"The Predicament of Culture" is a critical ethnography of the West in its changing relations with other societies. Analyzing cultural practices such as anthropology, travel writing, collecting, and museum displays of tribal art, Clifford shows authoritative accounts of other ways of life to be contingent fictions, now actively contested in postcolonial contexts. His critique raises questions of global significance: Who has the authority to speak for any group's identity and authenticity? What are the essential elements and boundaries of a culture? How do self and "the other" clash in the encounters of ethnography, travel, and modern interethnic relations? In discussions of ethnography, surrealism, museums, and emergent tribal arts, Clifford probes the late-twentieth century predicament of living simultaneously within, between, and after culture.

A remarkable introduction to cultural studies as relevant today as it was in 1934, Ruth Benedict's groundbreaking study is the book that first brought the concept of "culture" to lay readers. In this fascinating work, Benedict compares the cultures of three peoples: the Kwakiutl of western Canada, the Zuni of the southwestern United States, and the Dobuans of Melanesia. Featuring an introduction by Franz Boas, a preface by Margaret Mead, and a foreword by Mary Catherine Bateson, Patterns of Culture shows the importance culture has on everyday life.

《社会文化人类学的关键概念》是人类学学科一本理想的指南，清晰而可信地界定并讨论了一些具有持久价值的核心概念，包括：相异性、流言蜚语、控制、亲属制度、阴性书写、家与无家、人权、深描、叙事、暴力。 每一个关键概念的条目都配有相应的交叉参考说明以及详细的参考书目。本书讲述了以往和当前以及未来可预见的讨论，将人类学置身于一个宽广而变化的人文视野之中加以审视，并汲取和借鉴了其他相关学科的大量资源，如哲学、心理学、社会学、文化学、文学批评以及语言学等等。对于学习和教授人类学的人来说，这是一本级好的参考书，亦可为有兴趣了解“人类学智慧”的人提供一个问题式的研究性路标。

In essays covering everything from art and common sense to charisma and constructions of the self, the eminent cultural anthropologist deepens our understanding of human societies through the intimacies of "local knowledge."