Review

Author(s): T. O. Beidelman
Review by: T. O. Beidelman
Source: Anthropos, Bd. 78, H. 5./6. (1983), pp. 928-929
Published by: Anthropos Institut
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40460756
Accessed: 18-01-2016 06:19 UTC

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BookReviews
254 pp. Glasgow1982. FontanaMasterLeach, Edmund.Social Anthropology.
Price:2.50.
guides,FontanaPaperbacks.
SirEdmundLeachis one of themostfamouslivinganthropologists.
It is therefore
not surprising
thathe was selectedto writethe socialanthropological
volumein this
British
seriesdesignedto survey
fieldsofknowledge.
Thisis neither
a textcontemporary
book forstudents
nora setofpronouncements
to colleagues;
it is an attempt
both
rather,
to informa well-educated
is about,and to presentthe
readerwhatsocialanthropology
author'spersonalviews as to whata lifetime
of socialanthropology
has meantto him.
Leach writes,"I set out to writeaboutthekindof socialanthropology
whichI myself
findinteresting
and to whichfromtimeto timeI havemadea contribution"
(7). While
thismayappearegocentric,
as Leachhimself
implies,he is merelystating
bluntlywhat
thatthebook'sdeficiencies
are conany suchsurveyis likelyto be. Still,hisdisclamor
intentional
strikes
meas disingenuous
andillogical.Leachis probably
sequently
incapable
of writinga dullbook,and thepresentvolumeis lacedwithprovocative
andinteresting
Whether
observations.
it is a usefulintroduction
to contemporary
socialanthropology
is debatable;it is, however,
an interesting
disclosure
of how Leachthinksand therefore
to hiscolleaguesthanhe claims.
perhapsofmoreinterest
The workis dividedintotensections:In a briefintroduction
Leachindicates
that
thisworkwillbe a personalstatement
of howheviewsthefield.Leachthen(Chapter1)
considers
someof thedifferences
inhowscholars
do andwriteanthropology,
a
providing
thumb-nail
historicalsketchof the subject'sdevelopment
and concluding
withsome
between"cultural"and "social" anthropology
questionabledistinctions
as well as betweenanthropology
and sociology,
and naturalsciences.In chapter2 Leachprehistory
sentsa verystimulating
discussionof the ways anthropologists
have arguedfor the
out theintellectual
psychicunityof man,alongwithan argument
and moral
pointing
in this.In chapter3 Leachprovocatively
dangersinherent
discussestheissuesraisedby
writersseekingto differentiate
mankindfromotheranimals.In a curiouschapter(4)
entitled"MyKindof Anthropology"
Leachcontrasts
somefieldwork
thathe likeswith
some thathe does not. He endsindicating
thathis kindof anthropology
is a blendof
structuralism
and functionalism
witha particular
the
relation
between
emphasisupon
socialorganization
(especially
beliefs
kinship)and economic,political,and cosmological
andritual.In chapter5 Leachprovidesan exposition
oftherelations
betweenauthority,
and power,bringing
in both aspectsof theMaussiannotionof totalsocial
reciprocity,
and Durkheimean
phenomenaand aspectsof Lvi-Straussian
ideas about theinterplay
betweencultureand nature.In chapter6 Leach arguesthatthepractices
on
centering
and affinity
marriage,
legitimacy,
providean especiallypowerfulfocusforseeinghow
thevariousstrandsof socialbehaviour
intersect
as wellas forappreciating
thegreatdifficultyof translating
conceptssuchas marriage,
In
family,and kinshipcross-culturally.
chapter7 Leach providesa verybriefaccountof cosmology,
mainlyin termsof how
beliefsunderpin
socialorganization.
The conclusion
is toobriefto meananything
much.
Leach addsan extensive
in whichhe listshisdefinitions
formanyof theterms
glossary
usedin thebook. Hisparticular
oftermssuchas acephalous,
definitions
andbiaffinity,
lateralkinshipare straight-foreward
enough;thoseforothertermssuchas divination,
fitness,functionalistempiricism, and homeostaticequilibrium,provide him with op-

to writeminiature
portunities
on "received
critiques
opinion."

