Anthropology of Culture

The lecture addresses the specificity of one of the disciplines of the humanities which has been variously named across the academic traditions and circles. Therefore one may speak about social or cultural anthropology, or ethnology. Since the very term “anthropology” comprises all these names, the variety of the positions appealing to the anthropological/ethnological will be discussed. Anthropology thus understood investigates the key notion of culture. The problem is primarily not to enumerate a plenty of definitions but to present the process of constructing, reconstructing and, finally, deconstructing the notion in question. The lecture then is given not only in terms of a historical flow of the subsequent ideas. It also offers a critical insight into this flow to show the problematic nature of the notion discussed and, consequently, of the discipline addressed. Anthropology is presented as a locale to allow of vital, creative and self-reflective conduct of those who are engaged in a bunch of research processes. The lecture is divided into a number of sessions during which the pivotal yet selected issues will be analyzed and discussed with respect to the related problems of anthropology and culture. Both the analysis and the discussion are intended to help the students to understand the historical and critical dimension of the discipline, and the multifaceted results of using the notion under construction, reconstruction, and deconstruction. The final aim is to realize the thickness of the problems anthropology raises when appealing to the notion of culture.

Week 1 Introduction

Presentation of the course contents, aims and requirements

Week 2 On the very relation. Anthropology and Culture

Week 3 Foundations of the discipline. Part 1. Analysis

J. Frazer. 1993. The Golden Bough, Ch. 3, Ware: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., pp. 11-48.

Week 4 Foundations of the discipline. Part 1. Discussion

J. Frazer. 1993. The Golden Bough, Ch. 3, Ware: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., pp. 11-48.

Week 5 Foundations of the discipline. Part 2. Analysis

M. Mauss. 1990. The Gift, Ch. 1-2, London–New York: Routledge, pp. 10-59.

Week 6 Foundations of the discipline. Part 2. Discussion

M. Mauss. 1990. The Gift, Ch. 1-2, London–New York: Routledge, pp. 10-59.

Week 7 Paradigm overcome. Analysis

C. Geertz. 1973. The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man. In his The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books, pp. 33-54.

Week 8 Paradigm overcome. Discussion

C. Geertz. 1973. The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man. In his The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books, pp. 33-54.

Week 9 Critique of the discipline. Analysis

G.E. Marcus, M.M.J. Fischer. 1999. Anthropology as Cultural Critique, Ch. 1-2, Chicago-London: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 7-44.

Week 10 Critique of the discipline. Discussion

G.E. Marcus, M.M.J. Fischer. 1999. Anthropology as Cultural Critique, Ch. 1-2, Chicago-London: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 7-44.

Week 11 Away from culture. Analysis

L. Abu-Lughod. 1991. Writing Against Culture, in: Recapturing Anthropology, R.G. Fox (Ed.), Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, pp. 137-162.

Week 12 Away from culture. Discussion

L. Abu-Lughod. 1991. Writing Against Culture, in: Recapturing Anthropology, R.G. Fox (Ed.), Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, pp. 137-162.

Week 13 New horizon. Analysis

P. Rabinow. 2007. Marking Time, Ch. 1, Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press, pp. 12-32.

Week 14 New horizon. Discussion

P. Rabinow. 2007. Marking Time, Ch. 1, Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press, pp. 12-32.

Week 15 Conclusion

See above

The students are to pass a written exam based on the lecture contents and literature presented.