Postmodernism

2623 Words6 Pages

Postmodernism

With the end of colonialism and the emergence of a seemingly new world order, there raised a demand that research be useful and relevant, indicating that knowledge for its own sake was insufficient. As a result of this, what emerged was a new focus on 'development' and 'modernization' in the form of postmodernism. In these changing times, anthropology has come into contact with a variety of evolving concepts, including hybridity, montage, fluidity, and deconstruction. The question remains, how these concepts reflect the social, cultural and political changes that are occurring in study of anthropology today.

Postmodernism is an intellectual movement that promotes itself as the 'antithesis' of modernism, resulting from the intensification, radicalization, or transformation of the processes of modernity. (Barfield, 368) The term was introduced in the late 1940's, however, the turn towards, if not the origin of postmodernism in anthropology, can be traced to a single publication: Writing Culture (1986). It consisted of contributions from nine scholars, edited by Clifford and Marcus, and attempted to sketch out the basic premise of the postmodern perspective. (Harris, 153) Anthropologist are forced to contend with the changes created by postmodernism in a variety of ways, beginning with the challenge to anthropological authority. It is felt by many that it is incredibly arrogant for anthropologists to assume that they have both the capacity and mandate to dissect, interpret and describe the lives of people in other cultures, given the power and wealth imbalance of the colonial past, leaving the 'other' unable to speak for him/herself. This argument finds itself in the whole 'West vs.

Rest' spectrum, claiming that because of the nature in which traditional ethnologist where carried out, ex. Colonial, anglo- whites, ect.., that today, despite the multicultural and ethnically aware world that we live in, that anthropologists are not capable of unbiasedly and accurately producing ethnographic work. In part, there concern is founded. To my knowledge, there rests no undocumented peoples on the planet, as such, ethnologies today focus on sub-group structure and societal dynamics.

Show More
Related

  • Postmodernism Movement in “The 400 Pound CEO”

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    Postmodernism movement started in the 1960’s, carrying on until present. James Morley defined the postmodernism movement as “a rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective anonymous experience.” In other words, postmodernism rejects what has been established and makes emphasis on combined revolutionary experiences. Postmodernism can be said it is the "derivate" of modernism; it follows most of the same ideas than modernism but resist the very idea of boundaries. According to our lecture notes “Dominant culture uses perception against others to maintain authority.”

    Read More

  • Comparative Theory Essay: Ethnohistory and The Postcolonial Perspective

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beginning with ethnohistory, which includes anthropology, the beginnings of the different studies of mankind are introduced, when the book then jumps to a postcolonial perspective the views of the future are pointed to the mistakes of the past. Each theory has a purpose to explaining the views and studies of different historians around the world. This essay will compare my views on ethnohistory combined with anthropology versus the views of postcolonial history.

    Read More

  • The Demand for Alcoholic Beverages

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    The demand for alcoholic beverages as a whole is inelastic which can be proved from the price elasticity of demand formula. The price elasticity of demand is explained by Hubbard et al. (2012) as ‘the responsiveness of the quantity demanded to a change in price’ and can be calculated from the following formula: Price elasticity of demand = Percentage change in quantity demanded/percentage change in price. From the statistics given by The Economist et al. (2013) of how a 10% price rise in prices would decrease consumption by around 5%, the equation would be: Price elasticity of demand = -5%/10% which means the price elasticity of demand would equal -0.5. Due to the fact demand ...

    Read More

  • The Formal Informal Fallacies

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the first week of class, we discussed informal fallacies. An informal fallacy is defined as a logical mistake. Five of the informal fallacies discussed were equivocation, ad hominem, straw man, appeal to authority, and secundum. Each of these fallacies is comparable to what happens in everyday life conversations. Through analyzing, one should be able to determine how these logical mistakes connect with our everyday lives.

    Read More

  • Teenage Smoking in Canada

    2187 Words  | 5 Pages

    The governments of the United States and many other countries have chosen to regulate addictive substances, like cigarettes, via taxation; minimum-age purchase laws; restrictions on consumption in schools, the workplace, and public places; and stiff fines for driving under the influence of alcohol. The prices of these substances will rise because of taxation; other forms of regulation, and bans. Thus, measuring their responsiveness to price is important in determining the optimal level of taxation and the impacts of legalization. Contrary to conventional wisdom, studies find that the consumption of addictive substances is quite sensitive to price.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Alcohol Taxes

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious public health issue in the United States. It is responsible for the deaths of over 79,000 people annually. Despite massive efforts to combat alcohol abuse since the 1980s, binge drinking has continued to rise. It is especially prevalent amongst underage drinkers, who binge drink at a rate of 90%. Alcohol taxes to fix various issues have been used throughout the history of the United States.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Fallacies

