Overview
The history of anthropology has been written from multiple viewpoints, often from perspectives of gender, nationality, theory, or politics. Before Boas delves deeper into issues concerning anthropology's academic origins to present a groundbreaking study that reveals how ethnography and ethnology originated during the eighteenth rather than the nineteenth century, developing parallel to anthropology, or the ""natural history of man."" Han F. Vermeulen explores primary and secondary sources from Russia, Germany, Austria, the United States, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, and Great Britain in tracing how ""ethnography"" originated as field research by German-speaking historians and naturalists in Siberia (Russia) during the 1730s and 1740s, was generalized as ""ethnology"" by scholars in Goettingen (Germany) and Vienna (Austria) during the 1770s and 1780s, and was subsequently adopted by researchers in other countries. Before Boas argues that anthropology and ethnology were separate sciences during the Age of Reason, studying racial and ethnic diversity, respectively. Ethnography and ethnology focused not on ""other"" cultures but on all peoples of all eras. Following G. W. Leibniz, researchers in these fields categorized peoples primarily according to their languages. Franz Boas professionalized the holistic study of anthropology from the 1880s into the twentieth century.
Full Product Details
Author: Han F. Vermeulen
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Imprint: University of Nebraska Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 4.60cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 1.243kg
ISBN: 9780803255425
ISBN 10: 080325542
Pages: 746
Publication Date: 01 July 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
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Reviews
This important book introduces the scholarship that underlies the development of modern ethnography and ethnology, especially that of Franz Boas. With exhaustive research Han Vermeulen demonstrates the significance of the German Enlightenment, the ethnolinguistics of Leibniz, and the ethnography of those inspired by Leibniz who undertook scientific descriptions of the peoples of Siberia. --Herbert S. Lewis, author of In Defense of Anthropology: An Investigation of the Critique of Anthropology --Herbert S. Lewis (09/18/2014)
This important book introduces the scholarship that underlies the development of modern ethnography and ethnology, especially that of Franz Boas. With exhaustive research Han Vermeulen demonstrates the significance of the German Enlightenment, the ethnolinguistics of Leibniz, and the ethnography of those inspired by Leibniz who undertook scientific descriptions of the peoples of Siberia. -Herbert S. Lewis, author of In Defense of Anthropology: An Investigation of the Critique of Anthropology -- Herbert S. Lewis
This important book introduces the scholarship that underlies the development of modern ethnography and ethnology, especially that of Franz Boas. With exhaustive research Han Vermeulen demonstrates the significance of the German Enlightenment, the ethnolinguistics of Leibniz, and the ethnography of those inspired by Leibniz who undertook scientific descriptions of the peoples of Siberia. -Herbert S. Lewis, author of In Defense of Anthropology: An Investigation of the Critique of Anthropology -- Herbert S. Lewis This highly original and valuable work would be an excellent foundation text for any course on the history of anthropology. -David Shankland, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute -- David Shankland * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute * The interdisciplinary reach of Before Boas makes it useful to historians, anthropologists and scholars of the Enlightenment. -Nikita Vanderbyl, Journal of Pacific History -- Nikita Vanderbyl * Journal of Pacific History * A profoundly useful book. -Rachel D. Koroloff, Ab Imperio -- Rachel D. Koroloff * Ab Imperio * This rich book will be useful to researchers concerned with ethnography, anthropology, folklore, the history of science, and postcolonial and whiteness studies. By showing how the world's peoples were placed on the scholarly agenda, Before Boas will put scholars in all of these fields on firmer footing. -Stephanie Leitch, ISIS -- Stephanie Leitch * ISIS * Before Boas will grow in importance with the elapsing of time. Certainly, it will become soon a landmark (if it has not become yet) and will definitively consecrate Han F. Vermeulen as a prominent specialist in this fascinating academic field. - Gheorghita Geana, Anuac -- Gheorghita Geana * Anuac * This is a unique and detailed study of the eighteenth century origins of ethnology or ethnography that offers a new insight in reexamining the scope and subject matter of these disciplines in