The Psychology of Culture : : A Course of Lectures / / Edward Sapir; ed. by Judith T. Irvine.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Sapir, Edward,
• HerausgeberIn: Irvine, Judith T.,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Mouton, , [2011]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (266 p.)

This work presents Sapir's most comprehensive statement on the concepts of culture, on method and theory in anthropology and other social sciences, on personality organization, and on the individual's place in culture and society. Extensive discussions on the role of language and other symbolic systems in culture, ethnographic method, and social interaction are also included. Ethnographic and linguistic examples are drawn from Sapir's fieldwork among native North Americans and from European and American society as well. Edward Sapir (1884-1939), one of this century's leading figures in American anthropology and linguistics, planned to publish a major theoretical state - ment on culture and psychology. He developed his ideas in a course of lectures presented at Yale University in the 1930s, which attracted a wide audience from many social science disciplines. Unfortunately, he died before the book he had contracted to publish could be realized. Like de Saussure's Cours de Linguistique Générale before it, this work has been reconstructed from student notes, in this case twentytwo sets, as well as from Sapir's manuscript materials. Judith Irvine's meticulous reconstruction makes Sapir's compelling ideas - of surprisingly contemporary resonance - available for the first time.

Table of Contents

I-XXIV -- Editor's Introduction -- Part I: The Concept of Culture -- 1. The Term “Culture”. Three uses of the term; culture as selection and value -- 2. The Concept of Culture in the Social Sciences. “Cultural” vs. “social”; methodological and epistemological problems in the social sciences in general, and anthropology in particular -- 3. Causes of Culture. To what extent do factors such as race, geography, psychology, and economy influence cultural form? -- 4. Elements of Culture. The contents of culture: trait inventory vs. functional pattern -- 5. The Patterning of Culture. The configurative point of view; language as example of patterning; an ethnographic example: the Nootka topati – a concept of ‘privilege’ -- 6. The Development of Culture. Concepts of progress and change; technological, moral, and aesthetic processes; developmental cycles -- Part II: The Individual's Place in Culture -- 7. Personality. The individual as bearer of culture; definitions of personality; the psychiatric approach -- 8. Psychological Types. A review and critique of Jung -- 9. Psychological Aspects of Culture. The difficulty of delimiting a boundary between personality and culture; attitudes, values, and symbolic structures as cultural patterns; culture as “as-if” psychology; a critique of Benedict and Mead -- 10. The Adjustment of the Individual in Society. Individual adjustment and neurosis; adjustment to changing social conditions; socialization; can there be a true science of man? the emergence of culture in interpersonal relations -- 13. The Impact of Culture on Personality. The field of “Culture and Personality”; concluding remarks -- Part III: Symbolic Structures and Experience (1933-34) -- 12. Symbolism. Types of symbols; symbols and signs; speech as a symbolic system; symbolism and social psychology; etiquette -- 13. The Impact of Culture on Personality. The field of “Culture and Personality”; concluding remarks -- References -- Index