career he worked through a variety of theoretical phases and schools of thought. In the interpretation of cultures, clifford geertz outlines in broader sense the job of an ethnographer.
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