Final take-home essay exam for the course: Cultural Anthropology 3: History and Theory in Anthropology - (Year 2023)
2 questions, 2 essay (answer).
Graded with a 7.8
Final take-home essay exam CA3
Naam: Pim
Studentnummer: …
Datum: 14/04/2023
Werkgroepdocent: Joost H
Cursus: Cultural Anthropology 3: History and Theory in Anthropology (201800017)
Question 1) Both Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard believed that anthropology should be a
science. How did this understanding of anthropology influence the way that they wrote their
ethnographies, and how did postmodern anthropologists later critique this form of writing?
Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard, two very important characters within the development of
anthropology, believed particularly in the importance of using scientific methods in
anthropological research. They were both convinced of the ideas related to functionalism,
which is a theoretical approach in anthropology that emphasizes the ways in which social and
cultural practices serve to fulfill the needs and functions of a society (Henig 2023: Lecture 4).
For this reason their ethnographic research was largely built upon those features. Malinowski
emphasized on the importance of participant observation, which leads to a better
understanding of the unique customs, beliefs and practices of a specific culture or society.
Evans-Pritchard’s view was very similar and represents an objective approach to the study of
cultures. They both wrote their ethnographies in a descriptive and objective style.
In the article “The Subject, Nature, and Scope of this Inquiry” written by
Malonowski, he highlights the importance of obtaining and understanding the native’s point
of view (Malinowski 1922: 182). During his ethnographic fieldwork in the Western Pacific,
Malinowski collected his data through minute, detailed observations, in the form of some sort
of ethnographic diary (Henig 2023: Lecture 4). Anthropologists like Malinowski and
Evans-Pritchard aimed to provide a comprehensive and detailed account of the cultures they
studied (Henig 2023: Lecture 4). They learned to think and behave like the people they study,
while living among them, but eventually compared their doing, norms and values to their own
Western perspective.
This form of writing was therefore the criticism of the postmodern anthropologists,
which originated in the 1960s. Postmodern anthropology was concerned with the
understanding of inequality, relations of power and research and writing. The discipline,
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