Anthropology
Anthropology may be dissected into four main
perspectives, firstly physical or biological
anthropology, which is an area
of study concerned with human evolution and human
adaptation. Its main
components are human paleontology, the study of our fossil
records, and human
genetics, which examines the ways in which human beings
differ from each
other. Also adopted are aspects of human ecology, ethnology,
demography,
nutrition, and environmental physiology. From the physical
anthropologist we
learn the capabilities for bearing culture that distinguish us
from other
species. Secondly archaeology, which follows from physical
anthropology,
reassembles the evolution of culture by examining the physical
remains of
past societies. Its difference from physical anthropology being its
concern
with culture rather than the biological aspects off the human
species.
Archaeologists must assess and analyse their subject culture
from accidental
remains, which can only provide an incomplete picture.
Thirdly, Anthropological
linguistics is a field within anthropology which
focuses upon the relationship
between language and cultural behaviour.
Anthropological linguists ask questions
about language and communication to
aid the appraisement of society rather than
a descriptive or linguistic
assessment. For example Freil and Pfeiffer (1977)
cite an assessment of the
Inuit language where there are twelve unrelated words
for wind and twenty-two
for snow, showing the difference in significance by
comparison with our own
society. The deduction being that wind and snow are more
significant to the
Inuit so they scrutinise them more rigorously and can clearly
define them
accordingly. This kind of linguistic analysis facilitates a
better
understanding of a foreign culture to help place it into context to
allow
contrast. Fourthly, social anthropology is the study of human social
life or
society, concerned with examining social behavior and social
relationships. As
the focus of social anthropology is on patterns of social
connection, it is
commonly contrasted with the branch of anthropology that
examines culture, that
is, learnt and inherited beliefs and standards of
behavior and in particular the
meanings, values and codes of conduct.
Cultural anthropology (the study of
culture in its social context) is
associated particularly with American
anthropology (specifically, in the
United States), and social anthropology with
European, especially British
studies, which have tended to be more sociological,
that is, they are more
concerned with understanding society. However, culture
and society are
interdependent, and today the single term "sociocultural
anthropology" is
sometimes used. The social anthropologist uses a number of
cultural
ethnographic studies to construct an ethnological study. A
social
anthropological definition of culture is given by J.P.Spenley in
'The
Ethnographic Interview' (1979), culture is "the acquired knowledge
that
people use to interpret, experience and generate social behaviour". By
this
interpretation culture is not the physical characteristics of any
society but
the reasoning behind those characteristics, it is a body of
implicit and
explicit knowledge shared by a group of people. It is used by
people
individually as a map to determine their behaviour in any given
situation.
Spendley's definition does not divert from the significance of
behaviour,
customs, objects or emotions, these are essential tools for the
anthropologist
which allow the interpretation of culture to facilitate the
tracking down of
cultural meaning. Ethnographic study is a search to uncover
this meaning which
is the root cause of cultural differences and can
therefore be seen as the
definition of any culture. There has been
considerable theoretical debate by
anthropologists over the most useful
attributes that a technical concept of
culture should stress. For example, in
1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn,
American anthropologists,
published a list of 160 different definitions of
culture. A brief table of
this list next page, shows the diversity of the
anthropological concept of
culture. TABLE: Diverse Definitions of Culture:
Topical: Culture consists
of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such
as social
organization, religion, or economy Historical: Culture is social
heritage, or
tradition, that is passed on to future generations Behavioral:
Culture is
shared, learned human behavior, a way of life Normative: Culture is
ideals,
values, or rules for living Functional: Culture is the way humans
solve
problems of adapting to the environment or living together Mental:
Culture is a
complex of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and
distinguish
people from animals Structural: Culture consists of patterned and
interrelated
