What is ethnography is taught in the course of specialized university training in the preparation of ethnographers. However, the topic is interesting, and the word itself is familiar to many - ethnographic museums are open in various cities of our country (and not only).

General view

Ethnography is a science that studies a variety of objects of folk art. These are household items, as well as jewelry and clothing used by different nationalities. Attention was paid to utensils and tools used in the work. Ethnographers collect legends, epics, songs and legends from different areas. They are engaged in catchphrases, systematize and preserve for posterity information about the practiced rites, customs adopted in a particular area. Objects of study of science common word can be described as monuments of folk art. The preservation of information about them expands and enriches the cultural stock of both the country and our world as a whole.

At present, considering what ethnography is, they necessarily emphasize the independence of this discipline. Within the framework of the scientific sphere, the number of nationalities, nationalities on the planet and their distinctive features, resettlement. Ethnographers study where peoples come from, what languages ​​they use for communication, what houses they traditionally live in, and what peculiar cultural features they have. The objects of study of ethnography are diverse, their spread is large both in qualitative terms and geographically. Ethnographic maps compiled by scientists are a real treasure trove of interesting data that allows you to get an idea about the life, life, and history of various nationalities.

Subject of research

Ethnography is a science that studies all aspects of everyday and cultural life. different peoples. The data collected by researchers is important not only for replenishing the collections of ethnographic museums: they provide a large amount of information for historians, allowing them to restore past eras. Numerous unique samples are preserved not only in specialized museums, but also dedicated to several research areas at the same time.

Especially valuable are the collections of ornaments preserved by ethnographers all over the world. Currently, such materials are assessed as irreplaceable information that allows you to restore the life of the past centuries. Ornament - a word that came to us from the Latin language, originally implies decoration. Today, the term is commonly understood as combinations of shadows, shades, lines, figures, evenly alternating and decorating various objects. Ethnography is a science that collects ornaments from all over the world, collects data on the dominant motifs used, as well as on the rules for choosing certain options. Ornaments decorate clothes, houses, products. It is known that every nationality has a unique ornament that reflects cultural layers. If you know all the features of a particular piece of jewelry, you can understand where the object under study came from, who was its author. This makes it possible to study the movement of both objects and people in past centuries.

The peoples of our planet

Ethnography is a science that has set itself the goal of collecting information about all the peoples that existed before and live on Earth at the present time. It is thanks to ethnographers that the world community knows that to this day some communities use products similar to the most ancient ones. Asian, African, Latin American tribes, say, still hunt using arrows and bows. It was ethnographers who found, recorded this information, compared modern bows with samples of the former ones. Based on the information received, we can talk about different levels, statuses, areas of progress, and identify the factors influencing it.

Archeology, ethnography and anthropology are closely related. Modern scientists, exploring information about the past and present of different peoples, sometimes get absolutely amazing information. Of course, the most interesting for the scientific community are such peoples who still use traditional household items and rituals in our time. It is known that there are tribes where life has not changed much over the past centuries. Paying attention to the traditions of such areas, the tools used, one can imagine how people lived centuries and even millennia ago.

We are unique!

Considering what ethnography is, one should not try to equate all the objects on which science focuses with the same brush. On the contrary, the idea of ​​this discipline is to recognize the uniqueness, the presence of unique features in all nationalities that have formed on our planet. When identifying such, a variety of aspects are analyzed - how people build houses, what they believe in, how they dress and cook food.

As part of the study of ethnography, traditionally, special attention is paid to national clothes. Scientists involved in science collect the most voluminous and reliable information to understand how and what was worn in different areas and in different eras. By visiting a specialized museum, the layman can get acquainted with the outfits, find out which social strata had access to them, how everything was used correctly. This applies not only to the costumes of men and women, but also to hats and shoes.

Why is this needed?

Representing what ethnography is and what it does, the artist, who is faced with the task of creating a picture that reflects past times, knows where to turn to get a reliable idea of ​​the realities of the reflected era. This is also important when writing books, creating films, TV shows and cartoons, video games.

The reverse is also true: knowing the peculiarities of the customs associated with the outfits characteristic of different periods and localities, one can understand where and at what time a work of art was created - a book, a picture. In the history of ethnography there are many examples of how information collected in extensive databases helped to identify various valuable works of art. Knowing how life was organized in a particular era and in a particular locality, one can rightly conclude what kind of relationship these people had with their neighbors: the closer they are, the stronger the mutual penetration.

Tales and epics

Language and ethnography are very closely related, in particular, in the aspect of oral folk art. Specialists, collecting information about such elements of culture, pay special attention to legends. In particular, our country has preserved great amount epics created in ancient times. Such stories have a historical connotation, although they are “flavored” with the ingenuity of the storytellers, who passed from mouth to mouth at first just a story about what happened, which then acquired more and more details, turning into a legend about heroic deeds. Our ancestors saw various glorious events, the memory of which has been preserved in the language. By the way, these are not only full-fledged legends, but also separate catchphrases, expressions and even separate words. We use them in speech without even thinking about the historical past, but an ethnographer can say for sure what the subtext of a certain word, phrase is.

