Cultural Anthropology 1.docx

Cultural Anthropology 1.docx

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CulturalAnthropology1

CulturalAnthropology

FirstCanadianEdition

WilliamA.Haviland

UniversityofVermont

GaryW.Crawford

UniversityofToronto

ShirleyA.Fedora

UniversityofSaskatchewan

THOMSON

NELSON

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NationalLibraryofCanadaCataloguinginPublicationData

Haviland,WilliamA.

Culturalanthropology

1stCanadianed.

Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex

ISBN0-7747-3768-9

1Ethnology.I.Crawford,OaryW.II.Fedorak,ShirleyIII.Title.

clN316.H382002a306C2002-9001si-x

PART1AnthropologyandtheStudyofCulture

Chapter1:

TheNatureofAnthropology

ChapterPreview

1.WhatisAnthropology?

Anthropology,thestudyofhumankindeyerywhere,throughouttime,seekstoproducereliableknowledgeaboutpeopleandtheirbehaviour,bothaboutwhatmakesthemdifferentandwhattheyallshareincommon.

2.WhatDoAnthropologistsDo?

Physicalanthropologists（oftencalledbiologicalanthropologistsinCanada）studyhumansasbiologicalorganisms,tracingtheevolutionarydevelopmentofthehumananimalandlookingatbiologicalvariationswithinthespecies,pastandpresent.Theyalsostudythephysicalandbehaviouralnatureofourclosestbiologicalrelatives:

nonhumanprimatessuchasmonkeysandapes.Archaeologistsseektoexplainhumanbehaviourbystudyingmaterialcultureofpastculturesandincertaincases,oflivingpeople.Linguisticanthropologistsstudythewaylanguageisusedasaresourceforpractising,developing,andtransmittingaculture.Theystudyhowpeopleuselanguageandothermeansofexpressiontodeveloprelationshipswitheachotherandtomaintainsocialdistinctiveness.Socio-culturalanthropologistsareconcernedwithrecentandcontemporaryhumancultures,astheyhavebeenobserved,experienced,anddiscussedwithpeoplewhoseculturetheyseektounderstand.

3.HowDoAnthropologistsDoWhatTheyDo?

Anthropologists,incommonwithotherscientists,areconcernedwithexplainingobservedphenomena.Mostanthropologicalinvestigationinvolvesfieldwork.Physicalanthropologistsandarchaeologists,concernedwithbiologicalandculturalevolution,mostoftenconductexcavationsofsiteswhereevidenceofthepastisfound.Linguisticanthropologistsstudyhowpeopleuselanguagetorelatetoeachother,usuallylivingforbriefperiodswiththepeoplewhoselanguagetheyarestudying.Socio-culturalanthropologists,ontheotherhand,aremorelikelytoimmersethemselvesinacontemporaryculture6ylivingwiththepeople,participatingintheirdailyactivities,andobserving,firsthand,howtheylive.

Foraslongastheyhavelivedonearth,peoplehaveneededanswerstoquestionsaboutwhotheyare,wheretheycamefrom,andwhytheyactastheydo.Throughoutmostoftheirhistory,though,peoplereliedonmythandfolklorefortheiranswerstothesequestions,ratherthanthesystematictestingofdataobtainedthroughcarefulobservation.Anthropology,overthepast200years,hasemergedasascientificapproachtoansweringthesequestions.Simplystated,anthropologyisthestudyofhumankindinallplacesandthroughouttime.Theanthropologistisconcernedprimarilywithasinglespecies—Homosapiens—thehumanspecies,itsancestors,anditsnearrelatives.Becauseanthropologistsaremembersofthespeciestheystudy,itisdifficultforthemtomaintainascientificdetachmenttowardthosetheystudy.This,ofcourse,ispartofalargerprobleminscience.AsoneleadingNorthAmericanscientistputsit:

Natureisobjective,andnatureisknowable,butwecanonlyviewherthroughaglassdarkly—andmanycloudsuponourvisionareofourownmaking:

socialandculturalbiases,psychologicalpreferences,andmentallimitations（inuniversalmodesofthought,notjusthumanstupidity）.

Thehumancontributiontothisequationofdifficultybecomesevergreaterasthesubjectunderinvestigationcomesclosertotheheartofourpracticalandphilosophicalconcerns.

Sincenothingcomesclosertotheheartofourpracticalandphilosophicalconcernsthanourselvesandothersofourkind,canweeverhopetogaintrulyobjectiveknowledgeaboutpeoples’behaviour?

