SC2218: Anthropology and the SC2218: Anthropology and the Human ConditionHuman Condition

Lecture 10: History, Culture, ChangeLecture 10: History, Culture, ChangeLecture 11: The Poetry of CultureLecture 11: The Poetry of Culture

Eric C. ThompsonEric C. Thompson

Semester 1, 2008/2009Semester 1, 2008/2009

Where Are We Going?Where Are We Going?

• Part 1: Anthropological Frameworks– Strangers abroad; Genetic inheritance;

The concept of Culture

• Part 2: Social-Cultural Systems– Kinship, Gender, Economy,

Community

• Part 3: Building on the Frameworks & Moving into the Future– Problem of Representation, History

and Change, the Poetry of Culture, Anthropology in the 21st Century

YOU AREHERE

Question:Question:

• Why is HISTORY a “problem” for anthropology within the “structural-functionalist” framework of the 20th century?

History vs. TraditionHistory vs. Tradition• History and tradition are often thought of as synonymous. In

anthropology, they mean very different things.

• Tradition refers to beliefs and behaviors passed down essentially unchanging over time.

• History refers to the unique events and changes that individuals and societies undergo through time.

• Early 20th century anthropology took culture to be a form of “tradition.”

• Contemporary anthropology incorporates history and problematizes the notion of “tradition”.

The Problem with “Science”The Problem with “Science”• The 19th century saw the rise of “social sciences”

modeled on physical (or “natural”) sciences.

• Physical sciences (chemistry, physics, etc.) are dominated by an experimental, hypothesis testing model of understanding and building knowledge.

• This model works well for understanding simple, replicable and unchanging systems.

• It runs into major problems with complex, unique, and evolving systems.

Problem with Structural-Problem with Structural-FunctionalismFunctionalism

• Structural-Functional perspectives assumed culture and society to be “equilibrium” systems (which by definition are “simple” systems).

• Viewing culture and society like a car engine – basically fixed and unchanging.

• But society and culture are living, dynamic, “far from equilibrium” systems.

How to understand change?How to understand change?

• Societies and cultures obviously change.

• Structural-functionalism (based on an equilibrium systems model) cannot explain change.

• The only? explanation: Outside influences (colonialism, Westernization)

N!ai: The Story of a !Kung WomanN!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman

• What are the main changes that have taken place for !Kung people since the 1950s?

• What role have representations played in these changes? (Such as representations of !Kung people and their ways of life in terms of primitivism, modernity, race/ethnicity, citizenship, territory, etc.)

• How do the changes that have taken place for people in the Kalahari relate to Evans-Pritchard’s discussion of Anthropology and History?

From From Social ScienceSocial Science to toHistoryHistory and and InterpretationInterpretation

“Social anthropology is a kind of historiography… It studies societies as moral systems and not as natural systems… it seeks patterns and not scientific laws, and it interprets rather than explains.” (Evans-Pritchard 1950)

“The analysis of (culture is) not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive on in search of meaning.” (Clifford Geertz, 1973)

So is Anthropology an “Art” So is Anthropology an “Art” rather than a “Science”?rather than a “Science”?

• Late 20th century Anthropology: Adopted Historiography and Literary Criticism (Interpreting ‘cultures’ the way one interprets literature & ‘texts’)

• Criticism of “science” as just one more way of interpreting the world (based on cultural relativism).

• But, science is a very powerful way of interpreting the world… do we want to abandon it?

Revolution in the Science of Revolution in the Science of Complex, Dynamical SystemsComplex, Dynamical Systems

• Prior to computing, scientists found complex systems impossible to analyze

• Too many variables = too many interactions = impossible to solve

• The “hard” sciences (physics, chemistry) have generally focused simple systems.

• The “soft” sciences (social) attempt to understand complex systems.

Complex Adaptive SystemsComplex Adaptive Systems• Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS; like human culture and

society) are a problem for traditional hypothesis-testing science (HTS).

• CAS involve feedback systems and multi-directional causality; HTS seeks unidirectional “cause-and-effect” answers.

• CAS are not replicable due to sensitive dependence on initial conditions; HTS requires multiple copies of the same system on which to test hypotheses.

