Mauss, Malinowski and Levi-Strauss: The Profession of Anthropology - Essay Example

Mauss, Malinowski and Levi-Strauss: The Profession of Anthropology Introduction Anthropologists explore, investigate, and compare various cultures and their growth, development and interaction. How people from different culture subsist and live provides ideas into contemporary life and how radically, or, more usually, how insignificantly we have evolved and how comparable we are in our fundamental processes of interaction. There are anthropologists who travel to historical, unexplored, and unusual territories and live there in primitive states or investigate developed societies, such as the United States, evaluating local issues. Several anthropologists use a cross-disciplinary model to the field, investigating behavioral science, nutrition, linguistics and others, and employ the methodologies of those fields to their exploration of culture. Attributes that promote success in this discipline involve an accommodating, probing mind; determination; and the capability to make assumptions from fragmentary information. Dissimilar to other scientific disciplines in which sizable funding and large research groups are typically required, an individual can unearth new information while investigating alone. A majority of anthropologists are hired as professors by universities. It is seldom for anthropologists to devote a great portion of their career outside professorial work (Barnard, 2000). Anthropologists devote a large amount of time teaching, conducting fieldwork, writing, collaborating with other professionals, and writing articles for specialized journals. Anthropology is a dynamic discipline, and those who hope to be successful in this field must discover ingenious means of having their works recognized. Prominent anthropologists swiftly learn effective skills in grant-writing, discover areas of uncharted anthropological knowledge, and produce books, essays and articles as early and as regularly as they can (Barnard, 2000). The objective of this paper is to discuss the biographies of three prominent anthropologists, Marcel Mauss, Bronislaw Malinowski and Claude Levi-Strauss. Then, similarities and differences in the life and works of these three anthropologists will be analyzed. Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss, a French anthropologist and ethnologist, is widely recognized as a historian of religion. He was born on May 10, 1872 in Epinal, to a religious Jewish family. He studied philosophy in University of Bordeaux; his uncle, Emile Durkheim, was one of his professors. Afterwards, he studied religion, history and philology at the University of Paris and later on participated in a study excursion wherein he met Edward Tylor, the founder of anthropology, in one of the tour destination, Oxford (James & Allen, 1998). Mauss became a professor, from 1900 to 1902, of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy at the University of Paris when he was appointed to preside over the history of religion of tribal groups. And then from 1930 until 1938 he taught at the College de France. He also became a professor of ethnography at the Institute of Ethnography from 1927 to 1939. Even though Mauss did not work in the field himself, he tutored French anthropologist and he emphasized ethnography (James & Allen, 1998). Mauss is recognized for his contributions to the journal heralded by Durkheim and his pupils, the L'Année sociologique, published in twelve volumes. The journal was founded mainly as a channel for professional studies. Mauss revised the articles on the categorization of sociological science and on religion. He took critically the argument of Durkheim that science developed through cooperative attempt and abandoned his own studies. Consequently, in 1908 Durkheim made a decision to reduce the circulation of the journal. Most of the early published work of Mauss was in partnership with other professionals and was issued in L'Année. He produced The Nature and Function of Sacrifice, Prolegomena to a General Theory of Magic, and Introduction to Religious Phenomena, in collaboration with Henry Hubert (James & Allen, 1998). He wrote Primitive Classification and several reviews and articles in collaboration with Durkheim. Mauss on no account intentionally defied the sociological teachings of Durkheim, though the allocation of task between them had given theory to Durkheim and examples to Mauss (Sykes, 2004). Mauss was appointed director of L'Année when Durkheim passed away in 1917. His work turned out to be more evidently ethnographic after the First World War as he attempted to continue the traditional scope and content of the journal. His work The Gift developed from the ethnographic studies of social structure and exchange in Melanesia by Bronislaw Malinowski. Mauss described customs of exchange cross-culturally, making use of Hindu, Germanic, Roman, and primitive illustrations to show that exchange was an absolute ‘social fact’ within which economic and social goals were indivisible (Sykes, 2004). Mauss wrote comprehensively of the Journal of Normal and Pathological Psychology and became head of the Society of Psychology. He considered that information about archaic cultures was indispensable to the discipline of psychology, and he desired to enable transmission of information between the disciplines of sociology