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History Notes The Anthropological Approach to History Notes

Anthropology Bitesize Notes

Updated Anthropology Bitesize Notes

The Anthropological Approach to History Notes

The Anthropological Approach to History

Approximately 25 pages

These essays cover various anthropological theories and assess their utility to historians, comparing anthropological and historical examples. The condensed notes were the basis of my revision, allowing me to achieve 72 (with a 75 on one question). I also find a grounding in sociology and anthropology is very useful for history in general, theories being implicit or relevant to almost any historical episode.
The anthropological approach provides an excellent contrast from my impersonal economic m...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our The Anthropological Approach to History Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Anthropology Bitesize Anthropological theories/techniques Constructed NarrativesBritons as Anglo-Saxon: proto-democratic, religiously independent from Rome, militarily superb, Victorian reverence of Alfred King Arthur (Geoffrey of Monmouth): see Edward I "arthurus revividus" and Henry VII as Welsh-British and James I/VI as Scots-British Charlemagne as just, Christian, European Empire, originator, Italy as Roman/Renaissance for tourism, excluding unification etc Cretan Rethemnos: Venetian 1210-1669> Ottoman 1669-1898 Noble families 'finding' heritage/genealogy to retain lordly status, children's legitimacy, e.g. Maori Chieftain's claiming descent from OT figures Dutch ex-colonists remembering Java fondly, Javanese smuggling food to Japanese prisoner camps, unlike Javanese memory of subjugation and abuse Crazy Horse/Sitting Bull used by American Indian Movement as figureheads of resistance and strength (but representative only of Lakota) Icelandic Sagas, peasant-family memory vs Harald of Norway, teaches morals Breton (300,000 speakers) promoted in Diwan seed schools Social memory through: omissions, oral and written history, sagas, architecture, school, museums, language, beliefs, media, family records. [Always shifting] Importance: Creates community and allows group membership, Unification and nationhood, Justifies conditions (rulers, prejudices, customs), Creates cohesion in times of crisis, Promotes tourism, Supplies guide to morality Notable Scholars: Hobsbawm, Benedict Anderson (Imagined Communities-attributes 'community' myth to modern print culture) Functionalism (social actions and structures fulfil a society's needs) Witchcraft beliefs I) account for day-to-day misfortunes, removing need to question God's omni benevolence II) enforce moral standards and keep neighbourly goodwill III) removes old widows, burdens on society [Roper] IV) Confessions giving women a voice in society [psychological-Roper] Carnival and charivari- I) expression of hostility II) letting off steam to avert more damaging social conflict Rituals create the illusion of the unchanging Counter example: Wurttemberg peasants customarily unforgiving, so Christian teachings cause strife and dysfunction Weaknesses: Are functions time static? How long a period can one function apply to? Does breaking the function cause change? (Does breaking a function have a function?) Chaotic periods eventually establish a new order. Essentially, if functionalism is very longterm then it is circular and self-fulfilling.

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