Anthropologists since Franz Boas and Margaret Mead have traditionally gone off to study primitive cultures. This collection of original essays breaks new ground in showing how anthropological theories and techniques can be applied to the culture of contemporary middle-class Americans.

In Symbolizing America, ten well-known anthropologists pursue self and identity as cultural rather than psychological matters. Looking homeward, they ask What Is American about America? How do we know? and What difference does it make? They analyze such aspects of American culture as...