Course: Peoples of Europe (ANT
412/512)
Professor: Dr M.D. Murphy (email: mdmurphy@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
Office: 24C ten Hoor
Office Hours: Tu 1:30-3:30pm, We 1:30-3:30pm, and by
appointment
Class Time and Place: Thursdays 2-4:30 pm, room 119 ten Hoor
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This semester the Peoples of Europe course will focus on Spain. The principal aims of the course are as follows:
(1) The ethnographic literature on Spain will be reviewed, evaluated and criticized. What have we learned (and, just as importantly, what have we failed to learn) about Spanish culture and social life from the work of anthropologists?
(2) Theoretical and methodological issues in the anthropological study of Western peoples will be considered. Developed originally as that discipline assigned to investigate the exotic cultures of non-Westerners, what are the virtues and vices of anthropology's study of Western societies?
(3) Students will learn how to summarize and criticize professional quality work in cultural anthropology.
(4) Students will practice making public presentations.
(5) Students will receive guidance in the composition of an essay based on a reading of ethnographic literature.
Because this course carries a "W" designation, writing proficiency is required for a passing grade. Each writing assignment requires carefully edited prose and will be graded for intellectual content, originality, comprehension of reading material, coherence, logic, organization, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and prose style.
READINGS
Text: John Hooper (1995) The New Spaniards. New York: Penguin.
Articles: Each student will read 3 articles per week. All readings for the course have been placed in the Reserve Book Room of the Main Library. Past experience suggests that few students can read Spanish, therefore all assigned readings are in English. This is a regrettable constraint because obviously much of the most valuable ethnographic literature on Spain is in Spanish. If anyone can read Spanish, an alternative list of readings can be arranged.
Bibliography: To facilitate the research for your essay, a 600 item bibliography of Spanish Ethnography in English has been placed both on reserve in the library (see Michael Murphy, "Spanish Ethnography in English") and on the internet. Many, but certainly not all, of the articles in this bibliography have also been placed on reserve. A large number of the books listed in the bibliography may be found in the general stacks of the Main Library.
COURSE WEB PAGES
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
(1) REVIEWS On alternate weeks each student must submit a review (500-750 words in length) of one of the weekly article assignments. For organizational purposes only, each student will be assigned to one of two groups (Group A and Group B) and will be responsible for a total of five reviews. The purpose of the reviews is to encourage the student to distill the article's essential points and to provide some criticism (positive or negative) of the logic, methodology or theoretical perspective employed in the essay. The review is due promptly each week and the grade will suffer if it is not turned in on time. All reviews must be typewritten, double-spaced and they are subject to revision and resubmission. Each review will be evaluated carefully for writing proficiency.
(2) ESSAY Each student will write an essay on some aspect of the culture and social life of the people of Spain. The essay will be typewritten, double-spaced, an absolute minimum of 15 pages (3,750 words) in length and will be written in accord with the style guide of the American Anthropologist. A statement of topic and a working bibliography is due on Sept. 25. A preliminary draft of the essay will be due on Oct. 30. The final draft is due on Monday, December 8 at 5 p.m.
READING AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS
The weekly readings will be divided into groups of three articles and each student is required to read only the papers in one group. In addition to writing reviews, students must come prepared to discuss all of the material they have read. One or two students will be designated to have the special responsibility of leading the discussion of each article.
CLASS PARTICIPATION, ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY
Participation in class discussion is an
important requirement for the course and is predicated on attending seminar with the
assignments read and analyzed. One unexcused absence is permitted.
Points will be deducted for all assignments not turned in on time.
GRADING
Grading will be based on an evaluation of class participation (15%), the reviews (25%), the topic & bibliography assignment (10%), and the preliminary (20%) and final (30%) drafts of the essay.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
WEEK 1 (Aug 21) INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
WEEK 2 (Aug 28) BACKGROUND TO THE PEOPLES & CULTURES OF SPAIN
Reading: Hooper, The New Spaniards, pp. 15-143.
WEEK 3 (Sept 4) MODERN SPAIN
Reading: Hooper, The New Spaniards, pp. 144-274.
WEEK 4 (Sept 11) PROBLEMS IN THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SPAIN
Group A: Spain: European or Mediterranean?
