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Evolutionism and Historical Particularism at the St. Petersburg Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography
Author(s) -
Kan Sergei
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
museum anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1379
pISSN - 0892-8339
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1379.2008.00003.x
Subject(s) - evolutionism , ethnography , st petersburg , anthropology , typology , museology , sociology , history , archaeology , epistemology , philosophy , metropolitan area
In the 1900s–1920s, Lev Shternberg played a major role in transforming the St. Petersburg Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography into Russia's most comprehensive ethnology museum and a popular site for visitors. As an anthropologist, Shternberg was committed to both a Boasian investigation of individual cultures (and intercultural relations) and classical evolutionism. Hence he believed that his museum had to include displays depicting distinct cultures and culture areas and a separate department illustrating “the evolution and typology of culture.” The article examines his work of putting the former part of this vision into practice and the reasons why the latter one failed.