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In contrast, Evans-Pritchard, in his fieldwork, stressed that the observer of a culture needs to be neutral in their assessments. He wrote of being tolerant of other societies. According to Evans-Pritchard, the ethnographer had to divorce themselves from their own cultural expectations to study other cultures.
The dominant theory that Evans-Pritchard learned was Structural Fundamentalism, which was developed in opposition to Evolutionism. Developed by Bronislaw Malinowski and Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (Note 3.), this theory maintained that each society is a holistic integrated system sustained by individuals. The interlocking series of relationships within each society functioned as a system to keep it from disintegrating. Therefore, each culture has its own internal logic.
Evans-Pritchard first did his fieldwork, in the 1930s in Southern Sudan, among the Azande and Nuer. When he was with both peoples, Evans-Pritchard participated in their daily lives such as oracle taking. Keenly aware that he was an outsider, Evans-Pritchard knew he could not know how these Africans thought. Therefore, he learned the language of the people he was living with. Through their language, Evans-Pritchard could grasp important concepts of the Azande and Nuer.
When Evans-Pritchard started his fieldwork in Africa, the world had changed from Frazer’s time. The First World War destroyed European confidence and shattered empires. The pointless chaos of the First World War exposed the inanity of the Victorian mindset.
During the Second World War, Evans-Pritchard served in the African Resistance against Italy. In North Africa, with the Arab tribes, he engaged in guerilla warfare. From that vantage point, he witnessed the dismantling of the British Empire and the rise of the African nations.
Studying various religions in the 1950s and 1960s, Evans-Pritchard believed that religion was not constructed for either sociological or psychological reasons. He said that those reasons are what non-believers theorized about “alien” religions. Evans-Pritchard thought that people formed religions based on their perception of reality. Religion and magic were rational and logical ways of engaging with the world.
In his writings, Evans-Pritchard separated sorcery from witchcraft. He defined sorcery as magic that caused harm. In contrast, witchcraft was used to air and resolve social tensions. He wrote that “good magic judges and acts only against criminals. Bad magic slays one of the parties without regards to the merit of the case.” Evans-Pritchard defined a “witch” as a person suspected of practicing prohibited forms of magic. In contrast, “sorcerers” actively engaged in using magic for ill. His definitions reflect both British and African sensibilities.
Frazer and Evans-Pritchard agreed that magic was separate from religion. Magic was a result of how people dealt with their environment. Frazer thought that a person misinterpreted the natural world, while Evans-Pritchard that it was a logical response. However, both men believed that science would render magic useless. In that they reflected British sensibilities about the supremacy of technology and progress.
Notes:
Note 3. Evans-Pritchard knew both men.
Works Used:
Bowie, Fiona, “The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction.” 2008. PDF. https://www.academia.edu/331603/Anthropology_of_Religion.
Davis, Owen, ed. “The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft & Magic.” Oxford University Press: Oxford. 2017.
Evans-Pritchard, Edward Evans, “Social Anthropology and Other Essays.” Free Press: New York. 1966.
Frazer, James, “The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead.” The Gifford Lectures. https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/belief-immortality-and-worship-dead.
— The Worship of Nature.” The Gifford Lectures. https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/worship-nature.
Hutton, Ronald, “The Witch.” Yale University Press: New Haven. 2017.
—, “A Framework for the Study of European Magic.” Grey School of Wizardry Class Materials. Dell.Urgano, Ombra, “The Development of European Magic.”
Long, Heather and Kelly Chakov, “Social Evolutionism.” University of Alabama. 2022. https://anthropology.ua.edu/theory/social-evolutionism/.
Moro, Pamela, “Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magic.” International Library of Anthropology. 2022. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1915.
Porth, Eric, Kimberley Neutzling and Jessica Edwards, “Functionalism.” University of Alabama. 2022. https://anthropology.ua.edu/theory/functionalism/.
