Clifford Geertz
American anthropologist who developed interpretive anthropology, arguing that culture should be read as a text rather than analyzed as a science. The Interpretation of Cultures introduced the concept of thick description. His essay on the Balinese cockfight is a classic of ethnographic writing.
Works
- The Interpretation of CulturesEssays on thick description method revealing how symbols create cultural meaning
- Local KnowledgeHow local knowledge and context shape meaning-making in diverse anthropological sites
- Works and LivesEssay on anthropological writing as interpretive, authorial practice shaped by perspective
- After the FactEssays on anthropological interpretation and meaning-making after fieldwork
- Available LightCollected essays on cultural interpretation and anthropological understanding
- NegaraThe Balinese state as theatrical performance and symbolic political authority
- The Religion of JavaReligious syncretism and moral philosophy in Javanese Islamic society