Anthropology
Anthropology what a vulnerable observer you are! You may well have to jump into the arms of the scientists if you are going to try to keep your grass hut at the academy! -- Ruth Behar
Debates on the role the reflexive plague the field of cultural anthropology as postmodern critics join the bandwagon attempting to claim authority in this dubiously recognized discipline. In the borderline realm between the sciences and humanities, cultural anthropology has tried to find a niche in which it can comfortably rest. For many, this has been in building a foundation of the methodical. If anthropology can classify, categorize, and synthesize, it can assert its legitamacy to the glares of academia. However, in the attempts to salvage its reputation, anthropologists have sacrificed the validity of research by neglecting our subjectivity. Critics have viewed the role of the reflexive as anthropological "naval gazing" leading to introspection and empathy which undermine accurate observation. However, I contend that it is important to include reflexivity in anthropological method. The anthropologist has to recognize not only the effect the surroundings have on him/her personally, but also the effect he/she has on the surroundings. This dialogue comprises data. If neglected, the text in its attempt to be comprehensive would be left incomplete.
The anthropologist Renato Rosaldo has been particularly criticized for his statement on reflexivity in Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. In this work, he revisited his previous ethnography Grief and Headhunters Rage with a new perspective. Many years after his fieldwork, he realized the importance of personal experience in understanding the context. He states, "Dur...
... middle of paper ...
...8)
The anthropologist provides the framework for fieldwork. He/she is the very lenses in which the reader views the culture. By acknowledging his/her own subjectivity, the anthropologist recognizes the limited view he/she provides. This also adds texture to a text by filtering through his/her own background and personal experience. This personal insight is what gives understanding between individuals. By infusing this into the data, the anthropologist draws the reader into a realm where he/she can have the capacity to understand more deeply the ethnography. Beyond the personal background of the ethnographer, his/her actual presence in the environment effects the data immensely. The colliding cultures can reveal a lot about the culture at hand. Reflexivity leads the reader through a depiction of the ethnographer's journey rather than a detached set of sequences.
... unjust aggressor who has violated the woman's dignity. Rape is an act of force and violence, unlike the conjugal love in marriage whereby both spouses give freely of themselves in an act of love. The woman who was raped is not responsible for the action, and thereby has the right to prevent the pregnancy or even stop the pregnancy through abortion. However, I agree with any arguments that state killing is wrong. I do agree that killing is wrong from the time the fetus becomes a human being, up to any age of an adult. People should not be allowed to take the life of another person as this is a crime. I believe that abortion should stay legal for several reasons; because women should have the right to make decisions regarding their own body and especially if they are a rape victim, and because they have the autonomy to exercise that right regardless of state laws.
The world of anthropology is tightly woven into research of humans and their cultures. One of the most important principles of the Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) is found in Part III, Section A, Number 1: “Anthropological researchers have primary ethical obligations to the people, species, and materials they study and to the people with whom they work.” (American Anthropological Association, 2009) This main principle helps to guide social scientists through a maze of ethical dilemmas such as if and how the research itself may harm or otherwise impact those with whom they are studying. While the purpose of the research may be to gain knowledge of the plight of a certain individual or group of individuals, by the extension of the sharing of this knowledge the person or persons being studied may draw unwanted attention. By utilizing the Code of Ethics, the framework has been established so that the researcher is guided “to consult actively with...
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 14th Edition William A. Havilland; Harald E. L. Prins; Bunny McBride; Dana Walrath Published by Wadsworth, Cengage Learning (2014)
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
Nanda, S and Warms, R.L. (2011). Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN – 13:978-0-495-81083-4.
Advances must be made in anthropology and, despite the views of writers of the past, reflexivity has proven to be effective, successfully evolving into the field of anthropology.
Personal experience and reflexivity should be used within anthropology as a tool to reflect on the culture that is being studied and not a refocusing of attention on the self. Works such as Dorinne Kondo’s “Dissolution and Reconstitution of Self,” use the idea of reflexivity as a mirror in which to view the culture being studied in a different manner. This use of reflexivity allows for the focus to stay on the culture being studied. A move away from this is the new branch of humanistic anthropology represented in this essay by Renato Rosaldo’s “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage” and Ruth Behar’s “Anthropology that Breaks Your Heart” allows anthropologists to use reflexivity as a way to explore universal human feelings. For me, this is not the study of anthropology as much as self-reflexive psychology. The focus shifts from culture to self. The anthropologists completely understands the feelings of the people he/she is studying. I think that it is rather ambitious to state that emotion is univeral, and I do not think that it is the job of anthropologists to do so. The reflexive voice is a necessary aspect of ethnographic writing, but the anthropologist must be careful not to shift focus from concentrating on culture to concentrating on herself.
