An anecdote about the historian and the anthropologist may give a - TopicsExpress



          

An anecdote about the historian and the anthropologist may give a hint. The historian and the anthropologist discuss the relative merits of their subjects. The anthropologist says, in a smug voice: ‘Well, if you historians intend to study a river, you have to wait until it has dried out. You then enter the dry riverbed with your magnifying glasses and whatnot. We anthropologists, on the other hand, wade straight into the messy wetness of the river and stay there until we have been able to make sense of it as it flows by.’ The historian lights his pipe, looks out of the window and answers slowly: ‘Yes, I suppose you are right. Yet, you anthropologists seem to dry out the living river, while we historians endeavour to bring water to the dry riverbed.’ taken from Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Engaging Anthropology, 21.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 02:03:18 +0000

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