{"product_id":"investigating-culture-9781118868621","title":"Investigating Culture","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe third edition of \u003ci\u003eInvestigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology\u003c\/i\u003e, the highly praised innovative approach to introducing aspects of cultural anthropology to students, features a series of revisions, updates, and new material.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eOffers a refreshing alternative to introductory anthropology texts by challenging students to think in new ways and apply cultural learnings to their own lives\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eChapters explore key anthropological concepts of human culture including: language, the body, food, and time, and provide an array of cultural examples in which to examine them\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eIncorporates new material reflecting the authors' research in Malawi, New England, and Spain\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eTakes account of the latest information on such topical concerns as nuclear waste, sports injuries, the World Trade Center memorial, the food pyramid, fashion trends, and electronic media\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eIncludes student exercises, selected reading and additional suggested readi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments xi\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1 Disorientation and Orientation 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction; how culture provides orientation in the world; what is culture and how do anthropologists investigate it? Learning to think anthropologically.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 24\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Laura Bohannan, “Shakespeare in the Bush” 27\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2 Spatial Locations 33\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHow do we situate or locate ourselves in space? Are notions of space “universal” or are they shaped by culture? This chapter explores these questions from macro to micro contexts, including discussion of maps, nations, segregation, public spaces, invisible spaces, and that space that is no place: cyberspace.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 65\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Sue Bridwell Beckham, “The American Front Porch: Women’s Liminal Space” 67\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3 All We Have Is Time 79\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime is another major way we orient ourselves. What does it mean to be on time, out of time, or in time? This chapter discusses different cultural notions of time, the development of measuring time and clocks, the construction of the Western calendar and its rootedness in a sacred worldview, and birthdays and other markers of time.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 109\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Ellen Goodman, “Time Is for Savoring” 111\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4 Language: We Are What We Speak 113\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIs language quintessentially human or do some other animals possess it? Communication versus language. Writing. The symbolic function and metaphor: Different languages, different worlds? The social function: What information do you obtain from a person’s speech? How are race, class, and gender inflected in language?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 145\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Ursula LeGuin, “She Unnames Them” 148\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Alan Dundes, “Seeing Is Believing” 149\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5 Relatives and Relations 155\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotions of kinship and kinship theory: To whom are we related and how? Is there any truth to the idea that “blood is thicker than water”? What constitutes a family? This chapter also discusses different meanings of friendship, romantic relationships, and parent–child relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 185\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: A. M. Hocart, “Kinship Systems” 188\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e6 Our Bodies, Our Selves 193\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAre we our bodies or do we have bodies? Different concepts of the body, the gendered body, the physical body, the social body. Techniques and modifications of the body. Tattoos. Body parts and organ transplants. Traffic in body parts. Body image, advertisements, and eating disorders. Bodies before and after death.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 227\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Horace Miner, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” 230\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Deborah Kaspin, “Women Who Breed Like Rabbits and Other Mythical Beasts: The Cultural Context of Family Planning in Malawi” 233\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e7 Food for Thought 239\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat constitutes food? What makes a meal? What does it mean to say that “food is love”? Relation of food to the environment. Fast food, slow food, genetically modified food (“Frankenfood”). Food and sex. Food and civility.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFood and religion. Cooking.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 277\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Jill Dubisch, “You Are What You Eat: Religious Aspects of the Health Food Movement” 279\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e8 Clothing Matters 289\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eClothing does more than cover the body; it is also a cultural index of age, gender, occupation, and class. Is it then true that “clothes make the man”? Haute couture, sweat shops, clothing, and the economy.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 330\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Julio Ramón Ribeyro, “Alienation (An Instructive Story with a Footnote)” 333\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e9 VIPs: Very Important People, Places, and Performances 341\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCertain people, places, events, and cultural practices become iconic; they embody cultural myths or epitomize cultural values. Why are certain people described as “larger than life”? Why are certain places sites of pilgrimage or reverence? The global circulation of such icons.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExercises 382\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading: Clifford Geertz, “The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man” 385\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 397\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49406937760087,"sku":"9781118868621","price":34.15,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781118868621.jpg?v=1730497618","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/investigating-culture-9781118868621","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}