Chapter 2: The Early Culture-and-Personality School
The second chapter of Eller (2018), titled “ The Early Culture-and-Personality School,” addresses a period when anthropologists sought to define culture from the perspective of human psychology. This effort stemmed from a coalition between anthropologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Typically, such a definition would be exponentially complicated, seeing that culture and personality are among the most convoluted subjects. A quest to appreciate them together would combine the complexities involved, which would reduce the propensity to develop explicit theories to get a proper understanding of the subject matter.
Among the critical points noted about the school of thought was its conclusion that the culture of any two people may be distinctly different from each other. This statement in itself, though having a basis of truth, overcomplicates the concept of culture. When culture is individualized, the modern world would potentially have seven billion different cultural affiliations. Even if such an argument may have merit, but it would still complicate the concept of culture beyond the possibility of practical study.
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Despite the complexity above, the theorists addressed in the chapter make a valid point that a fundamental component of culture is interrelationships between individuals. Such interrelationships rely to some extent on societal norms, but they also depend on the respective personalities of the two individuals in the interaction. It would thus be impossible to effectively address the subject of culture, without delving into the issue of personality. Whereas this argument carries merit, it still evaluates culture from a very minute perspective.
Finally, the primary study basis of the theories outlined in the chapter relates some of the least understood and most misunderstood segments of the society in the 20 th century. Examples of such cultures include the Kafirs of South Africa and the Aboriginals of Australia. The fact that the theories had to rely on such data limits their validity since there was limited data to contradict the developers at the time.
Chapter 3: The Late Culture-and-Personality School
The third chapter of Eller (2018), titled “ The Late Culture-and-Personality School,” addresses the sinister transformation in the instant school of thought due to geopolitical changes in the world. At the advent of the 20 th century, most people expected an elongated period of peace, global cooperation, and prosperity. However, by the second decade of the century, the illusion had been broken, and by the 4 th decade, war seemed like the new norm. Governments sought the help of anthropologists in understanding human behavior in a bid to improve war efforts. Members of the Culture-and-Personality School found themselves needing scientific evidence to support their theories and contentions for the benefit of their new clientele. Eller (2018) defines this as the militarization of anthropology, a fact that exponentially expanded the discipline.
The end of the Second World War led to the advent of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain, which made it difficult for anthropologists to observe the subjects that they were supposed to study. However, the anthropologists persisted and shifted from studying human personality to human character, as the basis of culture. Among the primary areas of focus for the studies included Americans and the Japanese who were allies, on the one hand, and the Chinese and Russians, who were behind the Iron Curtain.
Among the concepts of study in this period included the comparative study of child-rearing, which sought to connect the character of the child with parental skills and styles. Another concept of study was color perception and susceptibility to optical illusions, which sought to use language to assess the susceptibility of communities. For example, are communities whose language has more words that define color see more colors and are thus more susceptible to illusion? This period contributed to the rapid expansion of anthropology, although the militarization perspective made the basis for the expansion questionable.
Chapter 5: Mind in Symbols, Body, and Practice
Chapter five of Eller (2018) titled “Mind in Symbols, Body and Practice” canvasses the shift from the erstwhile Culture-and-Personality by incorporating symbols, physiology, and practices. Among the fundamental points in the chapter is the issue of habitus and bodily ways. Under the concept, culture and character, to some extent depend on the physiology of people based on a combination of nature and nurture. First, the brain is an organ with biological prerequisites, which are a bearing factor in human behavior and, by extension, culture. Secondly, how people are born and raised also bears on how they will behave in their adult life. This components of culture do not indict the ideas outlined in chapter two and three, but rather show how complicated and convoluted human psychology is.
Eller (2018) argues that the Symbols, Body and Practice movement was a kind of rejuvenation of anthropology since, by the mid-20 th century, the discipline was petering away. This contention makes sense since the second part of the 20 th century saw academic disciplines tending towards ethics and social justice. The early 20 th -century study of anthropology, as reflected in chapters 2 and 3, reflected and erosion of ethics, including studies on marginalized communities and assisting militaries in human subjugation.
This fifth chapter also revisited the combination of anthropology and philosophy. The term revisited in this concept stems from the fact that the initial basis of anthropology was psychology, according to Eller (2018). Some of the earliest works on philosophy were by 19 th -century philosopher Emmanuel Kant. With the complexities associated with anthropology, it makes sense to try and understand it from a philosophical perspective, as opposed to a purely scientific perspective. With human behavior having so many moving parts such as nature, nurture, temperaments, and character, seeking to reduce anthropology to the testable phenomenon is potentially misdealing.
Chapter 6: Self and Personhood
In the sixth chapter of Eller (2018) titled “Self and Personhood,” the book shifts from a narrative to an analytical evaluation of culture and anthropology. The chapter evaluates the concept of culture from the perspective of the individual. As per the chapter, the self does not exist at birth but instead gradually develops both at the formative years but also in the adult years. This definition is accurate since birth creates humans as learning systems. The kind of environment that the humans are exposed to, combined with how humans react to this environment, determines the kind of “self” that they will become.
The self is reflected as a package that combines biological, physiological, cultural, and social prerequisites. As reflected by the works of Michel Foucault, environmental factors such as prison, institutionalization due to mental health problems or hospitalization due to ailment can bear upon the kind of person that an individual eventually becomes.
Cultural factors and norms also bear on the concept of the self, as outlined in Eller (2018). For example, some societies, such as the Native American community of Wintu, advocate for collectiveness as opposed to the more individualistic Western culture. These cultural affiliations will act as a nurturing factor in the development of the self. Similarly, other cultures such as Buddhism teach active detachment from the self, a fact that not only affects the concept of the self, but also how the self will contribute to the overall culture of the community.
A final important point in the chapter is the concept that narrating about the self contributes to the development of the self. This concept is interesting as it reflects the self in the same way as a muscle that develops due to exercise. Perhaps in the process of explaining one’s self to others, the self keeps on developing.
Reference
Eller, J. D. (2018). Psychological anthropology for the 21st Century . Abingdon: Oxon.
