| Papers [1-15] of 87 :: [Page 1 of 6] | | Go to page : 1 2 3 4 5 6 —> | Search results on "APPROACHES ANTHROPOLOGISTS": |
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Approaches of Anthropologists, 2003.
Examines Clifford Geertz's semiotic approach to the study of culture.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 13 sources, $ 39.95
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Abstract
Discusses the emphasis on symbolism and the importance of the signs and symbols of a culture. Examines the meaning of traditions and rituals, Bronislaw Malinowski's holistic approach, and his theory of Functionalism.
From the Paper
"Clifford Geertz studied the Javanese, Balinese, and Moroccan cultures (Coe, 2002). His work focused on a cultures words, images, institutions, and behaviors, and he believes these to be symbolic forms. The most important part of his work is his emphasis..."
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Anthropologists and Culture, 2003.
Discusses individual cultural traits and a culture as a whole.
7,650 words (approx. 30.6 pages), 15 sources, $ 135.95
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Abstract
Examines some of the guiding principles of studying a culture in a holistic and analytic fashion. Discusses the work and thought of anthropologists Malinowski and Levi-Strauss. Uses their concepts.
From the Paper
"For the anthropologist, everything in the end comes back to a single question: What is culture? And how are we ever to understand the culture of another people, how are we to grasp both the complex whole that defines the symbolic and behavior..."
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Role of the Anthropologist, 2003.
Discusses two different views of culture.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 10 sources, $ 63.95
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Abstract
Examines Clifford Geertz's theory of symbolism and Bronislaw Malinowski's theory of functionalism. Discusses the different backgrounds and approaches of both anthropologists. Considers Malinowski's field work in New Guinea, 1915-1918.
From the Paper
"Clifford Geertz and Bronislaw Malinowski represent two very different views on the role of the anthropologist. The difference lies in their definition of culture, Geertz favoring symbolism and Malinowski favoring functionalism. This leads to different ..."
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Cultural Anthropology, 2004.
A comparison of native and non-native anthropological views, their methods, and responsibilities.
1,604 words (approx. 6.4 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 52.95
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Abstract
This paper attempts to outline and consider the differences and complexities of two different approaches to anthropological research. It looks at how both the ?native anthropologist? and the anthropologist who attempts to view the culture from an objective perspective ?outside? the culture under study, have a distinct responsibility to the subject of their studies and to the anthropological discipline. There are central differences between these two approaches, which become evident from an analysis of the specific sources. It also shows how the central argument that is put forward is that one method is not necessarily superior to the other, but that both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
From the Paper
"Both ?insiders? and ?outsiders? face different problems, take on different methods in gathering information, and have different responsibilities to the culture at hand as well as the discipline as a whole. One school of thought is that the ?insider? view allows for a more intimate and comprehensive view of the society without the interpretive distortion that might result from the imposition of another cultural perspective. However the ?insider? or subjective method of study also presents its own problems. For the anthropologist to obtain a complete description of a society as an insider, he must become totally involved in the life of the people, which requires spending long periods of time with the study group. The subjective anthropologist must be extremely careful about building a bond of trust with the culture."
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Human Remains and Anthropology, 2002.
An analysis of the importance of the study of human remains to anthropologists
1,900 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 9 sources, $ 71.95
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Abstract
This paper addresses the importance of studying human remains, which are arguably the most important evidence that the anthropologist can consider. Inferring the living conditions of the subjects requires anthropologists to compare human remains found in the field with standards established by the enormous body of data from other studies of human remains. The anthropology of human remains reflects social dynamics in an informative fashion, both medical and cultural. The paper addresses evidence found in bones, teeth, and mummified soft tissues, and links it to current findings in medical and cultural anthropology.
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Anthropology Methodology.
This paper compares the research methodology used by anthropologists Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who studied Kalahari Desert Bushmen, and Tim O'Meara, who studied Samoan planters.
800 words (approx. 3.2 pages), 0 sources, $ 28.95
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Abstract
This paper related that Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" (1989), and Tim O'Meara, author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990), used simple anthropological research methodology to study the influence of external forces like globalization and development on primitive civilizations, such as the Kalahari Desert Bushmen and the Samoan planters. The author points out that both anthropologists situated themselves in the community being studied. O'Meara mixed with the local Samoan farmers to learn how they behave and interact, whereas, Thomas relied only on her observations of the Bushmen. The paper relates that O'Meara's method, limited by his research question, focused on developmental stages rather than on how people evolved; on the other hand, Thomas concentrated on the outcome of her subjects' ways of living.
