Download ANTH 310 – Classical Theory of Cultural

Lahore University of Management Sciences
ANTH 310 – Classical Theory of Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2011-12
Instructor: Dr. Lukas Werth
Office: 221 New SS Wing
Office hours: **** or by appointment
E-mail: [email protected]
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The field of cultural anthropology is an inquiry into the conditions which render us human. This
involves a scientific understanding of the concept of culture. We find ourselves at the same time
different from and also similar to people living at other places in the world. In order to capture this
human diversity and unity in an analytical description different authors start from different premises
which constitute the classical theoretical paradigms defining to a large degree the discipline of
cultural anthropology. They present, however, for many beginners and those who like to find a way
into the discipline, a confusing field whose borders appear to be not properly defined. For an
intellectual orientation, a comparative knowledge of its theoretical positions is essential: which
perspectives do they take, which topics do they emphasize, on which basic assumptions do they
rest? The course provides an initial overview over the most important theories for a basic
orientation by looking at theoretical approaches from the 19 th century up to the beginnings of the
21st one. This includes evolutionism, functionalism, structuralism, and newer approaches which are
elucidated with examples of the most prominent authors in the field, and evaluated in relation to
each other.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
After taking this course, it is hoped that students will be able to understand:
1) what is scientifically encompassed by the concept of culture,
2) how self-evident concepts become questionable when seen from different theoretical
perspectives,
3) the role of diversity and unity in the formation of human cultures,
4) how cultural theories contribute to an understanding of basic concepts like that of the
individual, person, society, culture, and the relation between them,
5) the impact of different perspectives in various anthropological discussions about cultural
phenomena,
6) the relation of anthropology with other disciplines, like economics, biology, linguistics etc.
7) the difference between animals and human beings
8) what is it what really defines culture? Can cultures be compared? How can
cultural phenomena are generalized and compared?
9) the course will also attempt to answer questions like,

is there a “natural way” for human beings to exist?

is there a difference between acting and behaving?

is there a difference between just describing other cultures and relating them to one's own
existence?

