Alfred Louis Kroeber

(1876-1960)

Alfred Louis Kroeber (1876-1960)

1897—Course in American Indian languages at Columbia University offered by Franz Boas

1901—Completed dissertation on symbolism in Arapaho art in Montana

First doctorate in anthropology to be awarded by Columbia

1901-1946—First instructor of newly created anthropology dept. at U C Berkeley

Personal Life Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, June 11,

1876 Died in Paris, October 5, 1960

Parents upper middle-class Protestants of German ancestry

Grandfather Kroeber came to United States when his son, Florence Kroeber, was ten years old Grandfather fought in the Civil War

Kroeber's mother, Johanna Muller, was American born in a German family

Education

Schooled at home until age 7 or 8

Private tutor

Sachs' Collegiate Institute, grammar and high school

Columbia University in 1892 at the age of sixteen

IntroductionKroeber played a major role in developing American anthropology

from the rather random endeavors of amateurs and self-trained men

to a coherent, scientific, and academic discipline

IntroductionContributions to anthropology included:

Extensive ethnographic investigations inCaliforniaThe Great Plains

Archaeological studies in Mexico and Peru

Linguistic research, especially in California

Kroeber and CultureLifelong goal-> Understand nature of cultural phenomena (i.e., culture)

Cultural analysis should not use method of physical sciencesSeek to determine causes and effects

Also rejected a social science orientation To avoid problems of human welfare,

which strongly oriented much social science at that time

Boas’ InfluenceFirst, unrelenting empiricism

Repudiated earlier anthropologists who arranged cultural data into existing categories & developmental schemes

Second, stressed primary importance of intensive first-hand ethnographic field work

Culture as SuperorganicKroeber's theory was:

SuperorganicSupra-individual

Culture is greater than the individual

DeterministicEvents are caused by things that happened

before them & people have no ability to make choices or control what happens

No“great man theory”

Culture as Superorganic

Not interested in the:Effect of culture on the individual “Culture and personality” view

Effect of the individual upon culture “Great man theory” of history

Method for Studying Culture

1. Characterized cultures by means of culture element lists

2. Identified major styles, philosophies, and values

The Element Survey Approach

Kroeber wanted to quantify and explain cultural diversity (specifically the Native Americans of California)

He created the cultural elements list

He developed minimal units of culture that could be listed and gathered

The Element Survey ApproachIncluded the following questions of

each group: Do they practice polyandry?Do they practice cremation?Do they use a sinew-backed bow?

Sinew, the shredded fibers of animal tendon

Do they use beaver-teeth dice? Beaver Tooth: A game played for centuriesBy “First People of the PacificNorthwest”

Game includes a woven basket, four carved beaver teeth (dice), and a bundle of "counting bones" (bird bones)

Simple, fast-paced, and fun: Depending on the fall of the carved teeth

(dice) Players win counting bones Player with most bones at end of game

wins

Do they eat acorn mush?

Acorns, the nut of the oak tree, has been a staple of California Indian diet for more than 4,000 years For many groups, the most important plant food Native Californians harvested 10 or more species

Acorns are extremely nutritious containing up to: 18% fat, 6% percent protein 68% carbohydrate Vitamins A and C Many amino acids

Acorn mush or bread usually eaten with meat for a balanced meal

Do their young men drink hallucinogenic jimson weed mush?

Flowers light blue or white on a purple stemAll parts of plant are toxic:

LeafRootFlowerSeed

Jimsonweed used by Native Americans for drug-induced ceremonial and spiritual purposes

Flaws in Element Survey Approach

Reduces cultures into bits and pieces

Assigns equal significance to each (beaver teeth dice and polyandry)

Assumes an element has same meaning in other cultures Swastika is an ancient symbol used for over 3,000

years China, Japan, India, and southern Europe Until the Nazis used this symbol, it was used by many

cultures to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck

Benefits of SurveyFor all the flaws, as an exercise in salvage ethnology, it helped to document cultures under threat

 Culture and SocietyKroeber distinguishes between culture and society.

Society is just group life, even among bees and ants

Essential Elements of CultureIt is learned: Not genetic or racial

Kroeber opposed racial determinism

It is shared: Not any person’s individual province, or the creation of any one person

It is patterned: Not a random assortment of elements, but a coherent whole

It is meaningful

The Historical ApproachCulture’s past shapes the culture

No other forces, like political instability or economic necessity, are determining factors

To understand a culture, you must reconstruct its past

Focus on Culture

Definition: Culture consists of the set of attributes and products of human societies, and therewith of mankind,

which are extrasomatic (i.e., outside &

unrelated to the body) and transmitted by mechanisms other than biological heredity

Focus on CultureKroeber was concerned with:

Reconstructing history through a descriptive analysis of concrete cultural phenomena

Grouped into “culture types” that could be analyzed to reveal their histories

The Superorganic Pertaining to the structure of cultural

elements within society conceived as independent of and superior to the individual members of society

Individuals have very little, if any, impact on culture’s development and change

Culture plays a determining role in

human behavior

Culture has an existence outside of people and compels us to conform to patterns

Alfred Kroeber

Organizing the information:

The functional prerequisites of culture

People

Language

Territory/Technology

Social Organization

Ideology (belief systems)

Kroeber and Ishi

http://wn.com/alfred_l._kroeber

There was huge variation in languages.

Language Variation• Indian languages are extremely diverse.

• 300 distinct languages

• 2000 dialects

California—at least 20 families

West of Rockies—17 more

Rest of the continent—20 more

Today English is most commonly spoken language

Many native languages are gone or soon will be

Diverse Definitions of CultureTopical: Culture consists of everything

on a list of topics or categories, such as:Social organizationReligionEconomy

Historical: Culture is social heritage, or traditionPassed from generation to generation

.

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Diverse Definitions of CultureBehavioral: Culture is:

SharedLearned human behaviorA way of life

Normative: Culture is:IdealsValuesRules for living

Definitions of culture

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Diversity in the concept of culture

Anthropologist’s definition of culture may influence:

Choice of research problems

Methods Interpretations Views on public policy

Alfred Kroeber & Clyde Kluckhohn, published a list of 160 definitions of culture (1952.)

Studying Culture: Cultural Aspects of Dreaming

Emphasis on dreams and beliefs about them differ across cultures.

Different cultural views: Dreams are generally dismissed as unreal and

irrelevant to the important concerns of day-to-day life.

Dreams important sources of information-about the future, about the spiritual world, or about oneself.

Dreams considered as a space for action, like waking life, or a means for communication with other people or with the supernatural.

Cultural Aspects of DreamingCertain societies attribute such

importance to dreams that they have been designated (by Alfred Kroeber) “dream cultures.”

Cultures in which dreams are taken seriously accumulate a depth of observations about their dreams.

Their beliefs may be useful in

understanding dreaming.

Alfred Kroeber Understanding Culture as Superorganic

Historical Approach

Deterministic

First American Textbook in anthropology (1923)