From the Paper
"Taking each day at a time, he had been able to relate with the locals at a personal level. He encountered their personal life by mixing with the male members of society. For example, he learned why the male considered it illicit to meet with their sisters. The Samoan men were proud of their ability to deflower virgins but it was injurious to their family pride if their females were subjected to such conduct. O'Meara hence depended on mixing with the locals to learn how they behave and how they interact."
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Indonesia ? Anthropology and Ethnography, 2002.
A paper which examines the reasons why Indonesia seems to lure anthropologists and ethnographers, and what it is that appeals to their imagination.
1,005 words (approx. 4.0 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 35.95
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Abstract
The paper shows that though it is impossible to determine why exactly Indonesia, at least for the past two generations, has seemingly laid an irresistible spell on the anthropological world, it is possible to suggest some of the reasons. This paper examines the corner of the state of anthropological practice and theory as they pertain to Indonesia and how these have created intimate links between symbolic anthropology and Indonesian ethnography. The paper discusses how many fine ethnographies have been produced as a direct result of anthropologists? theoretical and paradigmatic interest in Indonesia, of the fact both that anthropological discourse can be seen as a subset of human imaginings and as a result of the fact that some places seem to be better to dream in. The paper examines Tania Murray Li?s article ?Compromising Power: Development, Culture and Rule in Indonesia? in Volume 13, No. 3 of Cultural Anthropology, on the subject.
From the Paper
"Indonesia ? with its own contentious colonial history ? was an ideal setting if one wished to make sense of the role and evolution of cultures in a world in which colonial structures were falling away. Indonesia had at least three other additional inducements for at least American and British anthropologists: Their own countries had not been involved in the colonization of Indonesia so they did not have to feel any guilt over what they found; unlike many ?primitive? cultures, Indonesia societies (for of course this island nation is home to a number of very different cultural groups) are home to not only sophisticated performing and visual arts but also nuanced and complex literary traditions and a history of beautifully proportioned and ingeniously constructed architecture."
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Comparison of Two Ethnographies, 2004.
Compares the two works of anthropologists Jody Glittenberg and Dennis Werner.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 57.95
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Abstract
Two anthropologists present their ethnographic studies in their books, "Amazon Journey", by Dennis Werner, and "To the Mountain and Back", by Jody Glittenberg. The paper explains how the two show different interests, have different methods, and come to different conclusions about the subjects they study. The paper discusses how Werner describes the Amazonian Indians, while Glittenberg presents her study on the native tribes of Guatemala, especially the Ladino and the Cakchiquel Mayan Indian.
From the Paper
"Both ethnologists enter the society and observe, but Glittenberg makes herself more of a participant than does Werner, raising the question of how much her participation affected the subjects and so how much her own involvement in the culture changed what she was observing even as she observed it. Werner was also in the culture he observed, but he observed more than participated, observing to such an extent that he did not even want to hear stories directly from the source. Glittenberg is open about this, even asking certain questions at the outset about how much one can learn by observing. She says that fieldworkers give a general description of a culture, while what she wants to know is answers to questions about family formation."
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Native America Assimilation, 2002.
A look at how Native American assimilation was wrongly interpreted by anthropologists.
2,150 words (approx. 8.6 pages), 5 sources, $ 80.95
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Abstract
This paper examines several recent major theories concerning the assimilation of the Native American Western Plains tribes in the period known as "prehistory", with an emphasis on how the perceptions of the anthropologist affect the overall study of the tribes.
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Anthropology Studies, 2002.
A comparison of the way two anthropologists conduct their research in different ways.
950 words (approx. 3.8 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 33.95
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Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts two studies by anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas author of "The Harmless People" (1989, Vintage Books/Division of Random House Inc., New York) and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.) in terms of how they conducted their research.
From the Paper
"Anthropological study no doubt is complex and it is even more complex when one want to study how external forces like globalization and development influence primitive civilizations. The emergence of a new nation takes a long time to detect and only one who is fluent in the local culture can sense a difference. Two anthropologists Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" [1989] and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990) have attempted to do the most difficult task of depicting the cultures under their study in print. Thomas, proud studier of the Kalahari Desert Bushmen, based her study on their cultures, tradition and how they came about to accepting globalization and development prevalent in other parts of Africa. Similarly, O?Meara took to the task of investigating the people of Samoa, a state independent since 1901. "
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"China's Urban Villagers" and "The Dragon's Village", 1993.
Compares works by American and Chinese anthropologists on modern peasants in China.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 2 sources, $ 47.95
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From the Paper
"The purpose of this research is to compare two works that deal with modern peasants in the People's Republic of China. One book, China's Urban Villagers, is written by a prominent American anthropologist, Norman Chance; the other book, The Dragon's Village, is by Yuan-Tsung Chen, who spent many years working with Chinese peasants.