their earlier stages. -Madhuvanti Karyekar, Museum Anthropology Review -- Madhuvanti Karyekar * Museum Anthropology Review * Deserving to be called a sensation. -Horst Bredekamp, Suddeutsche Zeitung -- Horst Bredekamp * Suddeutsche Zeitung * Before Boas represents a major contribution to the history of anthropology that must be taken into serious consideration by every scholar in our field. -Sergei Kan, Ethnohistory -- Sergei Kan * Ethnohistory * This important book rewrites the early history of anthropology in new and surprising ways. -James Urry, Australian Journal of Anthropology -- James Urry * Australian Journal of Anthropology * Vermeulen's monograph on the genesis of ethnography and ethnology will sit as a large and imposing bookend on any history of anthropology shelf for many years to come. -Huon Wardle, American Anthropologist -- Huon Wardle * American Anthropologist * A short review cannot do justice to the sophistication of the author's comprehensive and remarkable research, which departs from histories that view the origins of anthropology in classical Greece or Renaissance exploration. -Riva Berleant-Schiller, CHOICE -- Riva Berleant-Schiller * CHOICE *
A short review cannot do justice to the sophistication of the author's comprehensive and remarkable research, which departs from histories that view the origins of anthropology in classical Greece or Renaissance exploration. -CHOICE CHOICE Vermeulen's monograph on the genesis of ethnography and ethnology will sit as a large and imposing bookend on any history of anthropology shelf for many years to come. -Huon Wardle, American Anthropologist -- Huon Wardle American Anthropologist This important book rewrites the early history of anthropology in new and surprising ways. -James Urry, Australian Journal of Anthropology -- James Urry Australian Journal of Anthropology Before Boas represents a major contribution to the history of anthropology that must be taken into serious consideration by every scholar in our field. -Ethnohistory Ethnohistory Deserving to be called a sensation. -Horst Bredekamp, Suddeutsche Zeitung -- Horst Bredekamp Suddeutsche Zeitung This is a unique and detailed study of the eighteenth century origins of ethnology or ethnography that offers a new insight in reexamining the scope and subject matter of these disciplines in their earlier stages. -Madhuvanti Karyekar, Museum Anthropology Review -- Madhuvanti Karyekar Museum Anthropology Review Before Boas will grow in importance with the elapsing of time. Certainly, it will become soon a landmark (if it has not become yet) and will definitively consecrate Han F. Vermeulen as a prominent specialist in this fascinating academic field. -Anuac Anuac This rich book will be useful to researchers concerned with ethnography, anthropology, folklore, the history of science, and postcolonial and whiteness studies. By showing how the world's peoples were placed on the scholarly agenda, Before Boas will put scholars in all of these fields on firmer footing. -Stephanie Leitch, ISIS -- Stephanie Leitch ISIS This important book introduces the scholarship that underlies the development of modern ethnography and ethnology, especially that of Franz Boas. With exhaustive research Han Vermeulen demonstrates the significance of the German Enlightenment, the ethnolinguistics of Leibniz, and the ethnography of those inspired by Leibniz who undertook scientific descriptions of the peoples of Siberia. -Herbert S. Lewis, author of In Defense of Anthropology: An Investigation of the Critique of Anthropology -- Herbert S. Lewis
A short review cannot do justice to the sophistication of the author's comprehensive and remarkable research, which departs from histories that view the origins of anthropology in classical Greece or Renaissance exploration. -CHOICE CHOICE This important book rewrites the early history of anthropology in new and surprising ways. -James Urry, Australian Journal of Anthropology -- James Urry Australian Journal of Anthropology Before Boas represents a major contribution to the history of anthropology that must be taken into serious consideration by every scholar in our field. -Ethnohistory Ethnohistory This important book introduces the scholarship that underlies the development of modern ethnography and ethnology, especially that of Franz Boas. With exhaustive research Han Vermeulen demonstrates the significance of the German Enlightenment, the ethnolinguistics of Leibniz, and the ethnography of those inspired by Leibniz who undertook scientific descriptions of the peoples of Siberia. -Herbert S. Lewis, author of In Defense of Anthropology: An Investigation of the Critique of Anthropology -- Herbert S. Lewis
Author Information
Han F. Vermeulen is an alumnus of Leiden University, the Netherlands, and a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale), Germany.