• CAS evolve – meaning that they change qualitatively over time; HTS can only deal with quantitative differences, not qualitative ones (“you can’t compare apples and oranges”).

A New Systems Theory in A New Systems Theory in Social Science?Social Science?

• Actor-Network Theory (Bruno Latour)

• Structuration Theory (Anthony Giddens)

• General attention to the interactions and mutual dependence/production of structure and agency

• All look like “Complex Adaptive Systems”!

1st GenerationCultural Structures

(Grammars, Words, Styles, Signifiers)

1st GenerationAgents (Subjects/Individuals)

(Drawing on the Structures to relate to others, influence action, interpret meanings – their own and others)

Culture as an Iterative Process

Agents are “Subjects” of (“subject to”) cultural structures – they cannot operate meaningfully outside of the structure.Cultural Structures are emergent structures, dependent on the agents for their existence.

1st GenerationCultural Structures

1st GenerationAgents (Subjects)

2nd GenerationAgents (Subjects)

2nd GenerationCultural Structures

Culture always changes,because agents never reproduce it “perfectly”

CULTURE & SOCIETYCULTURE & SOCIETY(The Super-Simple Versions)(The Super-Simple Versions)

• Culture = systems of meaning

• Society = systems of (exchange) relationships

• From Structuralism, to Post-Structuralism, to (Complex Adaptive) Dynamic Systems

The Problem with StructuralismThe Problem with Structuralism

• Binary oppositions*• Fixed stereotypes & categories*• Problem of change.

– If structures (e.g. kinship, language) are persistent, how do we account for change?

– Is a culture (e.g. “Chinese culture”) always the same at different times, in different places?

• Problem of human agency.– Are people’s lives determined by culture?

*Discussed in Past Lectures

Post-structuralism and Agency

How do we move beyond analytical structures, categories, and stereotypes that limit our ability to see an understand contemporary realities?

How do we account for human agency – the potential of peopleto affect and change their social conditions of life?

POST-STRUCTURALISM: an attempt to move anthropologicalanalysis beyond the analytical confines of structures and categories.

Key Concepts and ExamplesKey Concepts and Examples

• What is “Discourse”?

• What is “Poststructuralism”?

• Examples of poststructuralist analysis:– Bedouin Poetry– Malaysian Rock-and-Roll– Egyptian Popular Music– Ju/’hoansi Complaint– Singaporean Culture… Does it exist??

Here’s the Problem . . .Here’s the Problem . . .

If language & culture are changing all the

time, how do we ever know what anything

means??

“. . .There's glory for you!"

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't--till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"

"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."

“The question is,“ said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."

http://sundials.org/about/humpty.htm

Do Language and Meaning really work like this?

Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll 1871

““Humpty-Dumpty” MeaningHumpty-Dumpty” Meaning

Encoding and DecodingEncoding and Decoding• Discourse is a matter of ongoing exchange.• Discourse is back-and-forth, not one-way.• Speakers/listeners; writers/readers cannot fix

meaning.

http://planet.tvi.cc.nm.us/ba122/What%20is%20Communication.htm

Language, Culture, DiscourseLanguage, Culture, Discourse• Language and Culture are closely related.

• Culture includes Language and Linguistic systems of meaning; but also many systems or elements that we do not usually think of as “Linguistic”, for example:– Flags, Maps, Architecture, Food– Skin Color, Eye Shape and other “Symbols” of Race– Body Language and Gestures

• Discourse can refer to both Language and/or Culture “in use” (process)

The Idea of “Discourse”*The Idea of “Discourse”*Language as a System

“Langue” (language)

Form

Structuralism

Culture (mid-20th c.)

Language in Use

“Parole” (speech)

History

Poststructuralism

Discourse (late-20th c.)

*These ideas come from Ferdinand de Saussure, Jacque Derrida, and others.

Structure and MeaningStructure and MeaningConsider the following sentences:Consider the following sentences:

(1) Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

(2) Sleep ideas green furiously colorless.

Are either of these sentences meaningful?

Why or Why Not?

Structure and Meaning:Structure and Meaning:Colorless Green IdeasColorless Green Ideas

(1) Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.*– Structurally (grammatically) sound.

