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歡迎光臨人類學
種族差異是天生的？民族中心主義的傾向是必然的？性別不平等的文化根源為何？當代的婚姻與家庭該何去何從？不同宗教信仰背景的人能否共處共榮？這些問題背後有著許多的故事，既關乎他者，也關乎我們自己。
本書作者拉斯特深信故事的力量，因此他以說故事的方式，一步步引領讀者進入人類學豐富而多元的故事中。包括人類學的誕生起源、理論視野的開展與研究方法的深化，以及當代重要的跨文化議題。拉斯特提醒我們：即便有著不同的形貌、說著不同的語言，甚至發展出不同的社會價值觀，但同處於一個世界體系中，人們終究彼此相連。唯有更深刻地看見文化的作用、認識人類的同異之處，真正的相互理解與溝通才可能到來。
本書作者拉斯特深信故事的力量，因此他以說故事的方式，一步步引領讀者進入人類學豐富而多元的故事中。包括人類學的誕生起源、理論視野的開展與研究方法的深化，以及當代重要的跨文化議題。拉斯特提醒我們：即便有著不同的形貌、說著不同的語言，甚至發展出不同的社會價值觀，但同處於一個世界體系中，人們終究彼此相連。唯有更深刻地看見文化的作用、認識人類的同異之處，真正的相互理解與溝通才可能到來。
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 23, 2018
Lots of researchers in journalism and mass comm claim to use "ethnographic methods" and "participant observation." Seeing these claims has made me want to learn more about how actual anthropologists describe and use those methods, and by extension, has also made me want to learn more about anthropology as a field. So I've been keeping a lookout at the semi-annual library used-book sale for an introductory textbook that was NOT one of those fat, colorful catalog-type monstrosities that so many freshmen are subjected to in our universities.
This textbook now has a fourth edition (2014), but I was very content with this second edition (2006), and it only cost me $2.50 at the book sale. The author is a professor and anthropologist who has published two books based on his fieldwork with the Kiowa people in the U.S. west. The book is very much a textbook and very much intended for undergraduates with no prior knowledge of anthropology — but Lassiter doesn't treat his audience like quiz- and GPA-focused dolts. His aim seems to be to tell readers about the field he clearly loves in a way that might lead them to love it too.
I especially enjoyed the concrete examples he's chosen — many of which are NOT about primitive tribal groups in distant jungles. He reveals cultural anthropology as a discipline concerned with the present day (and the future) and with regular people in developed countries (such as the U.S. and Japan) just as much as one that has been concerned with people who lived as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did. He provides an excellent notes section at the end of each chapter; I found his references and notes much more satisfying than most, especially since I intend to continue exploring this discipline.
Not too long ago I read Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction, and I was pretty happy with that too, but this book is much better. That also had nice examples, but mostly from the two authors' own fieldwork. Lassiter's examples are more far-ranging and heterogeneous, and he leaves out most of the big names of the field, focusing on Boas and Malinowski and returning to them throughout.
This was really a pleasure to read and didn't make me feel guilty for reading something that was dumbed down, because it didn't feel dumbed down — just well edited.
This textbook now has a fourth edition (2014), but I was very content with this second edition (2006), and it only cost me $2.50 at the book sale. The author is a professor and anthropologist who has published two books based on his fieldwork with the Kiowa people in the U.S. west. The book is very much a textbook and very much intended for undergraduates with no prior knowledge of anthropology — but Lassiter doesn't treat his audience like quiz- and GPA-focused dolts. His aim seems to be to tell readers about the field he clearly loves in a way that might lead them to love it too.
I especially enjoyed the concrete examples he's chosen — many of which are NOT about primitive tribal groups in distant jungles. He reveals cultural anthropology as a discipline concerned with the present day (and the future) and with regular people in developed countries (such as the U.S. and Japan) just as much as one that has been concerned with people who lived as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did. He provides an excellent notes section at the end of each chapter; I found his references and notes much more satisfying than most, especially since I intend to continue exploring this discipline.
Not too long ago I read Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction, and I was pretty happy with that too, but this book is much better. That also had nice examples, but mostly from the two authors' own fieldwork. Lassiter's examples are more far-ranging and heterogeneous, and he leaves out most of the big names of the field, focusing on Boas and Malinowski and returning to them throughout.
