UNITATEA DE CURS 1

DEPARTAJRI CONCEPTUALE

Antropologia se
ocup
cu
studiul
tiinific
al omului.
Este
o
disciplin holistic din dou puncte de vedere: se ocup att de studiul tuturor oamenilor,
din toate epocile istorice, dar i trateaz toate dimensiunile umanitii.
n centrul antropologiei se afl ideea de cultur, ea reprezint specia uman, c
specia noastr i-a dezvoltat o capacitate universal de a concepe lumea simbolic, de a
preda i nva astfel de simboluri n mod social i de a transforma lumea (dar i pe noi
nine) pe baza acestor simboluri.
n definirea antropologiei culturale exist cel puin dou accepiuni :
1.
o accepiune ontologic pune n sarcina antropologului cultural
n principal studiul naturii umane, identificarea acelor constante i esene generale
umane comune ntregii umaniti.
2. accepiune epistemologic are n vedere diversificarea cercetrilor efectuate
de-a lungul vremii i constituirea unor ramuri specializate ale antropologiei
culturale, a diferitelor coli antropologice.
DEFINIII
Clifford Geertz, antropolog american (1926-2006):

"Anthropology is perhaps the last of the great nineteenth-century conglomerate

disciplines still for the most part organizationally intact. Long after natural history, moral
philosophy, philology, and political economy have dissolved into their specialized
successors, it has remained a diffuse assemblage of ethnology, human biology,
comparative linguistics, and prehistory, held together mainly by the vested interests, sunk
costs, and administrative habits of academia, and by a romantic image of comprehensive
scholarship. (Antropologia este poate una dintre ultimele tiine gen conglomerat,
lansate de secolul al XIX-lea, care a rmas, din punct de vedere organizatoric, aproape la
fel ca la nceputurile sale. La mult timp dup ce istoria natural, filosofia moral,
filologia, economia politic i-au gsit sfritul, transformndu-se n noi direcii de
cercetare, succesorale, antropologia a rmas tot o difuz strngere laolalt de etnologie,
biologie uman, lingvistic comparat, preistorie, inute de aceleai interese, obiceiuri i
imagini)
Clifford Geertz : We [anthropologists] have been the first to insist on a number of
things: that the world does not divide into the pious and the superstitious; that there are
sculptures in jungles and paintings in deserts; that political order is possible without
centralized power and principled justice without codified rules; that the norms of reason
were not fixed in Greece, the evolution of morality not consummated in England. Most
important, we were the first to insist that we see the lives of others through lenses of our
own grinding and that they look back on ours through ones of their own.

Eric Wolf (1923-1999)

[Anthropology] is less a subject matter than a bond between subject matters. It is in part
history, part literature; in part natural science, part social science; it strives to study men
both from within and without; it represents both a manner of looking at man and a vision
of man-the most scientific of the humanities, the most humanist of sciences.
( Anthropology, 1964.)
James William Lett
Anthropology has traditionally attempted to stake out a compromise position on this
central issue by regarding itself as both the most scientific of the humanities and the most
humanistic of the sciences. That compromise has always looked peculiar to those outside
anthropology, but today it looks increasingly precarious to those within the discipline
(The Principles of Rational Inquiry. Rowman and Littlefield, 1997).
Marvin Harris (1927-2001)
Our Kind : Are you as interested as I am in knowing how, when, and where human life
arose, what the first human societies and languages were like, why cultures have evolved
along diverse but often remarkably convergent pathways, why distinctions of rank came
into being, and how small bands and villages gave way to chiefdoms and chiefdoms to
mighty states and empires?
Michael Scullin
Anthropologists attempt to answer the question: "how can one explain the diversity of
human cultures that are currently found on earth and how have they evolved?" Given that
we will have to change rather rapidly within the next generation or two this is a very
pertinent question for anthropologists.
Curiosity. In a sense, we all do anthropology because it is rooted in a universal human
trait: curiosity. We are curious about ourselves and about other people, the living as well
as the dead, here and around the globe. We ask anthropological questions:
Do all societies have marriage customs?
As a species, are human beings innately violent or peaceful?
Did the earliest humans have light or dark skins?
When did people first begin speaking a language?
How related are humans, monkeys and chimpanzees?
Is Homo sapienss brain still evolving?

Ramurile antropologiei
Antropologia cultural/social, care studiaz evoluia, condiiile de trai, relaiile ntre
oameni i instituii i modul n care acetia performeaz simbolurile socio-culturale cercetarea presupunnd, de regul, o interaciune cu cei cercetai;
Antropologia lingvistic, care studiaz limba i limbajul n contextul lor socio-cultural,
ca sistem simbolic i de comunicare cultural.

Antropologia fizic, care studiaz alctuirea corpului uman din punct de vedere biologic
i trsturile distincte ale raselor umane.
Antropologia arheologic, care studiaz preistoria (dar i cultura modern), a umanitii
pornind de la obiectele rmase n urma trecerii oamenilor.
Antropologia cultural mai este numit i antropologie social n Marea Britanie
sau etnologie n Frana, Italia i rile est europene.

Subdomenii
antropologie social
antropologie economic
antropologie religioas
antropologie politic
antropologie urban
antropologie simbolic
antropologie vizual
Diferitele obiecte sau interese ale studiului antropologic au format treptat domenii
de studiu autonom n cadrul antropologiei, cu propriile teorii i metode:
antropologia rudeniei i a familiei
antropologia feminist
antropologia post-colonialismului
antropologia naionalismului
antropologia socialismului i a tranziiei
antropologia mass-media
antropologia corpului
antropologia alimentaiei
antropologia turismului
antropologie aplicat

1.
Antropologia cultural propriu-zis n definirea creia s-au
conturat cel puin trei puncte de vedere :
a)
M.Howard privete antropologia cultural ca pe o antropologie
socio-uman al crui obiect de studiu ar fi viaa societii. Dac antropologii fizici
i concentreaz studiul pe baza biologiei, antrpologia cultural vizeaz cu
precdere studiul motenirii culturale, a umanitii transmis prin experiena
societii i culturii dect prin gene.

b)
William Haviland conform lui, antropologia cultural are ca
principal sarcin studiul comportamentului uman ce are la baz cultura standard
(deseori incontiente, pe baza crora funcioneaz societatea ).
c)
Conrad Philip Koltak pune n sarcina antropologiei culturale
studiul societii i a culturii pentru a putea descrie i exemplifica similaritile i
diferenele sociale i culturale.
Etnografia este disciplina care se ocup cu studiul societii i culturii
tradiionale despre care adun date prin cercetarea de teren efectuat n zona unor culturi
particulare.
Etnologia reprezint nivelul superior de cercetare pe baza examinrii i
cerectrii datelor oferite de etnografie, ncearc s identifice i s exploateze diferenele
i similaritile culturale.