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dsoreads's review
4.0
A wonderful read shredding introspection-worthy wisdom. A perspective on a collective story-arc of societies/communities including that of Anthropologists.
Being new to the technicality of anthropology, this was afresh a view on how the department evolved, devolved alongside infighting and was critical in modern views or outlooks of accepting/respecting other cultures.
However, am not sure if the author can be so sure about the details of these historic figures in their fields. In some pages, it looked like the author camped next to these thinkers and wrote the lines; which doesn’t flavour to be very authentic.
A lovely book, nevertheless.
Being new to the technicality of anthropology, this was afresh a view on how the department evolved, devolved alongside infighting and was critical in modern views or outlooks of accepting/respecting other cultures.
However, am not sure if the author can be so sure about the details of these historic figures in their fields. In some pages, it looked like the author camped next to these thinkers and wrote the lines; which doesn’t flavour to be very authentic.
A lovely book, nevertheless.
emilybh's review
5.0
'Their response was [...] a theory of humanity that embraces all the many ways we humans have devised for living. The social categories into which we typically divide ourselves, including labels such as race and gender, are at base artificial - the products of human artiface, residing in the mental frameworks and unconscious habits of a given society.'
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This was a great read. I hadn't heard of Franz Boas before, or most of the women whose work King describes in this book. This group of anthropologists - Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Zora Neale Hurston and Ella Deloria - should be better known. Their attempts to understand how various human societies were ordered - from gender identity and sexuality to ritual and work - went against the grain. Particularly in the early 20th Century when ideas of race and the superiority of certain groups were so prevalent in countries such as the US and Germany. In their fieldwork and writing, these women were pioneers who found that 'mixing is the natural state of the world'. King does their ideas justice here.
.
This was a great read. I hadn't heard of Franz Boas before, or most of the women whose work King describes in this book. This group of anthropologists - Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Zora Neale Hurston and Ella Deloria - should be better known. Their attempts to understand how various human societies were ordered - from gender identity and sexuality to ritual and work - went against the grain. Particularly in the early 20th Century when ideas of race and the superiority of certain groups were so prevalent in countries such as the US and Germany. In their fieldwork and writing, these women were pioneers who found that 'mixing is the natural state of the world'. King does their ideas justice here.
hawthorne's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.5
An incredible synthesis of early 20th century anthropological thought, more informative and eye-opening than several university classes I have taken on the subject.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
graculus's review
informative
4.0
I'm steadily working my way through what look like interesting ebooks on my local library's system, though some of the things I want to read are reserved till well into next year and it's also not the most easy system to search. *sigh*
Anyway, while I mostly read genre fiction, I do also like non-fiction books about history and The Reinvention of Humanity seemed an ideal choice for me - it's essentially about the birth of the modern discipline of anthropology, as told through the stories of Franz Boas and his (mostly female) students. For those who don't know Boas, he was a German scientist who was significantly involved in pushing for the formalisation of the new science, with unfortunate side trips into anthropometry (measuring human bodies in support of race theories) and the ability to inspire deep admiration among his students despite his apparently quite poor teaching methods.
This book is mostly about Margaret Mead, Zora Neale Hurston and Ella Cara Deloria, who helped study a variety of cultures both in the US and overseas. It doesn't hold back in terms of honestly recounting their various issues (personal and professional) and often troubled relationships, usually with other anthropologists. Mead in particular was not a major proponent of monogamy and there were all sorts of romantic entanglements throughout her life.
It also tells the story of the birth of a discipline against the backdrop of both racial theories within the US and elsewhere - like me, you may already be aware that Hitler was an avid supporter of what was done in the South of the US under the Jim Crow laws - as well as the associated field of eugenics. Add to this a war where Boas suddenly found himself going from accepted immigrant from a group whose work ethic was admired to potential supporter of the enemy whose outspoken views made him suspect, and you can see all sorts of issues arising. Similar things happen with the outbreak of World War II, as various anthropologists get dragged into efforts to get the US to understand how the mind of the enemy, particularly the Japanese one, works and how best to affect this if the US need to take over running that country.
Anyway, an interesting read if you're interested in how anthropology came to be, as seen through our current understanding of the issues that were skated over at the time.
Anyway, while I mostly read genre fiction, I do also like non-fiction books about history and The Reinvention of Humanity seemed an ideal choice for me - it's essentially about the birth of the modern discipline of anthropology, as told through the stories of Franz Boas and his (mostly female) students. For those who don't know Boas, he was a German scientist who was significantly involved in pushing for the formalisation of the new science, with unfortunate side trips into anthropometry (measuring human bodies in support of race theories) and the ability to inspire deep admiration among his students despite his apparently quite poor teaching methods.
This book is mostly about Margaret Mead, Zora Neale Hurston and Ella Cara Deloria, who helped study a variety of cultures both in the US and overseas. It doesn't hold back in terms of honestly recounting their various issues (personal and professional) and often troubled relationships, usually with other anthropologists. Mead in particular was not a major proponent of monogamy and there were all sorts of romantic entanglements throughout her life.
It also tells the story of the birth of a discipline against the backdrop of both racial theories within the US and elsewhere - like me, you may already be aware that Hitler was an avid supporter of what was done in the South of the US under the Jim Crow laws - as well as the associated field of eugenics. Add to this a war where Boas suddenly found himself going from accepted immigrant from a group whose work ethic was admired to potential supporter of the enemy whose outspoken views made him suspect, and you can see all sorts of issues arising. Similar things happen with the outbreak of World War II, as various anthropologists get dragged into efforts to get the US to understand how the mind of the enemy, particularly the Japanese one, works and how best to affect this if the US need to take over running that country.
Anyway, an interesting read if you're interested in how anthropology came to be, as seen through our current understanding of the issues that were skated over at the time.
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