![]() ![]() According to Clifford Geertz, humans are in need of symbolic “sources of illumination” to orient themselves with respect to the system of meaning that is any particular culture (1973a:45). Symbolic anthropology studies symbols and the processes,such as myth and ritual, by which humans assign meanings to these symbols to address fundamental questions about human social life (Spencer 1996:535). ![]() These interpretations form a shared cultural system of meaning–i.e., understandings shared, to varying degrees, among members of the same society (Des Chene 1996:1274). Symbolic anthropology studies the way people understand their surroundings, as well as the actions and utterances of the other members of their society. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |