Culture, its mode of being: a proposal for reflection following Edward Sapir

Abstract

This essay revisits a classic text of anthropology, Edward Sapir’s “Culture, genuine and spurious”, taking it as a partner for a dialogue and reflection on the notion of culture. In “Culture, genuine and spurious”, Sapir is able to deliver a balanced and moderate view of culture while simultaneously eschewing questions of conceptual or theoretical definition. In fact, his argument seems to be articulating not so much what is culture, but how is culture, that is, its mode of being. As a general thesis, this essay follows the orientation and formulation of Sapir’s text, as well as other reflections from the author, in order to conceive culture’s mode of being as an operative dialectic between individual and group.