and psychology. He passed away on February 10, 1950 (James & Allen, 1998). Bronislaw Malinowski Malinowski attended Cracow’s schools, first in the public school King Jan Sobieski and afterwards in the ‘oldest University in eastern Europe’, where he completed his Ph.D. and in 1908 he graduated summa cum laude. His degree was in mathematics and physics, but he became ill which prevented him from finishing his degree. During this time he was permitted to read the Golden Bough. Forcefully inspired on this initial effort to read an original masterwork written in English, he resorted to anthropology (Firth, 1957). He also gained high regard for Frazer which, in spite of basic dissimilarities in their perspectives, lasted all the way through his career and is manifested in the insightful article published in 1944. After working under Wilhelm Wundt and Karl Bucher in Leipzig, Malinowski went to England. He attended the London School of Economics as a postgraduate student, and in 1916 he gained his D.Sc. degree, with two published articles on the aborigines of Mailu and Australia. He then became a professor in Special Subjects at London School of Economics. He became a professor in the sociology department and lectured on ‘Social Psychology’ and ‘Primitive Religion and Social Differentiation’ (Firth, 1957). He was honored with a Robert Mond Travelling Studentship in 1914 and a Constance Hutchinson Scholarship through the assistance of C.G. Seligman, and worked on the field in New Guinea. He toured through Australia, with other professional anthropologists travelling for the meeting of the British Association in Melbourne. During this time he met Radcliffe-Brown and obtained from him useful tips about fieldwork (Firth, 1957). Malinowski developed the field of cultural anthropology outside the evolutionary emphasis into a scientific field that recognized a psychological and sociological frame of analysis. His forceful writings and appealing, amiable personality made him a quite prominent professor and inspired numerous of his pupils to pursue different careers, primarily in the cultural anthropology field. He demonstrated that alleged primitive populations are capable of the similar forms and sophistications of intellectual reasoning as those from more complex cultures. He assisted in overpowering Social Darwinist arguments that every society go through the same separate and knowable phases, and in a similar knowable arrangement, along a distinct linear course. His work exposed that cultures and individuals were significantly more complex and difficult to predict, and that they differed considerably. He demonstrated comprehensively through his thorough field work and inquisitive explorations that the richness of diversity was remarkably greater than traditionally assumed (Silverman, 2005). Malinowski revealed that no matter how unusual or extraordinary different customs and traditions may look like to observers, they were an essential fragment of the vigorous existence of their community. He explained the reason and purpose a custom would have within the perspective of that community. Even though most specialized observers may perceive magic as being simply irrational, Malinowski exposed the basis that it had to the members of particular society within a specific context (Silverman, 2005). Fishing in a lagoon for the Trobriand Islanders was a simple activity. But when it is necessary for them to go beyond the lagoon, into the yawning ocean, there were numerous perils and unknown difficulties. This was the instance wherein the magic practices strengthen the capability of the fishermen to overcome all these difficulties. The magic rituals hence functioned to assist them carry out what they have to do (Firth, 1957). The work of Malinowski predicted the differentiation between analysis and description and between the perspectives of analysts and actors. This differentiation, until today, informs theory and practice in anthropology. His investigation of Kula was also integral to the growth of anthropological theories relating to reciprocity and gift exchange. In Marcel Mauss’s influential work The Gift the observations from the Trobriands was comprehensively discussed (Silverman, 2005). The ideas and approaches of Malinowski were adapted by the school of anthropology of American Boasian, elevating him into one of the most important anthropologists of the last century (Silverman, 2005). Claude Levi-Strauss Claude Gustave Levi-Strauss, a French social anthropologist, became a foremost academic in the structural framework to social anthropology. He was born in Brussels, Belgium on November 28, 1908, of an urbane Jewish family. He attended Sorbonne, University of Paris to study philosophy. After serving as a teacher in provincial posts, he grew to be interested in anthropology and became a professor of sociology at Brazil, São Paulo University, which allowed him to carry out field work among the Indian tribes in Brazil (Shalvey, 1979). Levi-Strauss came back to France at a time of war and enlisted in the army. He became a professor in New School for Social Research in New York City and at the école Libre deśtudes from 1942 to 1945. In France, Levi-Strauss became Musée de I'Homme’s assistant director, école Pratique des Hautes études’s director, and editor-in-chief of the Man: Review of French Anthropology. He was a professor of comparative