Features of legends - the transmission of information in oral form between generations. This is one of the problems of ethnography. Any object, being unfixed on paper, can be lost if the last person who remembers it dies without transferring his knowledge to anyone. In addition, accuracy suffers greatly due to retelling, and after several centuries the protagonist history would not even admit that the legend is about him, the transformations are so significant. And yet, modern historians and ethnographers can, after carefully analyzing the stories, understand where the fiction is, where the truth is, thereby as accurately as possible restore the events that happened many years, centuries ago.

Mythology

Analyzing what ethnography is and what it studies, it is imperative to pay attention to myths. The collection of this information, fixation on paper, systematization of the collected stories allows ethnographers to get a complete picture of the most diverse ideas about the structure of the world, characteristic of a particular area. It is customary to call myths such legends that tell about divine deeds, natural phenomena, the explanation of which in ancient times people did not yet know.

Trying to understand why everything happened the way they saw it, the tribes invented their own unique explanations. This is how assumptions about the appearance of celestial bodies, man and other forms of life, fire and crafts were born. Mythical heroes have supernatural power, and divine beings are often similar to humans. A myth is a fiction that contains a grain of truth. Over time, the word acquired a second meaning - fiction, a story that cannot be trusted. On the basis of myths, ethnographers can restore the unique features of the formation of culture, the idea of ​​the universe in the area under study.

Believe it or not?

As can be seen from a brief definition of what ethnography is, this science is usually understood as a reliable area, that is, the information provided to historians by ethnographers must be clear and verified. Another may doubt: since folk myths are used as a base, is it possible to get any reliable information?

Ethnographers answer this with confidence: it is possible. Despite the abundance of inventions, a lot can be obtained from the legends of individual nationalities. useful information, because such stories contain references to the tools used, the practiced crafts and crops grown by the peasants, as well as other everyday aspects. Social ethnography receives from myths and legends a considerable amount of information related to the interaction of social groups in former times. One can rightly conclude what the problems were, what difficulties were observed, how significant the division into classes was, and on what grounds it was made.

Culture and ethnography

For a long time, legends that told about heroic deeds have been a topic for stories. They were passed down between generations, were loved by the people, served as many sources of inspiration. Poets and sculptors, artists and architects have often resorted to folk tales, drawing from them motives for their work. Ethnography collects various works created in this way. Even the simplest vases made by artisans, decorated with motifs from myth, become modern man an important, valuable item, although for contemporaries the author could be an ordinary manufacturer.

The artists are here social group, which is traditionally distinguished by its interest in mythology. Numerous paintings dedicated to mythology have been created and are being created. Only those familiar with the motives can understand the depicted and fully appreciate the author's intention. What was passed down from mouth to mouth does not leave without a trace: the legacy of the past changes the art of today, inspiring and giving new experience to contemporaries. We can see reflections of myths in books and films, in art and music.

Russian Geographical Society: Russian Geographical Society

This community from the very moment of its creation has been engaged not only in geography, but also in ethnological research. The thematic branch was formed in 1845, becoming one of the first four of this largest and very important both in previous years and today. scientific organization. The task of the ethnographic department from the very beginning was announced as the knowledge of the tribes that live on the territory of Russia, from various angles. It was equally supposed to pay attention to the current state of affairs, and the restoration of the past of the peoples.

The first scientific hearing took place already in 1846. K. Baer and N. Nadezhdin spoke. The first considered the subject of ethnographic studies, the second focused on the Russian people. At the same time, the first expedition was formed from the Russian Geographical Society under the leadership of A. Shegren, who went to the Baltic region in order to study krevings, livs. In 1847, an expedition was sent to the Urals for the first time under the leadership of E. Hoffmann. Its participants collected information about Komi, Khanty, Nenets.

Step by step

The Russian Geographical Society created a program for collecting information related to ethnography. Already in the nineteenth century, it was distributed throughout the state. In our time, one can observe numerous manuscripts stored in the archives of the community and dedicated to the ethnography of different localities. The texts became important materials for specialists in folklore and linguistics. For example, Dahl actively resorted to the materials received, forming his own unique dictionary in 1862. No less valuable was the information for A. Afanasiev, who published a collection of folk tales in 1855-1864.

Ethnographic maps in Russia were first compiled with the participation of Koeppen, Rittich. The first dealt with the European regions, the second - with the central ones. Additionally, the Russian Geographical Society took over the publication of several journals and collections dedicated to ethnography. Some time later, it was created unique award, and the first to be awarded was the researcher of Mari beliefs, the language of the Chuvash N. Zolotnitsky.

1. Ethnography as a science. Subject, object, research tasks

The word "ethnography" comes from "ethnos" - tribe, people and "count" - description.

Ethnography is a science that studies the everyday and cultural characteristics of the peoples of the world, the problems of origin, settlement, cultural and historical relationship. Ethnography is connected with other sciences, both humanities and natural sciences.

Research objects:

Peoples, ethnic groups;

Historical and cultural societies in the past and present.

