Redfield 1-24

Initially, my reaction to Redfield was a lack of interest and boredom.  This section is pretty dry.  He has no interesting way of inviting the reader into his paper, and while the concepts he talks about are not very difficult to grasp, they are boring to read, because he doesn’t seem to make an effort to make any topic relatable.  This is almost text-book like, only there are no transitions and the author jumps from topic to topic.  Under closer observation, my disdain persists.  The author does a nice job in giving a mini history of the development of anthropology, but even as he spoke of “modern” studies of culture, he only used secondary sources.  Everything seemed very cut and paste, and there were very few of his own conclusions made.  And he keeps their explanations dry as a bone.  I would have liked to see a little more personality in this publication, or at least I would like it to be an easier read.  I know that this is an educational, scholarly text, and publication is roughly 60 years old, so I guess I understand the way it was written.  I just don’t like it too much.  The field of anthropology has only grown since this was written. I hope to read more of more modern ideas and viewpoints of anthropology soon.