Synopses & Reviews
The Histories of Anthropology Annual series presents diverse perspectives on the disciplineand#8217;s history within a global context, with a goal of increasing awareness and use of historical approaches in teaching, learning, and doing anthropology. Critical, comparative, analytical, and narrative studies involving all aspects and subfields of anthropology are included.
This ninth volume of the series, Corridor Talk to Culture History showcases geographic diversity by exploring how anthropologists have presented their methods and theories to the public and in general to a variety of audiences. Contributors examine interpretive and methodological diversity within anthropological traditions often viewed from the standpoint of professional consensus, the ways anthropological relations cross disciplinary boundaries, and the contrast between academic authority and public culture, which is traced to the professionalization of anthropology and other social sciences in the nineteenth century. Essays showcase the research and personalities of Alexander Goldenweiser, Robert Lowie, Harlan I. Smith, Fustel de Coulanges, Edmund Leach, Carl Withers, and Margaret Mead, among others.
Review
and#8220;Anyone who thinks that ethnohistory is dull and descriptive, or that the subdisciplines of anthropology cannot be brought to bear on particular historical cases, must read Frederic Gleachand#8217;s reassessment of the contact between the confederacy of the Powhatan and the settlers at Jamestown, Virginia. Gleach attributes the ensuing conflict to incommensurable worldviews rather than to competition for scarce resources. Colonists and Indians largely misunderstood one another without realizing that they did so, all the while undertaking and#8216;mutual attempts to civilize each other.and#8217; . . . A fascinating book.and#8221;and#8212;American Anthropologist
Review
and#8220;Powhatanand#8217;s World and Colonial Virginia is likely to be the focus of spirited discussion for years to come. New interpretations of long-discussed events appear in literally every chapter.and#8221;and#8212;Journal of Southern History
Review
andldquo;This volume is part of an excellent series on the history of anthropology. There is no current series like it, and the editors are among the best scholars in this field.andrdquo;andmdash;Paul Shankman, author of The Trashing of Margaret Mead: Anatomy of an Anthropological Controversyand#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Well worth the reading. It is a valuable addition to the genre.andrdquo;andmdash;Frank A. Salamone, author of Charlie Parker: The Trickster of Jazz
Synopsis
Frederic W. Gleach offers the most balanced and complete accounting of the early years of the Jamestown colony to date. When English colonists established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown in 1607, they confronted a powerful and growing Native chiefdom consisting of over thirty tribes under one paramount chief, Powhatan. For the next half-century, a portion of the Middle Atlantic coastal plain became a charged and often violent meeting ground between two very different worlds.
About the Author
Regna Darnell is the Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and First Nations Studies at the University of Western Ontario. She is the author of Invisible Genealogies: A History of Americanist Anthropology (Nebraska, 2001); coeditor of Franz Boas Papers, Volume 1: Franz Boas as Public Intellectualand#8212;Theory, Ethnography, Activism (Nebraska, 2015); and general editor of the multivolume series, the Franz Boas Papers Documentary Edition. Frederic W. Gleach is a senior lecturer of anthropology and the curator of the Anthropology Collections at Cornell University. He is the author of Powhatanand#8217;s World and Colonial Virginia: A Conflict of Cultures (Nebraska, 1997).