is there a mankind, or are there only different humans?
COURSE ORGANISATION:
1)
the
Students will be divided into groups, each containing 4 to 8 students, depending on
total number of students in the class. Group members are expected to meet each
other
regularly and discuss questions concerning the literature read in the course.
2)
If necessary, each group will have to give a presentation in the class about a
particular
reading.
3)
There will be no final exam as such. Instead there will be three exams in intervals of
a few weeks.
4)
You are expected to search in the library the different topics discussed in lectures and
seminars.
COURSE EVALUATION:
1) Attendance does not form a part of the grade. You are expected to come regularly to classes.
If you do not, it will be difficult for you to reply questions in the exams. However, I reserve
the right to reduce your grade or fail you entirely if you miss too many classes
2) Students who fail to appear for the presentation or for class-work, or for exam will be given
zero on those works. Only on a doctor's attestation or because of participation in sports
activities for LUMS missed work may be repeated.
3) There will be a 2% grade reduction on entering the class after the lecture has started, no
matter whether a few seconds or a few minutes have passed. As attendance is not obligatory,
it is expected that if you come you will attend the whole session. Leaving the class earlier
will also be marked with a 2% reduction.
4) Please switch off your mobile-phones. Receiving any message will result in a 2% reduction
of your grades.
5) The three exams will carry the following distribution of grades: 30%, 40%, and 30%.
6)
a)
b)
c)
The grades will be marked on an absolute basis.
For the actual distribution of grades for the class work, presentations or exams
please refer to the literature list.
The following is the distribution of grades according to the percentage.
Outstanding Work
A+
100 ———— 96
A
95 ———— 91
A-
90 ———— 86
Good work, distinctly above average
B+
85 ———— 81
B
80 ———— 76
B-
75 ———— 71
Average Work
C+
70 ———— 66
C
65 ———— 61
C-
60 ———— 56
Work distinctively below average
55 ———— 50
D
Work that does not meet the minimum standard for passing
Fail
49 and
below.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE
1) You can discuss your exam-papers with me if you want to improve your results, or if you
think I have miscalculated the numbers, but not just argue that you deserve more numbers
than what I have already given to you.
2) There will be no discussion on the exam-paper of any kind when it is the final exam,
unless I have miscalculated your numbers. Thus no change of grade should be expected
once it is given.
3) Therefore please check regularly your numbers on Zambeel, as after each exam I will
upgrade your numbers.
4) Please do not bring mobile phones, or notebook or any other other electronic devices with
you in the exams.
COURSE ETHICS:
1) Please arrive on time in order not to disturb the concentration of the other students.
2) Please switch off your mobile phones before entering the class.
3) Please note that sometimes, due to the given amount of time for each session, I will have to
cut short questions or to limit them to the topic under discussion. Such an act under no
circumstances reflects on the discussant.
4) Please have respect for different opinions. Anthropology is a study of differences as well as
of similarities between various people, and not an imposition of one's own world view on
others.
5) Please respect your class fellows' opinions also when they differ from your own, even when
they trigger strong feelings in you. This should not lead to the interruption of a student or the
instructor, or to a dismissal of anyone's opinion out of hand. In brief, it is expected to deal
with differences in a well-behaved manner worthy of your own self-respect.
6) Please keep silence during the class-work or exam. It is expected that students will neither
talk, nor help, nor cheat. Transgressions will affect everybody involved irrespective of who
did what.
7) In accord with institutional policy, there will be no discrimination in this course on the basis
of race, ethnicity, sex/gender, ability/disability, religion/spiritual beliefs or class. Your
political beliefs and moral values will not be considered relevant for your grading and
evaluation.
8) Cheating and Plagiarism: If you take an idea from any text, book, newspaper, or any other
source, you have to give the author credit. Furthermore, changing one or two words in a
sentence is not acceptable as a substitution for quotation marks. All assignments must
represent original work not previously or simultaneously handed in for credit in another
course. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other violations of the honour code will be dealt with
according to LUMS policy.
9) Other serious ethical violations include re-use of essays, improper use of the Internet and
electronic services, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded essays, forgery, lying,
and unfair competition. For further instructions please check with the latest Student
Handbook.
Different topics on which the lectures will concentrate:
1) Basic questions underlying the different aspects of anthropology
2) Different origins of anthropological theory
3) Conceptual designs of the 19th and early 20th century
4) The common roots of sociology and anthropology. Emile Durkheim, Marcel Mauss, Robert
Hertz, Henry Hubert): the concept of homo duplex, and of collective representations
(France). The elementary forms of religion and the correspondence between the Professor
and the post master (Spencer und Gillen). Max Weber: authority and rationality (Germany).
5) Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and Rationalism (France)
6) The American Cultural Anthropology: Franz Boas; Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Alfred
Kroeber: historical particularism, anti-Intellectualism, “cultural configuration”, “value
culture”.
7) Schools of deterministic thought in America: the neo-evolutionism of Julian Steward, Leslie
White. Ecology, multilinear evolution, “functional-utilitarianism”.
The sacred cows of Marvin Harris and cultural materialism;
Sociobiology of 80's: the ants and the humans.
8) Marcel Mauss, Durkheims students: reciprocity and the concept of the person. Arnold van
Gennep, the contemporary of Mauss and the grammar of ritual. (France)
9) The British “Social Anthropology”: Bronislaw Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown.
Functionalism, struktural-functionalism, the meaning of field work.
10) The second generation: Edward E. Evans-Pritchard, Meyer Fortes, Raymond Firth. The
influence of Arthur Maurice Hocart. The overcoming of functionalism. The climax and the
overcoming of functionalism.
11) French Structuralism: the basic model of Claude Lévi-Strauss and his contribution in the
understanding of the concept of kinship, classification, and mythology. The conservative
vision of George Peter Murdock in America.
12) Lévi-Strauss's influence on the British school of thought “Social Anthropology”: Rodney
Needham, Edmund Leach, Victor Turner.
Louis Dumont: the hierarchy and value: the transcendence of structuralism (France).
13) Semantic Anthropology: Meaning against Structure. David Parkin's reaction to
structuralism (England).
An American counter-model to structuralism: the concept of meaning according to Clifford Geertz.
14) New directions: the problematization of the concept of the society by Marilyn Strathern; the
attempt to overcome essentialism, modern and the postmodern contexts.
Important Literature to be consulted by students on their own to enhance their
understanding
Important: Hatch, Elvin 1973. Theories of Man and Culture. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Important: Silverman, Sydel (ed.) 1981. Totems and Teachers: Perspectives on the History of
Anthropology New York: Columbia University Press.
Important: Kuper, Adam 1973. Anthropology and Anthropologists. London and New York:
Routlege.
Kuper, Adam. 1999. Culture: The Anthropological account. Harvard University Press.
Important: Ingold, Tim 1994. Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture and
Social Life London: Routledge.
Morris, Brian 1987. Anthropological Studies of Religion: An Introductory Text. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP.
Harris, Marvin 1968. The Rise of Anthropological Theory (zu nehmen mit einer Prise Salz; Die
Bibliographie ist hilfreich). New York: Columbia University.
Gingrich, Andre und Richard G. Fox. 2003. Anthropology by Comparison. London: Routledge.
Patterson, Thomas C. 2001. A Social History of Anthropology in the United States. Oxford: Berg.
Carneiro, Robert L. 2003. Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology: A Critical History. Bolder,
Colorado: Westview Press.
Barnard, Alan. 2000. History and Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Barrett, Stanley R. 1996. Anthroplogy: A Student's Guide to Theory and Method. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press.
Layton, Robert. 1997. An Intoduction to Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Leaf, Murray J. 1979. Man, Mind, and Science: A History of Anthropology. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Moore, Jerry D. 1997. Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and
Theorists. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Important Ortner, Sherry. 1984. Theory in anthropology since the sixties. Comparative Studies in
Society and History 26: 126-66.
Stocking, George W.,Jr. 1968 [1962-6]. Race, Culture, and Evolution: Essays in the History of
Anthropology. New York: The Free Press.
Stocking, George W.,Jr. 1996. After Tylor: British Social Anthropolgy, 1888-1951. London: The
Athlone Press.
Urry, James. 1993. Before Social Anthropology: Essays on the History of British Anthropology.
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Sarup, Madan. 1988. An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and Postmodernism. New York:
Harvard Wheatsheaf.
Augé, Marc. 1982 [1979]. The Anthropological Circle: Symbol, Funtion, History. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Augé, Marc. 1995 [1992]. Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity
(translated by John Howe). London: Verso.
Borofsky, Robert (ed.) 1994. Assessing Cultural Anthropology. McGraw Hill.
Lyton, Robert. 1997. Introduction to Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge University Press.
Thomas Barfield (ed) 1997. The Dictionary of Anthropology. Blackwells.
Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer (eds.) 1996. The Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural
Anthropology. Routledge.
Garbarino, Merwyn. 1977. Sociocultural Theory in Anthropology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Layton, Robert. 1997. An introduction to theory in anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.