The Invention of Culture
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Book Overview
In anthropology, a field that is known for its critical edge and intellectual agility, few books manage to maintain both historical value and contemporary relevance. Roy Wagner's The Invention of Culture, originally published in 1975, is one. Wagner breaks new ground by arguing that culture arises from the dialectic between the individual and the social world. Rooting his analysis in the relationships between invention and convention, innovation and control, and meaning and context, he builds a theory that insists on the importance of creativity, placing people-as-inventors at the heart of the process that creates culture. In an elegant twist, he shows that this very process ultimately produces the discipline of anthropology itself. Tim Ingold's foreword to the new edition captures the exhilaration of Wagner's book while showing how the reader can journey through it and arrive safely--though transformed--on the other side.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:022642328X
ISBN13:9780226423289
Release Date:November 2016
Publisher:University of Chicago Press
Length:208 Pages
Weight:0.70 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Foundation of a good theory of culture
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Full disclosure: I am a former student of Roy and a Ph.D.I think the first three chapters of this book are some of the most important writings on the theory of culture in anthropology, or any other discipline. It presents the proper starting-point for developing an understanding of how people live and how people think about themselves and other people, the way they live and just _are_. This is not an easy book, even for advanced students of anthropology. It is not for those looking for a quick intro to anthropology, either. However, if you have read some introductions to anthropology and find their thinking about people and cultures simplistic, then you shoud read this book.
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