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Structuralism as a Conceptual Framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Abraham Rosman
Abraham Rosman*
Affiliation:
Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City, New York
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Extract

I had imagined that the central issue of this symposium would be the contrast between nomothetic, or generalizing, research and idiographic, or particularistic, research in Africa. To what extent are the conclusions of research carried out in Africa limited to a geographic or cultural area: to sub-Saharan Africa, to the Bantu, to the Southeastern Bantu? To what extent are the conclusions generalizable to a certain type of society, no matter where it is found? Such a contrast of approaches would have raised the issues of the culturally distinctive qualities of African cultures and of the unique historical influences upon them. This emphasis is clearly evident in the writing of many anthropologists who have worked in Africa, particularly those with humanistic interests. It stands in contrast to another strategy of research which seeks, not the unique qualities of African cultures, but the general principles, exemplified by African societies as well as by all other societies.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , April 1970 , pp. 69 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1970

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References

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