Abstract:
The author discusses in this article Edward Sapir’s perspective on culture. He stresses that the fact that Sapir is primarily a linguist plays a central role in order to understand the singularity of such a perspective. The author also stresses the importance of the notion of “form” in language as well as in social life. This emphasis on form makes possible a radical criticism of evolutionist, diffusionist, and functionalist concepts of culture. According to the author, the notion of authenticity plays an important role in Sapir’s concept of culture once for that author culture (authentic cultures) necessarily exists by means of singular individual experiences.
Keywords:
Culture; Language; Form; Authenticity; Individual experience