Primitive Culture (book)
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''Primitive Culture'' is an 1871 book by
Edward Burnett Tylor Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology. Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century cultural evolutionism. In his works '' Primitive Culture'' (1871) and ''Anthropology'' ...
. 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 Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social e ...
'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 Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropology, so ...
Monogenism Monogenism or sometimes monogenesis is the theory of human origins which posits a common descent for all humans. The negation of monogenism is polygenism. This issue was hotly debated in the Western world in the nineteenth century, as the assum ...
", something he learnt in turn during his travels in Mexico from
Henry Christy Henry Christy (26 July 1810 – 4 May 1865) was an English banker and collector, who left his substantial collections to the British Museum. Early life Christy was born at Kingston upon Thames, the second son of William Miller Christy of Woodb ...
(1810-1865).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 a

Accessed Online on 01.08.2022 Today, most anthropologists generally believe these views to be unsubstantiated.


See also

*
American anthropology American anthropology has culture as its central and unifying concept. This most commonly refers to the universal human capacity to classify and encode human experiences symbolically, and to communicate symbolically encoded experiences socially. ...
*
Civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
*
Ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...
*
Noble savage In Western anthropology, Western philosophy, philosophy, and European literature, literature, the Myth of the Noble savage refers to a stock character who is uncorrupted by civilization. As such, the "noble" savage symbolizes the innate goodness a ...
*
Primitivism In the arts of the Western world, Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that means to recreate the experience of ''the primitive'' time, place, and person, either by emulation or by re-creation. In Western philosophy, Primitivism propo ...
*
Uncontacted peoples Uncontacted peoples are groups of Indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. Leg ...


References

* https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/morgan-lewis/ancient-society/ch01.htm *https://www.britannica.com/topic/Primitive-Culture-by-Tylor * *


Further reading

*
Stanley Diamond Stanley Diamond (January 4, 1922 in New York City, NY – March 31, 1991 in New York City, NY) was an American poet and anthropologist. As a young man, he identified as a poet, and his disdain for the fascism of the 1930s greatly influenced ...
, ''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 Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...
, '' The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology'', Viking, 1959; reissued by Penguin, 1991 *Joseph Campbell, ''
The Historical Atlas of World Mythology The ''Historical Atlas of World Mythology'' is a multi-volume series of books by Joseph Campbell that traces developments in humankind's mythological symbols and stories from pre-history forward. Campbell is perhaps best known as a comparativis ...
'', vols. I and II, Harper and Row 1988, 1989. *Morgan, Lewis, H. (1877) ''Ancient Society,'' "Ethnical Periods". {{Culture 1871 books 1871 non-fiction books Ancient culture Anthropological categories of peoples Books about barbarians Cultural anthropology