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Book Reviews

929

In his introductionLeach himselfforeseesmany of the criticismswhich mightbe

levelled against this work; yet I put down the book sure that more is wronghere than
merelyone reader'sreactionto an intenselypersonalposition.The picturehereconveyed
of anthropologicalstudyseems narrow.Anthropologicalresearchis mainlyhereequated
with the study of preliteratesocieties (though Leach acknowledgesthat we do study
literateand more complex ones includingour own). Social organization,especiallykinship,is giventhebulk of attention;systemsof belief,ritual,ceremonies,myth,and witchcraftare all givenshortshrift.Wherethey are mentioned,it is as mereback-upto social
and moralnotionsand sentiorganization,as thoughhumanity'smentallife,expressivity,
mentswere not areas of enormousinterestand concernin and of themselves.Anthropologicalwritingson economicsare mostlydismissedas not beingveryusefulor interesting.
Leach makes a persuasivecase for consideringprimarysocial relations-families,
bands, lineages,settlements-as the centralexplicatorysectorby which we may seek to
understandpreliteratesocieties,but in the course of his argumenthe glossesovera great
many other areas of considerableimportance.His emphasisupon preliteratesocieties
could lead some readersto miss the greatimportancethat anthropologyhas forunderstandingmore complex societies includingour own, while his repeateddistinctionsbetween social anthropologyand other disciplinesmay lead readers to fail to appreciate
the deep ties that social and culturalanthropologyhave with sociology, history,linguistics,psychology,philosophy,and the arts.Throughoutthe book, Leach warnsreaders
with caution. A reviewermightmake similaradmonitions
to read otheranthropologists
regardingthis work. This is a provocative,stimulating,and intelligentsurveyby a distinguishedelder scholarwho has devoted most of his lifeto the discipline.It can be read
and professionalsalike, but it should not be considered
withprofitby non-professionals
a broad or balanced appraisalof the discipline.Manywillread it and remainpuzzled as to
exactlywhat the fieldmeans to the author,but theywill have caughtthe enthusiasm,inquisitiveskepticism,and commitmentthatare essentialto a worthyprofessorof our way
T.O. Beidelman
of analysis.

Goodenough, Ward H. Culture,Language, and Society, ix+134 pp. Menlo Park,

Calif.1981. The Benjamin/Cummings
PublishingCompany.Price: $9.95 (hardback),$5.95
(paperback).[Second edition.]
ProfessorGoodenoughexplainsin his prefacethathe findsa deficiencyin the constructionof a model of the contentof culture.He develops his themepointingout that
because he has foundLinguisticsto be one of the mostdevelopedsciencesthatstudiesbehaviour (speech behaviourin particular),he findsit directlyrelevantto the problemof
describingthe content of patternedbehaviour in general. He proceeds to initiatehis
readerswithan explanationof the contentsof languagestudiesexplainingthathe expects
that the studyof languagemay somedaycontributeto developa moreprecisemodel for
the studyof the contentof culture.
Havingdeterminedthe meaningof the phonological,morphological,and syntactic
systems,he explains that throughthe semanticand symbolicsystems,man can approach
a non-visiblepart of cultureby mappinginto linguisticformsthe total rangeof concepts
and perceptsby which people apprehendtheirworld and the studyof the way people
expresstheirinnerfeelings.Thus, Linguisticsservesas a code for those codes which are
not linguisticbut can be knownthroughLinguistics.
Though ProfessorGoodenough tries to approach culture throughLinguistics,he
does not develop a profoundmethod throughwhich the investigatorcan studyculture.
ThroughSemanticsyou can approach categoriesthat contain conceptsby whichpeople
organizethe world and theircosmovision.You can approach the contentof cultureby
59
78.1983
Anthropos

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