1. Gilmore, David (1982) Anthropology of the Mediterranean Area. Annual Review of Anthropology 11:175-205.
2. Llobera, Josep R. (1986) Fieldwork in Southwestern Europe: Anthropological Panacea or Espistemological Straightjacket? Critique of Anthropology 6(2):25-33.
3. Pina-Cabral, Joao de (1989) The Mediterranean as a Category of Regional Comparison: A Critical View. Current Anthropology 30(3): 399-406.
Group B: The Study of Spain by Foreigners REVIEW DUE
1. Murphy, Michael (1992) On Jogging With Fascists and Strolling With Reds: Ethnoethnography and Political Polarization in an Andalusian Town. In The Naked Anthropologist: Accounts From Around the World, P. DeVita (ed.). Belmont CA: Wadsworth.
2. Gilmore, David (1991) Subjectivity and Subjugation: Fieldwork in the Stratified Community. Human Organization 50(3): 215-224.
3. Behar, Ruth (1991) Death and Memory: From Santa María del Monte to Miami Beach. Cultural Anthropology 6(3):346-384.
WEEK 5 (Sept 18) THE FAMILY I
Group A: Descriptions of Family Life in Rural Spain REVIEW DUE
1. Pitt-Rivers, Julian (1971) The Sexes (ii) Marriage and the Family. In The People of the Sierra. (2nd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press:98-111.
2. Lisón Tolosana, Carmelo (1983) Family. In Belmonte de los Caballeros. (2nd ed.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 141-169.
3. Douglass, William (1988) The Basque Stem Family: Myth or Reality? Journal of Family History 13(1): 75-89.
Group B: Issues in the Study of the Andalusian Family
1. Murphy, Michael (1983) Emotional Confrontations Between Sevillano Fathers and Sons:Cultural Foundations and Social Consequences. American Ethnologist 10:650-664.
2. Uhl, Sarah (1989) Making the Bed: Creating the Home in Escalona. Ethnology 28:151-66.
3. Gilmore, David D. (1990) Men and Women in Southern Spain: "Domestic Power" Revisited. American Anthropologist 92(4): 953-970.
WEEK 6 (Sept 25) THE FAMILY II ==Topic & Bibliography Due==
Group A: The Changing Family in Catalonia
1. Hansen, Edward (1972) The Transformation of Family Structure in Rural Catalonia. Nord-Nytt 2:130-142.
2. Iszaevich, Abraham (1981) Corporate Household and Egocentric Kinship Groups in Catalonia. Ethnology 20:277-90.
3. McDonogh, Gary (1986) Family and Variation in Catalonia. In Good Families of Barcelona: A Social History of Power in an Industrial Era. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 38-58.
Group B: Inheritance REVIEW DUE
1. Lisón-Tolosana, Carmelo (1976) The Ethics of Inheritance. In Mediterranean Family Structures, J. Peristiany (ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.305-315.
2. Bauer, Rainer (1987) Inheritance and Inequality in a Spanish Galician Community, 1840-1935. Ethnohistory 34: 171-193.
3. Behar, Ruth and David Frye (1988) Property, Progeny, and Emotion: Family History in a Leonese Village. Journal of Family History 13:113-32.
WEEK 7 (Oct 2) THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
Group A: The Organization of Communal Life in Rural Spain REVIEW DUE
1. Freeman, Susan T. (1968) Corporate Village Organization on the Sierra Ministra. Man 3: 447-484.
2. Lisón Tolosana, Carmelo (1973) Some Aspects of Moral Structure in Galician Hamlets. American Anthropologist 75: 823-34.
3. Bauer, Rainer Lutz (1992) Changing Representations of Place, Community, and Character in the Spanish Sierra del Caurel. American Ethnologist 19(3): 571-588.
Group B: The Community and the Individual
1. Murphy, Michael (1985) Rumors of Identity: Gossip and Rapport in Ethnographic Research. Human Organization 44(2):132-137.
2. Freeman, Susan T. (1987) Egalitarian Structures in Iberian Social Systems: The Contexts of Turn-Taking in Town and Country. American Ethnologist 14:470-90.
