Aesthetic Realism
A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology

Anthro TECH Site of the Month Award
study sphere award of excellence
 

 

Wepil of Divana
Wepil of Divanap, translator

Rainbow in the Valley
Rainbow in the Valley:
Papua New Guinea

Man with stone axe cutting down tree
Images from Papua New Guinea. Photographs © by Arnold Perey.


Anthropology Is about You and Everyone
Taught by Dr. Arnold Perey
6 PM - 7:30 PM on alternate Wednesdays
at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation
WINTER / SPRING 2010

Illustrating how this central principle of Aesthetic Realism, the philosophy founded by Eli Siegel, is true for early humanity — and everyone else, including us: “All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves.” Yes, anthropology includes ourselves, and Aesthetic Realism shows how — and why we should know it.

January 20     How Will Anthropology Be True to What a Person Is in 2010?

A critique of current texts: What is a faithful representation of people and what isn't, and why.

February 3     Avatar — Tribe vs. Profit in a Blockbuster Movie

There's an ethical meaning in this film, along with stunning action and photography, that meets two things in American culture now: 1) the anger Americans have with runaway acquisition--that is, corporate, profit economics; and 2) the hope in America to have a respectful way of seeing the earth and what is in it — represented here by the fictional Navi people and their attitude to a connected world — a world that deserves to be liked not stripped for money.

February 13    SATURDAY — INSTEAD OF Wednesday, February 17 the following week

We meet with The Visual Arts and the Opposites class taught by Marcia Rackow, at the National Museum of the American Indian (One Bowling Green) to see “A Song for the Horse Nation.”

March 3         British Folklore & the Hero and Coward in Ourselves

March 17       Evolutionary Psychology: True or False?

March 31       Love in Tipis, Bachelor Houses, Igloos, Apartments — What's in Common?

April 14         The Aesthetic Basis of Anthropology: Samples

anthropology class at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation

Click here for information [beginning date, fee, etc.]
Click here to register

Or call 212-777-4490


Some sources for the Aesthetic Realism understanding of anthropology

bullet for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for AnthropologyThe Place of Aesthetics in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Eli Siegel was first to give aesthetics the preeminent place in the social sciences. [http://www.perey-anthropology.net/soc_cult_anth.html]

bullet"A New Perspective for American Anthropology"  In: The Anthropologist, University of Delhi, India

bulletEli Siegel: "Preface." Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism

bulletClass taught by Ellen Reiss on how a child can most truly be seen. Critical reading for every social scientist.

 

bulletOksapmin Society and World View.  Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University

bulletA Note on the Difference between Structuralism and Aesthetic Realism

bulletAesthetic Realism Online Library: definitive source of publications about Aesthetic Realism

bulletThe Place of Aesthetic Realism in World Culture in "Friends of Aesthetic Realism — Countering the Lies." New thought has, throughout history, been met in two ways: dishonestly, with anger; and honestly, with pleasure. Claude Lévi-Bruhl, for example, documents this for tribal societies. It is true now.


 

bulletAnthropological Journal Entries

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & SociologyNovel by Arnold Perey, anthropologist and Aesthetic Realism consultant.

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & SociologySee announcement of the February 27th dramatic reading of selections from GWE—presented with slides and music at the Hue-Man Bookstore -- 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd / Between 124th and 125th Streets / New York, NY 10027.

bulletRead chapters from Gwe. Find out how Aesthetic Realism has you see and feel the earth of New Guinea, the emotions of Gwe and his people--there, in the mountains of this magnificent Pacific island.

•    Introduction    •   Chapter 1. "Gwe Is Born"    •    Chapter 2. "The Attack"   •  Chapter 3. "Five Years Later"     •    Chapter 8. "Alan Comes to New Guinea"   •  Chapter 12. " Equality & Difference"  •   Chapter 16. "A Story of Famine"   •    Glossary

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & SociologyYou can order this book from Waverly Place Press.

WERE THEY EQUAL?
• An anti-prejudice book for children •
Inspired by a traditional story of the Ndowe People of Africa. Told and illustrated by Arnold Perey.

See http://www.gweofnewguinea.net for more information

Barbara Allen and Arnold Perey at the American Library Association in Chicago

Anthropology Is About You and Everyone. Aesthetic Realism Classes

 

bullet"Today’s Economy and 'Justice 5,000 Years Ago' -- & More" Sum 2009
bullet"The Scientific Concept of Contempt" Spr 2008
bullet"Anthropology Is about You & Everyone" Aut 2007
bullet"Sameness & Difference: Those Crucial Opposites" Sum 2007
bullet"Study of Aesthetic Realism Lesson in Anthropology by Eli Siegel" Win 2007
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"Anthropology Is Elemental and Kind" Fall 2006
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"The Marriage of Anthropology and Sociology" Sum 2006
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"Scientific Method & the Opposites" Spr 2006
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"The Aesthetic Structure of Society" Fall 2005
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"Anthropology and the Everyday" Summer 2005
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology "The Feelings of People Are Real!" Spring 2005
bullet "What Isn't Anthropology About?" Fall 2004 
bullet "Coldness and Warmth in Anthropology" Summer 2004 
bullet See Brochure of Courses at Aesthetic Realism Foundation.
bulletSee the satirical classic "Body Ritual among the Nacerima" by Horace Miner

 

World Music: The Aesthetic Realism Perspective

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology"Aesthetic Realism: A New Foundation for Interdisciplinary Musicology" by Edward Green and Arnold Perey, Ph.D.