This was really a pleasure to read and didn't make me feel guilty for reading something that was dumbed down, because it didn't feel dumbed down — just well edited.
December 20, 2022
I found this to be a pleasantly transformative book. Until this point I have generally associated the notion of anthropology with 19th Century types, dressed in safari suits and pith helmets, making specious and often prejudiced comments about 'the natives'. Lassiter's book, however, has purged me of such short-sightedness.
It is written with a clear purpose and, though a textbook of sorts, with a compelling sense of feeling. This is, I think, only fitting considering that anthropology so often seeks to understand how we feel about things.
It is very easy to see why this is considered a worthy introduction to an impossibly varied topic, for there is no doubt that I have learnt much. I look forward to delving into the field more, which is as ringing an endorsement as one can give for a book such as this.
It is written with a clear purpose and, though a textbook of sorts, with a compelling sense of feeling. This is, I think, only fitting considering that anthropology so often seeks to understand how we feel about things.
It is very easy to see why this is considered a worthy introduction to an impossibly varied topic, for there is no doubt that I have learnt much. I look forward to delving into the field more, which is as ringing an endorsement as one can give for a book such as this.
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April 21, 2025This is the very first thing that I read related to anthropology as an academic subject. This is the reason I am now poor jk. I dont know if the author will ever read this but I wanna say thank you even though this feels like shouting into the void but this was the very beginning to truly chaning my view on the world.
February 21, 2025
4.5🏹
英文書名取的很合適，這本書是一個很好的invitation，短短的篇幅但也滿完整的把重要的由來、發展、方法跟大主題都用很順暢的文筆講解了一番。
小小的打基礎書能夠又平易近人又言之有物很不容易！
英文書名取的很合適，這本書是一個很好的invitation，短短的篇幅但也滿完整的把重要的由來、發展、方法跟大主題都用很順暢的文筆講解了一番。
小小的打基礎書能夠又平易近人又言之有物很不容易！
December 15, 2025
pretty boring but still really informative
February 4, 2010
This is one of many textbooks for my Anthropology 101 course. The book was not only an enlightening text, but also a very engaging one. The text overviews some of the basic concepts of anthropology (ethnography, kinships, gender issues, religion) and seeks to explain them from an anthropological perspective. Unlike previous texts, this book includes a glossary and seeks to define what may be confusing terms within the text itself in a contextual manner. i.e. instead of taking time out of the book to explain the word, the word is just incorporated into a sentence and then the text continues. This is helpful because it sidesteps textbooks general problems of making the reader feel stupid.
Moreover, the text takes a truly open view of the world itself. Other viewpoints are explained with the writer admitting his own bias more often than not. He doesn't take a fool-proof view of the world (i.e. everything is relative) but by the same token, does explain why such a view is helpful. All in all, I feel that I learned a lot from this book - particularly the religion section with its use of David J. Hufford's view of "tradition of disbelief" in regards to religious ethnocentrism. I eagerly anticipate reading the rest of the texts for this course.
Moreover, the text takes a truly open view of the world itself. Other viewpoints are explained with the writer admitting his own bias more often than not. He doesn't take a fool-proof view of the world (i.e. everything is relative) but by the same token, does explain why such a view is helpful. All in all, I feel that I learned a lot from this book - particularly the religion section with its use of David J. Hufford's view of "tradition of disbelief" in regards to religious ethnocentrism. I eagerly anticipate reading the rest of the texts for this course.
November 23, 2014
I like this book b/c a) it gives a good historical grounding of early American anthropology in Franz Boas's struggle to debunk the notion of "race" as determining character and culture. b) it focuses on ethnography early on; c) the chapter on religion respects the validity of individual spiritual experience (such as encounters with ghosts, the Holy Ghost, etc.) rather than scientize it away. I use this book in my Cultural Anthropology course; a friend uses it in her Intro to Anthropology course, which she focuses around learning to think anthropologically.
August 22, 2010
This is like a mini, but cool and interesting textbook. Very manageable and pretty interesting, if you're interested in an introduction to anthropology ideas. :p
November 27, 2016
Unbelievably awesome.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews