Contents preface part i 4 chapter 11 thick description. Following ryle, geertz holds that anthropologys task is that of explaining cultures through thick description which specifies many details, conceptual structures and meanings, and which is opposed to thin description which is a factual account without any interpretation. In particular, geertz is associated with heralding the interpretive turn in anthropology and steering the discipline, or the sociocultural part of it at least, away from research designs. Clifford geertz deep play notes on the balinese cockfight. With the interpretation of cultures, the distinguished anthropologist clifford geertz developed the concept of thick description, and in so doing, he virtually rewrote the rules of his field.
The late clifford geertz was lauded for his 1973 anthropological volume, and i do not find this to be hype. Notes on the balinese cockfight article written by clifford geertz presents his analysis and study of the balinese culture while addressing the significance cockfighting in the formation of the culture. This is the first fullscale study of the work of clifford geertz, who is one of the bestknown anthropologists in the world today. This cited by count includes citations to the following articles in scholar. Clifford geertz author of the interpretation of cultures. This is a digital version of material made under licence from the rightsholder, and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. For clifford geertz, culture was by the 1960s stuck in a conceptual morass in which the term was being stretched to explain an eclectic array of human phenomena. Do not be troubled by the fact that some reduced languages he has just invented for didactic purposes consist only of imperatives.
Clifford geertz interpretazioni di culture parte prima 1 verso una teoria interpretativa della cultura cultura. The book is structured around anthropological description, with geertz relying on field data he gathered mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. Clifford geertz american anthropologist britannica. Clifford geertzs thick description explained summary. Toward an interpretive vii theory of culture 3 part ii chapter 21 the impact of the concept of culture on the concept of man 33 chapter 31 the growth of culture and the evolution of mind 55 part iii chapter 41 religion as a cultural system 87 chapter 51 ethos, world view, and the analysis of. Clifford james geertz was an american anthropologist and served until his death as professor emeritus at the institute for advanced study, princeton, new jersey. It seems, even when made of words in the literary arts, all the more so when made of pigment, sound, stone or whatever in the nonliterary ones, to exist in a world of its own, beyond the reach of discourse. The interpretation of cultures clifford geertz is mu.
Clifford james geertz was born on 23rd august 1926, in san francisco, california, in the united states during world war ii, geertz served in the u. Clifford geertz and the concept of culture volume 8 karen lystra. Clifford james geertz was an american anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his. Clifford geertz anthropology oxford bibliographies.
Theoretical diffusion was, he argued, undermining the analytical power of culture and weakening the. Clifford geertz once stated, the guiding principle is the same. Rather, it is a web of symbols that can help us better understand what that behavior means. Clifford geertz has observed that anthropology is a science whose progress is marked less by a perfection of consensus than by a refinement of debate. Selected essays clifford geertz basic books, 1973 chapter i thick description. In a lively and accessible introduction to his work. Common sense as a cultural system by clifford geertz very early on in that album of notional games and abrupt metaphors he called philosophical investigations, wittgenstein compares language to a city. Geertz interpretazione di culture interpretazione di. Clifford geertz 1926present is best known for his ethnographic studies of javanese culture java is an indonesian island south of borneo and for his writings about the interpretation of culture. The interpretation of cultures selected essays by clifford geertz basic books, inc. The interpretation of cultures is an academic classic. Further essays in interpretive anthropology,1 picks up where his pathbreaking the interpretation of cultures2 left off. What gets better is the precision with which we vex each other.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Toward an interpretive vii theory of culture 3 part ii chapter 21 the impact of the concept of culture on the concept of man 33 chapter 31 the growth of. Geertz outlined culture as a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and. Clifford geertz biography, life, interesting facts early years and education. An analytic overview clifford geertz s book, local knowledge. A obra do antropologo clifford geertz 19262006 transformou as convencoes da escrita. Clifford geertz and the concept of culture prospects. The ones marked may be different from the article in the profile. Navy in world war ii 194345, geertz studied at antioch college, ohio b. Toward an interpretive theory of culture i in her book, philosophy in a new key, susanne langer remarks that certain ideas burst upon the intellectual landscape with a tremendous force. Clifford geertz, american cultural anthropologist, a leading rhetorician and proponent of symbolic anthropology and interpretive anthropology. Culture, geertz argues, does not drive human behavior.