An Analysis of Clifford Geertz's The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (The Macat Library)

"Clifford Geertz has been called 'the most original anthropologist of his generation' -- and this reputation rests largely on the huge contributions to the methodology and approaches of anthropological interpretation that he outlined in The Interpretation of Cultures. The centrality of interpretative skills to anthropology is uncontested: in a subject that is all about understanding mankind, and which seeks to outline the differences and the common ground that exists between cultures, interpretation is the crucial skillset. For Geertz, however, standard interpretative approaches did not go deep enough, and his life's work concentrated on deepening and perfecting his subject's interpretative skills. Geertz is best known for his definition of 'culture, ' and his theory of 'thick description, ' an influential technique that depends on fresh interpretative approaches. For Geertz, 'cultures' are 'webs of meaning' in which everyone is suspended. Understanding culture, therefore, is not so much a matter of going in search of law, but of setting out an interpretative framework for meaning that focuses directly on attempts to define the real meaning of things within a given culture. The best way to do this, for Geertz, is via 'thick description:' a way of recording things that explores context and surroundings, and articulates meaning within the web of culture. Ambitious and bold, Geertz's greatest creation is a method all critical thinkers can learn from."--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Table of Contents 4 Ways in to the Text 10 Who Was Clifford Geertz? 10 What Does The Interpretation of Cultures say? 11 Why Does The Interpretation of Cultures Matter? 13 Section 1: Influences 15 Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context 16 Module 2: Academic Context 21 Module 3: The Problem 26 Module 4: The Author’s Contribution 31 Section 2: Ideas 36 Module 5: Main Ideas 37 Module 6: Secondary Ideas 42 Module 7: Achievement 47 Module 8: Place in the Author’s Work 52 Section 3: Impact 57 Module 9: The First Responses 58 Module 10: The Evolving Debate 63 Module 11: Impact and Influence Today 68 Module 12: Where Next? 73 Glossary of Terms 79 People Mentioned in the Text 84 Works Cited 91 Up to the mid 20th century, generations of anthropologists had imported their own value systems into their work, regardless of where they were studying. Indigenous cultures were almost always judged to fall short in some manner—offering justification for colonization in the name of 'civilizing natives.' By the second half of the twentieth century, however, scholars had begun to question such outright bias. The Interpretation of Cultures (1973) made Geertz a leading voice of anthropology's 'symbolic' movement, which held that scholars should interpret a culture from the perspective of its natives helping anthropology to reinvent itself as a scientific discipline that remains relevant today.