1st Edition

Description and Comparison in Cultural Anthropology

By Alfred Harris Copyright 1970
    173 Pages
    by Routledge

    173 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures are intended to commemorate both the man and his work the latter being viewed as having provided an admirably broad and substantial base for anthropologists of later generations to build upon, as they have done and continue to do in diverse ways.

    Professor Goodenough's work, in the past and in this book particularly, emphasizes the vitality and fruitfulness of Morgan's contributions. Not only do these lectures carry forward Morgan's interests in kinship; they reflect as well his concern for comparative studies undertaken with the aim of ultimately understanding mankind. Moreover, Professor Goodenough has elucidated recent developments in the collection, analysis, and presentation of cultural data in ways that make it easier for all of us to see how his methods (in themselves specialized) can broaden and deepen our understanding of culture and of man.

    Morgan, himself a pioneer in method, would surely have been an attentive auditor-and discussant-at Professor Goodenough's Lectures, and in his seminars and the less formal events in which he participated while at Rochester, and to which he contributed so much. This volume is an expanded version of the Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures delivered at the University of Rochester, April 2 to 11, 1968.

    Alfred Harris was a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Rochester. He served as the chair of the anthropology from 1964-1971 and he was well known for being the editor of the Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures.

    INTRODUCTION 1. Marriage and Family Marriage, Family, Parenthood, Conclusion 2. Kindred and Clan Kindreds, Descent Groups, The Role of Rights and Duties, The Constituents of Descent Groups, Conclusion 3. Sibling and Cousin Componential Analysis, Genealogical Space, Consanguinity and Affinity, Generation, Collaterally, Sex and Bifurcation, Polarity and Reciprocity, Age and Seniority, Decedence, Genealogical Distance, Structural Equivalence or Coincidence, Social Criteria, Conclusion 4. General and Particular Culture, Culture and Social Structure, Describing a Culture, Ethics and Typology, Comparative Study, Comparative Study and Genetic Relationship, Conclusion

    Biography

    Harris, Alfred