In ethnography subject of study is a comprehensive study of the ethno-social and ethno-cultural development of the peoples of the world in the past and present.

In ethnography, there are various areas of research:

Paleoethnography - reconstruction of cultural and everyday features based on archaeological materials;

Ethnogenesis - the study of the process of formation of peoples;

Ethnic history, demography;

Cartography - a technique for fixing ethnic and ethnographic processes in maps;

Ethnic ecology - the study of the processes of interaction of an ethnic group with the natural environment;

Ethnosociology; ethnopsychology; physical anthropology...

2. Methods and sources of research in ethnology

Source classification:

1. By types:

Real - any real-life items (clothing, food, utensils);

Written - any materials recorded in writing (studies and descriptions of scientists, notes of travelers, folklore and artistic texts ...);

Visual (paintings, photographs, rock art);

Oral or memorata (stories about life).

2. By type:

folklore;

Statistical;

Office materials;

Ethnographic descriptions;

Research materials of other sciences (archaeological, ethnolinguistic…).

3. By methods:

Method- a method of obtaining material and its subsequent processing.

The main method is field expeditionary research.

Material collection method:

Questioning, interviewing;

Direct observation;

Audio recording and video recording;

Selection and analysis of statistical and archival sources.

Processing methods:

Description;

Historical and comparative;

Historical and genetic;

Historical and typological;

Structural-typological;

Structural-functional;

Semiotic;

Systems approach;

Mathematical and statistical;

Sociological (questioning);

Mapping.

3. Development of ethnography as a science

1. The beginnings of ethnographic knowledge are already formed in the ancient period (9th century BC - 2nd century AD). Scientists: Herodotus (5th century BC), Aristotle (4th century BC) - introduced the term "ethnos".

2. 13-ser. 15th century - the revival of interest in the culture of other peoples due to the invasion of the Mongol tribes.

Plano Carpeni: travel to Central and Central Asia to conclude diplomatic treaties. Marco Polo: travels to Central, East and South Asia.

1. ser. 15 - ser. 17th century - The era of great geographical discoveries.

Swimming of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, colonial campaigns of England, Holland and other countries; information about the Moscow state appears; the knowledge of Europeans about the surrounding peoples is expanding.

4. late 17th-18th centuries - Age of Enlightenment.

At this time, many expeditions were organized; there is information about the Indians, the peoples of Australia and Oceania, the peoples of Siberia and the Far East, there is an interest in the culture of the European peasantry. The historical-comparative method of research (comparison of peoples) begins to be applied, and a scheme for the world-historical development of the peoples of the world begins to be developed, where backward peoples are the first steps.

5. 1 floor 19th century - the rapid growth of interest in the culture of the European peasantry, the growth of patriotism and romanticism. The mythological school is born.

The first scientific direction in ethnography - evolutionary school(mid 19th century).

Research was carried out in England, Italy, USA ...

Representatives: James Fraser, Adolf Bastian, Heinrich Morgan.

The object of study of evolutionists:

person or society;

Study of family and marriage relations;

The study of primitive beliefs and their evolution;

Periodization of primitive society;

The study of the evolutionary economy ...

Key Ideas:

the unity of the human race;

unilinearity of development from simple to complex;

the source of evolution is the constant action of various forces (the principles of natural selection, class struggle, the clash of contradictions, the accumulation of knowledge ...).

In parallel with the evolution school began to develop diffusionist school.

Germany became the center.

Representatives: Friedrich Ratzel, Leo Frobenius, Fritz Gröbner.

Object of study: culture as a result of the interaction of peoples.

Methods: mapping, cultural circles, field research.

Early 20th century - Freudianism or "psychoanalytic theory".

Representatives: Sigmund Freud, Carl Gusto Jung, Roheim.

Methods: psychoanalysis for the study of certain phenomena in human culture: totemism (belief in the supernatural relationship of a person with a plant, animal), taboo (a system of human prohibitions), exogamy (prohibition of marriages within a related group), endogamy (marriage within a related group).

- "Sociological School"(late 19th - early 20th century).

France was the center.

Object of study: society. Questions of the origin of religion were studied, collective ideas were studied, and features of primitive thinking were revealed.

Representatives: Emile Durkheim (founder), Marcel Mauss, Levi Bruhl.

- "Structural Functionalism"(early 20th century) England became the center. Representatives: Bronislav Malinovsky, Radcliffe-Brown, Levi-Strauss.

B. Malinovsky developed the theory of needs, the method of participant observation in the field, the comparative sociological method, the creation of social institutions. Radcliffe-Brown created a direction - social anthropology. He developed a comparatively sociological method and studied the network of social relations. Levi-Strauss is the founder of the direction of structuralism. He examined and studied the materials of mythology and folklore.

American School of Historical Ethnology "Boas School"(late 19th-early 20th centuries). Founder - Franz Boas. Within the framework of this school, the dynamics of culture, the relationship between man and culture, was studied.

Later, the American ethnopsychological school began to develop, and from the middle. 20th century – American Cultural Evolutionary School, neo-functionalism.

