Patterns of Culture [Paperback]

Ruth Benedict (Author), Margaret Mead (Author), Mary Catherine Bateson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 1989

For more than a generation, this pioneering book has been an indispensable introduction to the field of anthropology. Here, in her study of three sharply contrasting cultures, Benedict puts forward her famous thesis that a people's culture is an integrated whole, a "personality writ large." Includes a preface from Margaret Mead.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

RUTH BENEDICT (1887-1948) was one of the twentieth century's foremost anthropologists and helped to shape the discipline in the United States and around the world. Benedict was a student and later a colleague of Franz Boas at Columbia, where she taught from 1924. Margaret Mead was one of her students. Benedict's contributions to the field of cultural anthropology are often cited today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (June 26, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395500885
• ISBN-13: 978-0395500880
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #556,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic in the field, October 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Patterns of Culture (Paperback)

This book describes several diverse cultures in depth and detail. The emphasis is on overall world view and the conceptual foundations of each culture. The writing is lucid, involving and evocative. This book sheds more light on the issue of what is basic to all human nature, and what is culturaly influenced, then any other I know.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Has At Least One Significant "Insight", April 15, 2006

By 

John Boland "John Boland" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patterns of Culture (Paperback)

I read this book many years ago and I haven't looked at it lately. So, this is strictly from memory. What I remember about the book is that from the book I acquired this "insightful idea" : that as we learn our own culture we become a "prisoner" of our ONE culture. We become a prisoner because we only know ONE culture. If we only know ONE culture we have "no choice" but to "live and think" WITHIN that ONE culture. But, if we know two or three or twenty cultures we can then "free" outselves from living and thinking and perceiving in ONE way. We will then have choices BETWEEN more than one way of life, we will have choices between more than one way of thinking and we will have choices between more than one way of perceiving the world. The knowledge of more than one culture gives us "more freedom" of choice. Thus we cease to be "a prisoner of culture". We become somewhat of an "overman" because we are "free to choose" among many cultural possibilities that people with only ONE culture cannot. And, we can become a "participant observer" among many cultures. We can choose how to live, perceive, and think among many more possibilities which gives us "more freedom" of action. This "insight" has freed me to choose "the best" aspects among many cultures thus enriching my life and giving me more choices about how to live my life. If this book does the same for you, then it has served its purpose. I recommend the book because of the "cultural freedom" you may acquire from reading it. Email: [e-mail]

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars readable, classic ethnography, January 9, 2007

By 

Zelda Fitzgerald "cultural perspectives of a ... (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Patterns of Culture (Paperback)

Very, very easy to digest. Anyone interested in the history of anthropology or in Native American Indians will find this book a good read. It's a bit dated, but if you can let that go, you'll get a lot out of it.