This brief introduction to cultural anthropology is designed to be used with ethnography's or other supplemental readings. The Tapestry of Culture was written to give students a concise and up-to-date conceptual framework with which to understand classic ethnography's as well as those being written today. The distinguishing conceptual approach of this text is symbolic, emphasizing the arts and symbols of culture. For example, there is a whole chapter devoted to "Myths, Legends, and Folktales (Chapter 11), as well as "Religion and the Supernatural" (Chapter 10). The authors also examine anthropology and the concern with meaning from a postmodernist perspective, looking at the sweeping changes in our world resulting from ethnicity and ethnic identity, technology, and conceptualizations of gender and gender roles, among other issues.

Table of Contents

Part 1 The anthropological perspective: the biological basis for culture; cultural universals; culture - the anthropological method; anthropological theory. Part 2 Rituals in small-scale and complex societies - a contrast: marriage in a small-scale society; marriage in a complex society; funeral rites in a small-scale society; funeral rites in a complex society. Part 3 Language and culture: the structure of language; linguistic relativity; language and cognition; ethnosemantics; sociolinguistics. Part 4 Symbolic systems and meanings: the symbolism of food; social groups and their symbols; the symbolic meanings of space; symbols; politics and authority; the symbolism of sports; universal symbols. Part 5 Culture and the individual - learning language and learning culture: language acquisition and cultural acquisition; culture and personality; culture and the structure of emotion; the person and the self. Part 6 Family, marriage and kinship: marriage; postmarital residence; family types and households; descent groups; the structure of descent groups; kindreds; relationships between groups through marriage; kinship terminology; fictive kinship; kinship in the modern world. Part 7 Gender and age: male and female; categories based on age; male and female rites of passage - moving between age categories. Part 8 Provisioning society - production, distribution and consumption: production; distribution; the market system; consumption. Part 9 Political organization - politics, government, law and conflict: concepts used in political anthropology; types of political organizations; law and social control; war and peace; politics in the contemporary nation-state. Part 10 Religion and the supernatural: religion; science and magic; conceptions of the supernatural; ritual approaches to the supernatural; religious specialists; politics and religion; aims and goals of religious activity. Part 11 Myths, legends and folktales: myths; legends; folktales; legends and folktales in American culture. Part 12 The artistic dimension: the visual arts; music and dance. Part 13 Fourth world people in the colonial and postcolonial periods: concepts and methods in the study of cultural change; the colonial context; New Ireland - an example of increasing incorporation into the world system; cultural identity reasserted; ethnogenesis - the creation of new ethnic identities. Part 14 Anthropology for the 21st century - ethnicity, race and nationalism: ethnicity and nationalism after communism; ethnic processes in Sri Lanka; ethnicity and nationalism in Quebec; from "melting pot" to multiculturalism in the United States.

Author Biography

Abraham Rosman and Paula Rubel both of Barnard College, Columbia University.