19th century - the formation of evolution in Russia as a science. In the middle of the 19th century, professional cadres appeared, and academies of sciences were established.

1845 - the Imperial Russian Geographical Society was created, in which there were departments of geography, statistics and ethnography). Among the theoretical developments, the concept of economic and cultural types should be noted (Levin, Cheboksarov).

4. Ethnos. Main ethnic processes

Ethnos- historically established certain territory a stable collection of people with a common culture, language and psyche, as well as self-consciousness and self-name.

Main features:

Self-consciousness (attributing oneself to a certain people);

Self-name.

The main cultural symbol is language.

Types of ethnos (based on the quality and nature of historical ties):

1. Tribe based on imaginary or real blood relations. In the process of historical development, the tribes were united to strengthen the economic, cultural, ideological and territorial ties.

2. Nationality based on territorial ties. Subsequently, with the strengthening of cultural and economic ties, the fragmentation characteristic of the nationality is eliminated .

3. nations formed within the same state. It is characterized by a common economy, territory, language, cultural symbols and ideology.

A certain hierarchy or structure of ethnic formations is singled out.

Superethnos (Slavs)

Ethnos (Russians)

Subethnos (Pomors)

sub-ethnos are local groups.

Ethnofor- the carrier of ethnic properties.

5. Ethnogenesis. ethnic history. ethnic processes

Ethnogenesis- the process of forming an ethnos. Ethnogenesis includes both the initial stages of the emergence of any people, and the further formation of its ethnographic, linguistic and anthropological features.

There are three main components in ethnogenesis:

1. anthropogenesis (racial genesis) - the formation of racial characteristics;

2. glotogenesis - the formation of linguistic features;

3. cultural genesis - the formation of cultural characteristics.

ethnic processes- any changes in one or another component of the ethnos. If ethnic processes do not change the ethnos as a system as a whole, then they are called ethnoevolutionary, and if they change self-consciousness, then they are called ethno-transformational. They are divided into ethnic associations and divisions.

6. Races. Racial classification of the peoples of the world

Racial classification is based on physical differences between people that have historically developed in different natural and climatic conditions.

Race- a historically formed real group of people connected by a unity of origin, which is expressed in a complex of hereditary, morphological and physiological characteristics.

Morphological features include the shape and structure of the hair, the degree of development of the tertiary hairline, pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes, the structure of the skull and the dental system. Physiological characteristics include: structure internal organs, blood type, etc. Large, small, mixed and transitional races are distinguished, and anthropological types are distinguished within the race: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid.

gr. - people, describe) - the science of the peoples of the world - ethnic groups, their characteristic ethnic features. This science describes the ethnic composition of the population of territories, the origin of peoples and nationalities, the history of social forms of life; studies state of the art, traditions, customs, cultural values, state of the art. Ethnography gives a general picture of mankind, the history of its progress. It stood out from geography in the middle of the 19th century. And to this day it has different names: "ethnology", "ethnology", "cultural anthropology". Ethnography also studies the Slavs and the Russian people, considers their place and role in the development of world culture and civilization.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Ethnography

gr. ethnos - people + gr. grapho - I write) - an integral part of anthropology, describing the composition, origin, resettlement, features of the material and spiritual culture of tribes, peoples and societies. Ethnographic descriptions are a source of information for ethnological research. The term ethnography has traditionally been used since the 19th century primarily in "the study of small, non-literate and pre-industrial societies, called primitive in contrast to the civilized world." Major ethnographers late XIX-beginning XX century - L.G. Morgan, F. Boas, B. Malinovsky - in field studies they paid the main attention to material culture, practical activities, language, political life, kinship system, rituals, cosmology, mythology, symbolism, description of medical practice, rituals, beliefs, folklore of the studied peoples; made reports of conversations with indigenous representatives, wrote down dictated texts. In Russia, the main object of study of ethnography "is the culture of the peoples, but described, classified and analyzed mainly from the point of view of revealing its ethnic specificity", "ethnographic studies are mainly focused on the sphere of everyday (everyday, traditional) culture, primarily of the rural population. For a long time Ethnography in Russia developed as a branch of geographical knowledge, and currently belongs to the group of historical sciences. The first Russian ethnographers - V.N. Tatishchev, S.P. Krasheninnikov, N.N. Miklukho-Maclay, A.N. Pypin. Ethnographers of the Soviet period - N.Ya. Marr (linguist), L.N. Gumilyov (studied the genesis of ethnic groups, i.e. the emergence and development of nationalities, was repressed under Stalin), etc.; our contemporaries: Yu.V. Bromley (studied the social nature of ethnic groups), S.A. Tokarev (ethnologist, specialist in religious studies, studies rituals), V.P. Alekseev (scientific interests - racial studies, primitive society), S. A. Arutyunov and Yu. P. Averkieva (linguists, ethnosemiotics), etc.

Historical ethnology Lurie Svetlana Vladimirovna

What does ethnology study?

What does ethnology study?

