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The purpose of symbolic and interpretive anthropology can be described through a term used often by Geertz that originated from Gilbert Ryle, "Thick Description."By this what is conveyed, is that since culture and behavior can only be studied as a unit, studying culture and its smaller sections of the structure, thick description is what details the interpretation of those belonging to a ...
British anthropologist Victor Turner (who eventually left the United Kingdom to teach in the United States) was an important bridge between American and British symbolic anthropology. [140] Attention to symbols, the meaning of which depended almost entirely on their historical and social context, appealed to many Boasians.
The concept of thick description has become a cornerstone of ethnographic research, emphasizing the importance of context in understanding cultural practices. Geertz’s ideas also laid the groundwork for what would later be known as symbolic or interpretive anthropology, a school of thought that has had a lasting impact on the study of culture.
Clifford James Geertz (/ ɡ ɜːr t s / ⓘ; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades... the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States."
The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the field of Religious Studies. The history of anthropology of religion is a history of striving to understand how other people view and navigate the world. This history involves deciding what religion is, what it does, and how it functions. [2]
Symbolic religiosity is a term coined by sociologist Herbert Gans. [1] [2] Gans explores the concept of symbolic religiosity as a concept parallel to, although separate from symbolic ethnicity. To Gans, symbolic religiosity is religious behavior detached from any comprehensive religious observance or religious affiliation. [3]
David Murray Schneider (November 11, 1918, Brooklyn, New York – October 30, 1995, Santa Cruz, California) was an American cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology approach to cultural anthropology.
He advocated what he called thick descriptions to interpret symbols by observing them in use, and for this work, he was known as a founder of symbolic anthropology. Geertz saw religion as one of the cultural systems of a society. He defined religion as: (1) a system of symbols