How did Clifford Geertz's interpretive anthropology focus on symbols and field notes?

Clifford Geertz was a central figure in interpretive anthropology, a movement that redefined the discipline as a text-oriented interpretive task.

Symbols and Meaning

Geertz championed symbolic anthropology, arguing that culture is a system of inherited conceptions expressed through symbolic forms. He believed these symbols guide human action and function to impose meaning on the world, making it understandable. For Geertz, the anthropologist's role is to interpret these guiding symbols, recognizing that culture is essentially a web of significance that people spin themselves.12

Field Notes and Ethnography

Geertz transformed the understanding of fieldwork by emphasizing the nature of the data collected. He argued that the primary product of fieldwork is the anthropologist's "field notes"—densely interwoven, symbol-laden texts. Consequently, he viewed the final ethnographies as "texts interpreting these texts." This approach highlighted the inherent subjectivity of research, encouraging anthropologists to acknowledge the limits of objectivity and the "partiality" of their own perspectives and choices in representing other cultures.2