How can one formulate the main problem of modern ethnology? It is very easy to do this, without resorting to any special vocabulary, but in ordinary everyday language. “In a decade, a Papuan can completely move away from the traditional idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cosmos adopted in his tribe, while going through several stages. Thus, a missionary can convince him that the Bible is the source of a white man’s power ... Five years later, a Papuan already votes for a candidate for deputy of the chamber representatives, becomes a co-owner of a truck and learns about the landing of a man on the moon, which he perceived as a totem deity ten years ago. how can a person cope with such chaotic shifts in the field of consciousness and not go crazy at the same time?

This, in essence, is the question that the science of ethnology must answer. The answer to it will be found - there will be answers to many other unclear questions today. It concentrates many primary problems of modern ethnology:

How a person perceives the world around him

What are the meanings of the objects of the surrounding world in his view,

How do these values ​​change?

How do cross-cultural interactions affect these shifts?

What is the ethnic picture of the world,

What are the mechanisms of its change,

How the bearer of a particular culture adapts to the changes taking place in the world,

How does the society in which he lives adapt to them,

What are the limits of flexibility and mobility of ethnic tradition,

What remains unchanged in the minds of the members of the ethnos in any circumstances, what is discarded, what is modified and how,

What is the relationship and interdependence of intracultural paradigms, what are their possible trajectories of movement, the limits of fluctuation,

Are there immovable sections in ethnic culture that hold the entire structure, protecting it from disintegration during periods of turbulent social processes, etc.?

All these questions have entered the field of view of ethnology in recent decades. The problematic field of ethnology is growing like a snowball. The definitions of science do not have time to take into account all the new and new problems that fall into the field of view of ethnologists. Thus, one of the newest dictionaries of cultural anthropology concepts defines ethnology as follows: “It is a comparative discipline; its goal is to describe the cultural (and initially, physical) differences between peoples and to explain these differences by reconstructing the history of their development, migrations and interactions. The term "ethnology" comes from Greek word ethnos, people bound by common customs, nation.” This definition is too vague. Moreover, it can hardly be called exhaustive. The thing is that - ethnology studies all the problems associated with the life of an ethnic group. The question is, how, from what point of view, does she study them?

This is the question we must now answer.

To begin with, we will give a list of subject areas that more or less traditionally belong to the field of ethnology or have been assigned to it by some authoritative scientific schools in last years. (When listing the objects of ethnology, we will move from the more traditional and long-established to the less traditional, new ones.)

So, it is believed that ethnology studies:

material culture of peoples;

Rituals, customs, beliefs of various peoples;

Kinship systems among various peoples; kinship clan systems;

The social and political structure of peoples ( family relationships, power relations);

Behavioral systems inherent in different nations;

Education systems inherent in different peoples;

Relationships and interdependencies of various components of the culture of one people;

Comparison of a complex of cultural features of various peoples;

The dynamics of the cultural traits of a particular people (cultural changes);

Psychological features of various peoples.

Life support systems of various peoples; their adaptation to the natural environment;

Comparison of value systems of ethnic groups;

Comparison of pictures of the world of different peoples;

Comparison of systems of meaning and models of perception of different peoples;

Features of intercultural contacts;

Ethnogenesis;

Causes of the emergence and collapse of ethnic groups;

The resettlement of peoples;

Demographic processes taking place in ethnic groups;

Economic behavior of members of a particular ethnic group;

Ethnolinguistics;

Ethnosemiotics;

Formation and development of traditions;

Problems of ethnicity and ethnic groups.

The list can be continued and expanded. But it is already large enough to make sure that the problem field of ethnology is very wide. The first thing that catches your eye is that many of the listed subject areas are also studied by other sciences, the subject fields seem to intersect. This is especially true for the following disciplines: ethnography, political science, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology.

Consider each of the listed intersections of subject fields, starting from the end.

Ethnology and anthropology. Virtually no established line between the terms "ethnology" and "anthropology" in modern science no. They are used interchangeably both when it comes to the humanitarian branches of anthropology - cultural, social, psychological, structural, symbolist, etc. (those that will become the subject of our consideration within the framework of historical ethnology), and when the question concerns physical anthropology. But after all, the term ethnology is often used in connection with a comparison of the physiological characteristics of certain peoples. The same scientists working in different areas of anthropology are sometimes called anthropologists, sometimes ethnologists. Whatever definitions are given in the dictionaries of ethnology and anthropology, no matter how the boundaries between them are drawn by different authors, the established practice today ignores all these differences. In any research on the development of anthropology, any of the representatives of any anthropological school, at the behest of the author, can be called an ethnologist. On the other hand, research on the history and theoretical problems of ethnology considers the history of anthropology as its own topic.

Nevertheless, the synonymy of the terms ethnology and anthropology can be disputed in at least one sense. Ethnology is wider than anthropology in its subject field. The problems of ethnogenesis, the problems of ethnicity and ethnic groups, the settlement of peoples, demographic processes have never come into the field of vision of anthropology, and researchers who study these problems are usually not called anthropologists. And if so, then anthropology can be conditionally considered as part of ethnology.

