Patterns of Culture

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"Unique and important . . . Patterns of Culture is a signpost on the road to a freer and more tolerant life." -- New York Times This remarkable introduction to cultural studies eloquently declares the role of culture in shaping human life. Renowned anthropologist Ruth Benedict compares three societies—the Zuni of the southwestern United States, the Kwakiutl of western Canada, and the Dobuans of Melanesia—demonstrating the diversity of behaviors within them. Her groundbreaking study reveals that each human culture is defined by a unique configuration of traits and examines the relationship between culture and the individual. Featuring prefatory remarks by Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, and Louise Lamphere, this provocative work ultimately explores what it means to be human. "That today the modern world is on such easy terms with the concept of culture . . . is in very great part due to this book." -- Margaret Mead "Benedict's work is foundational in teaching us the value of diversity. Her hope for the future resonates in the twenty-first century: that recognition of cultural relativity fosters appreciation for 'the coexisting and equally valid patterns of life which mankind has created from the raw materials of existence.'" -- from the new foreword by Louise Lamphere, past president of the American Anthropological Association. Ruth Benedict (1887-1948) was a leading anthropologist of the twentieth century, and her influential works