The Concept and Meaning of Anthropology - Book Report/Review Example

The Parallel Worlds of Anthropology Introduction The book Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa, is written by Alma Gottlieb who is an anthropologist, and her husband Philip Graham, a writer of fictional stories. This book published in 1994, recounts the details of their experiences during the time they spent in two extremely remote native villages, deep inside the African rainforests of Cote dIvoire. In this book the authors use an innovative technique of telling their story, by alternately lending their voices to each chapter, and by narrating in the first person voice. The authors’ reminisces are strong and humorous, as they speak of the practicalities and hardship faced during the field work of Gottlieb’s anthropological studies. As we read the book we also slowly understand the significance of the term parallel worlds, and as to why the authors chose it to represent their travails of one and half year, in an unknown remote foreign locale. This article will explore in details the concept and meaning of the word ‘anthropology’ and will seek its relationship with the term parallel worlds, and find out as to whether these two terms can be used to substitute each other. Body Right at the very beginning as we start reading the book, we are aware of the presence of two different personalities, Alma Gottlieb “a novice anthropologist” (Gottlieb and Graham, xvii) and Phillip Graham, a writer of fiction stories. So we start the story with the two separate perspectives, one of the many parallel worlds that we will see later in the book, operating side by side, not disassociated, and often close enough to blur the lines of differences between them. Before proceeding any further ahead, we will first have to comprehend the actual meaning of the word anthropology. The term is derived from two Greek words anthropos meaning human, and logia meaning study. So anthropology can be seen as a comparative discourse of the human race and societies that tries to discern the similarities within the various existing groups, rather than focusing on their differences. This subject also amalgamates the study of social sciences, arts, and natural sciences, while having a comprehensive approach towards apprehending the complexities of human kind by analyzing their cultural and biological aspects. Eric Wolf in 1974 said that anthropology as a subject is “the most scientific of humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences” (cited in Rapport and Overing, 173). However, here one must note that in almost all educational spheres, especially in the western world, humanities and sciences are seen as two inimical forces, as two parallel worlds that are ready to negate each other, if they came into contact. On the contrary if one thinks logically and rationally and also from the right historical context, then one can easily discern that humanities and sciences are two parallel subjects that are not antagonistic, but rather complementary to each other, and help in forming a pragmatic view of this world, rather than viewing things from the supernatural angle. So here we come across two very basic components of anthropology, that form two parallel worlds within the very subject, yet run along very close lines. Now if we look at the sub divisions of anthropology we will find that it consists of four very different fields or in simple words, 4 parallel worlds that work in collusion to study the mystery that is known as human kind. These 4 fields are archeology (which studies the remains and artifacts of ancient societies), linguistic anthropology (this deals with language study and examines the relationship between language and culture), cultural anthropology (study of contemporary societies) and physical anthropology (it studies human variations and evolution). So we can see that anthropology is made up of four different aspects that all aim to study mankind as a whole. All these four components lead their quests into the common subject of human kind, which in turn produces a set of fields that all run parallel to each other. As for example, people with different dialects exist in the same world; they may be disconnected from each other, or may overlap and also be dependent on each other. However their linguistic region remains independent, and develops in a parallel manner. Similarly in cultural anthropology there are explorations that involve contemporary societies, which are completely different from each other and yet they coexist, and also flourish simultaneously by remaining parallel to each other. So ultimately anthropology turns out to be a study of many parallel subjects that involve human evolutions, cultures and languages. Taken separately, each subject will again explore many parallel developments, as for example, the formation of different dialects within the realms of a single language, or studying the different monogenetic or polygenetic mythical developments with the portals of a single culture (Ravenscroft, Folk Psychology as a Theory). So we can see that anthropology involves the study of many parallel subjects or fields, which develop and occur simultaneously. These fields may overlap with each other, or may stay completely disassociated, at the same time developing in a parallel line. However, there may be aberrations too, like in cases of ‘acculturation’ where one culture under brutal pressure or under strong influences from another parallel culture (the later generally is seen to be more mercantile in nature), loses its own identity, as what we can see in history, happened to the native Indians under Spanish rule and under British colonialism. Here under colonialism another very important aspect of cultural differences was seen known as ‘ethnocentrism’, where one judged another parallel culture through the narrow lens of one’s own presumably better culture. From the above discourse one can safely assume that the term parallel worlds which the authors used while naming their book, can be said to be a metaphor for anthropology. In the book Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa, the authors have specifically chosen the topic, owing to the fact that there are many parallel subjects or worlds, that are found in their book. As mentioned before, it starts with two parallel perspectives, that one of an anthropologist and another one of a fiction writer, speaking on the same subject. As we further delve into the book we will find that there is the presence of two entirely different cultures, the native black African/ tribal culture and the American culture. There is also the presence of two different languages; that of the authors’ native tongue English, running parallel to the native Beng language. Again, we will find that amongst the Beng tribe there are two different villages, Kosangbe and Asagbe, which run along separate, yet parallel lines. Amongst the Beng tribal beliefs the authors find the presence of yet two parallel worlds. One world consists of the daily existence of the tribal people, while the other world though, unseen, consists of compelling forces from various supernatural elements that rise from the folklore, and consist of various forests and ancestral spirits. Here Phillip Graham in this context tells us, “In searching out the patterns behind complex events, Alma and I have tried to explore several sets of parallel worlds...this multileveled cultural universe now inhabits us both, suggesting of course, that these worlds are by no means mutually exclusive- even parallel lines can run infinitely close together”(Gottlieb and Graham, xix). So it is evident from this statement that the title parallel worlds was well thought out, one that formed a metaphor for anthropology and also described the various parallel worlds that they came face to face with during their brief stay in Africa. Conclusion The term parallel worlds can be very easily used as a metaphor for anthropology, since the subject is a myriad and colourful collection of various parallel worlds that exist on this very earth. Contrary to common belief, these parallel lines do not antagonise each other; instead all converge to explore the fascinating world of humankind, its origin, cultures and languages. It is for this very reason the authors use this term in the book’s name. Works Cited Gottlieb, A, and Graham, P. Parallel worlds: an anthropologist and a writer encounter Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Print. Ravenscroft, I. Folk Psychology as a Theory. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 1997 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), 1997. Print. Rapport, N, and Overing, J. Social and cultural anthropology: the key concepts. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. Read More