UIUC/Prof. Alma Gottlieb
Fall 2005
ANTH 480
SYMBOLIC AND INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY
(Room: 209A Davenport Hall)
Overview
“The Chief” -- the American flag -- the cross -- the swastika . . . as humans, we think in symbols,
argue over symbols, exhibit symbols, pledge allegiance to symbols, even die for symbols. Why are
symbols so powerful? And what about other phenomena that have deeply symbolic significance beyond
such empirical objects—religious ideas such as God, economic models such as The American Dream,
scientific concepts such as facts and numbers? How do such notions convince us to care about them, and
how do we come to take their importance for granted? This course explores a range of theoretical tools
that symbolic and interpretive anthropology offer us to understand how we humans go about thinking
about and interpreting the world we create. We explore the history of theoretical developments in and
around symbolic and interpretive perspectives in anthropology, using a roughly chronological approach.
In the first section we read from and about some precursors of symbolic and interpretive
anthropology, including early French symbolist and surrealists, Freud, Weber, Cassirer, Langer, Durkheim
and Mauss, and Maurice Halbwachs. Then we jump to the first wave of contemporary symbolic and
interpretive anthropologists, focusing on Berger and Luckmann, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, Clifford
Geertz, Roy Wagner and Sherry Ortner. During the remainder of the course we concentrate on works by
more recent and contemporary authors. Throughout, we’ll consider such topics as: the cultural
construction of memory; the cultural constitution of space and place; the symbolics of
power/representing the colonial encounter; the efficacy of ritual and performance; the politics and art
of writing the ethnographic text; and the powers and limitations of symbolic and interpretive approaches
to human life.
Prerequisites
All students should have some background in cultural anthropology. Undergraduate students
should have already taken ANTH 103 or ANTH 230 plus one of the following: 268, 362, 363, 414, 421,
430, or 470 (or equivalent elsewhere). Students interested in enrolling in the course without prior
background in cultural anthropology should consult with the instructor to see if their background is
optimal before registering for this course. Graduate students in departments other than anthropology
should discuss their background and interests with the instructor.
Office Hours
My office hours this semester are: Mon. and Wed., 2-3 pm; Tues., 12-1 pm; or by appointment.
My office is 386C Davenport Hall. My office phone is 244-3515. Feel free to stop by!
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ANTH 480/Prof. Alma Gottlieb
UIUC/Fall 2005
Texts
Some course books are on sale at I.U.B., T.I.S. and Follett’s. We’ll read them in this order:
Emil Durkheim and Marcel Mauss, Primitive Classification
Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality
Roy Wagner, The Invention of Culture
James Clifford and George E. Marcus, eds., Writing Culture: The Politics and Poetics of
Ethnography
Barbara Myerhoff, Remembered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older
Erik Mueggler, The Age of Wild Ghosts: Memory, Violence, and Place in Southwest China
Rosalind Shaw, Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual and Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone
In addition, we’ll read some chapters from other books as well as a few journal articles.
All readings will be on reserve in the Education Library. All books will be on reserve, and course
selections will also be on e-reserve (http://web.library.uiuc.edu/ereserves/querycourse.asp).
Expectations
This is a discussion-driven class! Success in this course depends on you keeping up with the
reading: you need to come to class having read the assigned reading, and prepared to discuss it. If you
think of yourself as shy, I encourage you to use this course to work on conquering your shyness!
Since this class meets only once a week, I expect you to come to every class session unless you’re
sick or have an emergency. In such cases, if you bring appropriate documentation, I won’t count such
absences against you in tallying your final grade. By contrast, more than one "unexcused" absence will
result in a lowering of your final course grade (one “plus” or “minus” for each such absence).
Depending on class enrollment, each student may be expected to make a formal presentation
and lead class discussion on readings—more on this soon!
Out of respect to your classmates, please plan to arrive in class on time, and to remain in class
until the end. If you need to come late or leave early one day because of an unavoidable and desperately
important appointment elsewhere, please plan to do so during our mid-class break, and let me know ahead
of time. But please avoid making such appointments if possible.
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ANTH 480/Prof. Alma Gottlieb
UIUC/Fall 2005
Writing Assignments
Each week, please bring in 2-3 typed pages of reading notes offering comments and/or
questions about that week's reading. Your comments should mostly be about the reading itself; you may
also want to compare it with perspectives from previous readings, or test out a theoretical perspective
from the reading from an ethnographic context you know about whether as a “native” or from prior
fieldwork. When we have more than one text in a given week, try and compare the readings. What are
the differences in perspective? How would you evaluate their comparative strengths and weaknesses?
These reading notes don’t require any outside research, but please put some time into thinking about the
readings and using the occasion to write about them with some care. I’ll grade these reading notes with a
check for satisfactory work; a plus for outstanding work; and a minus for sub-par work. If you’re absent
from class, your reading notes will normally be due at the beginning of the following week's class.
You’ll write an open-book, mid-term essay exam in class on Oct. 18. This will cover all course
materials to date. You’ll be free to consult your books and notes in writing your essay.
You’ll also write a final open-book essay exam at home, due in class on our last day, Dec. 6.
This will cover all course materials from the semester, but with a decided emphasis on the second half.
Suggested length: undergraduates: 8 - 10+ pp. plus references, typed double-spaced; graduate students:
12 – 15+ pp. plus references, typed double-spaced.
