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868
MERIC N NTHROPOLOGIST
[76 1974]
from the less human. Despite its re
searches, neither sociology nor anthropology
has been able to do much to make the transi-
tion to the contemporary world easier for
those who were not born into middle-class
families in the developed world.
I recommend this book highly for anthro-
pologists, irrespective of age, who re con-
cerned with intellectual directions, who con-
sider knowledge s a tool rather than s a
hobby, and who believe that the purpose
of
scholarship should be the pursuit of under-
standing which is united to action utilizing
the insights gained. Like Professor Lee, I
believe that borders and interests must be
fluid enough to encourage new explorations
rather than to serve s inhibitors of fresh
ideas which may deviate from definitions
handed down by the founding fathers.
Meditations on Hunting.
JOSE
ORTEGA Y
GASSET. Translated and with preface by
Howard B. Wescott. Introduction by Paul
Shepard. Illustrated by Lewis
S.
Brown. New
York: Charles Scribner, 1972. 152 pp., il-
lustrations.
9.95
(cloth). [First English ed.
Original Spanish ed.
1943,
Madrid.]
Reviewed b y JAMES W . FERNANDEZ
Dartmouth College
This volume, containing provocative in-
sights into anthropology and ecology, ap-
peared before Christmas 1972. t enjoyed a
brisk sale and generally enthusiastic com-
mentary in the Field and Stream columns
of American newspapers. Many a strong and
silent American sporting man whose wife
was concerned with the state of his culture
found this slim volume of intricate Iberian
speculation under his Christmas tree. Since
this anthropology is being more widely
read than the great majority of books
strictly within our discipline, we should
want to know what is being said in our
name.
These meditations were penned by Ortega
in the early 1940s and preceded by two
decades the ecological enthusiasm of the
1960s.
He argues essentially that, for the
animal in us all, hunting is a necessary devia-
tion from the unrelenting course of civiliza-
tion-the increasingly relentless rule of rea-
son. Hunting cannot progress. It is pri-
mordial and natural. In fact,
s
mans power
has progressed, he has had to work increas-
ingly hard to preserve the conditions neces-
s ry
to hunting. For it
is
not a matter of
obliteration, but of recapturing a primordial
scenario in which, while our mastery in the
zoological hierarchy is confirmed, at the
same time we achieve a mysterious com-
munion with the animal in our own nature.
The mastery we obtain in hunting is ex-
hilarating, but, s we finally contemplate the
death of the animal, we are in the pro-
foundest way humbled s well. The scenario
carries far beyond reason to what is spon-
taneous and instinctive. In hunting, man re
turns to his old homestead. He restores an
old alertness that he can nowhere else
achieve amidst the discontentments of
history and civilization.
These meditations do not occur in uacuo
but relate to the Ortegan philosophy in
which life is understood s a mode
of
coex-
istence, a dialogue,, between the subject and
its circumstances. Authenticity in life is ob-
tained first by possessing all that is other
alteracibn) and second, by turning within,
in reflection upon the other, so s not t o be
mastered by it ensimismamiento). In
hunting, apparently, Ortega saw a veritable
exemplar of this process. The hunter both
possesses, or is possessed by, the other
through the necessity of imitating the animal
in hunting it. But he is carried beyond that
possession to the inevitable reflections-
meditations-that accompany the death of
that other. Hunting by photography, that is,
hunting without the death of the animal, is
not hunting at all to Ortega, any more than
French or Portuguese bull-fighting is bull-
fighting.
The ecologist, Paul Shepard, contributes a
thoughtful introduction which enlarges our
understanding of the hunters vision, dis-
tinguishing it from the present-day poaching
upon nature by municipal man. The trans-
lation by Howard Wescott is very good. The
illustrations are evocative and very suitable.
This book may be recommended to all
those interested in fostering world wild
life-an enterprise in which many hunters
enthusiastically cooperate, of course-
because of the insights it offers into those
fellow citizens-our primitive contempo-
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G E N E R A L , A PP L IE D A N D T H E O R E T I C A L 8 9
raries-who
re
irremediably possessed by
the hunting scenario and its mortal de-
nouement.
Anthropology Beyond the University.
ALDEN REDFIELD, ed. Southern Anthro-
pological Society Proceedings, 7. Athens:
University of Georgia Press, 1973.
v
134
pp., chapter notes, chapter references. 3.75
Reviewed by E. LAMAR ROSS
Florida International U niversity
Traditional training of anthropologists
has severely limited their opportunities for
employment outside of the ivy-covered walls
of
academe. One has but to look at the
anxiety-ridden recent and not-so-recent
anthropology graduates scrounging for
academic positions at the AAA employment
centers to realize that many perceive aca-
demia
s
the best, if not only, route for em-
ployment of their talents. The fault lies not
only with the emphasis on a traditional aca-
demic oriented training-which Casagrande
openly criticized in his 1972 presidential
address before the annual meeting of the
American Anthropological Association
AAA Newsletter
14(1), January 17,
1973)-but with the professions failure to
call attention to other avenues of employ-
ment. Although its success is admittedly
limited, this book, derived from the key
symposium by the same title at the seventh
annual meeting of the Southern Anthropo-
logical Society, takes the first step toward
demonstrating to students of anthropology
that the future for employment of anthropo-
logically trained scholars need not be s
bleak
s
it seems.
The stated purpose
of
the book is more
grandiose than the end result, yet this does
not detract from its usefulness. The stated
purpose was to:
attempt to illustrate some of the inter-
relationships between anthropology and
other fields, offering students the oppor-
tunity to discover inductively some
of
the
core ideas in anthropology. Furthermore,
the potential job market for people with
training in anthropology, whether con-
(paper).
sisting of a few courses or a degree,
is
indicated in a number
of
these fields [p.
11.
The first goal,
of
showing interrelation-
ships between anthropology and other fields,
can be at best-in a volume like this-only
suggestive. The second
task,
of
indicating
potential job opportunities, appears to be
more realistic, and, to this reviewer, provides
the greatest contribution.
Opportunities were discussed in: 1)
forensic anthropology and primate research
for physical anthropologists; (2) salvage
archaeology, park service, and museum work
for archeologists; and (3) the re s of educa-
tion, health and related social problems, and
governmental advisory capacities for socio-
cultural anthropologists.
Dr. Snows discussion of how the training
of
physical anthropologists prepares them
for career s forensic anthropologists in
both informative and amusing. Maples sug-
gests that major primate field stations also
can provide nonteaching positions for the
student of physical anthropology, and he
describes his own experiences during the
three years that he was manager of the
Southwest Primate Research Center in
Nairobi, Kenya. He attempts to show how
the blend of biological and social science
training of physical anthropologists is
especially useful for doing primate research
in other regions of the world.
Of the three papers on archaeology
beyond the University, two (Sturtevants
and Fischers) suggest job opportunities
out-
side of the university. If his suggestions are
heeded, Sturtevants portrayal of the muse-
um s
an untapped resource and data bank
could add a new dimension to research done
by anthropologists. Fischer is even more
pragmatic; he discusses the various programs
administered by the National Park Service
and their systems for disseminating informa-
tion from archaeological projects. He also
provides a description of the types of em-
ployment available, the required qualifica-
tions, and the procedure for applying for
employment with the Service. Two ap-
pendices to his paper, one listing the Nation-
al Park Service Areas and their location and
the other listing National Park Service Re-
gional Offices, aid one in pursuing the em-
ployment possibilities.