"Anthropology was the science that gave her the platform from which she surveyed, scolded and beamed at the world"
About this Quote
Anthropology, in Jane Howard's line, isn not a neutral discipline so much as a piece of staging: a raised platform that turns observation into authority. The verb trio is the tell. "Surveyed" carries the fieldworker's distance and panoramic confidence. "Scolded" snaps that posture into something moralistic, even parental, implying that the subject used cultural knowledge not just to understand people but to correct them. Then "beamed" softens the reprimand with charisma, the public-facing glow that makes admonishment feel like benevolence. Howard is capturing a particular kind of 20th-century intellectual celebrity: the expert who can chastise society for its blind spots while remaining widely adored.
The intent is double-edged, and that's why it works. Calling anthropology "the science" nods to its credibility, but the image of a platform hints at performance and hierarchy. Platforms elevate; they also separate. Howard suggests the discipline can become a mechanism for tasteful superiority, granting its practitioner permission to speak over the crowd in the name of empathy. The subtext is less "anthropology is bad" than "anthropology is powerful, and power has a tone."
As a journalist, Howard is also winking at her own trade. Reporting and anthropology both sell a fantasy of clear-eyed seeing, of translating the messy world into legible lessons. Her sentence interrogates that fantasy: the world is not just being studied; it's being managed, judged, and reassured, often by the same smiling voice.
The intent is double-edged, and that's why it works. Calling anthropology "the science" nods to its credibility, but the image of a platform hints at performance and hierarchy. Platforms elevate; they also separate. Howard suggests the discipline can become a mechanism for tasteful superiority, granting its practitioner permission to speak over the crowd in the name of empathy. The subtext is less "anthropology is bad" than "anthropology is powerful, and power has a tone."
As a journalist, Howard is also winking at her own trade. Reporting and anthropology both sell a fantasy of clear-eyed seeing, of translating the messy world into legible lessons. Her sentence interrogates that fantasy: the world is not just being studied; it's being managed, judged, and reassured, often by the same smiling voice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Knowledge |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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