The Predicament of Culture by James Clifford
Clifford offers a critical ethnography of the West in its changing relations with other societies. Analyzing cultural practices such as anthropology, travel writing, collecting, and museum displays of tribal art, Clifford shows authoritative accounts of other ways of life to be contingent fictions, now actively contested in postcolonial contexts.
The Predicament of Culture is a work of sustained brilliance, packed with simply wonderful gifts for the readerThe several chapters on French anthropology and ethnographic surrealism are fascinating, and somehow as urgent as the ones on collecting or on the relentless intertranslating of cultural demands, or as the theme that we must rethink this entire dimension of human existence. It is also an extremely wise book. Since wisdom and brilliance rarely go together, it is plain that James Clifford is himself one of our cultural treasures. -- Arthur C. Danto * New York Times Book Review *
With an intellectual modesty that belies his sweeping global perspective, Clifford focuses on who has the authority to speak for any group’s identity and authenticity. As he traces the development of twentieth-century anthropology, Clifford locates affinities between anthropology and avant-garde art, making this book one of the most readable introductions to contemporary cultural criticism. -- Mary Warner Marien * Utne Reader *
Clifford’s reflections are salutory. They are not self-serving, allowing Clifford entry by a backdoor into a community which often threatens the exclusivity of a private club. By breaking with narrow professional definitions of anthropology, Clifford broadens its vision. Anthropology again becomes the exploration of the grounds of humanity in its original, general, and philosophically fundamental sense. -- Bruce Kapferer * Critique of Anthropology *
Clifford is original and very nearly unique. He is one of the few persons who connects history, literature, and anthropology. He’s had an enormous impact because he provides a new perspective on the study of culture that would almost certainly never have been generated from within anthropology itself. -- Clifford Geertz
With an intellectual modesty that belies his sweeping global perspective, Clifford focuses on who has the authority to speak for any group’s identity and authenticity. As he traces the development of twentieth-century anthropology, Clifford locates affinities between anthropology and avant-garde art, making this book one of the most readable introductions to contemporary cultural criticism. -- Mary Warner Marien * Utne Reader *
Clifford’s reflections are salutory. They are not self-serving, allowing Clifford entry by a backdoor into a community which often threatens the exclusivity of a private club. By breaking with narrow professional definitions of anthropology, Clifford broadens its vision. Anthropology again becomes the exploration of the grounds of humanity in its original, general, and philosophically fundamental sense. -- Bruce Kapferer * Critique of Anthropology *
Clifford is original and very nearly unique. He is one of the few persons who connects history, literature, and anthropology. He’s had an enormous impact because he provides a new perspective on the study of culture that would almost certainly never have been generated from within anthropology itself. -- Clifford Geertz
James Clifford is Professor Emeritus in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780674698437 |
| ISBN 10 | 0674698436 |
| Title | The Predicament of Culture |
| Author | James Clifford |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
| Year published | 1988-05-18 |
| Number of pages | 398 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |