I very much enjoyed discussing the implications of utilizing Greek terms to describe cultures viewed as 'primitive.' There is a disclaimer paragraph on page 79 that I kept thinking about, though: "It is with no thought of equating the civilization of Greece with that of aboriginal America that I use, in describing the cultural configurations of the latter, terms borrowed from the culture of Greece... not because all the attitudes that are found in Greece are found also in aboriginal America." She says there are 'refinements' in each culture that do not exist in the other. I think her use of the word 'refinements' is important to the point made in class, since we typically think of refined cultures as elegant and advanced. Benedict says on the next page that "Apollonian institutions have been carried much further in the pueblos than in Greece. Greece was by no means as single-minded." When I first read this, my gut instinct was to take it as a kind of condescension. I guess I should maybe re-consider that?
I very much enjoyed discussing the implications of utilizing Greek terms to describe cultures viewed as 'primitive.' There is a disclaimer paragraph on page 79 that I kept thinking about, though: "It is with no thought of equating the civilization of Greece with that of aboriginal America that I use, in describing the cultural configurations of the latter, terms borrowed from the culture of Greece... not because all the attitudes that are found in Greece are found also in aboriginal America." She says there are 'refinements' in each culture that do not exist in the other. I think her use of the word 'refinements' is important to the point made in class, since we typically think of refined cultures as elegant and advanced.
Benedict says on the next page that "Apollonian institutions have been carried much further in the pueblos than in Greece. Greece was by no means as single-minded." When I first read this, my gut instinct was to take it as a kind of condescension. I guess I should maybe re-consider that?