Ruth Bunzel

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Ruth Leah Bunzel (born Ruth Leah Bernheim on April 18, 1898 in New York City ; died January 14, 1990 ) was an American anthropologist . Her main research interests were the art of the Pueblo culture and the indigenous cultures of Guatemala and Mexico .

life and work

Ruth Bunzel was the daughter of Jonas and Hattie Bernheim. Her father died early. The youngest of four children, she grew up with her mother in Manhattan . She attended Barnard College , where she first began to study German, but then switched to European history, where she received her bachelor's degree in 1918.

In 1922 she took over Esther Goldfrank's position as secretary to the German ethnologist Franz Boas , with whom she had attended lectures during her studies and who now taught at Columbia University . He encouraged them to do their own research. Bunzel went on research trips to New Mexico and Arizona and dealt with the Zuñi pottery . Her scientific interest was in the relationship between the potters and their work of art. She received her Ph.D. in 1929 for her work on the creative process of pottery among the Zuñi. In the following years she lived with the Zuñi for a long time. She was adopted by her host family and Ruth Bunzel was officially initiated as a member of a Zuñi tribe under the name Maiatitsa . She published further studies on social structures, language, poetry , religion and the value system of the Zuñi. Her last trip to the Zuñi in 1939 made a contribution to child psychology . Bunzel also explored the Hopi , Acoma , San Ildefonso, and San Felipe cultures . She worked with the anthropologist Ruth Benedict , and their works influenced one another.

Ruth Bunzel was the first American anthropologist to work in Guatemala . In 1952 she published a work on the cultures of the highlands around Chichicastenango . Influenced by the psychoanalyst Karen Horney , she wrote a comparative study on alcoholism in Chamula ( Chiapas , Mexico ) and Chichicastenango, which was the first scientific study on the subject. She incorporated social and economic factors into the study and examined how alcohol consumption contributed to the oppression of indigenous peoples by consciously benefiting from their dependence on landowners.

In 1929 Bunzel received her first teaching position at Barnard College. In the 1930s, Bunzel took on teaching positions at Columbia University and spent some time in Spain . From 1942 to 1945 she worked in New York and London for the United States Office of War Information as a translator for Spanish . From 1946 to 1951, Bunzel worked on the Research in Contemporary Cultures Project led by Ruth Benedict, where she led the research group on Chinese culture. Among other things, she interviewed Chinese immigrants to the USA and, together with John Hast Weak, published a study on Chinese communism from an anthropological point of view. After her return to the USA in 1954 she became a permanent lecturer ( adjunct professor ) at Columbia University. During this time she was politically active against nuclear armament .

Ruth Bunzel officially retired in 1966, but continued to teach at Columbia University until 1972. In 1990, Bunzel died of heart failure at the age of 91. Her extensive estate, including her correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, drawings and sound recordings, is kept by the Smithsonian Institution .

Fonts (selection)

  • The Pueblo Potter. A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art. 1929.
  • Introduction to Zuñi Ceremonialism. Zuñi Origin Myths. Zuñi ritual poetry. Zuñi Kateinas. 1932.
  • The Role of Alcoholism in Two Central American Cultures. In: Psychiatry 3, 1940, pp. 361-387.
  • Chichicastenango, a Guatemalan Village. University of Michigan Library, Locust Valley, NY 1952.
  • The Golden Age of American Anthropology. G. Braziller, New York 1960 (with Margaret Mead ).
  • Zuni Texts (= Publications of the American Ethnological Society. Volume 15). AMS Press, New York 1974.

literature

  • Barbara A. Babcock, Nancy J. Parezo: Ruth Bunzel, 1898-. In: Daughters of the Desert. Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest, 1880-1980. An Illustrated Catalog. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 1988, pp. 38-43.
  • David M. Fawcett, Teri McLuhan: Ruth Leah Bunzel. In: Ute Gacs (Ed.): Women Anthropologists: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press, New York 1988, pp. 29-36.
  • Margaret A. Hardin: Zuni Potters and The Pueblo Potter. The Contributions of Ruth Bunzel. In: Nancy J. Parezo (Ed.): Hidden Scholars. Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 1993, pp. 259-270.
  • Barbara Tedlock: Bunzel, Ruth Leah (1898-1990). In: H. James Birx (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Anthropology. 1. A-B. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks 2006, p. 430.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Cynthia Saltzman: Ruth Leah Bunzel . In: Jewish Women. A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive, 2009, accessed February 14, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Short biography in the directory of Ruth Bunzel's estate, National Anthropological Archives, pp. 3–4 (PDF, accessed on February 14, 2017).
personal data
SURNAME Bunzel, Ruth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bunzel, Ruth Leah (full name); Bernheim, Ruth Leah (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1990