One
of the key terms in Clifford Geertz's anthropological theory is that of
"Thick Description".
Geertz holds that anthropology's
task is that of explaining cultures through thick description which specifies
many details, conceptual structures and meanings, and which is opposed to
"thin description" which is a factual account without any interpretation.
Thin description for Geertz is not only an insufficient account of an aspect of
a culture; it is also a misleading one. According to Geertz an ethnographer
must present a thick description which is composed not only of facts but also
of commentary, interpretation and interpretations of those comments and interpretations.
His task is to extract meaning structures that make up a culture, and for this
Geertz believes that a factual account will not suffice for these meaning
structures are complexly layered one on top and into each other so that each
fact might be subjected to intercrossing interpretations which ethnography
should study.
In "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture" Geertz outlines
four parameters for an adequate "thick description" and a study of
culture:
1.
Interpretative study: since anthropology is a semiotic endeavor,
cultural analysis should be an interpretative practice which traces the manner
in which meaning is ascribed. The raw observational material collected by an
ethnographer is not sufficient if we are to achieve a thick description of a
culture.
2.
The subject of interpretation
is the flow of social discourse. Interperative ethnography according to
Geertz should produce the codes required for decoding social events.
3.
Interpretation deals
with extrovert expressions. Data collection and interpretation are limited
to what local informants can tell us. Therefore the thickest of descriptions can
only be based on extrovert expressions of culture.
4.
Ethnographic description
is microscopic. According to Geertz ethnographic findings describe local
behaviors and truths as serve as an ethnographical miniature. We always view
specific and contextualized happenings, and these make up the thick description.
other summaries of articles by Clifford Geertz:
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