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Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. His most famous work, 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion', is a compendium of myth and religion, examining the parallels between the beliefs and practices of ancient and modern cultures. Frazer's scholarship rested on a vast corpus of ethnographic data, which he utilized to argue for the universal progression of human belief from magic through religion to science. As a Cambridge classicist, his literary style combined rigorous scholarship with a gripping narrative, making his work accessible to a broader audience beyond the confines of academia. 'The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead' is another significant contribution by Frazer to the field of cultural anthropology. In this work, he explores the themes of death, afterlife beliefs, and ancestral worship across different cultures, again demonstrating his comparative methodology. A central figure in the anthropological studies of myth and religion at the turn of the 20th century, Frazer's ideas have since been critiqued but continue to be considered foundational in the history of anthropological thought. His influence extended to contemporary scholars and literary figures of his time who grappled with the implications of his theories for modernity and religion.
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