(2) Sleep ideas green furiously colorless.– Structurally unsound.

Are either of these sentences meaningful?

Why or Why Not?

*Famous example used by linguist Noam Chomsky.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

  And the mome raths outgrabe.

Is “Jabberwocky” meaningful, or just nonsense?

Structure and Meaning:Structure and Meaning:JabberwockyJabberwocky

http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll 1871

What “Structures” are What “Structures” are found in Jabberwocky?found in Jabberwocky?

What “Structures” are found in What “Structures” are found in Jabberwocky?Jabberwocky?

• Poetic structure• English language

(words and grammar)• Adventure story• Kinship (!)

– Father & Son

• Others?

He took his vorpal sword in hand:  Long time the

manxome foe he sought.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

These STRUCTURES allow us to interpret Jabberwocky’s “nonsense”

Structure, Discourse, MeaningStructure, Discourse, Meaning

• Structure enables meaning, but does not (completely) determine it.

• Meaning emerges through discourse – between subjects (it is “intersubjective”).– Encoding and decoding.– Speaking and interpreting.– Writing and reading.

• Because it is intersubjective, meaning is never fixed.

Post-StructuralismPost-Structuralism

• Examining the emergence of meaning.

• “Post –” (after, beyond, out of).

• Poststructuralism is a mode of analysis, not a quality of things (such as cultural practices, social relationships, etc.).

• Examples of poststructuralist analysis . . .

Bedouin PoetryBedouin Poetry

• Abu-Lughod examines “traditional” Bedouin Poetry.

• Are the women reciting these poems merely echoing hundreds of years of tradition?

• What about Abu-Lughod’s analysis is “poststructural”?

ELLAELLA: Malaysia’s : Malaysia’s Ratu RockRatu Rock (Queen of Rock-and Roll) (Queen of Rock-and Roll)

• Is Ella’s music just a copy of American rock-and-roll?

• What structures is she drawing on?

• How is she transforming those structures?

• What does USA stand for?

Ala AmerikaAla Amerika• Semalam kau kata kau cinta

• Hari ini sudah lain pula jadinya, • Kau kata kepadaku kita bercinta• Ala Amerika . . .

• Kita hidup dengan budaya• Jangan terpengaruh dengan• Cara mereka, • Barat dan Timur jauh berbeza . . .

• Yesterday you said you were in love• Today it’s (another story)• You say to me that we are in love• A la America (American style)

• We live with culture,• Don’t be swayed by• Their ways,• West and East are far different . . .

USA…USA…

Unik

Sugoi

Asli

"When I use a word . . . it means just what I choose it to mean--neither

more nor less."

Umm Kulthum: A Voice like EgyptUmm Kulthum: A Voice like Egypt

• “It is necessary to fill the revolutionary society with everything that is beautiful… for beauty endures and it is the best manifestation of authenticity.”

• Uum Kulthum’s story and music illustrate the interplay of tradition and change (even ‘revolution’)… Making “old” music speak to a “new” nation.

Ju/’hoansi Complaint DiscourseJu/’hoansi Complaint Discourse

• What does complaining among elderly Ju/’hoansi have to do with poetry and song?

• Complaint (and styles of complaint) is a cultural resource among Ju/’hoansi.

• Elderly Ju/’hoansi draw on this resource discursively to express their feelings and influence their kin.

Culture and DiscourseCulture and Discourse

• CULTURE is a Complex Adaptive System

• DISCOURSE is the Process through which Culture Changes

• “It’s a mistake to name a process after a product… you can still go fishing if you never catching a fish…” (from “Sight Unseen”)

Singapore… Ain’t Got No Culture?Singapore… Ain’t Got No Culture?

• “In the old days… you had the time and the isolation to develop your own (culture) and create something distinctive… Now you have to synthesize all the time…

• “The basis of our culture is what we inherited from our original countries, our original cultures. So every Chinese Singaporean takes that as his heritage. It doesn’t belong to China, it belongs as much to you as to me…”

• MM Lee Kuan Yew

What is Authentic Culture?What is Authentic Culture?

• What is Authentic Chinese, Malay, Indian or Other Culture?

• What is Authentic Singaporean Culture?

• Culture is what we make it and make of it.