Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology [Paperback]

Carol Delaney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631222375 | ISBN-13: 978-0631222378 | Publication Date: February 23, 2004 | Edition: 1

Investigating Culture offers an innovative approach to understanding culture as a constructed phenomenon open to investigation of its implicit premises and explicit forms.

• Provides a refreshing alternative to traditional textbooks by challenging students to think in new ways and to apply these ideas to their own lives


• Focuses on the ways that humans orient themselves, e.g., in space and time, according to language, food, the body, and the symbols provided by public myth and ritual


• Each chapter includes: an introduction framing the central issues, examples from a range of cultures, a selected reading or two, additional suggested readings, and exercises

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Engaging, intelligent, and intellectually generous, Investigating Culture introduces students to cultural anthropology --- and reintroduces all of us to our everyday worlds as seen through ethnographic eyes. Delaney brings together acute observation, revelatory projects, telling and appropriate comparisons, and an imaginative and stimulating range of readings. A book I’m eager to teach!" Don Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz; President of American Anthropological Association 2001--03

"A splendid achievement. Carol Delaney has written an absorbing and strikingly original introduction to anthropology. Investigating Culture takes students on a self-reflexive journey around the world and back home again. Courageous, conversational, scholarly, and engaging." Carol Stack, University of California, Berkeley

"Investigating Culture will be a beacon for the discipline, and a wonderful point of entry to the field for the beginner." Steven Piker, Swarthmore College

"A wonderful teaching resource!" Julia Lynn Offen, University of Pennsylvania

"[A] unique, timely introduction to anthropology…. Many will appreciate Delaney's fresh and innovative approach to tried and true anthropological concepts. Many will also appreciate her more contemporary topical discussions---such as those on space, the body, or clothing---which are much more relevant to students' experience. ... Delaney's text represents what seems to be an important shift in contemporary introductory textbooks, one that recognizes the increased multicultural sophistication of today's student. In that sense, it also represents a move away from the kind of conventional anthropological pedagogy…. Students…need textbooks that encourage new levels of understanding which couch their complex experiences within more complex frameworks like history, politics, and economy. In my view, Delaney's book---well-written, well-thought-out, and germane---goes a long way toward narrowing the gap between conventional and more relevant approaches to teaching anthropology." ---The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Book Description

Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology proposes an innovative approach to understanding culture as a constructed phenomenon open to investigation of its implicit premises and explicit forms. This exciting book offers a refreshing hands-on alternative to more traditional textbooks by challenging readers to think about culture in new ways and to apply these ideas to their own lives. Investigating Culture teaches students to think like anthropologists by encouraging them to compare their own cultural experiences with that of anthropologists who enter a culture specifically to study it. Approaching the study of culture or cultural anthropology in this way trains students to confront the reflexive nature of anthropology early on and to distance themselves from the inherent flaws of studying the "exotic Other." Investigating Culture is divided into nine chapters that focus on the variety of ways that humans orient themselves --- in space and time, by means of language, the body, the structures of everyday life, and the symbols of religion and public ritual. Each chapter includes an introduction outlining the central issues, selected classic readings, examples from a variety of cultures, suggested additional readings, and a series of exercises designed to make the analysis of culture personally accessible.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (February 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631222375
• ISBN-13: 978-0631222378
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Original (But Just Good) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, December 9, 2006

By 

Zen Nataraj - See all my reviews

This review is from: Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology (Paperback)

As a teacher, I used this book during a semester course for college students who admitted to have no idea what anthropology was, and the results were, overall, very positive. They found it interesting and pleasant, and they read and summarized all nine chapters, totaling over 400 pages.

Its forte is that, rather than adopting the formalistic approach of conventional textbooks, it engages students, capturing their attention at the experiential level. With simple language, it provides a straightforward introduction to what is to do ethnographic fieldwork and to think anthropologically, leading students to learn, not only about "other cultures", but also, and mainly, to reflect upon their own ethnocentrism.

However, due to such an experiential focus, the book misses important anthropological concerns with macro-analysis, structuralism and history; it also misses a minimally systematic discussion of classical topics, such as religion or economy. And, some of my female students found that the author's recurrent discussion on gender exploitation was excessive and even tiresome. Finally, though it is understandable that geographic expertise may limit one's ability to discuss other world cultures, I expected a wider and better variety of examples, beyond rural Turkey, patriarchy and the author's (and close colleagues') own excerpts. I was stunned with crass mistakes, such as claiming that Brazilians love tango (rather than samba), to name just one among several blunders.

Having said that, I still maintain that this book yields good results among undergraduate students. I'm not sure I'd employ it in privileged institutions such as U. Chicago or Ivy League, but certainly so in more modest colleges. In any case, the book is quite original, providing an innovative approach to learn the discipline. The supplementary articles at the end of each chapter are a very good idea. I hope that the author fixes, calibrates and improves this interesting book in future editions.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not bad, November 30, 2008

By 

Miss Dot - See all my reviews

This review is from: Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology (Paperback)

I found the book to be very informative but not so much for an online student. I also found the writing a little small. I think Carol Delaney should keep the book because of the wealth of information but modify it for online students.