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Anthropology is a crucial area of expertise that allows people to develop and enhance their knowledge of cultural peculiarities of representatives of different generations, beliefs, and locations. Anthropologists can use various approaches in their research, but the best way to describe culture is to combine both classic and creative modes. In this essay, the examination of the approaches used in the works of two anthropologists, namely, Richard Lee and Marjorie Shostak, will be conducted. A conclusion that summarizes the main points will be provided at the end of the paper.
The first ethnography that is examined in this paper is written by a Canadian anthropologist, Richard Lee. The work is called “The Hunters: Scarce Resources in the Kalahari” and describes characteristic features of one of the foraging groups from the Kalahari Desert. The ethnography conforms to the classic norms of ethnographic description because, first of all, it reveals aspects of social reality that prevailed among foragers who lived thousands of years ago. Lee explores the life of hunter-gatherers, arguing that they did not spend much time collecting food, which enabled anthropologists to look at the social reality of foragers differently (Lee 1994, 73).
Also, the author defines the main patterns of the previous ideas presented by anthropologists about the life of hunters-gatherers and correlates them with his own revelations. It demonstrates Lee’s ability to conform to the classic norms of ethnographic description. These norms contribute to a sense that culture is a fixed pattern of shared meanings because using them allows uniting all cultural differences and contradictions under one theory.
The second ethnography that is explored in this study is written by an American anthropologist, Marjorie Shostak. The work is titled “The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman” and examines the lives of people in the community of forages. This ethnography displays creative departures from classic norms of ethnographic representation because Shostak managed to reveal differences within the described group of people and introduce her findings through creative modes. Thus, in the chapter “Life in the Bush,” the author describes the way males become hunters and uses personal observations to explain some facts that might seem surprising for anthropologists.
The creative modes are important as they are used for recognizing differences and changes within cultures and serve as supplements to the classic norms of ethnographic description. They help to apply changes and take into account conflicting opinions of scientists about the cultural aspects of various groups of people. This type of ethnographic representation contributes to a sense that culture is characterized by contradiction because it demonstrates that conflicts and inconsistencies are important components of people’s cultures and behaviors.
Therefore, it can be concluded that even though the anthropologists used different approaches in their works, both ethnographies are valuable in terms of describing the culture of foragers. It is ensured by the fact that the combination of classic and creative approaches helps to describe culture in the best way through the utilization of shared patterns and new ideas. For instance, Lee, using classic modes, managed to correlate various opinions about one subject, while Shostak, with the help of creative modes, added valuable information to people’s knowledge on forages. Thus, the best way to reveal cultural peculiarities of society is to combine two modes and apply them simultaneously, taking into account all the differences and similarities of humans’ cultures.
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