4. The Re-introduction of 'history' in the anthropological discipline Flashcards
1
Q
Who was Evans-Pritchard?
A
- Studied at Oxford
- Inlfuenced by Malinowski and later on Radcliffe-Brown
- Studied the Nuer
- Made a plea for the re-introduction of an historical perspective in anthropology
- Argues that every country/culture has its own inner rationality
2
Q
What was the Annales school?
A
- Consisted of a group of French Historians around the journal Annales d’histoire économique et sociale (° 1929)
- This group was very influential and made its mark on historiography in France and elsewhere, especially by introducing social scientific methods into historiography, emphasizing social rather than political or diplomatic themes
- Influenced how history would be written about in the following decades
- Set about producing a more cultural history, focusing on the social and cultural structure of groups and on the way ordinary people lived their life
3
Q
Who was Marshall Sahlins?
A
- Prominent American Anthropologist
- Structural History
- Vocal activist during the Vietnam war
- His early work focused on demonstrating the power that culture has to shape people’s perceptions and actions
- Critized the idea of an ‘economically rational man’
- Focus shift to the relation between history and anthropology and the way different cultures understand and make history
4
Q
Who was Jan Vansina?
A
- Revolutionized the concept of historical Africa
- Wrote ‘kingdoms of the Savanna’
- Focused on oral hisotry and culture
- There was no written history but that does not make it history-less, the oral culture should be interpreted as a source of history
- Applied diachronic language to look at the changes of language to see the introduction and evolution of certain products
5
Q
What is positional succession?
A
A form a social continuity where a man’s death is followed by the succession of another man of his lineage to the same name and social positions thus ensuring that important historical names do not die out
6
Q
What is perpetual kinship?
A
The expressed relationship between the holders of two names. A fixed relationship between hereditary names which remains constant through generations