3. Gilmore, David D. (1991) Commodity, Comity, Community: Male Exchange in Rural Andalusia. Ethnology 30(1):17-30.
WEEK 8 (Oct 9) REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITIES
Group A: Region, Nation, Europe
1. Fernandez, James (1988) Andalusia on Our Minds. Cultural Anthropology 3(1): 21-35.
2. Douglass, Carrie (1991) The Fiesta Cycle of "Spain." Anthropological Quarterly 64(3): 126-141.
3. LiPuma, Edward and Sarah Keene Meltzoff (1994) Economic Mediation and the Power of Associations: Toward a Concept of Encompassment. American Anthropologist 96(1): 31-51.
Group B: Catalan, Galician, Andalusian, Castillian & Basque Identities REVIEW DUE
1. Pi-Sunyer, Oriol (1980) Dimensions of Catalan Nationalism. In Nations Without a State: Ethnic Minorities in Western Europe. Charles R. Foster (ed.). New York: Praeger.
2. Kelley, Heidi (1994) The Myth of Matriarchy: Symbols of Womanhood in Galician Regional Identity. Anthropological Quarterly 67(2): 71-80.
3. Greenwood, Davydd (1985) Castillians, Basques and Andalucians: An Historical Comparison of Nationalism, "True" Ethnicity and "False" Ethnicity. In Ethnic Groups and the State, Paul Brass (ed.). London: Croom Helm. JF 1061 .E82 1985a.
WEEK 9 (Oct 16) SOCIAL CLASS
Group A: Class and Culture in Spain REVIEW DUE
1. Gilmore, David (1977) The Class Consciousness of the Andalusian Rural Proletarians in Historical Perspective Ethnohistory 24(2): 149-161.
2. Buechler, Hans and J.-M. Buechler (1978) Social Class, Conflict and Unequal Development in Spanish Galicia. Review of Radical Political Economics 10:130-135.
3. McDonogh, Gary (1987) The Geography of Evil: Barcelona's Barrio Chino. Anthropological Quarterly 60:174-184.
Group B: Aspects of Social Stratification
1. Barrett, Richard (1972) Social Hierarchy and Intimacy in a Spanish Town. Ethnology 11: 386-398.
2. Corbin, John (1979) Social Class and Patron Clientage in Andalusia. Anthropological Quarterly 52: 99-114.
3. Maddox, Richard (1994) Culture, Schooling, and the Politics of Class Identity in an Andalusian Town. Comparative Education Review 38(1):88-114.
WEEK 10 (Oct 23) GENDER: I
Group A: Psychological Aspects of Gender Identity
1. Gilmore, Margaret and David Gilmore (1979) Machismo: A Psychodynamic Approach (Spain). Journal of Psychological Anthropology 2:281-300.
2. Brandes, Stanley (1981) Like Wounded Stags: Male Sexual Ideology in an Andalusian Town. In Sexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality. S. Ortner & H. Whitehead (eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Breuner, Nancy Frey (1992) The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Southern Italy and Spain. Ethos 20(1): 66-95.
Group B: Gender and Social Organization in Spain REVIEW DUE
1. Murphy, Michael (1983) Coming of Age in Seville: A Riteless Passage to Manhood. Journal of Anthropological Research 39:376-392.
2. Collier, Jane (1986) From Mary to Modern Woman: The Material Basis of Marianismo and Its Transformation in a Spanish Village. American Ethnologist 13:100-107.
#3. Gilmore, David D. (1996) Above and Below: Toward a Social Geometry of Gender. American Anthropologist 98(1): 54-66.
WEEK 11 (Oct 30) GENDER II =Preliminary Draft of Essay Due==
Group A: Spanish Femininity
1. Harding, Susan (1975) Women and Words in a Spanish Village. In Toward an Anthropology of Women, R. R. Reiter (ed.). New York: Monthly Review Press. pp. 283-308.
2. Kelley, Heidi (1991) Unwed Mothers and Household Reputation in a Spanish Galician Community. American Ethnologist 18(3): 565-580.
3. Uhl, Sarah (1991) Forbidden Friends: Cultural Veils of Female Friendship in Andalusia. American Ethnologist 18(1): 90-105.
Group B: Spanish Masculinity
1. Murphy, Michael (1984) Masculinity and Selective Homophobia: A Case From Spain. ARGOH Newsletter 5(3):6-12.
2. Gilmore, David D. and Sarah Uhl (1987) Further Notes on Andalusian Machismo. The Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology 10(4): 341-360.
3. Driessen, Henk (1983) Male Sociability and Rituals of Masculinity in Rural Andalusia. Anthropological Quarterly 56(6):125-133.
WEEK 12 (Nov 6) EXPRESSIVE CULTURE AND TOURISM
Group A: Expressive Culture REVIEW DUE 
1. J. Carlos González Faraco and Michael Dean Murphy (1997) Street Names and Political Regimes in an Andalusian Town. Ethnology 36(2):123-48.
2. Manuel, Peter (1989) Andalusian, Gypsy and Class Identity in the Contemporary Flamenco Complex. Ethnomusicology 33(1):47-65.
3. Fernandez, James (1985) Folklorists As Agents of Nationalism. New York Folklore 11(1-4): 135-147.
Visit a Web Site on Flamenco
Group B: Tourism
1. Greenwood, Davydd (1977) Culture By The Pound. In Hosts and Guests, pp. 129-138.
2. Oliver-Smith, Anthony, Francisco Jurdao Arrones and José Lisón Arcal (1989) Tourist Development and the Struggle for Local Resource Control. Human Organization 48(4): 345-352.
3. Nogués Pedregal, Antonio Miguel (1996) Tourism and Self-Consciousness in a South Spanish Coastal Community. In Coping with Tourists: European Reactions to Mass Tourism. Jeremy Boissevain, editor. Providence, RI: Berghahn. pp. 56-83.
WEEK 13 (Nov 13) RELIGION: I
Group A: Religion and Social Organization
1. Freeman, Susan (1968) Religious Aspects of the Social Organization of a Castilian Village. American Anthropologist pp. 34-49.
2. Brandes, Stanley (1973) Wedding Ritual and Social Structure in a Castilian Peasant Village. Anthropological Quarterly 46: 65-74.
3. Murphy, Michael Dean (1994) Class, Community and Costume
in an Andalusian Pilgrimage. Anthropological Quarterly 67(2): 49-61.
Visit a Web Site on El Rocio
Group B: Popular Religion and Anti-Clericalism REVIEW DUE
1. Brandes, Stanley (1976) The Priest as Agent of Secularization in Rural Spain. In
Economic Transformation and Steady State Values: Essays in the Ethnography of Spain. J.
Aceves, E. Hansen, and G. Levitas (eds.). Flushing, NY: Queens College Press.
2. Behar, Ruth (1990) The Struggle for the Church: Popular Anticlericalism and Religiosity in Post-Franco Spain. In Religious Orthodoxy and Folk Belief in European Society, Ellen Badone (ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
3. Maddox, Richard (1995) Revolutionary Anticlericalism and Hegemonic Processes in an Andalusian Town, Agust 1936. American Ethnologist 22: 125-143.
WEEK 14 (Nov 20) RELIGION II
Group A: Issues in the Study of Spanish Religion REVIEW DUE
1. Brandes, Stanley (1981) Gender Distinctions of Monteros Mortuary Ritual. Ethnology 20:177-90.
2. Driessen, Henk (1984) Religious Brotherhoods: Class and
Politics in an Andalusian Town. In Religion, Power and Protest in Local Communities, Eric
Wolf (ed.). Berlin: Mouton. pp. 74-91.
Visit a Web Site on Semana
Santa (Holy Week) in Sevilla
3. Murphy, Michael Dean (1996) The Delayed Identification of Apparitions in Marianist Miracles. ms.
Group B: The Politics and Culture of Religion
1. Freeman, Susan Tax (1978) Faith and Fashion in Spanish Religion. Peasant Studies 7: 101-123.
2. Christian, William (1984) Religious Apparitions and the Cold War in Southern Europe. In Religion, Power, and Protest in Local Communities, Eric Wolf (ed.). Amsterdam: Mouton. pp.239-266.
3. Driessen, Henk (1989) Elite versus Popular Religion? The Politics of Religion in Rural Andalusia. An Anthrohistorical Perspective. In La Religiosidad Popular (Antropología e Historia) Eds. C. Alvarez Santaló, Maria Jesús Buxó y Salvador Rodríguez Becerra. Vol. 1: pp. 82-104. Barcelona: Editorial Anthropos.
WEEK 15 (Nov 27) THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
WEEK 16 (Dec 4) FESTIVITY
Group A: The Genesis and Transformation of Festivity
1. Murphy, Michael Dean and J. Carlos Gonzalez Faraco (1996) Cultural Resistance, Social Identity and Protected Landscapes: People and Horses in a Spanish National Park. Under review by Journal of Anthropological Research.
2. Gilmore, David (1988) Politics and Ritual: Fifty Years of Andalusian Carnival. Iberian Studies 17(1&2):34-49.
3. Murphy, Michael Dean & J.C. González (1988) Fiesta in Almonte. The World and I 3(7):480-491.
Visit a Web Site on Festivity in Sevilla
Group B: Bullfighting 
1. Graña, César (1987) The Bullfight and Spanish National Decadence. Society 24(5):33-37.
2. Pitt-Rivers, Julian (1993) The Spanish Bullfight and Kindred Activities. Anthropology Today 9(4): 11-15..
3. Mitchell, Timothy (1986) Bullfighting. Journal of American Folklore 99:394-414.
Visit some bullfighting Web Sites at Pamplona Running
of the Bulls Online ...and... The
Running of the Bulls in Pamplona '96... and... La Tauromaquia (The Art of
Bullfighting)...and... Fotos
de la Fiesta...and... Bullfights
WEEK 17: Final Draft of Essay Due on Monday, December 8 at 5:00 pm
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR REVIEWS (& Other Writing Assignments)
1. You are responsible for keeping a separate copy of every review, bibliography and essay that you turn in.
2. Your name should appear on every page of every written assignment.
3. Staple the pages together (no paper clips, no plastic covers).
4. In matters of style and format, follow the American Anthropological Assocation Style Guide . At the top of the first page of a review provide complete bibliographic information for the article or book chapter. Examples:
Journal Articles:
Kenny, Michael 1972 The Role of Social Anthropology in the Social Sciences in Spain.
Iberian Studies 1: 27-33.
Articles in Edited Volumes:
Fernandez, James 1984 Convivial Attitudes: The Ironic Play of Tropes in an International
Kayak Festival in Northern Spain. In Text, Play and Story. E.M. Bruner,ed. Pp.
199-229. Washington, D.C.: American Ethnological Society.
Books:
Aguilera, Francisco E. 1978 Santa Eulalia's People: Ritual Structure and Process in an
Andalusian Multicommunity. St. Paul, Minn.: West.
5. The review will be graded for IDEAS, ORGANIZATION, EXPRESSION.
WRITING TIPS
1. Opening and closing paragraphs are particularly important.
2. The three secrets to good writing are : Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
3. Never suggest (by the absence of quotation marks and other citation devices) that someone else's writing is your own. Do not use extensive quotations in a review. Cut-and-paste authorship is not acceptable.
4. When you think you have finished your review, read it aloud to yourself, then make changes to rid it of awkwardness, confusion and redundancy.
5. For additional help in composition, check out the resources at the website, Writing Tools for Anthropology Students:
POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPICS
The following list is offered merely to give you a notion of the sort of essay topics that you might choose. In making a selection try to pick a subject which is neither too general nor so narrowly focused that you must rely on only three or four sources. As a rule of thumb, eliminate any topic for which you cannot find at least 10 good articles or books for your bibliography.
1. The Spanish Family
2. The Moral Community in Spain
3. Regionalism in Spain
4. Religion in Spain
5. Social Class in Spain
6. Gender in Spain
7. Bullfighting
8. Spanish Festivities
9. Spanish Gypsies
10. Tourism in Spain
11. Folklore in Spain
12. Spanish Culture in the New World
13. Spanish Politics
14. Migration in Spain
15. The Social Transformation of Modern Spain
16. Spanish Expressive Culture
17. Naming Customs in Spain
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