Clifford Geertz transformed anthropology by emphasizing interpretation over explanation, meaning over structure, and text over data. His notion of thick description—a layered approach to understanding culture—redefined ethnography as a literary and narrative act. This shift positioned anthropology closer to the humanities, aligning it with disciplines like literary studies and history. His work has had a profound impact on literary anthropology, a field that examines how ethnographic writing functions as a form of storytelling and how culture itself can be understood as a network of narratives.
Geertz and the Turn to Narrative
Traditionally, ethnographic writing aimed for scientific objectivity, with anthropologists presenting their findings in an authoritative and seemingly neutral voice. Early anthropologists, such as Bronisław Malinowski and E.E. Evans-Pritchard, sought to describe cultures in systematic ways, often using impersonal prose that positioned the observer as an external analyst.
Geertz rejected this detached approach. Influenced by hermeneutics and semiotics, he argued that ethnography was not merely a recording of facts but an act of interpretation. In The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), he compared culture to a text that anthropologists must "read" and interpret. His famous study Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight exemplifies this shift. Rather than treating the cockfight as a simple social event, he analyzed it as a symbolic drama that expressed deeper truths about Balinese society, status, and masculinity.
This emphasis on narrative had two key effects:
- Anthropology as Writing – Ethnography became self-conscious about its literary qualities. Geertz acknowledged that anthropologists construct narratives rather than simply document objective realities.
- Culture as Text – If culture operates like a text, then meaning is not fixed but must be interpreted contextually, much like a literary work.
The Impact on Literary Anthropology
Geertz’s influence extended beyond anthropology into literary studies, inspiring scholars to analyze the rhetoric of ethnographic writing itself. James Clifford and George Marcus, in Writing Culture (1986), built upon Geertz’s insights, arguing that ethnographic accounts are inherently subjective and should be examined as literary constructs. They highlighted how anthropologists use narrative techniques—such as framing, metaphor, and voice—to shape their representations of cultures.
This perspective led to several key developments in literary anthropology:
- Reflexivity – Anthropologists began acknowledging their own biases, positioning themselves within the stories they told.
- Multiple Voices – Instead of presenting a singular, authoritative account, ethnographers started incorporating different perspectives, allowing subjects to "speak for themselves."
- Blurring Genres – Ethnographic writing began to incorporate elements of memoir, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
The Legacy of Geertz’s Narrative Anthropology
By treating culture as a text and ethnography as an act of interpretation, Geertz revolutionized both anthropology and the study of narrative. His influence persists in how scholars think about storytelling, representation, and meaning in cultural analysis. The challenge he leaves us with is not just to understand cultures, but to recognize how we write them into being.