The Return to Laughter is a fictionalized account by Elenore Smith Bowen about her experiences with the Tiv culture in Africa. It describes her struggles to learn and understand the local culture and beliefs, and juxtaposes her own conflicts, morals and beliefs. Bowen engages in what anthropologists termed participant-observation. The anthropologist made a few mistakes that provided revelations about herself and the Tiv people. Language difficulties provide the greatest barrier: as when the researcher is trying to understand the context of the conversation, while still struggling with the intricacy of a difficult language. Secondly, like most anthropologists Bowen knew that social relationships are a research requirement: informants are needed, yet she quickly realized that identification with one family, status or group in the society could hinder other critical relationships. These lessons are among a few that the anthropologist seeks to overcome. This essay will discuss that culture and language are dependent on each other and how forming social relationships can propel research and reveal insightful knowledge into a culture, while possibly hindering other useful information.
In the book titled Around the World in 30 Years, Barbara Gallatin Anderson’s makes a precise and convincing argument regarding the acts of being a cultural anthropologist. Her humor, attention to detail, and familiar analogies really allow for a wholesome and educating experience for the reader. Her credible sources and uniform writing structure benefits the information. Simply, the book represents an insider’s look into the life of a cultural anthropologist who is getting the insider’s look to the lives of everybody
Not only this, but anthropologists will also employ Ethnography, writing down a description and analysis, based upon the fieldwork. This helps keep a record of what was learned, while also keeping the culture being studied under its own viewpoint. These factors help impact the analysis of a culture, while still being observed under a cultural relativism outlook.
“The anthropologist is a human instrument studying other human beings”. This quote can only be described as extremely relevant when reading McHugh’s ethnography, a detailed analysis on the Gurung people of Nepal. She involved herself emotionally, physically, and mentally during her stay, portraying what it’s like and what it takes to study other people from an outsider’s point of view. The relationships McHugh created throughout her stay deepened her understanding and paved the way for her fieldwork as she dived into the unknown.
Welsch, Robert L, and Kirk M Endicott. “Should Cultural Anthropology Model itself on the Natural Science.” Taking sides clashing views on controversial issues in cultural anthropology. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Since the beginning of the human species, humans have possessed an undying curiosity with their entire existence and surroundings. These curious obsessions, including that of their environments and other living organisms, have never been as strong, remarkable and lasting as the curiosity we’ve had about ourselves both collectively and individually. Two anthropologists offer the valid idea that “it is probably fair to say, wherever literate civilizations came into contact with members of different societies, something like ethnographic writing occurred” (McGee, Warms, 2012). It also seems to be plausible, even looking as far back into the human origin and history as Homo neanderthalensis, that the first glimmer of curiosity occur. Of course Homo neanderthalensis would not be writing ethnographies detailing the emic and etic perspectives within and about a culture, but since they are believed to have lived in complex groups and would occasionally pass another group or merge with another group in passing it would seem reasonable to assume that a base curiosity must have been piqued. All ideas, whether valid or not, begin with a thought. The field of anthropology is a rich transformation and amalgamation of ideas, thoughts and theories evolving throughout time. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the development of anthropological theory from the late nineteenth century to the present twenty-first century.
Anthropology is known as the study of human beings, over time and space. We often look at anthropology as just the evolution of mankind and their basic development. After taking a class in Cultural Anthropology, I’ve come to realize how much more in depth it is. There are many different aspects that we do not look at. We do not need to be anthropologists to see how these concepts can apply to our daily lives. Anthropology makes you to look at the world differently than you were taught too. Cultural anthropology, has a holistic approach that helps us to see how one society relates to itself and how that society can be taken on its own terms without bias. It helps to identify our own way of viewing various different cultures around the world and realize that the way we do things and see things may not be the only right way there is. There are other people around the world that are different from us and do things differently that we are used to or that we find to be “the right way”.
Marcus and Fischer dismiss these practices and suggest using “multiple other-cultural references” to prevent “simplistic better-worse” judgements (1986:139). In order to evoke a “common capacity for communication” and “shared membership in a global system”, Marcus and Fischer propose two techniques for cultural criticism (1986:139): defamiliarization by epistemological critique and defamiliarization by cross-cultural juxtaposition (1986:137-38). The authors emphasize the importance of ethnographies that are “equally committed in their own contexts and equally engaged in cultural criticism” (Marcus and Fischer 1986:139). Marcus and Fischer coincide with critiques of early anthropology, as they call out the importance of equal study of cultures within a global context and not solely singular studies of ‘exotic’ or ‘inferior’ cultures. Marcus questions previous modes of anthropological study as James Clifford does in his inquiry into “ethnographic authority” (Clifford 1983:121). Clifford states, the “predominant mode of modern fieldwork authority is signaled: “You are there, because I was there”” (1983:118). Clifford dispels this dominating you vs. me opposition between