Chance's book is divided into chapters that deal with specific areas of life. The introduction is well written and covers the subject of background quite well in its limited space. One interesting part concerns the disruption caused in Chinese society by foreign capital in the 19th century when at the same time so much foreign capital was flowing into the United States with such different results. Chance's description of the difference between a peasant (a person who grows food for ..."
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The Concept Of Race, 1973.
This paper discusses the history of the word "race" according to anthropologists & linguists.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 5 sources, $ 55.95
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From the Paper
"The history of the word "race" had much of an effect on the concept of race, according to anthropologists and linguists. This is true although as much confusion has existed about the concept as the actual knowledge about it. For example, one reputable atlas still in circulation has Finland colored yellow for Mongoloid simply because the Finns share a linguistic stock with Asiatic people who are either partly or wholly Mongoloid; the Finns are definitely not Mongoloid themselves. Even Sir Winston Churchill once called the British a race and too often the Jews have also been called a race when they are actually are a religion. However, linguistic affinity, common residence on an island and the possession of a common religion tend to facilitate the flow of genetic material between groups of people but not necessarily to a race-forming degree. Thus, Finns, Britons, and ... "
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Ethical and Moral Considerations, 2002.
A look at how to treat individual in societies that are being studied by anthropologists.
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 2 sources, $ 35.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at the ethical and moral considerations along with the understandings of how they should treat and respect those people who they come into contact with during their fieldwork. It also discusses the idea of Malinowski and the foundation of functionalism, the idea of Holism with anthropology and cultural language within the Indo European set.
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Modern Anthropology and Japan, 2002.
This paper discusses the modern concept of the field of anthropology and then analyzes the works: Timon Screech?s ?Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700-1820" and Ruth Benedict?s "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword?.
1,835 words (approx. 7.3 pages), 5 sources, APA, $ 58.95
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Abstract
This paper states that the first generations of ethnographic considered their subjects to be exotic and very different from themselves; whereas, modern anthropologist now approach their subjects as people who are not exactly like themselves and are no longer thought to have inferior cultures. The author continues that this change in anthropology has produced entirely new ways of writing ethnographies. The author applies this approach to the analysis of Timon Screech?s 1999 ?Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700-1820?, which investigates the nexus of gender, sexuality and ambition in ways that are attentive to the intra-cultural variations amongst people and to the famous telling ethnographic story of ambition in Japan in Ruth Benedict?s national character study ?The Chrysanthemum and the Sword?, 1989.
From the Paper
"Another striking difference between Benedict?s work and the Screech?s is that Benedict?s own gender is invisible in the work: We do not have any sense that this is the perspective of a woman writing about a patriarchal society. This is certainly not true in the modern ethnography, which begins with recognition of the high degree of intracultural variation that exists when one takes as one?s cultural reference group an entire nation-state. This attentiveness to individual variation was not yet current during the creation of the kind of ethnography of first-world nations known as national character studies that were popular in the 1930s and 1940s and reflects much of the sensitivity of defining group status that Anderson emphasizes."
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An Ethnographic Film: "Trobriand Cricket", 2005.
This paper uses movement analysis to evaluate the ethnographic film "Trobriand Cricket" (1973) by anthropologist Jerry W. Leach and filmmaker Gary Kildea.
2,920 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 86.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that, in the film "Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism", made in 1973 by anthropologist Jerry W. Leach and filmmaker Gary Kildea, the film narrative is devoted primarily to the historical context of the cricket game in the Trobriands, providing an illustration of some of the processes of cultural diffusion. The author points out that movement analysis, which focuses on some of the visible aspects of ethnographic films that are often left unrecognized in the film narrative, results in a more profound ethnological appreciation of its contents and is especially valuable for films that focus intentionally on cultural performance. The paper concludes that (1) "Trobriand Cricket" has severe constraints concerning the anthropological "statement" made by the film and (2) movement analysis may yield valuable insight in the initial stages of understanding performance.
From the Paper
"The cultural interpretation of any performance--no matter how transparently the performance is represented to the observer (as it is so effectively in ethnographic film)-relies on the kind of close observation that organizes several details of performance into a system. It is not simply growing and shrinking that are at issue in the Trobriand design, not simply linear formations that are at stake in the British style. The relationship of those features to other features, the relationship of growing and shrinking to force and speed and clusters of bodies, the relationship of lines to individual bodies and to a stabilizing energy field bring out distinctive patterns. The value of movement analysis lies in its ability to construct an articulate representation of particular and even peculiar performances in terms of the very general features that all movement processes share so that various patterns of association can be traced throughout the action of a given culture and between performances of various cultures. A system like LMA can abstract principles of conduct and can represent them accurately in their full complexity and peculiarity."
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