Primitive Culture (book) explained
Primitive Culture is an 1871 book by Edward Burnett Tylor. In his book, Tylor debates the relationship between "primitive" societies and "civilized" societies, a key theme in 19th century anthropological literature.
Evolutionism
Tylor's work can be connected to theories present in 19th century literature including Lewis Henry Morgan's "ethnical periods". Among 19th century anthropologists, many saw what now may be called "tribal" states and societies, as lacking in form, progress, and development. Both Tylor and Morgan aligned somewhat with this viewpoint, Morgan believing in stages in order from savagery, barbarism, to civilization, and Tylor concluding that savagery is the lower stage of civilization. Tylor; unlike Morgan however; believed in "Prichardian Ethnological Monogenism", something he learnt in turn during his travels in Mexico from Henry Christy (1810-1865).[1] Today, most anthropologists generally believe these views to be unsubstantiated.
See also
References
- https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/morgan-lewis/ancient-society/ch01.htm
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Primitive-Culture-by-Tylor
- Lowie . Robert H. . Edward B. Tylor . American Anthropologist . 1917 . 19 . 2 . 262–268 . 10.1525/aa.1917.19.2.02a00050 . 660758 . free .
- Larsen . Timothy . E.B. Tylor, religion and anthropology . The British Journal for the History of Science . 2013 . 46 . 3 . 467–485 . 10.1017/S0007087412000039 . 43820407 . 145112040 .
Further reading
- Stanley Diamond, In Search of the Primitive, Transaction Publishers, U.S. 1987,
- Adam Kuper, The Reinvention of Primitive Society. Transformations of a Myth, Taylor & Francis Ltd. 2005,
- Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology, Viking, 1959; reissued by Penguin, 1991
- Joseph Campbell, The Historical Atlas of World Mythology, vols. I and II, Harper and Row 1988, 1989.
- Morgan, Lewis, H. (1877) Ancient Society, "Ethnical Periods".
Notes and References
- Observing "Man" in Situ: Edward Burnett Taylor's Travels Through Mexico, Efram Sera-Shriar, December 2011, p.4, Article 3, Vol.38, Issue 2, History of Anthropology Newsletter, University of Pennysylvania | Available at https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1834&context=han| Accessed Online on 01.08.2022