Published in: R. Parncutt, A. Kessler & F. Zimmer (Eds.) Proceedings of the Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM04)  Graz/Austria, 15-18 April, 2004  Click here for Aesthetic Realism at the University of Graz, Austria


World Art: The Aesthetic Realism Perspective

bullet"Aesthetic Realism, Art, & Anthropology: Or, Justice to People" by Marcia Rackow and Arnold Perey, Ph.D. 

bulletFrom A. Perey Doctoral Thesis:  1. The Opposites in Art   2. Art and the Organization of Society

bulletWhat Are Children's Minds Waiting For?  In The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known

Contains statements about Inuit art and its relation to education and life not only in the Arctic but amongst the ordinary American in the lower 48.

Aesthetic Realism and Men's Issues

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Idealism and Practicality: How Can a Man Have Both?

Including a discussion of the great anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and his Diary in the Strict Sense of the Word.

Presented in an Aesthetic Realism Foundation seminar, October 2005, this paper explains the division in a person between being "practica" and "idealistic" and how Malinowski went after solving that division in his anthropological functionalism.

 
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What Big Mistakes Do Even Smart Men Make?

—with a consideration of the African story "Maliane and the Water Snake"

"Maliane and the Water Snake" is a traditional story of the Basotho people of Southern Africa. We see how eminently relevant it is to men today, as I discuss my own life and one particular, important Aesthetic Realism consultation of a man of this time.
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What Makes a Man's Life Large or Small?

The Life of Charles Darwin and Men Today
Part 1  | Part 2

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How Much Feeling—and What Kind—Should a Man Have?

Discussing My Life, the Life of Fusiwe, a Head Man of the Yanomami People, and Men of the United States   Part 1  |  Part 2  |  Part 3

Papua New Guinea

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology
 

Man resting from work in traditional
sweet potato agriculture. I took this
photo in the Mountain Ok region
of Papua New Guinea.

diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology

"A New Perspective for American Anthropology"  In: The Anthropologist, University of Delhi, India

Consider the native people of 0kapmin, New Guinea....Do they have two opposite attitudes to the world—that it has been kind to them and the gods have been good, and also that it has rooked them?

This article has a new explanation of matters that people want to understand: What is the cause of culture shock? What emotions do people have in common? Can these be described accurately? Can the prejudices that men and women have in every country end once and for all?

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Kinship: "Body and World in Oksapmin Kin Terms"

By translating the terms used for relatives, we see a junction of body and world that is symbolic.

 
diamond dot for Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology & Sociology

Idealism and Practicality: How Can a Man Have Both?

Including a discussion of the great anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and his famed Diary in the Strict Sense of the Word, written in New Guinea of 1914-1918. This paper is about the division in a person between being "practical" and "idealistic." It suggests that Malinowski tried to solve that division in his anthropological functionalism.

 
     

Aesthetic Realism vs. Racism

bullet See The People of Clarendon County, a play by Ossie Davis, and the Education that Can End Racism. Edited by Alice Bernstein.   bullet - racism The Real Opposition to Racism In The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known
bullet - racism

The Solution to Racism In The Black World Today (Visit "Arrows of Melanesia: A Neglected Art Form")

bullet - racism
Causes of Racism In Anthropology Newsletter (American Anthropological Association)
 

The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method in Anthropology

bullet - teaching - Eli Siegel, originator of teaching method
"Teaching Indian Culture in the US."

Published in India Tribune and other English language Indian journals. How do we combat the desire for contempt, which cripples one's ability to understand or have good will for people of another culture?

bullet - teaching - Eli Siegel, originator of teaching method

Published in Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 

bullet - teaching - Eli Siegel, originator of teaching method

"What Are Children's Minds Waiting For?" In The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known

Includes discussion of the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method—and the crucial opposites of restraint and abandon in the Inuit (Eskimo) and ourselves.

Respect for Labor

bullet - pro-laborAn Outrage Against Brooklyn Workers: Rally led by Timothy Lynch, president of Teamsters Local 1205

Evolution

bullet - evolution - Darwini

The Aesthetics of Evolution  In The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known

There is beauty in the evolutionary process. Is it because it is like an art process?— Continuity and Discontinuity, for example, are made one in evolution as in a great drama, painting, poem.

bullet - evolution - Darwini
What Makes a Man's Life Large or Small? The Life of Charles Darwin and Men Today
Part 1  | Part 2
Resources
  bulletAmerican Anthropological Association  
 

bulletThe classic "Body Ritual among the Nacerima" by Horace Miner

 
  bulletNew Perspective blog  
  bulletThe Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company Arnold Perey has performed with the Company  
  bulletAesthetic Realism Foundation  
  bulletLink to "Arrows of Melanesia: A Neglected Art Form"  
bulletLink to Anthro.Net bulletPelagus literature
  bulletWeb Directory: FastSearch bulletSocial Sciences Resources: directory of Social Sciences related websites.  
     

Anthropology Departments

bulletColumbia University bulletUniversity of Chicago  
  bulletPalomar College bulletTexas A & M University  
  bulletUniversity of Cambridge (Social Anthrop.) bulletQueen's University of Belfast / Ethnomusicology  
  bulletLondon School of Economics bulletUniversity of Manchester  
  bulletUniversity of Nevada (Reno)    
 

Depsin, one of the men I most respected during my field research
in the Mountain Ok area of Papua New Guinea

ROR


Copyright © 2001-2009 by Arnold Perey. All rights reserved