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Tutorski A. The Problem of Cultural Complexes in the Study of Economic and Cultural Types in the USSR and Cultural Areas in the USA

A. Tutorski
Lomonosov Moscow State University;
International Center for Anthropology of the Faculty
of Humanities of the National Research University Higher School of Economics
Moscow, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0003-4651-4667
E-mail: tutorski@hist.msu.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. This article provides an overview of the post-World War II development of the concept of cultural areas in the United States and the concept of “economic-cultural type” in the Soviet Union. It analyzes the main lines of criticism directed at these frameworks. It identifies three foundational aspects of the cultural area (CA) concept as it existed prior to the war: the natural science aspect, the cartographic aspect, and the analytical aspect. Each of these aspects subsequently gave rise to distinct lines of development in the United States and the Soviet Union. The natural science aspect was advanced in the works of G. P. Murdock, forming the basis of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) project. In the USSR, similar, although smaller-scale initiatives were undertaken by M. Vitov in ethnography and A. Matveiev in onomastics. The analytical aspect was developed by M. Herskovits and M. Sahlins in the U.S. during the 1950s–1960s, and by V. Kozmin and A. Golovnev in the USSR during the 1980s. In the latter case, the interconnections between environment, culture, and human activity are most clearly articulated, with Kozmin focusing on reindeer herding and Golovnev on economic complexes. The cartographic (or geographical) aspect, which constituted the central focus of CA research before World War II and was developed in the works of B. Andrianov, saw little continuation in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century.

 

KEYWORDS: cultural areas, economic-cultural types, history of anthropology, reindeer herding

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2025-4(30)-136-153
UDC 168.522

 

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