Meyer Fortes
Encyclopedia
Meyer Fortes was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi
and Ashanti in Ghana
.
Originally trained in psychology
, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship
, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization. His famous book, Oedipus and Job in West African Religion (1959), fused his two interests and set a standard for comparative ethnology
. He also wrote extensively on issues of the first born
, kingship, and divination
.
Fortes received his anthropological training from Charles Gabriel Seligman
at the London School of Economics
. Fortes also trained with Bronisław Malinowski and Raymond Firth
. Along with contemporaries A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Sir Edmund Leach
, Audrey Richards
, and Lucy Mair
, Fortes held strong functionalist
views that insisted upon empirical evidence in order to generate analyses of society. His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard
, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition, which were to become the hallmarks of African political anthropology. Despite his work in Francophone West Africa, Fortes' work on political systems was influential to other British anthropologists, especially Max Gluckman
and played a role in shaping what became known as the Manchester school
of social anthropology, which emphasized the problems of working in colonial Central Africa.
Fortes spent much of his career as a Reader at the University of Cambridge
and was the William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
there from 1950-1973.
In 1963, Fortes delivered the inaugural Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester
, considered by many to be the most important annual lecture series in the field of Anthropology.
Tallensi
The Tallensi are a tribe of the Frafra people of northern Ghana, numbering a few tens of thousands. They speak Talni, a dialect of the Frafra language, and maintain an agricultural mode of subsistence...
and Ashanti in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
.
Originally trained in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization. His famous book, Oedipus and Job in West African Religion (1959), fused his two interests and set a standard for comparative ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
. He also wrote extensively on issues of the first born
First Born
First Born is a British television serial produced by the BBC in 1988.Charles Dance starred as genetic researcher Edward Forester, whose work leads him to create a man-gorilla hybrid, using his own sperm and cells taken from a female gorilla...
, kingship, and divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
.
Fortes received his anthropological training from Charles Gabriel Seligman
Charles Gabriel Seligman
Charles Gabriel Seligman FRS was a British ethnologist. Born in London, Seligman studied medicine at St. Thomas' Hospital....
at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Fortes also trained with Bronisław Malinowski and Raymond Firth
Raymond Firth
Sir Raymond William Firth, CNZM, FBA, was an ethnologist from New Zealand. As a result of Firth's ethnographic work, actual behaviour of societies is separated from the idealized rules of behaviour within the particular society...
. Along with contemporaries A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Sir Edmund Leach
Edmund Leach
Sir Edmund Ronald Leach was a British social anthropologist of whom it has been said:"It is no exaggeration to say that in sheer versatility, originality, and range of writing he was and still is difficult to match among the anthropologists of the English speaking world".-Personal and academic...
, Audrey Richards
Audrey Richards
Audrey Isabel Richards , was a pioneering British woman social anthropologist who worked mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.Audrey was the second of four girls born to a well-connected family in London, England...
, and Lucy Mair
Lucy Mair
Lucy Philip Mair was a British anthropologist. She wrote on the subject of social organization, and contributed to the involvement of anthropological research in governance and politics.-Career:...
, Fortes held strong functionalist
Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions...
views that insisted upon empirical evidence in order to generate analyses of society. His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard
E. E. Evans-Pritchard
Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard was an English anthropologist who was instrumental in the development of social anthropology...
, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition, which were to become the hallmarks of African political anthropology. Despite his work in Francophone West Africa, Fortes' work on political systems was influential to other British anthropologists, especially Max Gluckman
Max Gluckman
Max Gluckman was a South African and British social anthropologist.He grew up in South Africa, working later under the British Administration in Northern Rhodesia...
and played a role in shaping what became known as the Manchester school
Manchester school (anthropology)
The Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester, founded by Max Gluckman in 1947 became known among anthropologists and other social scientists as the Manchester School. Notable features of the Manchester School included an emphasis on "case studies", deriving from Gluckman's...
of social anthropology, which emphasized the problems of working in colonial Central Africa.
Fortes spent much of his career as a Reader at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and was the William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
The William Wyse Professorship of Social Anthropology is a professorship in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge. It was founded on 18 June 1932 and endowed partly with the support of Trinity College from money bequeathed to them by William Wyse, formerly Fellow and Honorary Fellow of...
there from 1950-1973.
In 1963, Fortes delivered the inaugural Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, considered by many to be the most important annual lecture series in the field of Anthropology.
Selected bibliography
- 1940. African Political Systems (editor, with E. E. Evans-Pritchard). London and New York: International African Institute.
- 1945. The Dynamics of Clanship among the Tallensi.
- 1959. The Web of Kinship among the Tallensi.
- 1959. Oedipus and Job in West African Religion.
- 1969. Kinship and the Social Order.
- 1970. Time and Social Structure.
- 1970. Social Structure (editor).
- 1983. Rules and the Emergence of Society.