Let us give a brief background on the history of the correlation of these concepts. Initially, in the first half of the 19th century, “ethnology included physical anthropology in its subject area. This was reflected, in particular, in the charter of the "Paris Society of Ethnology", where the sphere of ethnology included "the study of the characteristics of human races, the specifics of their physical structure, mental abilities and morality, as well as the traditions of language and history." From the middle of the XIX century. there is a tendency to oppose ethnology as the science of peoples and anthropology as the science of man. A manifestation of this was, for example, the emergence in Germany of the "Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory" (1869), in Italy - the "Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology" (1871), etc. This position in determining the relationship between ethnology and anthropology was presented and at the International Geographical Congress in Paris (1875), within which the section of anthropology, ethnology and prehistoric archeology worked.

Along with this, since the second half of the 19th century, another tradition has developed - to consider ethnology as an integral social part of anthropology (thus, the “Ethnological Society” created in 1843 in England and in 1863 the “Anthropological Society” were in 1871 were transformed into the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (Ethnography and Related Disciplines, Moscow, 1994, p. 68).

Ethnology and sociology. Ethnology and cultural studies. Ethnos is a social and cultural community and, therefore, ethnologists use sociological and cultural concepts in their work. Many of the ethnic processes can be represented in sociological and cultural terms. Thus, ethnic processes are often described using the concept of tradition, from the point of view of its functioning and modification. The peculiarity of ethnology is that it takes into account, in addition to general sociological, general cultural, general economic patterns, and special patterns of the functioning of an ethnos. Ethnology accepts the thesis about the variability and flexibility of the cultural tradition, but it is interested in the question of what specific processes occur in the ethnos during the period of modification of the cultural tradition. It introduces its own specific block of new knowledge into the general theory of tradition and cultural change, which complements and deepens traditionalism.

Ethnology, like sociology, uses a value approach, but sociology strives to demonstrate, through research on values, the modern cultural, political, etc. dominants of society and the trends in their development. Ethnology is more interested in what role values ​​play in shaping the ethnic picture of the world, how they change from the point of view of psychology, whether the ratio of value dominants inherent in different groups within an ethnic group matters. Thus, ethnology is an integral part of traditional studies, and traditional studies is an integral part of ethnology. Ethnology is an integral part of value research, and value research is an integral part of ethnology. Ethnology, cultural studies and sociology have intersections in the subject of their research, but each studies this subject from a new angle, borrowing, of course, the conclusions and achievements of each other.

So, we have considered cases where ethnology intersects to a greater or lesser extent with other scientific disciplines. The list of such examples could be continued. Now we will give examples when ethnology:

1. It is material for another science: such, for example, is the relation of ethnology to political science.

2. Considers another science as material for his conclusions and generalizations, is an explanatory mechanism for another science. Such is the relation of ethnology to ethnography. This, as we shall see above, is also in relation to history.

Ethnology and political science. Attempts at a literary description of the characters of various peoples come from Theophrastus and continue to this day. Descriptions of this kind did not long remain merely entertaining reading. Descriptions of the life of peoples were systematized and already in the Roman Empire became the basis of the “art of managing peoples”, that is, they served as a guide for the authorities on the eternally topical national issue, as well as on foreign, border policy. The tradition of targeted study for political purposes was brought to perfection in Byzantium, in particular, in the work of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus “On the Administration of the Empire” (IX century). The foreign policy of Byzantium was built, first of all, as a border policy, and therefore assumed the manipulation of tribes and nationalities, for which it was considered necessary to know their psychological characteristics and “behavioral patterns”, as a modern ethnologist would say. “The Byzantines carefully collected and recorded information about the barbarian tribes. They wanted to have accurate information about the morals of the "barbarians", about their military forces, about trade relations, about relations between them, about internecine strife, about influential people and the possibility of bribing them. On the basis of this carefully collected information, Byzantine diplomacy was built.” Of course, not only Byzantium did this, and we can safely say that ethnology was used as such throughout subsequent history. The scientific school of “national character” research in the middle of the 20th century, as we will show above, was born for directly political purposes.

Ethnology and ethnography. Let us now turn to the most interesting question for us, namely consider ethnology as a science that generates explanatory models and theories for other sciences. Let's look at this first with an example. ethnography, since modern ethnology, for the most part, acts in this capacity: it develops ways to systematize, generalize and interpret ethnographic material. Such is the specificity of the relationship between these two disciplines. Modern ethnology provides ethnography with a conceptual apparatus. Ethnography as such is largely a descriptive science. Ethnology is its theory.

The widely held point of view that ethnography and ethnology (anthropology) are practically synonymous concepts does not seem quite adequate: what was called ethnography in the Soviet Union was called cultural anthropology in the West. In fact, the term ethnography also exists in the West and means roughly the same thing as in Russia. Cultural anthropology, from the very moment of its inception, acted as a broader discipline and was interested, first of all, in concepts that explain the structure and existence of folk culture, and descriptive, “field” materials (however plentiful they may be) were for it means either to test concepts or to prove them (the latter more often than the former). Ethnographic materials were used as materials for interpretations.

