Ruth Benedict (1 gen 1887 anni – 1 gen 1948 anni)

Descrizione:

About:
-American, studied at Columbia under Boas
-academic/personal relationship with Mead
-field work in Western US: Serrano, Zuni, Cochiti, Pima, and Mescalero Apache
-with Mead, founded the "culture and personality" school of anth
→ the idea that cultures have distinct, coherent patterns that shape the behavior and beliefs of individuals within them
-helped start the "psychological anthropology" subfield
→ examined how culture shapes individual personality and behavior, and how individuals internalize cultural values

Major Works:
-Patterns of Culture (1934)
→ cultures are integrated wholes with unique "patterns"
+ Zuni: Apollonian--emphasizing moderation, harmony, and avoidance of excess
+ Dobuans: paranoid--marked by mistrust, competitiveness, and anxiety
+ Kwakiutl: Dionysian--emphasizing excess, competitiveness, and a preoccupation with wealth and status
→ argues individuals are products of these cultural patterns
-The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946)
→ described Japanese society as structured by a tension between obligation (the sword) and beauty, grace, and harmony (the chrysanthemum)
→ WW2, so no fieldwork in Japan, based mostly on Japanese literature
→ helped found "national character studies" analyzing "culture-at-a-distance" in search of societies' "dominant patterns"

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