ideas, symbols, or behaviors Symbolic: Culture is based on
arbitrarily assigned
meanings that are shared by a society. (John H. Bodley,
An Anthropological
Perspective 1994) We tend not to be aware of our
cultural meaning expressed
through our cultural norms, we tend to accept as
correct our cultural
definitions unless confronted by cultural difference, as
Anthony P. Cohen is
quoted in Small Places, Big Issues, "People become aware
of their culture
when they stand at its boundaries: when they encounter other
cultures, or when
they become aware of other ways of doing things, or merely
contradictions to
their own culture". Without ethnographic difference culture
itself would
not exist. Difference allows the expression of social identity,
yet different
social groups must also possess a degree of commonality to
enable them to
interact. The differences and resemblances between cultures
offer an opportunity
for assessment of the characteristics which bound a
particular society, and the
meanings of those characteristics can be learned
through the context of the
particular society or culture. Social
anthropologists must assess cultures in
context to truly understand them. The
context of any culture or society under
examination needs to be appreciated
so that the particular distinctions of that
culture can be properly
understood and translated into terms facilitating
ethnographic and
ethnological study. Context must be learned by the
anthropologist, generally
through prolonged fieldwork to climatise them to the
alien environment and
give an opportunity to learn the language, norms and
values of the subject
society. An ethnological study will require understanding
of at least two
cultures through ethnographic study, thus boiled down to their
pure cultural
meanings by study in context, the meanings are exposed for
comparison.
Comparison of cultural differences is essential for cultural
expression,
comparison is also essential to the anthropologist as it offers
opportunity
for study and understanding. By comparison we judge and measure
almost
everything in our lives, we require comparison to accurately
gain
perspective. Therefore the social anthropologist requires an
understanding of at
least two cultures, perhaps another and his own to
compare aspects of these
societies while looking for interesting areas for
comparison. Social
anthropologists strive to account for actual cultural
variation in the world and
to develop a hypothetical perspective on culture
and society. The only hope of
achieving these goals is through comparison.
For instance, 'The Traveller
Gypsies' by J. Okely (1986) is a study of
traveller society which discusses many
of the idiosyncrasies of that culture
by applying context and therefore reasons
that the anthropologist exposes
genuine differences between the gypsy and the
settled communities.
Differences which when compared in context are enticing and
Informative,
not only in regard to the traveller culture but by reflection on
the settled
community. The gypsy attitude to hygiene and cleanliness for example
has been
a source of friction between them and settled communities, yet when
looked at
in context of their beliefs, that is, the distinctions they make
between the
outer and inner self and their definitions of dirt or 'poluti' are
simply
different from the values and practices of the settled community. When
looked
at in context and by comparison the actions of the travellers seem much
more
rational and in many ways their standards of hygiene are much higher
than
those generally found in the settled community. Thus comparison
provides
information, puts that information in perspective and allows
assessment and
re-assessment of both cultures under comparison. This
demonstrates the essential
nature of culture, context and comparison to the
social anthropologist when
assessing humanity. They are the essential tools
of the trade which allow them
to strip society, analyse and assess its parts
to construct a balanced holistic
picture of society. Cultural differences
cause conflict and division
continuously all over the world. To deal with
this and to enact the required
proper changes necessary to remove the
conflict, an accurate assessment and
understanding of culture is required.
Appropriate social change should only come
from adequate social assessment
and understanding, This is one of the benefits
offered by the social
anthropological perspective through its holistic
approach.
Bibliography
T.H. ERIKSEN "SMALL PLACES/LARGE ISSUES"
LONDON 1996 PLUTO PRESS
J.P. SPENDLEY "THE ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEW" NEW
YORK 1979 HOLT,
REINHART AND WINSTON J. OKELY "THE TRAVELLER GYPSIES"
CAMBRIDGE 1986
UNIVERSITY PRESS J. FRIEL & J.E. PFEIFFER
"ANTHROPOLGY, THE STUDY OF
PEOPLE" NEW YORK 1997 HARPER & ROW IMAGES
SUPPLIED "INTERNET"
(W.W.W.) CLASS
NOTES.