Recently, this view of ethnology has become increasingly common. So, one of the recent dictionaries of ethnological terms states that “in the narrow sense, ethnology is theoretical ethnology, in contrast to descriptive ethnography”, making, however, the reservation that this is only an emerging point of view. According to the same dictionary, “the main subject of study of ethnology is the theory of ethnos, which is in constant development, the definition of the principles of classification of peoples and their subordination, as well as methods and ways of processing empirical, factual material”.

Let us illustrate this by referring to the theories that arose in the course of the development of ethnology and were used by it in field research as an explanatory mechanism.

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This article provides an answer to the question of what ethnography studies. We will talk in detail about this science, point out some of its features, justify its relevance and significance.

Where to start answering the question of what ethnography studies? From the definition of the meaning of its name. Ethnography is a science that studies translated from Greek means "tribe", "people", and "grapho" - I write. Therefore, the name of this science can be translated as "description of peoples." By analogy, for example, petrography is a description of stones, geography is a description of the Earth, etc. But purely descriptive sciences do not exist. A description for any of them is only a basis for conclusions, for discerning patterns in the development of a particular phenomenon and object. For example, geography cognizes relief, vegetation, climate, animal world and others from the point of view of their relationship, patterns of development. Only knowing the patterns, we can use the wealth of nature to serve society.

Speaking about what ethnography studies as a science, it should be noted that it also does not simply describe the peoples living on Earth. She learns the patterns by which they are formed and developed, as well as the reasons why one nation differs from another. Based on this, the following definition can be derived: ethnography is a science that studies peoples, revealing the complex processes of their development.

The emergence of ethnography

Although the factual data that later formed the basis of ethnography began to be collected and accumulated quite a long time ago, it itself emerged as an independent science only in the middle of the 19th century. The object of her research was first sociohistorical organisms (sociors) - individual human societies that continued to be primitive at the time of the emergence of this science. Moreover, ethnography at first studied not so much them as a whole, but rather the culture of these societies. It has always been and remains the only science whose subject of study is primitive societies. However, ethnography is a science that studies not only sociors. It is possible to single out at least two of its objects.

Two objects of ethnography

In any pre-capitalist class society, with the exception of the ancient one, there have always been two connected, but different tops) and a common people (lower culture). The latter is destroyed as it develops, but disappears only under capitalism. This process often takes quite a long time. And the science that interests us from its very inception began to study not only but also the common people, primarily the peasant. This should be taken into account when answering the question of what ethnography studies. Summary of the above, the following: from the very beginning it had 2 objects - primitive and common folk culture.

Features of the development of ethnographic science in the UK

Great Britain was the largest colonial power at the time of the emergence of ethnography. Many territories were subject to this state, and primitive societies lived on many of them. But the peasantry in Great Britain had already disappeared by this time. As a result, in this country, ethnography arose as a science dealing only with the study of primitive societies. And the study of what was connected with the remnants of the peasant world was completely engaged in folklore. Nevertheless, English scientists quite early became interested in the peasantry of the societies of the East, which found themselves under the rule of Great Britain, primarily India (B. Baden-Powell, G. Maine). However, these studies were considered most often as not related to ethnography. In addition, their object was mainly the peasant community, and not culture.

Ethnography in Germany

As far as Germany is concerned, it has also developed its own view of what ethnography studies. The definition of this science by German scientists was somewhat different, which, however, is easily explained. The fact is that the peasantry continued to exist in this country. Therefore, the answer to the question of what ethnography studies in Germany was at first the following: common folk culture. And only then did the science of primitive societies begin to appear, which was developed after Germany became a colonial power. By the way, this happened quite late.

The development of the science of ethnography in Russia

The features of the development of our country were such that the primitive and peasant worlds not only existed side by side, but also interacted and penetrated each other. The line between them often had a relative character. Therefore, in the Russian scientific community there was a common name for this science (ethnology or ethnography), but there were no special terms for the two disciplines that make it up.

Ethnology and racial theories

In Western Europe, from the middle of the 19th century, a second name for this science arose - ethnology. In translation, it means "the study of peoples." This name is more suitable to reflect the essence of the science we are interested in. However, it arose in Western Europe when racial theories, according to which peoples are divided into higher and lower races, became widespread. The lower races are natural peoples who are at a low level of socio-economic development. They have no history, and even if there is one, it remains unknown. These peoples should only be described, that is, their life activity should be recorded at the present time. This is what a science like ethnography should do.

Peoples that are at a high level of cultural and economic development are historical, having a long and complex history. It is necessary to study them, and this is the task of ethnology.

Use of the terms "ethnography" and "ethnology"

It should be noted that the division of all peoples into historical and natural, higher and lower, the majority of scientists still did not accept. They rightly believed that there is only one science - history, which is divided into 2 sections: the history of human society and the history of nature. The first began when mankind separated from the animal world. It is defined general laws development of society. Thus, the division of peoples into natural and historical has no scientific basis. However, the term "ethnology" still stuck in the West for the science of peoples. In Russia, the concept of "ethnography" is usually used to designate it. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the same content was put into these terms both in Russia and in the West: it was the study, and not the description of the peoples living on Earth.

