Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Culture as a Central Concept

What is Anthropology?

The word is from two Greek terms: Anthropos: man or by extension human Logos: study of or science of But any field from medicine to law is about humans

Anthropology: Study of Culture

We might define anthropology as The holistic and comparative study Of humankind and its culture As observed in the field As reconstructed in the past As reflected in language that carries it And as shown in the biological capacity for it But what is culture?

Culture: Anthropologys Main Concept

E.B. Tylor, anthropologys founder, gave a definition to start with: That complex whole which includes Knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom And any other capabilities and habits Acquired by man [both genders] As a member of society

Concept of Culture

All cultures have at least five characteristics in common: Culture is learned Culture is based on symbols Culture is shared Culture is patterned or integrated Culture is usually adaptive

Culture is Learned

All we do, say, or believe is learned, as these photos show. Yanomamo mother is about to teach her daughter gardening Yanomamo boys learning to hunt by shooting a lizard Enculturation: learning the ways of a culture

Culture is not Genetically Acquired

We inherit our capacity for culture But unlike bees, we do not inherit our abilities This scout is dancing figure-eights to Tell the other bees where the pollen source is But this ability is genetic Our behavior is learned

Culture is Not Acquired by Conditioning

This dog learned to carry the remote to its owner After being rewarded with something elsea bone or biscuit These parrots learned to talk Owing to food reward for doing so Both dog and birds were conditioned We do not learn culture only from rewards for desired behavior

Culture is Acquired Through Symbols

Culture is learned through language Babies learn language from birth: Through language they acquire culture Language is based on symbols Their capacity for language is inherited But not their own language.

What is a Symbol?

Definition: Object or event that is Intrinsically unrelated to another Thing or event to which it refers Example: This U.S. Flag What do the stars represent? What do the stripes represent? Do we confuse the stars with the U.S. States? Do we confuse the stripes with the 13 Colonies? So both the stars and stripes are symbols

There Are Other Symbols

What does the octagon represent? How about the inverted triangle? Again, would you confuse the two with stop or yield? But the arrow does have an intrinsic meaning: It tell you where to go The Mayan figures are using a language This is the most symbolic event of all Even what they wear is symbolicof nobility and their Maya-ness

Cultures are Based on Symbolism Called Language Expression cat comprises 3 sounds:
C-a-t or in International Phonetic Alphabet [k t]: IPA is designed for one letter, one sound [k] means nothing, nor do [] or [t] Put together, they mean a feline animal But you wouldnt confuse cat with the symbol Switch them around and you have [ k t] act Bottom line: none of the three sounds has any meaning, in and of itself But they can be combined to mean many things Culture is just as adaptive as language

Symbolism and Culture

Symbols are the root of all culture Bees cannot change their behavior Dogs cannot be trained except by imitation and reward But humans can change behavior at will Evidence: Cultures are diverse Evidence: Cultures can and do change

Culture is Shared

A group with common language and custom shares a culture Groups may be as small as 50 (!Kung band seen here) They may comprise nation of millions (e.g. Japan, shown by these schoolgirls here)

Shared Behavior and Subcultures

Definition: subcultures share some features with dominant culture But have distinctive attributes of their own Counterculture is regarded by some as a subculture (Frank Zappa, counterculture icon, had a Berlin street named after him) But the counterculture did not survive into the next generation

Shared Behavior and Subcultures:

The Amish are a true subculture Amish seem similar to dominant culture (farm in Indiana) Until you notice all farming Is by horsepower (literally) There are no machines, no cars Other features: have own (German) schools, communes, Anabaptist religion The Amish have persisted through the generations since the 17th cent.

Culture is Patterned/Integrated

One aspect of culture reflects other aspects They all fit into a pattern as a whole Examples of integration Extreme example: Teotihuacans pyramid (upper) probably werent built by tribesmen like these Kawelka But pig feasts did fit in with Kawelka tribal culture. How?

Example of Cultural Integration: Pyramid Construction To construct a pyramid like the

To construct a pyramid like the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan You need a large crew Organized by a state-level society Similar to this depiction at an Assyrian site And a large population base Estimated at 75,000-200,000

Example of Cultural Integration: Kawelka

The Kawelka of New Guinea Organize their culture around pig feasts held every decade There is no state; war was prevalent Big men like Ongka (left) directed both war and feasts Unlike emperors, he could not boss his tribesmen around Population was about 1,000 Pig feasts replaced warfare

Culture is Generally Adaptive

Technology generally reflects features of environment Settled communities: usually indicate stable food supply, Such as the Aztec chinampas (raised platforms) Grasslands are best for pastoralism, Such as this Mongolian camp Cultures can become poorly adapted during rapid change

So How Do We Define Anthropology?

