Sukeerthy Voola

The Anthropological Turn

In the middle of the 20th century, the focus of anthropology shifted from structuralism to symbolic and interpretive anthropology. Two notable figures were the British anthropologist Victor Turner and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz.[1]

Turner’s symbolic anthropology focused on how symbols actually work in the real world, especially inside rituals. He argued that it is the shared systems of symbols that hold a society together, not just the laws or governments. He noticed that rituals moved people from one social status to another, during which normal social rules were temporarily suspended.[2] On the other hand, Geertz’s interpretive anthropology considered culture as a public thing, it is in fact a complicated text. Therefore, the job of an anthropologist is to interpret that text by uncovering all its layers of meaning. This method is called thick description.[3]

Although these theories transformed the way culture was understood, they left several important questions unanswered. The political economists questioned about the analysis of colonialism, capitalism, and history. They were worried that focusing so much on local meaning would ignore the huge global forces shaping people’s lives.[4] Women, meanwhile, were concerned that these theories did not give attention to their stories and their voices. Despite these important critiques, the legacy of this revolution was just profound because it changed the anthropological method of enquiry.[5]

By treating culture as something to be interpreted, not just scientifically measured, this symbolic turn opened the doors for post-modernism. It helped create a more reflective and critical anthropology. To truly understand what it means to be human one should understand the world from the inside, to see not just what people do, but what it all means to them.

Bibliography

Erickson, Paul A., and Liam D. Murphy. A History of Anthropological Theory. 6th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021. pp. 146–176.

[1] Paul A. Erickson and Liam D. Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory, 6th ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021), 148-153.

[2] Erickson and Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory, 148-150.

[3] Erickson and Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory, 151-153.

[4] Erickson and Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory, 155.

[5] Erickson and Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory, 158-164.