我至今使用“anthropology”(人类学)这个词,仍然是指它在英语国家中的通常含义。不过我必须强调一点,根据意大利的传统,无论是在正式的学术用语中,或者是在日常用语中,“人类学”都被理解为对于人类的生物学研究。因此,象英语表述中在人类学前面加上“physical”(体质的)这么一个形容词,对意大利人来说就是多余的了。在意大利文中,与美国的“文化人类学”和英国的“社会人类学”相当的词,就是“etnologia”(民族学)。这个明显的区别已经根深蒂固,当意大利这门科学的第一个正式学会——“意大利人类学和民族学学会”于1870年建立时,几乎未加讨论就被接受了。只是在最近几年,才有少数几位学者对这个术语提出异议。 I still use the term “anthropology”, still referring to its usual meaning in English-speaking countries. However, I must emphasize that according to the Italian tradition, “anthropology” is understood as a biological study of human beings both in formal academic terms and in everyday language. Therefore, it is redundant for Italians to add “physical” (adjective) such as pre-anthropology to English expressions. In Italian, the term equivalent to “cultural anthropology” in the United States and “social anthropology” in Britain is “etnologia” (ethnology). This apparent distinction has been deeply rooted, and almost without discussion was accepted when the Italian Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology, the first formal society of science in Italy, was founded in 1870. It is only in recent years that a few scholars have raised objections to this term.