Culture, Language and Personality: Selected EssaysEdward Sapir was one of those men, rare among scientists and scholars, who are spoken of by their colleagues in terms of genius. His writings on frontier problems in cultural anthropology, psychology, and linguistics are outstanding for their provocative insights and remarkable control of factual data. His long essay on language, his principal field of study, is an illuminating exploration of various aspects of the subject. His stress on the fact that language is a cultural or social product helped to make linguistics an integral part of the study of man. The interplay of culture and personality was a field where Sapir was a pioneer and many of his essays have become classics in the social sciences. The nine contributions brought together in this volume well show the distinction and lasting quality of Sapir's work. They include "Culture, Genuine and Spurious," "The Meaning of Religion," "Language," "Cultural Anthropology and Psychiatry," and "The Statue of Linguistics as a Science." Edward Sapir was one of those men, rare among scientists and scholars, who are spoken of by their colleagues in terms of genius. His writings on frontier problems in cultural anthropology, psychology, and linguistics are outstanding for their provocative |
Contents
Contents | |
The Status of Linguistics as a Science3 | |
The Meaning of Religion5 | |
Cultural Anthropology and Psychiatry6 | |
Personality7 | |
The Emergence of the Concept of Personality in a Study | |
Common terms and phrases
abstracted actual aesthetic agglutinative languages American analysis attitude believed civilization complex concept consciousness constructed language contrast cultural anthropology cultural patterns culture of France defined definite difficult distinct economic economist Edward Sapir elements emotional English Esperanto ethnologist example experience expression external fact feeling French functions fundamental genuine culture give habit historical human behavior ideal ideas implications important Indian individual Indo-European languages instance interest international auxiliary language isolated less linguistic logical matter means merely modern national language nature normal one’s organization peculiar perhaps personality Plains Indians political possible primitive problems processes psychiatrist psychoanalysts psychological purely reality regularity relation religion religious behavior remoter ends ritual Sapir scientific seems sense sentiment significant social psychology society sociological sophisticated specific speech spirit structure sun dance symbolic tend tendency thinking tradition unconscious universe of discourse values verb vocabulary whole words