Different specialists give different interpretations of the concept of "ethnography". Some call it a science or a scientific discipline, others put an unscientific meaning into this concept. So, what is ethnography? When did this term originate and how does it differ from "ethnology"? Translated from the Greek, the meaning of the word "ethnography" is "description of peoples". If we draw up a complete definition, then this includes a description of the origin, resettlement of peoples, its composition, its way of life and customs, material and spiritual culture. The combination of these factors is ethnography. The science that studies the above signs is also called.
Ethnography as a science covers many spheres of life and social processes, which is probably why the question of what ethnography is is still relevant. It includes such areas as paleoethnography, demography, ethnic history, ethnopsychology and ethnosociology, physical anthropology and many others.disciplines.
The "father" of ethnography can be safely considered Herodotus, who left for posterity numerous valuable unique descriptions of neighboring peoples and tribes. Following him can be called the ancient Greek scientists Thucydides, Democritus, Hippocrates and some ancient Egyptian chroniclers. Of course, at that time none of them thought about what ethnography was, the term itself appeared only in the last century.
Sources of ethnography - this is information obtained through direct communication with the described population, observation for a certain time of their way of life, traditions, culture. These can be traveling expeditions or stationary living among the observed people. Ethnographic sources are usually divided into several types:
1) material or material (clothing, household items, food, money, jewelry and other property);
2) written (any kind of records, diaries, recipes, recorded legends and epics, etc.);
3) folklore (songs, ditties, oral epics and legends, and not only their performance is important, but also the conditions in which it occurs);
4) linguistic (which language branch they belong to, what dialects are available, pronunciation, etc.).
In addition to these four types of sources, physico-anthropological (structure of the skull, external characteristics) and audiovisual sources (photo, video, audio materials) can also be distinguished, although the latter are already a sourcesecondary.
The ethnographically richest country is, of course, Russia. More than 150 peoples live on its territory, but many of them also divide themselves into ethnic groups. The ethnography of Russia took shape as an independent science by the end of the 19th century. Many Russian ethnographers have become world famous - L. N. Gumilyov, V. Ya. Propp, N. N. Miklukho-Maclay, S. A. Tokarev and others. In Russia, the question of what ethnography is also took place, but the meaning contained a slightly different one. The fact is that at that time in Western European countries the term "ethnology" was used, which did not take root in Russia. Only since the 1990s have Russian scientists begun to use both of these concepts, sometimes as synonyms, and sometimes with slight differences.
