"Culture" and "meaning" are central to anthropology, but anthropologists do not agree on what they are. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn propose a new theory of cultural meaning, one that gives priority to the way people's experiences are internalized. Drawing on "connectionist" or "neural network" models as well as other psychological theories, they argue that cultural meanings are not fixed or limited to static groups, but neither are they constantly revised or contested. Their approach is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage and ideas of success in the United States.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Strauss and Quinn's impressive book sets out a theory of culture that is both highly plausible and easily accessible to linguists. This is due in large part to the fact htat its approach is consistently synthetic, both in that it seeks to find common ground among different anthropological approaches to the much contested concept of culture, and in that the authors hope to build bridges between anthropology and other disciplines concerned with human thought and behavior...it constitutes a fascinating variant in the recent explosion of interdisciplinary research on the mind and brain. Linguists (and anyone else) with a broad interest in culture, cognition, or meaning will find the book well worth reading...the book is clearly written, well argued, and solidly supported by often fascinating micro-analyses of American culture." Anthropolological Linguistics
Book Description
Anthropologists must draw on modern psychological theories of cognition in order to understand how the shared schemas of a culture are learnt, and come to shape everyday actions and decisions. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn review a range of current psychologic al theories of cultural meaning, many unfamiliar to anthropologists, and formulate a new approach which draws particularly on 'connectionist', or 'neural network', modelling This is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage, and ideas of success, in the United States.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book for psychologists, sociologists, anthropoligists.,
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This review is from: A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning (Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology) (Paperback)
If youre a casual reader of cultural science, this book might come across as very dense and slow-reading. But if you are already familiar with basic cultural and evolutionary psychology theory, you could find this an interesting read. The book begins by outlining connectivist (spreading activation) models of neurology, and tries to apply them to cultural schemas. The chapters are divided between "case-study" chapters that use a particular event or set of interviews to examine one particular schema style in detail, and more theory minded chapters. The case-study chapters were more interesting and illuminating in my opinion. This book would do well if paired with the "Selfways" research paper by Kitayama and Markus, or paired with a book like 'The Moral Animal' which offers a totally different biological basis for cultural drives in psychology.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delivers what it promises,
This review is from: A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning (Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology) (Paperback)
Well, if you're looking for a cognitive theory of cultural meaning, then look no further! Strauss and Quinn take a "connectionist" approach to the development and transmission of cultural meaning. It is quite clear and relatively easy to read, compared with other works we have been reading in my Seminar in Contemporary Theory in Anthropology.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Buy,
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This review is from: A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning (Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology) (Paperback)
I needed this book for a class I am taking and it arrived in a very timely manner! The condition said used however the book was in such great condition I thought it was new. I am very happy with this buy!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Once upon a time we anthropologists believed in the concept of culture. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
marital lastingness, intrapersonal culture, processing modelers, symbolic processing models, horizontal compartmentalization, cultural exemplars, connectionist modelers, routine motivation, expectation that marriage, historical durability, cultural schemas, marital fulfillment, connectionist terms, connectionist models, psychological anthropologists, connectionist framework, cultural sharing, conduit metaphor, psychological anthropology Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Claudia Strauss, Naomi Quinn, Rhode Island, Anna Monteiro, John Smith, Sally Forth, Fredric Jameson, Mother Teresa, North Americans, West German New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Once upon a time we anthropologists believed in the concept of culture. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
marital lastingness, intrapersonal culture, processing modelers, symbolic processing models, horizontal compartmentalization, cultural exemplars, connectionist modelers, routine motivation, expectation that marriage, historical durability, cultural schemas, marital fulfillment, connectionist terms, connectionist models, psychological anthropologists, connectionist framework, cultural sharing, conduit metaphor, psychological anthropology Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Claudia Strauss, Naomi Quinn, Rhode Island, Anna Monteiro, John Smith, Sally Forth, Fredric Jameson, Mother Teresa, North Americans, West German New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 9
books:
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58
books
cite this book:
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- Romantic Passion by William R. Jankowiak in Back Matter
- Donald Davidson (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus) by Kirk Ludwig on page 5
- Native Americans by Suzanne Morgan Williams on page 39
- Selections from Cultural Writings by Antonio Gramsci in Back Matter
- Cultural Anthropology (6th Edition) by Marvin Harris in Front Matter
See all 9 books this book cites
- Doing Educational Administration: A Theory of Administrative Practice by Colin W. Evers on page 140, page 158, and page 165
- Ethnosyntax: Explorations in Grammar and Culture by N. J. Enfield on page 29, and page 258
- Compellence and the Strategic Culture of Imperial Japan: Implications for Coercive Diplomacy in the Twenty-First Century by Forrest Morgan on page 34, and Back Matter
- G-Strings and Sympathy: Strip Club Regulars and Male Desire by Katherine Frank in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Ethnosyntax: Explorations in Grammar and Culture (Oxford Linguistics) by N. J. Enfield on page 27, and page 256
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