Cultural Anthropology Exam 1

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The three phases of a rite of passage:

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1. Separation (moved to a ritualized space, ex: wedding – bride and groom removed from their everyday setting into specific room or isolated from each other/ ritualized space/ preparing for the transition in your life)
2. Liminality or liminal – betwixt and between. Ex: (wedding example) period of engagement. During this phase, there are oftentimes no rules, no expectations. Sometimes the roles and responsibilities are reversed. Period of freedom/uncertainty. Rules are left undefined.
3. Reintegration – when you are reintegrated back into society, back into normal social life with new role or new status/identity.

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4 different rites of passage:

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Birth → baby shower
Puberty → quincienera
Marriage → wedding
Death → funeral

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5 characteristics of a ritual:

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1. sequential actions (same time, same place)
2. designated form and procedure
3. formalized communication
4. no place for non-participants
5. seeks to mobilize the supernatural (characteristic of a religious ritual)

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multivocality

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multiple perspectives
(many voices)

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qualitative research

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“yields detailed information reported in the voices of participants and contextualized in the settings in which they provide experiences and the meanings of their experiences”

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quantitative research

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“a measurement orientation in which data can be gathered from many individuals and trends assessed across large geographic regions”

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Bronislaw Malinowski

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father of fieldwork; he solidified the idea to submerge yourself into the field – learn the language, learn the practices.
Malinowski was interested in how the tribe used magic.

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"Field" means:

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the site where you collect data – where the people are that you are studying. Ex: people’s homes, churches, communities. Field site is determined by the questions you are trying to answer.

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ethnography

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the first-hand, personal study of local settings (writing about people)

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Anthropology:

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The study of the human species and its immediate ancestors. It is a comparative science that examines all societies, ancient and modern, simple and complex. It offers a broad view - a distinctive comparative, cross-cultural perspective.
Greek anthropology meaning: Anthros (human) logia (study)

Anthropology is a science - a "systematic field of study or body of knowledge that aims, through experiment, observation, and deduction, to produce reliable explanations of phenomena, with references to the material and physical world."

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culture

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traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them

The most critical element of cultural traditions is their transmission through learning rather than through biological inheritance. Culture is not itself biological, but it rests on certain features of human biology.

Culture is a key environmental force in determining how human bodies grow and develop.

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Holistic approach

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viewing culture as an integrated whole, no part of which can be understood in isolation

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4 main subfields of anthropology

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1. Archaeology - studying material remains of human societies done to understand past cultures
2. Biological or Physical Anthropology - refers to the inclusion and combination of both biological and cultural perspectives and approaches to comment on or solve a particular issue or problem. It focuses on the biological diversity of humans, particularly how they relate to cultural practices, evolution, and the environment
3. Linguistics - study of language and how it relates to culture
- structural linguistics: morphology of words and sounds
- socio linguistics: application of languages
4. Cultural anthropology - studying the culture of contemporary human societies. It describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences.

Main differences between cultural anthropology and other fields:
- contemporary societies
- ethnographic methods

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E.B. Tylor

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the first anthropologist to hold a university position

he attempted to identify universal patterns that connected cultures

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Franz Boas

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father of American anthropology

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cultural relativism

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any cultural practice is best understood within its own culture background/history

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emic

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insider's perspective

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etic

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outsider's perspective

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soul

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the noncorporeal (intangible) spiritual component of an individual

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soul loss

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the belief that one's spirit has left one's body, causing the body to languish, sicken, and/or die

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SUNDS

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sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome

Hmong (Vietnamese) explained the death of certain people who migrated to the U.S. and died of unknown causes

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ethnology

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examines interprets, analyzes, and compares the results of ethnography - the data gathered in different societies. It uses such data to compare and contrast and to make generalizations about society and culture.

Ethnologists attempt to identify and explain cultural differences and similarities, to test hypotheses, and to build theory to enhance our understanding of how social and cultural systems work.

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The American Anthropological Association (AAA) has recognized that anthropology has two dimensions:

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1. academic or general anthropology
2. practicing or applied anthropology. This refers to the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems

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applied anthropology:

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encompasses any use of the knowledge and/or techniques of the four subfields to identify, assess, and solve practical problems

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E.B. Tylor definition of culture:

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"Culture...is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

Tylor's definition focuses on attributes that people acquire not through logical inheritance but by growing up in a particular society in which they are exposed to a specific cultural tradition.

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enculturation

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process by which a child learns his or her culture

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Humans own cultural learning depends on the uniquely human ability to use:

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symbols, signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they stand for or signify

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Hominidae

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the zoological family that includes fossil and living humans, as well as chimps and gorillas

we refer to members of this family as hominids

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hominins

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the group that leads to humans but not to chimps and gorillas and that encompasses all the human species that ever have existed

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universal cultural features:

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found in every culture

example: long period of infant dependency, year-round sexuality, complex brain that enables us to use symbols

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cultural particularity

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a trait or feature of culture that is not generalized or widespread; rather it is confined to a single place, culture or society

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the ideal culture

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consists of what people say they should do and what they say they do

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real culture

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refers to people's actual behavior as observed by the anthropologist

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ethnocentrism

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the tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures