Clifford Geertz or the seduction of culture as text

Abstract

During what was a critical period for anthropology (the end of the colonial period, scientism), Geertz paved the way for a humanist approach to the ethnographic method by defining culture as a complex of meanings incorporated into symbols, and thus an object for interpretation. However, his idea of culture as a text –inspired by Ricoeur– has constantly been subjected to criticism.