The Anthropological Circle

The Anthropological Circle: Symbol, Function, History.

This work is not situated in the same conceptual space as the several excellent histories of anthropology  currently available in France. In that they testify to the uncertainties and questionings of a discipline whose first problem is that of defining itself, these histories comprise the field of analysis and reflection of this work. It is something of a paradox that a discipline that has a fair number of researchers still hesitates over which name to choose (anthropology or ethnology) and over the nature of its boundaries (most obviously, those that separate history from sociology). In so far as this is something more than a verbal quibble or confrontation within the universities, and given the empire-building activities that take place there, this hesitation is all the more serious, and bears quite centrally on the meaning and object of our research. What have we sought (if not found)? What are we looking for?