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Anthropology may be dissected into four main perspectives, firstly physical or biological
anthropology, which is an area of study concerned with human evolution and human
adaptation. Its main components are human paleontology, the study of our fossil records,
and human genetics, which examines the ways in which human beings differ from each other.
Also adopted are aspects of human ecology, ethnology, demography, nutrition, and
environmental physiology. From the physical anthropologist we learn the capabilities for
bearing culture that distinguish us from other species. Secondly archaeology, which
follows from physical anthropology, reassembles the evolution of culture by examining the
physical remains of past societies. Its difference from physical anthropology being its
concern with culture rather than the biological aspects off the human species.
Archaeologists must assess and analyse their subject culture from accidental remains,
which can only provide an incomplete picture. Thirdly, Anthropological linguistics is a
field within anthropology which focuses upon the relationship between language and
cultural behaviour. Anthropological linguists ask questions about language and
communication to aid the appraisement of society rather than a descriptive or linguistic
assessment. For example Freil and Pfeiffer (1977) cite an assessment of the Inuit
language where there are twelve unrelated words for wind and twenty-two for snow, showing
the difference in significance by comparison with our own society. The deduction being
that wind and snow are more significant to the Inuit so they scrutinise them more
rigorously and can clearly define them accordingly. This kind of linguistic analysis
facilitates a better understanding of a foreign culture to help place it into context to
allow contrast. Fourthly, social anthropology is the study of human social life or
society, concerned with examining social behavior and social relationships. As the focus
of social anthropology is on patterns of social connection, it is commonly contrasted
with the branch of anthropology that examines culture, that is, learnt and inherited
beliefs and standards of behavior and in particular the meanings, values and codes of
conduct. Cultural anthropology (the study of culture in its social context) is associated
particularly with American anthropology (specifically, in the United States), and social
anthropology with European, especially British studies, which have tended to be more
sociological, that is, they are more concerned with understanding society. However,
culture and society are interdependent, and today the single term sociocultural
anthropology is sometimes used. The social anthropologist uses a number of cultural
ethnographic studies to construct an ethnological study. A social anthropological
definition of culture is given by J.P.Spenley in 'The Ethnographic Interview' (1979),
culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret, experience and generate
social behaviour. By this interpretation culture is not the physical characteristics of
any society but the reasoning behind those characteristics, it is a body of implicit and
explicit knowledge shared by a group of people. It is used by people individually as a
map to determine their behaviour in any given situation. Spendley's definition does not
divert from the significance of behaviour, customs, objects or emotions, these are
essential tools for the anthropologist which allow the interpretation of culture to
facilitate the tracking down of cultural meaning. Ethnographic study is a search to
uncover this meaning which is the root cause of cultural differences and can therefore be
seen as the definition of any culture. There has been considerable theoretical debate by
anthropologists over the most useful attributes that a technical concept of culture
should stress. For example, in 1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, American
anthropologists, published a list of 160 different definitions of culture. A brief table
of this list next page, shows the diversity of the anthropological concept of culture.
TABLE: Diverse Definitions of Culture: Topical: Culture consists of everything on a list
of topics, or categories, such as social organization, religion, or economy Historical:
Culture is social heritage, or tradition, that is passed on to future generations
Behavioral: Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life Normative: Culture
is ideals, values, or rules for living Functional: Culture is the way humans solve
problems of adapting to the environment or living together Mental: Culture is a complex
of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals
Structural: Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors
Symbolic: Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a society.
(John H. Bodley, An Anthropological Perspective 1994) We tend not to be aware of our
cultural meaning expressed through our cultural norms, we tend to accept as correct our
cultural definitions unless confronted by cultural difference, as Anthony P. Cohen is
quoted in Small Places, Big Issues, People become aware of their culture when they stand
at its boundaries: when they encounter other cultures, or when they become aware of other
ways of doing things, or merely contradictions to their own culture. Without ethnographic
difference culture itself would not exist. Difference allows the expression of social
identity, yet different social groups must also possess a degree of commonality to enable
them to interact. The differences and resemblances between cultures offer an opportunity
for assessment of the characteristics which bound a particular society, and the meanings
of those characteristics can be learned through the context of the particular society or
culture. Social anthropologists must assess cultures in context to truly understand them.
The context of any culture or society under examination needs to be appreciated so that
the particular distinctions of that culture can be properly understood and translated
into terms facilitating ethnographic and ethnological study. Context must be learned by
the anthropologist, generally through prolonged fieldwork to climatise them to the alien
environment and give an opportunity to learn the language, norms and values of the
subject society. An ethnological study will require understanding of at least two
cultures through ethnographic study, thus boiled down to their pure cultural meanings by
study in context, the meanings are exposed for comparison. Comparison of cultural
differences is essential for cultural expression, comparison is also essential to the
anthropologist as it offers opportunity for study and understanding. By comparison we
judge and measure almost everything in our lives, we require comparison to accurately
gain perspective. Therefore the social anthropologist requires an understanding of at
least two cultures, perhaps another and his own to compare aspects of these societies
while looking for interesting areas for comparison. Social anthropologists strive to
account for actual cultural variation in the world and to develop a hypothetical
perspective on culture and society. The only hope of achieving these goals is through
comparison. For instance, 'The Traveller Gypsies' by J. Okely (1986) is a study of
traveller society which discusses many of the idiosyncrasies of that culture by applying
context and therefore reasons that the anthropologist exposes genuine differences between
the gypsy and the settled communities. Differences which when compared in context are
enticing and Informative, not only in regard to the traveller culture but by reflection
on the settled community. The gypsy attitude to hygiene and cleanliness for example has
been a source of friction between them and settled communities, yet when looked at in
context of their beliefs, that is, the distinctions they make between the outer and inner
self and their definitions of dirt or 'poluti' are simply different from the values and
practices of the settled community. When looked at in context and by comparison the
actions of the travellers seem much more rational and in many ways their standards of
hygiene are much higher than those generally found in the settled community. Thus
comparison provides information, puts that information in perspective and allows
assessment and re-assessment of both cultures under comparison. This demonstrates the
essential nature of culture, context and comparison to the social anthropologist when
assessing humanity. They are the essential tools of the trade which allow them to strip
society, analyse and assess its parts to construct a balanced holistic picture of
society. Cultural differences cause conflict and division continuously all over the
world. To deal with this and to enact the required proper changes necessary to remove the
conflict, an accurate assessment and understanding of culture is required. Appropriate
social change should only come from adequate social assessment and understanding, This is
one of the benefits offered by the social anthropological perspective through its
holistic approach. Bibliography T.H. ERIKSEN SMALL PLACES/LARGE ISSUES LONDON 1996 PLUTO
PRESS J.P. SPENDLEY THE ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEW NEW YORK 1979 HOLT, REINHART AND WINSTON
J. OKELY THE TRAVELLER GYPSIES CAMBRIDGE 1986 UNIVERSITY PRESS J. FRIEL & J.E. PFEIFFER
ANTHROPOLGY, THE STUDY OF PEOPLE NEW YORK 1997 HARPER & ROW IMAGES SUPPLIED INTERNET
(W.W.W.) CLASS NOTES.