Anthropology, Culture, and Identity in MacCannell and Boas

MacCannell's critical essay titled "Cannibal Tours" offers a deep and penetrating view of comparative cultures. MacCannell uses Dennis O'Rourke's documentary film of the same name as a centerpiece around which to focus his arguments. Several comparisons are employed to help contextualize his meaning, including commentary on polar opposite themes such as modern versus primitive, black-skinned versus white-skinned, and rich versus poor, among others.

The article begins and ends with direct critique of the film. Characters are examined, plot lines are analyzed, and film techniques are discussed, all while simultaneously narrating a broader social criticism. Although the author exerts considerable effort to categorize all parties encountered in the article, he focuses mainly on Western European and American materialistic culture as a force driving much of the world's population away from modernity and into a more postmodern landscape.

MacCannell's talent for inferring the inner experiences of those he observes on screen is documented throughout the piece. The article becomes pointed as he reveals — not surprisingly — that primitive cultures parody and mimic their Western tourist visitors, exposing a sense of shared duplicity between all parties involved. Only halfway through the article does the author state his thesis explicitly: that he is "arguing that there is no real difference between moderns and those who act the part of primitives in the universal drama of modernity" (p. 105). The article ultimately concludes after introducing the concept of metaphor and its importance to the broader argument.

Ultimately, MacCannell spirals in and out of cohesion while arriving at the conclusion that, although folk or ethnic differences exist across populations, common human interests are shared across all variations of humanity — including self-interested behavior, a quest for meaning, and the power of culture.

Franz Boas was a pioneer in the study of anthropology. In his introduction to The Mind of Primitive Man, the deep and challenging questions he raises about the history of human culture investigate the varied factors that contribute to cultural development. Before advancing his arguments, Boas defines the scope of his propositions, noting that the tendency of humanity to view whiteness as hierarchically superior does not necessarily represent the full trajectory of human evolution. He calls for a historical overview of these variables before they can be incorporated into any broader analytical framework.

In his quest for understanding, Boas examines racial developments across all continents in his introductory chapter. He considers this necessary in order to provide a complete picture of human development without projecting an external bias rooted in his own race and culture — a bias that undoubtedly played some role in his scientific work and reports regardless of his intentions.

Lesser's biographical article on Franz Boas helps illuminate some of Boas's arguments. Lesser is very praiseworthy of the contributions that Boas made to anthropology and to science in general. He summarizes Boas's aforementioned book in the following way: "several of the theses of the book The Mind of Primitive Man, taken together, establish the relative autonomy of cultural phenomena, showing that there are no independent variables on which the cultural is dependent" (p. 7).

Lesser continues by pointing out dissenting scientists who challenged Boas's approach to anthropology. The division between the British School of anthropology and the American School of anthropology is mentioned to demonstrate the polarizing effects of Boas's work on broader scholarly understanding. Lesser's article concludes by noting some of Boas's social contributions as they related to post–World War II politics, specifically mentioning his efforts toward integrating former Nazi scientists into American academic life as a significant event in his legacy.