Herder and ethnography

The source and nature of the ethnography of the important eighteenth century thinker Johann Gottfried Herder can in large part be understood through his relationship to his own society and especially through his part in the German cultural nationalist movement of the day. Herder's long involvement with the literature of travel led him to an understanding of many ideas now associated with cultural anthropology; he often recounts ethnographic information in a plain and impartial way. He also gives frequent moral judgements of native cultures. These judgements, often favorable and occasionally negative, may be traced to his announced political sympathies.