The Boundaries of Interpretation: Perspectives and Limitations of Clifford Geertz’s Interpretationis Cover Image

Granice interpretacji: perspektywy i ograniczenia interpretacjonizmu Clifforda Geertza
The Boundaries of Interpretation: Perspectives and Limitations of Clifford Geertz’s Interpretationis

Author(s): Renata Dopierała
Subject(s): Anthropology, Sociology
Published by: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Keywords: Clifford Geertz; interpretive anthopology; antropologia interpretatywna; cultural relativism; relatywizm kulturowy; postcolonial critique; krytyka postkolonialna

Summary/Abstract: Clifford Geertz remains one of the most influential cultural anthropologists. The author of this text analyses the main premises of Geertz’s interpretive anthropology, which provided a new research horizon for all cultural studies. The author discusses the potential and limitations of Geertz’s approach. It would seem that the cultural relativism postulated by Geertz clashes with the basic ideas of critics of postcolonialism. The ideological context in which Geertz’s anthropology should be read is a concept of multiculturalism, which is yet viewed not as the fulfillment of a relativists’ utopia but as a return to an enlightened concept of culture.

  • Issue Year: 63/2019
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 189-201
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish