Donna Serpa
Journal Article Review
November 29th, 2014
Article Critique of “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” written by anthropologist, Horace Miner.
Introduction
People of the Nacirema people have some very attention-grabbing cultural practices when it comes to their attitudes of the body. How they view the physique in general and their fascination with the mouth, specifically, is quite bizarre. The purpose of this paper is to critique the peer-reviewed research entitled “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” written by anthropologist, Horace Miner. Originally published in the journal American Anthropologist in June of 1956 (Wikipedia), Miner’s etic, social analysis reporting, portrays a small tribe living in the “territory between the Canadian …show more content…
According to the author, “these can be found in every single community (Miner). The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal in thinking that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. The people who go to these temples are stripped of all his or her clothing. A man, for example, “whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel (Miner). References are made in the article to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and is scheduled as an act. Efforts are made by the women of the tribe to avoid pregnancy by the use of enchanted tools or by restrictive intercourse to certain periods of the moon …show more content…
. I believe that the reader is enticed by the definitive material and excellent use of descriptive vernacular, yet the reporting style of Miner is one sided, in my opinion. This article lacks quite a bit of revealing material to the differences between the sexes of this tribe and seems to be written in a style which resembles more of a reported opinion, versus scientific research. While the author embarks on the rituals quite descriptively, and emphasizes many rituals of the people, he leaves a lot to the imagination of the practices, responsibilities and value of the women of these tribes. He also doesn’t even touch on the wellbeing or function of any children or their hierarchy in the society of which he writes about. Miner’s description of the economic situation of this tribe is void of any other explanation than his one introductory sentence about their highly developed market economy. It seems extremely relevant that the author would elaborate more in this area. Perhaps giving more historical information on the culture would help to build a foundation on which the reader would be more interested. It is my opinion that Miner intentionally reports in an etic style which is indicative of members of a
Journal Article Review
November 29th, 2014
Article Critique of “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” written by anthropologist, Horace Miner.
Introduction
People of the Nacirema people have some very attention-grabbing cultural practices when it comes to their attitudes of the body. How they view the physique in general and their fascination with the mouth, specifically, is quite bizarre. The purpose of this paper is to critique the peer-reviewed research entitled “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” written by anthropologist, Horace Miner. Originally published in the journal American Anthropologist in June of 1956 (Wikipedia), Miner’s etic, social analysis reporting, portrays a small tribe living in the “territory between the Canadian …show more content…
According to the author, “these can be found in every single community (Miner). The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal in thinking that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. The people who go to these temples are stripped of all his or her clothing. A man, for example, “whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel (Miner). References are made in the article to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and is scheduled as an act. Efforts are made by the women of the tribe to avoid pregnancy by the use of enchanted tools or by restrictive intercourse to certain periods of the moon …show more content…
. I believe that the reader is enticed by the definitive material and excellent use of descriptive vernacular, yet the reporting style of Miner is one sided, in my opinion. This article lacks quite a bit of revealing material to the differences between the sexes of this tribe and seems to be written in a style which resembles more of a reported opinion, versus scientific research. While the author embarks on the rituals quite descriptively, and emphasizes many rituals of the people, he leaves a lot to the imagination of the practices, responsibilities and value of the women of these tribes. He also doesn’t even touch on the wellbeing or function of any children or their hierarchy in the society of which he writes about. Miner’s description of the economic situation of this tribe is void of any other explanation than his one introductory sentence about their highly developed market economy. It seems extremely relevant that the author would elaborate more in this area. Perhaps giving more historical information on the culture would help to build a foundation on which the reader would be more interested. It is my opinion that Miner intentionally reports in an etic style which is indicative of members of a