Reflecting on America: Anthropological Views of U.S. Culture

Reflecting on America: Anthropological Views of U.S. Culture

By: Clare L. Boulanger

In the spirit of Horace Miner, this thought-provoking, yet accessible, anthology of articles casts mainstream U.S.A. in the role of the "other." 

This anthology is primarily composed of articles written by American anthropologists on American mainstream culture, and addresses traditional ethnographic categories covered by anthropologists––myth and ritual, economy and power, language and ideology. In addition, it examines how “U.S. culture” emerges from and shapes the cultures of our component diverse populations.

Highlights of the First Edition:

• The articles are specially geared toward a scholarly audience, with several contributors having authored popular textbooks and/or articles that have enjoyed wide distribution.   
• Each article is preceded by an introduction and short biography of the author to provide context..
• Each article is followed by an exercise or set of questions that encourages participation.
• The anthology covers topics such as evangelical religions, inner-city poverty, the influence of corporations on our lives, stock convictions about U.S. history and ideology, and more!

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** Anthropology Experience ad **

In the spirit of Horace Miner, this thought-provoking yet accessible collection of articles (primarily written by American anthropologists on American mainstream culture) casts mainstream USA in the role of the "Other".  

It address traditional ethnographic categories covered by anthropologists—myth and ritual, economy and power, language and ideology-with theoretically meaty articles, geared toward an undergraduate audience. 

The authors, whether or not their subject matter is ephemeral, arrive at enduring conclusions so that the anthology has staying power; even though there are those who would state that the U.S. is too diverse to have any one culture.  (It acknowledges diversity; while stressing how something that can reasonably be called “U.S. culture” emerges from and shapes the cultures of our component populations.)

In addition, the collection is headed by a classic short piece, modeled after Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” 

1.  Introduction: we have met the Nacirema, and they are Us(ans) (Clare L. Boulanger)

2.  Usans:  “The Real People” confront globalization

MYTH AND RITUAL

1.  A pilgrimage to the past: Civil War reenactors at Gettysburg (Matthew H. Amster)

2.  Mining history: small town histories and celebrations among the Nacirema (Barry P. Michrina)

3.  Metakinesis: how God becomes intimate in contemporary U.S. Christianity (Tanya M. Luhrmann)

4.  Paradise is for pussies: Star Trek and the Myth of the Bad Mother (Clare L. Boulanger

5.  Being versus doing in international sports (Conrad P. Kottak)

ECONOMY, SOCIETY, POWER

1.  Consuming America (Richard Wilk)

2.  The button: not a simple notion (Paul Grebinger)

3.  Consuming New Hampshire’s nature: changing views of the White Mountains (John W. Burton)

4.  The female world of cards and holidays: women, families, and the work of kinship (Micaela di Leonardo)

5.  Fort Bragg on the verge of a new century: military restructuring, civilian camouflage, and hot peace (Catherine Lutz)

Reflecting on America table of contents, page 2

6.  Explorations of class and consciousness in the U.S. (E. Paul Durrenberger)

7.  Welcome to an East Harlem shooting gallery (Philippe Bourgois)

8.  Mickey, Nicky, and Barbie: Kinderculture in America (Richard H. Robbins)

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

1.  Nuf and E-nuf among the Nacirema (Robert Myers)

2.  Gunspeak: the influence of America’s gun culture on everyday communication (Robert Myers)

3.  American cultural denial: the CATs’ compass (E.L. Cerroni-Long)

4.  Dangerous assumptions of American culture (Mark Nathan Cohen)