Gananath Obeyesekere
Encyclopedia
Gananath Obeyesekere is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology
at Princeton University
and has done much work in his home country of Sri Lanka. He completed a B.A. in English (1955) at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
, followed by an M.A. (1958) and Ph.D (1964) at the University of Washington
. Before his appointment to Princeton, Obeyesekere held teaching positions at the University of Ceylon
, the University of Washington, the University of California, San Diego
.
In the 1990s he entered into intellectual debate with Marshall Sahlins
over the rationality of indigenous peoples. The debate was carried out through an examination of the details of Captain James Cook's death in the Hawaiian Islands
in 1779. At the heart of the debate was how to understand the rationality of indigenous people. Obeyesekere insisted that indigenous people thought in essentially the same way as Westerners and was concerned that any argument otherwise would paint them as 'irrational' and 'uncivilized'. Sahlins, on the other hand, was critical of Western thought and argued that indigenous cultures were distinct from those of the West.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and has done much work in his home country of Sri Lanka. He completed a B.A. in English (1955) at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
University of Peradeniya
The University of Peradeniya is a world renowned state university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission...
, followed by an M.A. (1958) and Ph.D (1964) at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. Before his appointment to Princeton, Obeyesekere held teaching positions at the University of Ceylon
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was...
, the University of Washington, the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
.
In the 1990s he entered into intellectual debate with Marshall Sahlins
Marshall Sahlins
Marshall David Sahlins is a prominent American anthropologist. He received both a Bachelors and Masters degree at the University of Michigan where he studied with Leslie White, and earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1954 where his main intellectual influences included Karl Polanyi and...
over the rationality of indigenous peoples. The debate was carried out through an examination of the details of Captain James Cook's death in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
in 1779. At the heart of the debate was how to understand the rationality of indigenous people. Obeyesekere insisted that indigenous people thought in essentially the same way as Westerners and was concerned that any argument otherwise would paint them as 'irrational' and 'uncivilized'. Sahlins, on the other hand, was critical of Western thought and argued that indigenous cultures were distinct from those of the West.
Books
- Land Tenure In Village Ceylon : A Sociological And Historical Study, 1967
- Medusa's Hair : An Essay On Personal Symbols And Religious Experience, 1981
- The Cult Of The Goddess Pattini, 1984
- Buddhism Transformed: Religious Change in Sri Lanka (with Richard GombrichRichard GombrichRichard Francis Gombrich is a British Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, and Buddhist Studies. He acted as the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-President of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies...
), 1988 - The Work Of Culture : Symbolic Transformation In Psychoanalysis And Anthropology, 1990
- The Apotheosis Of Captain Cook : European Mythmaking In The Pacific, 1992
- Imagining Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek Rebirth, 2002
- Cannibal Talk : The Man-Eating Myth and Human Sacrifice in the South Seas, 2005
- Karma and Rebirth, 2005