Anthropologistsworryaboutthisagreatdealbuthavefoundthatbymaintainingacriticalawarenessoftheirassumptions,andconstantlytestingtheirconclusionsagainstnewsourcesofdata,theycanachieveausefulunderstandingofhumanbehaviour.Byscientificallyapproachinghowpeoplelive,anthropologistshavelearnedagreatdealbothabouthumandifferencesandaboutthemanythingsallhumanshaveincommonbeneathallthesedifferences.

THEDEVELOPMENTOFANTHROPOLOGY

Althoughworksofanthropologicalsignificancehaveaconsiderableantiquity—twoexamplesaretheaccountsofotherpeoplesbyHerodotustheGreekandbytheArabIbnKhaldun,writteninthe5thcenturyB.C.and14thcenturyA.D.,respectively—anthropologyasadistinctfieldofinquiryisarelativelyrecentproductofWesternsociety.InCanada,forexample,undertheguidanceofSirDanielWilson,theUniversityofTorontoofferedthefirstanthropologycourseinNorthAmericain1860.Ifpeoplehavealwaysbeenconcernedaboutthemselvesandothersandtheirorigins,whythendidittakesuchalongtimeforasystematicdisciplineofanthropologytoappear?

Theanswertothisisascomplexashumanhistory.Inpart,itrelatestothelimitsofhumantechnology.Throughoutmostofhistory,peoplehavebeenrestrictedintheirgeographicalhorizons.Withoutthemeanstotraveltodistantpartsoftheworld,observationofculturesandpeoplesfarfromhomewasadifficult—ifnotimpossible—venture.Extensivetravelwasusuallytheexclusiveprerogativeofafew;thestudyofforeignpeoplesandcultureswasnotlikelytoflourishuntiladequatemodesoftransportationandcommunicationcouldbedeveloped.

Thisisnottosaypeoplehavealwaysbeenunawareoftheexistenceofothersintheworldwholookandactdifferentlyfromthemselves.TheOldandNewTestamentsoftheBible,forexample,arefullofreferencestodiversepeoples,amongthemJews,Egyptians,Hittites,Babylonians,Ethiopians,Romans,andsoforth.Thedifferencesamongthesepeoplepalebycomparisonwiththosebetweenanyofthemand（forexample）aboriginalpeoplesofAustralia,theAmazonforest,ortheCanadianArctic.Withthemeanstotraveltotrulyfarawayplaces,peoplefounditpossibletomeetandobserve,forthefirsttime,radicallydifferentpeople.Itwasthemassiveencounterwithhithertounknownpeoples,whichcameasEuropeanssoughttoextendtheirtradeandpoliticaldominationtoallpartsoftheworld,thatfocusedattentiononhumandifferencesinalltheirglory.

Anothersignificantelementthatcontributedtotheslowgrowthofanthropologywasthefail-tireofEuropeanstorecognizethatbeneathallthedifferences,theymightshareabasic“humanity”withpeopleeverywhere.SocietiesthatdidnotsharethefundamentalculturalvaluesofEuropeanswerelabelledas“savage”or“barbarian.”Notuntilthelate18thcenturydidasignificantnumberofEuropeansconsiderthebehaviourofsuchpeopleatallrelevanttoanunderstandingofthemselves.Thisgrowinginterestinhumandiversity,comingwheneffortstoexplainrealityintermsofnaturallawswereincreasing,castdoubtsonthetraditionalbiblicalmythology,whichnolongeradequately“explained”humandiversity.

AlthoughanthropologyoriginatedwithinthecontextofWesternsociety,ithaslongsincegoneglobal.Today,itisanexcitinginternationaldisciplinewhosepractitionersaredrawnfromdiversesocietiesinallpartsoftheworld.EvensocietiesthathavelongbeenstudiedbyEuropeanandNorthAmericananthropologists—FirstNationspeoplesofCanada,forexample—haveproducedanthropologistswhocontinuetomaketheirmarkonthediscipline.Theirdistinctiveperspectiveshelpshednewlightnotonlyontheirownsocietiesbutonothers（includingWesternsocieties）aswell.

Person

FatherJoseph-FrancoisLafitau（1681-1746）

InCanada,earlyanthropologicalstudiesbeganinthe18thand19thcenturywiththehelpofdedicatedscholarsinterestedinthestudyofhumanculture,TwoearlycontributorstoCanadiananthropology,neitherofwhomwereacademicanthropologistswereFatherJoseph-FrancolsLafitauandSirDanielWilson.

FatherLafitauwasaJesuitmissionarywholivedwiththeIroquoisnearMontrealfrom715toI720.AlthoughFatherLafitauismostoftencreditedwithdiscoveringwildginsenginNorthAmericahisfirsthandobservationsandscholarlywritingsprovidedvaluableinsightintotheplants,animals,andpeopleoftheregion.HenotedapossibleconnectionbetweenAsianpeoples,whousedginsengover15000year