essay

Of definitions and boundaries

Discourse and the social life of meaningWashington, D.c.Published In 1986 • Pages: 75-93

By: Herzfeld, Michael.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a discussion of how the nation state appropriates the discourse of ethnicity and kinship, and fixes their terms in a process of naturalization and reification. The state creates a rigid identity and morality that lacks the indeterminate, variable, and shifting quality of the original discourse. Problems arise when a nation state defines itself in both racial and territorial terms, e.g., having to protect the rights of Turkish immigrants and deal with Cretan lawbreakers who claim to be truest of all Greeks.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Cultural participation
Cultural identity and pride
Semantics
Tribe and nation
Citizenship
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Greeks
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Europe
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeastern Europe
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2002
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1973-1981
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1728-1984
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Greece
NotesAdditional notes
Michael Herzfeld
Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-93)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
86042577
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Greece