This article briefly explores the underlying analogy between culture and language common in American anthropology and related fields. Certain key assumptions about culture – among them systematicity, homogeneity, sharedness, and boundedness – derive in part from this analogy. Three points are central: first, that these operating assumptions are interpretively and rhetorically powerful but can lead to particularly static models; second, that these are not necessarily inherent features of language itself, i.e., that the language end of the analogy may be misunderstood; and, third, that the use of a case approach, one tracking the making and transformation of cultural practice over time, can help us better account for the complex relationships among culture, social life, and socialization.

Keywords:
Case studies, Culture, Language, Methodology
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2002
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