Comments on: Clifford Geertz http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 27 May 2012 00:43:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Boîte noire » Archive du blog » Les petites choses utiles du mardi, vol. 32 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177986 Boîte noire » Archive du blog » Les petites choses utiles du mardi, vol. 32 Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:33:45 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177986 [...] Clifford Geertz recently passed away. Once again, the first source to react was Crooked Timber. [...] [...] Clifford Geertz recently passed away. Once again, the first source to react was Crooked Timber. [...]

]]> By: GESUINA LECLERC http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177738 GESUINA LECLERC Sat, 04 Nov 2006 20:53:44 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177738 Next Friday I will present some results of my doctoral thesis in which I apply some Geertz's ideas, here in João Pessoa, Brazil. I will keep him in my heart. I learned a lot from interpretativism. Next Friday I will present some results of my doctoral thesis in which I apply some Geertz’s ideas, here in João Pessoa, Brazil. I will keep him in my heart. I learned a lot from interpretativism.

]]> By: ChrisTheRed http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177493 ChrisTheRed Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:01:48 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177493 I'll second what each of you has said above. The text I both most enjoyed teaching and most noodled over in my idle hours was his application of Bentham's deep play in "Notes on the Balinese cockfight". Mostly, he wrote beautifully, and thought broadly, and is almost unique in the degree to which he did each. I’ll second what each of you has said above. The text I both most enjoyed teaching and most noodled over in my idle hours was his application of Bentham’s deep play in “Notes on the Balinese cockfight”. Mostly, he wrote beautifully, and thought broadly, and is almost unique in the degree to which he did each.

]]> By: dr ngo http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177478 dr ngo Thu, 02 Nov 2006 05:07:30 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177478 My own recollection of Geertz's work on Southeast Asia - I never met the man, alas - was that he <i>wrote</i> so damn well that even when he was wrong about something, he was more convincing than others, less eloquent, who got it right. (E.g., in particular, <i>Agricultural Involution</i>, almost a throwaway monograph on the "Cultivation System" in Java that dominated the discourse for a generation, just because it was so elegant.) My own recollection of Geertz’s work on Southeast Asia – I never met the man, alas – was that he wrote so damn well that even when he was wrong about something, he was more convincing than others, less eloquent, who got it right. (E.g., in particular, Agricultural Involution, almost a throwaway monograph on the “Cultivation System” in Java that dominated the discourse for a generation, just because it was so elegant.)

]]> By: astrongmaybe http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177368 astrongmaybe Wed, 01 Nov 2006 09:18:07 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177368 A sentence of his that struck me once: "[in his/the hermeneutics of culture]... theoretical formulations hover so low over the interpretations they govern that they don't make much sense or hold much interest apart from them. This is so, not because they are not general (if they are not general, they are not theoretical), but because stated independently of their applications, they seem either commonplace or vacant." (From "Thick Description") I think Robert Musil (the greatest interpreter of early C20 W. European culture, imo) would have liked that "hover so low", as well as Geertz's invocation of the "delicacy of distinction, not the sweep of abstraction". A sentence of his that struck me once:

“[in his/the hermeneutics of culture]… theoretical formulations hover so low over the interpretations they govern that they don’t make much sense or hold much interest apart from them. This is so, not because they are not general (if they are not general, they are not theoretical), but because stated independently of their applications, they seem either commonplace or vacant.” (From “Thick Description”)

I think Robert Musil (the greatest interpreter of early C20 W. European culture, imo) would have liked that “hover so low”, as well as Geertz’s invocation of the “delicacy of distinction, not the sweep of abstraction”.

]]> By: Colin Danby http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/comment-page-1/#comment-177362 Colin Danby Wed, 01 Nov 2006 07:25:23 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/10/31/clifford-geertz/#comment-177362 Not only have I greatly enjoyed teaching some of his writings, but I return to his work time and again in my own reading. It's a particularly strong model of interdisciplinary engagement. Not only have I greatly enjoyed teaching some of his writings, but I return to his work time and again in my own reading. It’s a particularly strong model of interdisciplinary engagement.

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