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the reasoning of your argument. Fallacies have different types like (Begging the Claim, Ad hominem, Straw Man and more.), and are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim. A writer or speaker is to avoid these common fallacies in their arguments and watch for them in the arguments of others. Learning to identify and avoid fallacies is crucial for professional in all fields of life literature, science, politics etc. for the simple reason of getting one’s point across to the listener or the viewer in a broader definition. Even in an artistic sense if a script or a song contains fallacies, it will not be convincing hence forth it won’t be appealing

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of the Crusades

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crusades were great military missions embarked on by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Moslems. The Crusades were considered Holy Wars (1). Their main target was the Moslems not the Jews, although campaigns were also waged against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes (2). There were many Crusades some more significant than others, but in general the Crusades was an important event in the history of Medieval Europe.

    Read More

  • The Crusades: Deus Vult

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first cause of the crusades was the shift in Medieval European society. Up until the eleventh century Europe was in what many historians call the “Dark Ages”. It was during this time that Europe was under constant Viking raids from the North, Saracens from the South and Magyar’s from the East. Europe survived these and came out stronger than ever. With these threats gone, Europe’s society recovered quickly. The Italian City States built large trade fleets and took to the sea trading in ports all over the Mediterranean(Nelson 1). In the mainland, farmers began producing more food and raw materials that before now had been looted or burned by Vikings and other raiders. Religion also became more important as pilgrimages to holy places became more common. Europeans were no longer accepting their faith passively but had an urge to act on their beliefs and do something positive for their God(Nelson 2). Well Europe was having a comeback from centuries of raids and violence there was one problem. Europe wa...

    Read More

  • Cultural Relativism In The 20th Century By Franz Boas

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, In 1947, the Executive board of the American Anthropological Association refused to take part in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, due to the constraints of Cultural Relativism (Textbook 300). By embracing the concept of Cultural Relativism, anthropologists take on the role of an “observer” that records data rather than taking on an “interventionist” role (Powerpoint 4). As a result, anthropologists prevent their own bias and judgement being applied to the culture they are studying. Historically, there have been instances, such as genocide, in which anthropologists have spoken out against (Textbook 300). But for the many other human rights issues, such as domestic abuse, anthropologists have not spoken out in consideration of the principle of cultural relativism (Textbook 300).

    Read More

  • Informal Fallacies: Argument, And Fallacy

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    An appeal to ignorance occurs when one person uses another person’s lack of knowledge on a particular subject as evidence that their own argument is correct.

    Read More

  • Postmodernism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, expresses his journey throughout the Vietnam War via a series of short stories. The novel uses storytelling to express the emotional toll the men encountered, as well as elucidate their intense experiences faced during the war. The literary theory, postmodernism, looks at these war experiences and questions their subjectivity, objectivity, and truth in a literary setting. It allows the reader to look through a lens that deepens the meaning of a work by looking past what is written and discovering the various truths. O’Brien used the storytelling process to illustrate the bleeding frame of truth. Through his unique writing style, he articulates the central idea of postmodernism to demonstrate the

    Read More

  • Postmodernism's Effect on Marriage and Family

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Postmodernism first appeared around the 1980’s, following a hectic and messy period of time. The postmodernist theory that defines a new era describing the world as society is fragmenting, while authority is de-centering, and real truth does not exist; there are only representations of it. Believers of the postmodernist theory, believe that postmodernism is a mixture of present, past, and future, more specifically, the cultural and spatial elements of these different times (Lemert, 2010). The postmodern age is considered the information age, or even, the technological age. Both of these are evident through the changes that have occurred within the typical marriage and family. One of the main emphases of postmodernism is that no real truth exists, demonstrating the grand narrative. The grand narrative states that the “truth” is invented for the sole purpose of selling things. This is clearly shown, in a different manner, in marriages and families in today’s society. No real truth being in existence creates change in the typical marriage and family.

    Read More

  • Crusades And Crusades

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    Crusade originates from the French word ‘croisade’ which literally translates to ‘the condition of being marked by a cross’. It describes maneuvers mostly about religious, social or politics matters. The origin of crusades can be traced back to approximately 1054, when the Roman Catholic Church invaded the Muslims in Turkey. The Church convinced its believers that agreeing with the church and fighting its cause would absolve them from sin or overlook their sins. It essentially became a Holy War to reclaim the “Holy Land” from the Muslims.

    Read More

  • Franz Boas Discuss the Contribution of Anthropology

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    Boas, F. (1930). Anthropology. In, Seligman, E. R. A. ed., Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences. Macmillan: New York.

    Read More

More about Postmodernism

Open Document