Anthropology: A Continental Perspective - Tapa dura

"Anthropology ambitiously argues for the contemporary viability of a general anthropology in the spirit of the purpose that gave rise to the discipline in the nineteenth century. Such works are very rare indeed in anthropology today, yet they are much needed, since the question of 'what is anthropology beyond ethnography?' is very much alive. Christoph Wulf's book is a spirited and informed response to that question." (George Marcus, University of California, Irvine)"

Originally published in German, Christoph Wulf's "Anthropology" sets its sights on a topic as ambitious as its title suggests: anthropology itself. Arguing for an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach to anthropology that incorporates science, philosophy, history, and many other disciplines, Wulf examines - with breathtaking scope - all the ways that anthropology has been understood and practiced around the globe and through the years. Seeking a central way to understand anthropology in the midst of many different approaches to the discipline, Wulf concentrates on the human body. An emblem of society, culture, and time, the body is also the result of many mimetic processes - the active acquisition of cultural knowledge. By examining the role of the body in the performance of rituals, gestures, language, and other forms of imagination, he offers a bold new look at how culture is produced, handed down, and transformed. Drawing such examinations into a comprehensive and sophisticated assessment of the discipline as a whole, "Anthropology" looks squarely at the mystery of humankind and the ways we have attempted to understand it.