Popularizing Anthropology

by Jeremy MacClancy (Editor), Christian McDonaugh (Editor)

Anthropology written for a popular audience is the most neglected branch of the discipline. In the 1980s postmodernist anthropologists began to explore the literary and reflective aspects of their work. Popularizing Anthropology advances that trend by looking at a key but previously marginalized genre of anthropology.
The contributors, who are well known anthropologists, explore such themes why so many anthropologists are women; how the Japanese have reacted to Ruth Benedict; why Margaret Mead became so successful; how the French media promote Levi-Strauss and Louis Dumont; Why Bruce Chatwin tells us more about Aboriginals than many anthropologists in Australia; how personal accounts of fieldwork have evolved since the 1950s; how to write a personal account of fieldwork.
Popularizing Anthropology unearths a submerged tradition within anthropology and reveals that, from the beginning, anthropologists have looked beyond the boundaries of the academy for their listeners. It aims to establish the popularization of the discipline as an illuminating topic of investigation in its own right, arguing that it is not an irrelevant appendage to the main body of the subject but has always been an integral part of it.

268 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1996

Reviews

[James Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough one to rate b/c every essay is different. I feel like I learned a lot reading this book that changed my worldview both personally and professionally. The book captured so many of the things I both love and hate about anthropology. Just because the book is called “popularizing anthropology” does not mean that the writing is consistently more accessible than usual, a fact I found out the hard way. There is a beautiful essay in the book on Margaret Mead, though, which is a great intro for anyone looking to explore anthro as a subject.