ANTH 262 - Anthropological Approaches to Myth, Ritual and Symbol

1 unit(s)

What is the place of myth, ritual and symbol in human social life? Do symbols reflect reality, or create it? This course considers answers to these questions in social theory (Marx, Freud and Durkheim) and in major anthropological approaches (functionalism, structuralism, and symbolic anthropology). It then reviews current debates in interpretive anthropology about order and change, power and resistance, the enchantments of capitalism, and the role of ritual in the making of history. Ethnographic and historical studies may include Fiji, Italy, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Seneca, and the U.S. Ms. Kaplan.

Prerequisite: previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.

Not offered in 2014/15.