religions of non-literate people, social anthropology, and head of the College of France’s Laboratory of Social Anthropology from 1960 (Shalvey, 1979). The prominence of Levi-Strauss commenced with his work A World on the Wane. It is partially biographical, partially a philosophical treatise on travel, and primarily a report on four archaic Indian tribes in South America. In this work and his subsequent important work, The Savage Mind, he conveyed his assumption that in their capability all human beings are intellectually alike. Rather than a primitive man being stagnant in his way of life, he argued, “A primitive people is not a backward of retarded people; indeed it may possess a genius for invention or action that leaves the achievements of civilized peoples far behind” (Strauss, 1963, 102). Providing illustrations, Levi-Strauss claimed that the abstract mental functioning of the primitive man, though of a dissimilar mechanism from those of developed human beings, are equally rich, conceptual, advanced and scientific. For Levi-Strauss, there is no such thing as a primitive or advanced thinking but ‘mind-as-such’ (Strauss, 1963, 103), where in a structural frame of thought that brings order out of chaos and allows humans to build up social structures to serve their needs is locked. Mental processes of humans and means of attaining order are obtained as much from archaic magic rituals as from scientific principles of the West, as much from primordial legend as from the literature of the West, and as much from archaic religion as from the premises of morality and religion of the West. The theory of Levi-Strauss, which drew the interest of the world, is that if scholars of the social sciences can comprehend the mental processes of humans, they can develop a study of humans which is as methodical as the laws of physics. If order is present everyplace, argues the structuralist Levi-Strauss, then order is present in all places, even in the brain. The search of Levi-Strauss for the universal element of human though draws from structural linguistics, a scientific discipline of the 20th century which embarked on discovering the possible interactions between the foundations of culture and human speech (Shalvey, 1979). He moves beyond the concept of language in inserting as models for social order such endeavors as religion, the kinship system, exchange of goods and services, myth, ritual, art, music and others. He perceives each as one more interconnected means by which a culture and society sustains itself (Silverman, 2005). The theories of Levi-Strauss attempts to inspire thinking and research on unearthing the secrets of this mental code. His prominence lies on his assumption that there is no such thing as a dominant culture, that humans act in relation to the logical system of the brain (Silverman, 2005). Conclusions I found Mauss’s The Gift interesting because of his account that reciprocity and exchange are two very important activities for the Trobrianders. It is fascinating to know that there are cultures that rely on these practices as means to sustain their community. On the other hand, I think Malinowski’s and Levi-Strauss’s argument that primitive humans and developed ones are equal in terms of rationality and cultural sophistication very appealing. These kinds of argument have the potential to eliminate ethnocentrism that usually brings about negative consequences. Mauss, Malinowski and Levi-Strauss all underwent rigorous anthropological training, both from formal education and direct experience. Moreover, they became interested in anthropology because of their desire to prove that all cultures are equal, and there are no superior or inferior cultures. And they all believed that the rationality of human beings is manifested in their capability to maintain the productive functioning of society. And decisively, all three of them rise into prominence through collaboration with other professional anthropologists; this implies that anthropology is not a solitary endeavor but a discipline that requires joint effort. Simply studying the life and works of these three anthropologists will provide an insight on the profession of anthropology. As mentioned in the introduction, anthropologists devote a great portion of their career as professors or lecturers in universities, and that they their recognition rests on their capability to discover and create an account of exotic lands and cultures. References Barnard, A. (2000). History and Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Firth, R. (Ed.). (1957). Man and Culture: An Evaluation of the Work of Bronislaw Malinowski. New York: Humanities Press. Gibb, R. (2006). Claude Levi-Strauss. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute , 502+. James, W. & Allen, N.J. (eds.). (1998). Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute. New York: Berghahn Books. Levi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books. Shalvey, T. (1979). Claude Levi-Strauss: Social Psychotherapy and the Collective Unconscious. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. Silverman, S. (2005). Malinowski: Odyssey of and Anthropologist 1884-1920. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute , 166+. Sykes, K. (2004). Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute. Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute , 727+. Read More