Symbolic anthropology

Symbolic anthropology or, more broadly, symbolic and interpretive anthropology, is the study of cultural symbols and how those symbols can be used to gain a better understanding of a particular society. According to Clifford Geertz, "[b]elieving, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning".[1]

Anthropology

Prominent symbolic anthropologists include Clifford Geertz, David Schneider, Victor Turner and Mary Douglas.

Key publications
  • Geertz, Clifford (1973) The interpretation of cultures, Basic Books, New York
  • Geertz, Clifford. (Ed.) (1974) Myth, symbol, and culture, W. W. Norton, New York
  • Sahlins, Marshall (1976) Culture and practical reason, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
  • Schneider, David (1968) American kinship: A cultural account. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey
  • Turner, Victor (1967) The forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual, Cornell University Press, Ithaca
  • Turner, Victor (1974) Dramas, fields and metaphors: Symbolic action in human society, Cornell University Press, Ithaca
gollark: https://asylo.dev/ <- a `.dev` thing.
gollark: I have seen a `.dev` domain actually used, by what I believe is a Google product, so...
gollark: I mean, "nothing bad about Google", if you ignore their domination of a whole lot of stuff, the fact that they do seem to try to move stuff over to their own proprietary standards in some cases, and the massive data gathering.
gollark: Eeeh, sure, I guess.
gollark: I mean "respectable", sure, but I just don't really trust Google.

See also

References
  1. Geertz, Clifford (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books. pp. 5.


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