On Clifford Geertz, or Interpretation: Reality and Fiction in Anthropological Science and in Wayang

Abstract

This article reviews some of Clifford Geertz’s central contributions to interpretive anthropology and examines the epistemological assumptions underlying several chapters of The Interpretation of Cultures. It first considers the importance attributed to his work in the emergence of postmodern anthropology and in the consolidation of the hermeneutic paradigm. It then analyzes his semiotic conception of culture as a web of meanings and his understanding of ethnography as “thick description,” conceived as an interpretation of the interpretations produced by social actors. Through analytical matrices connecting the author’s intentions, intellectual operations, developed contents, and epistemological assumptions, the article examines texts on religion, sacred symbols, ritual, social change, and politics. The analysis highlights the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity, facts and meanings, empirical material and theoretical construction, as well as Geertz’s interdisciplinary openness and rejection of methodological dogmatism. Finally, the Balinese wajang, or shadow-puppet theatre, is presented as a metaphor for the production and interpretation of meaning in both social life and anthropological science.