Late work: I don’t grant extensions of due dates except in case of DIRE EMERGENCY.
Computer/printer failures don't constitute emergencies! Finish writing early and plan to print out the
day before a written assignment is due. Make back-up files, preferably NOT on the same computer
you’re working on. (Try using an inexpensive flash drive.) Identify a back-up printer in case the one you
usually use fails. Make sure you have an extra ink cartridge on hand. Don't count on technology to work
five minutes before your paper is due! Of course, if you have a true (medical or life) emergency, I will be
humane and work with you to come up with a new due date that will work for both of us. In such a case,
please contact me as soon as you possibly can.
Course Grade
Your final grade will be determined after equal consideration of your two written essays, your
class participation, and your reading notes, with points deducted for unexcused absences.
Special Needs
If you have a learning or other disability for which you would like special consideration, please
let me know during the first week of class. I also encourage you to discuss your situation with the
Division of Rehabilitation Education Services Office (DRES) on campu
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UIUC/Prof. Alma Gottlieb
Fall 2005
WEEKLY READINGS
(subject to change)
Part I: Early Influences and Foundational Texts
Aug. 29 - Introductions
Sept. 6 - Some Precursors and Inspirations
Undergraduates--read as much of the following as you can; grad students—read it all!
Raymond Firth, Symbols, Public and Private, chs. 2-5 ( pp. 54-206) (book on reserve, and selection on ereserve).
Edward Sapir, “Symbolism,” in Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, pp. 492-495 (on e-reserve).
Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key, pp. 53-78 (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve).
Catherine Lutz, “The Gender of Theory” and Barbara Babcock, “Works and Wives: On the Sexual
Division of Textual Labor,” in Women Writing Culture, ed. Ruth Behar and Deborah Gordon (University
of California Press, 1993), pp. 249-286 (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve)..
Sept. 13 - Durkheim and Mauss, Primitive Classification. (book on sale & on reserve).
Sept. 20 - Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory, Part I (pp. 37-189) (book on sale & on reserve).
Sept. 27 - Some Early Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropologists
Undergraduates--read as much of the following as you can; grad students—read it all!
Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, Ch. 1 ("Intro.”), Ch. 2 ("Secular Defilement"), Ch. 6, "Powers and
Dangers" (pp. 1-40, pp. 94-113) (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve).
Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols, pp. 19-47, 131-150 (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve)..
Victor Turner, “Symbols in African Ritual,” Science 179 (1973) (book on reserve, and selection on ereserve).
Clifford Geertz, "Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture," in The Interpretation
of Cultures (Basic Books, 1973), pp. 3-30 (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve).
Clifford Geertz, "Common Sense as a Cultural System," in Local Knowledge (Basic Books, 1983), pp. 7393 (book on reserve, and selection on e-reserve).
Sherry Ortner, "On Key Symbols," American Anthropologist 75 (1973), pp. 1338-1346 (on e-reserve).
Optional: James Fernandez, “The Mission of Metaphor,” in James Fernandez, Persuasions and
Performances: The Play of Tropes in Culture
Oct. 4 – Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality (book on sale & on reserve).
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ANTH 480/Prof. Alma Gottlieb
UIUC/Fall 2005
Oct. 11 - Roy Wagner, The Invention of Culture (book on sale & on reserve).
Oct. 18 - IN-CLASS ESSAY
Part II: Recent and Contemporary Authors
Oct. 25 - James Clifford and George E. Marcus, eds., Writing Culture, (book on sale & on reserve).
Undergrads: Read chapters by Clifford (Intro.), Pratt, Rosaldo, Clifford (On Ethnographic Allegory),
Marcus.
Grad students: Concentrate on chapters by Clifford (Intro.), Pratt, Rosaldo, Clifford (On Ethnographic
Allegory), Marcus, and Rabinow; AND try and at least have a look at the other chapters and, time
permitting, read them as well.
Nov. 1 – Erik Mueggler, The Age of Wild Ghosts: Memory, Violence, and Place in Southwest China (book on
sale & on reserve).
Undergrads: Please read at least Chs. 1, 8 and 9; and if you have time, you can also read Chs. 2, 5 and 6.
Grad students: Please read Chs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9.
Optional for all: if you have time and interest, you can also read Chs. 3, 4, &7.
Nov. 8 – Rosalind Shaw, Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual and Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone, Ch.
1 - skim/read to fill in any knowledge gaps about the Atlantic slave trade; Ch. 5 - optional; read the rest of
the book.
Nov. 15 – Barbara Myerhoff, Remembered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older, Part
2 (pp. 129 - 227) and Part 4 (pp. 307 - 359) (limited copies of out-of-print book on sale, & on reserve)..
Nov. 22 – Thanksgiving, no class.
Nov. 29 - Gelya Frank, “The Ethnographic Films of Barbara G. Myerhoff: Anthropology, Feminism, and the
Politics of Jewish Identity,” in Women Writing Culture, ed. Ruth Behar, pp. 207-232 (book on reserve, and
selection on e-reserve).
Films to view in class:
“Number Our Days” (1985)--29min.
“In Her Own Time” (1990)—60 min.
Dec. 6 - Open discussion. SECOND ESSAY (TAKE-HOME FORMAT) DUE IN CLASS.
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