Your syllabus: The Comparative and Holistic Study of Humankind Comparative: Tries to answer the questions of why cultures are the way they are Holistic: Asks two questions: Ethnographic Holism: Asks whether, and if so how, all parts of a culture fit together Disciplinary Holism: Ask how all the four subfields of anthropology fit together

Four Fields of Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: The comparative study of cultures around the world Archaeology: The comparative study of past cultures through its material cultural remains Physical Anthropology: The comparative study of human attributes, past and present Linguistics: The study of spoken language, a distinctly human trait How they fit: all involve a question about culture: where it came from, what it entails

Defining Cultural Anthropology

It involves the study of mostly nonWestern cultures Central concern is kinship, because marriage and family are our first institutions Also includes technology, from hunting to housebuilding Economic Anthropology: how goods and services are produced and distributed Political Anthropology: The study of power and social control Other areas: the supernatural, psychology, culture change, arts and oral tradition

Defining Archaeology

Reconstruction of past cultures: focus is on techniques Looks at artifacts: portable objects from tools to Venus sculptures Looks at structures: Huts to pyramids Excavations destroy everything: Objects have to be measured exactly where found before removal

Defining Physical Anthropology

The studies of past and present human forms Comparative Primate Anatomy: How similar or different we are from the monkeys and apes Fossil Hominins: How we evolved from Australopithecus (Lucy) to Homo Cultural Capacity: Defines how we acquired ability to speak, make tools, walk on two feet Human Variation: Study of so-called racesa present concern Forensic Science: Tracing evidence of criminal activity

Defining Linguistics

The study of spoken language around the world Focuses on phones (speech sounds) and phonemes (sound units that carry language) Looks at word and sentence formation Relates language to culture

The Rationale for Comparison: Science

Heres a cross-cultural question in economics: When do cultures need money and markets? Partial Answer: When everyone cannot produce everything for themselves We can test this proposition against a wide range of cultures Examples: Aztecs, West Africa, Haiti Exceptions: The Inca, with limited markets but an administrative economy. Why?

Economics: Focus is on industrial societies Sociology: Social relations in industrial societies Psychology: Study of hang-ups in industrial societies Anthropology provides data on all these aspects Across all cultures around the world.

The Point of Comparison: Anthropology Vs. Other Disciplines

Anthropology is Holistic

Ethnographic Holism: The fit between different parts of a culture Example: The pig feasts among the Kawelka Example: The political prerequisites of pyramid building Disciplinary Holism: Ask why we include the following under anthropology Physical Anthropology Linguistics Cultural Anthropology Archaeology

Blind Men as Metaphor of the Social Sciences

Economics focuses on economic man (and woman) Political science is about humans hungry for power Psychology is about human with various drives: sexual, hunger, prestige Sociology is about social humans

Anthropology as Holistic

Culture is intangible, so in a sense Anthropologists (and everyone else) Has a blindness of sorts And so all disagree what culture is. Cultures cannot be described Without understanding how their parts fit Both elephants and cultures are more than the sum of their parts

Tying The Subfields to Culture: Physical Anthropology Our brain:

Source of our language Source of our tool-making ability Our Lungs and Mouth: Our ability to speak Our Arms and Hands: Our ability to make and use tools Our Bipedal Skeleton: Our ability to stand, walk, and ability to do all of the above

Tying the Subfields to Culture: Linguistics

We learn everything through language: Even the blind and deaf (Helen Keller and Ann Sullivan) We can think of things not tangible: math equations, things not present, things nonexistent We can produce new words where necessary, from blip to iPod

Tying the Subfields to Culture: Archaeology

Comparative study primarily of cultural remains of human societies (Even stone tools are hard to identify) Human and prehuman physical remains are also important (Did Neanderthals mate with human? Both archaeologists and physical anthros would like to know) Comparison of past cultures is also essential

Explaining Cultures

Popular Approaches Religious Beliefs Ethnocentrism Culture Bound Approaches Scientific Approaches Humanistic Approaches

Field Techniques

Observation Participant Observation Open or Unstructured Interviews Closed or Structured Interviews Technological Enhancements
Audiotape and Videotape Recordings Aerial Photographs

Why Cultural Anthropology? Tylors Answer E.B. Tylor (1871):

Knowledge from remote past Helps us to forecast the future and Fulfill our duty to leave the world better than we found it. Today we know more than Tylor and his colleagues did We can ask more specific research questions than they could We can provide some insight about the trajectory of our own societywhere its going

Why Cultural Anthropology? To Beat Ethnocentrism To question

To question Western assumptions about Individual behavior (psychology) Economic behavior (economics) Political behavior (political science) The Supernatural (theology)

Why Cultural Anthropology? To Apply the Ethnographic Record

To see what has been done about problems besetting all culture To see if addressing problems in the past can be applied to todays cultures or cultures To see what will happen if we continue what we are doing now (global warming; extremes in wealth and poverty [diagram]; wars) To see what could be done to improve society

Scope of This Course

Foundations of Culture Elements of Culture Research Techniques and Methods Biological Factors of Culture Linguistics and Culture

Components of Culture

Marriage, Family, and Kinship Economic Anthropology Political and Legal Anthropology Psychological Anthropology Anthropology of the Supernatural Globalization and Culture Change

Conclusion

Anthropology is the study of humankind It involves four aspects Study of Humans as Biological Creatures Study of Humans as Creatures of Language Study of Humans as Culture-Bearers in the past Study of Humans as Cultures-Bearers of the Present These all concern cultural anthropology But the immediate concern is the present and the future