At the All-Union Conference held in Alma-Ata in 1990, it was decided to unify the terms that denote the science of peoples. Ethnography in our country also began to be officially called ethnology. However, the term "ethnography" has been preserved. Today we say "ethnographic museums", "ethnographic expeditions", etc. Thus, ethnology and ethnography are two terms that serve to designate the science of peoples.

Differences between nations

The peoples living on Earth differ in racial (physical) features - in the color and shape of hair, skin color, height, in the structure of the soft parts of the face, etc. On this basis, they are divided into Mongoloid, Caucasoid, Negroid, and also mixed in racial respect. Physical anthropology is concerned with the study of all these differences between them.

The peoples of our planet speak different languages ​​- German, English, Russian, etc. Languages ​​are combined into related languages ​​Linguistics is studying them. It deals with grammar, phonetics, vocabulary of languages.

The peoples inhabiting the Earth are also distinguished by their name (Russians, Tatars, Georgians, etc.), self-consciousness (I am Belarusian, I am Kyrgyz), mental characteristics and a whole complex of cultural and everyday elements inherent in each of them (originality of clothing, housing, rituals in public and family life etc.). Thanks to this, each nation can isolate itself from others that do not have these features. Ethnology, or ethnography, is the study of these differences.

Ethnic features

Thus, we can assume that the object of study of the science of ethnography is the people, and the subject is ethnic characteristics. The latter are understood as self-consciousness, a complex of elements of the spiritual, social and features of the psyche and life, developed as a result of a long historical development. All of the above features in their totality constitute the national culture of the people. It is the main subject of such a science as ethnography.

Let's answer the question of why it is necessary to study the ethnic characteristics of a particular people, its culture.

Ethnography and history

First of all, knowledge of them gives us the opportunity to solve questions about its origin, historical development. The history of the people is written on ethnographic material. It should be able to read. Cultural and everyday features are always closely related to political, economic, and environmental factors. Therefore, the entire cultural and community complex changes when these factors change. Therefore, knowing the life and culture of the people, we can talk about the natural-geographical and socio-economic conditions in which it existed. All this is very important for understanding the roots of its origin, as well as development. Due to the fact that ethnography solves all these questions, it can be considered a historical science. It is to such that it belongs according to its classification status.

Ethnography is a social discipline

However, its significance is not limited to the above. What ethnography studies is very important. Let us briefly characterize its significance from the other side.

Knowledge of national life and culture provides an opportunity to determine the direction of various cultural and everyday processes that are currently taking place. And without their knowledge it is impossible to carry out cultural and socio-economic transformations. On our planet, there have always been processes that changed the cultural and everyday appearance of various peoples, and sometimes led to the fact that some of them disappeared, while others appeared. All these processes are also related to what ethnography studies.

History knows many examples of the disappearance of some peoples and the emergence of others. In particular, the Thracians, Gauls, Meshchers, Bulgars, Merya, and others once existed. Today they are gone. The French, Bulgarians, Tatars, and others appeared. This happened as a result of ethnic processes that took place intensively in the past. They continue to this day. Their orientation should be known in order to be able to optimally manage society. The fact is that underestimation of the trends in the development and functioning of ethnic groups leads to the emergence and other negative consequences that retard social development on the path of progress. This problem, which is solved by the science of ethnography, gives grounds for its inclusion in the cycle of social disciplines.

Ethnography and ecology

And for the solution of environmental problems that are relevant today, knowledge of the cultural and everyday characteristics of various peoples is of great importance. After all, these features significantly affect the direction of economic activity, which, in turn, affects the natural and geographical environment. Having no idea about the cultural and everyday characteristics of the respective peoples, one cannot interfere in their economic activity. For example, it is not necessary to transfer a nomadic people to settled life, to settle mountain dwellers in the valleys, etc. This is fraught with significant moral and economic losses. It is no coincidence that a new science has appeared in our time - ethnic ecology. It examines the various connections and interactions that exist between the natural-geographical environment and man.

Ethnography and politics

But even this is not yet a complete answer to the question of the significance of what ethnography studies. Grade 5 in history lessons usually covers the topic "ethnography", but touches on it only superficially. And yet the significance of this science is very great. Without an idea of ​​the cultural and everyday characteristics of the various peoples inhabiting the Earth, it is impossible to establish cultural, political and economic contacts between them. And without them it is impossible to imagine not only the development of mankind, but also its very existence. In order to live in good neighborliness and friendship with any nation, it is necessary to know it. This is especially true for multinational areas. After all, people live here, different in culture and language.

Musical ethnography

In conclusion, we note that there are also interdisciplinary disciplines related to this science, one of which is musical ethnography. Specialists in this field are trained in conservatories. Perhaps you have already guessed what musical ethnography studies? The correct answer is folk music. This discipline is at the intersection of folklore, ethnography and musicology.

As you can see, what ethnography studies is very important from a practical point of view, and in several areas at once. Therefore, the importance of this science is very great and it will always be relevant.

So, we have analyzed the question of what ethnography studies. The answer, we hope, satisfied you, and the information provided will be useful.