Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The chapters in this book address questions about Edward Burnett Tylor's work on culture and religion. Tylor's work is summarized briefly in most if not all introductions to the study of religion, yet there has been very little research focused on his work. Considered by many to be the founding father of social anthropology, he believed that there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he considered to be universal.
This is the first book-length treatment of Tylor's work. Questions addressed include his theory of the origins of religion, the influence of his travels in Mexico and his importance for the anthropology of religion and related disciplines. Contemporary debates on animism, interpretative archaeology, historiography, as well as cognitive and evolutionary anthropology, are explored in this collection of research-led essays. The essays shed new light on the significance of Tylor for the arts and sciences of the late 19th century, as well as his relevance for contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship.
Synopsis
Through revisiting and challenging what we think we know about the work of Edward Burnett Tylor, a founding figure of anthropology, this volume explores new connections and insights that link Tylor and his work to present concerns in new and important ways.
At the publication of Primitive Culture in 1871, Tylor was at the centre of anthropological research on religion and culture, but today Tylor's position in the anthropological canon is rarely acknowledged. Edward Burnett Tylor, Religion and Culture does not claim to present a definitive, new Tylor. The old Tylor - the founder of British anthropology; the definer of religion; the intellectualist; the evolutionist; the liberal; the utilitarian; the avatar of white, Protestant rationalism; the Tylor of the canon - remains. Part I explore debates and contexts of Tylor's lifetime, while the chapters in Part II explore a series of new Tylors, including Tylor the ethnographer and Tylor the Spiritualist, re-writing the legacy of the founder of anthropology in the process.
Edward Burnett Tylor, Religion and Culture is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of religion and the anthropology of religion.