Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
v. t. e. Clifford James Geertz (/ ɡɜːrts / ⓘ; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades... the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States." [2]
Theories of religion can be classified into: [6] Substantive (or essentialist) theories that focus on the contents of religions and the meaning the contents have for people. This approach asserts that people have faith because beliefs make sense insofar as they hold value and are comprehensible. The theories by Tylor and Frazer (focusing on the ...
Anthropology. In the social sciences and related fields, a thick description is a description of human social action that describes not just physical behaviors, but their context as interpreted by the actors as well, so that it can be better understood by an outsider. A thick description typically adds a record of subjective explanations and ...
The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays is a 1973 book by the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz. The book is a foundational text in cultural anthropology and represents Geertz ’s vision of how culture should be studied and understood. The essays collectively argue for a new approach to anthropology, one that emphasizes the ...
The definition of religion is a controversial and complicated subject in religious studies with scholars failing to agree on any one definition. Oxford Dictionaries defines religion as the belief in and/or worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. [1][failed verification] Others, such as Wilfred Cantwell ...
Anthropology. Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. [1] The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the field of Religious Studies. The history of anthropology of religion is a history of ...
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 ...
Geertz and his wife were shocked when the man—"[their] host of five minutes"—lied to the police by telling them that Geertz and his wife had not been at the fight but instead had been engaged in ethnographic research, talking to the man and his family about their culture. [2] The next day, the village opened up to the couple.