Cultural Anthropology
Almost all cultures world wide have highly developed traditions of music and dance. According to Mari Womack, author of Being Human: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, music and dance carry much importance within a culture. "As do other artistic forms, music and dance reflect cultural and social organization. Cultural values can be conveyed in the words of a song, and the performance of a song or a dance is dependent on the social context" (Womack 226). Music and instruments are of great significance in many places world wide. For example, the BaMbuti foragers from Africa's Ituri rain forest have an instrument which they call the molimo which looks like an extremely long pipe. The men of the BaMbuti culture are the owners of the molimo and behave as if it is alive. Women and young boys are forbidden any contact with the molimo, because of its importance in male initiation rites (Womack 226). In the United States, we also have extensive rituals involving music and dance. For example, in wedding receptions, many rules prevail about who dances with who when. The father-daughter dance, the bride and groom's dance, the mother-son dance, and the dollar dance are just a few of these rituals. Marching Band is another form of the music and dance combination. Marching may not sound like dancing, but, in reality, the marchers move in their individual paths which create forms that are constantly blending into each other and creating new forms. According to Jordan, my informant, "To me, it really is kind of art, just seeing all these forms move and mesh, with music to go with them and flags and stuff. It is a type of art, I guess." Along with just basic marching, the band adds choreography which produces wonde...
... middle of paper ...
...s
A. Sectionals
B. Districts
C. Regionals
D. State
VI. Football Games
A. Home
Componential Analysis of Band Activities
Characteristics 1.0
1.1 Performing
1.2 Being Judged
1.3 Show on Field
1.4 Marching in Forms
1.5 Practicing
Timing 2.0
2.1 Summer
2.2 During School Year
2.3 Sequential
2.4 Non-sequential
Types of Activities
Characteristics 1.0
Timing 2.0
Parades
1, 5
1, 4
Band Camps
5
1
Rehearsals
3, 4, 5
2
Invitationals
1, 2*, 3, 4
2, 4
Competitions
1, 2, 3, 4
2, 3
Football Games
1, 3, 4, 5
2, 4
*Marching Bands are judged at all invitationals, but their scores are not publicly announced when they are the hosting school.
Works Cited
Womack, Mari. Being Human: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1998.
The Communist programs of Russia and China both appealed to a wide range of audiences but they focused primarily on the working class, or also known as the proletariat class. First, the Chinese worked on creating a conscious working class, making sure that they understood how low they were on the social ladder so that discontent could form, fueling the revolution (“Communism in China”, 3...
More specifically, Apollonian art forms tells stories through images and are rooted in dreaming. Much like dreams, apollonian art encourages one to continue living. While contemplating apollonian images, an individual is temporarily detached from her normal sense of self and daily struggle. Here, Nietzsche once again references ancient Greece. The Iliad and the Odyssey illustrate idealized illusions of war with great heroes. The language used is able to idealize a bloody war scene and turn it into something more desireable. Similarly, when one gets a tattoo to cover up a scar, they are transfiguring the reality to create something ideal. But the scar and the world do not disappear by these transfigurations and the objective harshness remains. However, our attitude towards the real thing is changed. We see the world in a more hopeful and positive light. As beautiful art is placed in front of the terrors of everyday life, reality may seem less awful and thus art makes life worth living. But Nietzsche realized the limitations of apollonian art. For once we see reality again, the illusion art created breaks and reality seems worse than it appeared
Stegmaier, Werner. "Nietzsche's Doctrines, Nietzsche's Signs." Journal of Nietzsche Studies No. 31 (2006): 20-41. JSTOR. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. .
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 14th Edition William A. Havilland; Harald E. L. Prins; Bunny McBride; Dana Walrath Published by Wadsworth, Cengage Learning (2014)
Before analysing selected art works in more detail it will be worth introducing a few different definitions and hypothesis of aesthetics in art based on theories of well-known critical thinkers.
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.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
Culture is an aspect of everyone's life. It helps others to understand another person's beliefs and actions. There are multiple cultures in the world which are opposed to their own kind seeking help for a mental illness. There is an infinite number of cultures that are represented in the United States. “Many cultural and religious teachings often influence beliefs about the origins and nature of mental illness, and shape attitudes towards the mentally ill.” (1). One's cultural beliefs can make them think about whether or not they should seek to get help for a mental illness. Among the cultures around the world and particularly in the US, many Asian cultures do not want the community members to be receiving help for their mental illness. In these cultures mental illness is seen as shameful, because these cultures influence the “conformity to norms, emotional self-control, and family recognition through achievement.” (1). There are many cultural factors that play a role in whether or not a person will receive therapy. These factors include: language, level of acculturation, age, gender, occupational issues, family structure, religious beliefs, and traditional beliefs about mental health (2). Language limits the access of therapy. If a person living in the United States does not speak English very well, it could influence them to not seek therapy. There is a large focus on “in-group/out-group” in many Asian cultures, as in everyone who is in the family/community around them are in the “in-group” and everyone else who is not like them are in the “out-group.”
Peoples, James, and Garrick Bailey. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003. Print.
Before taking this class, I often thought that our advanced society was the standard in which to measure all other societies from, but after reviewing the material in this course, it is impossible to make such a comparison. Many of the people in a culture similar to the U.S. would probably find most of the cultures we have studied to be “slow”, strange, or undesirable. In fact, it seems that many of the societies actually prefer to live the way they do and accept it as normal. “Normal” is a relative term, and it is difficult to establish evidence to label a culture or its characteristics abnormal. What may seem to work here often would be disastrous to other cultures.
Since God is dead, life is meaningless, and destiny undermines faith, it is clear that another philosophy of life should be necessary, and Nietzsche provided an alternate philosophy of life that is life affirming. He calls for a new spirituality which involves rebirth of our nations, where we have an appreciation of earthly life and nature. When God is taken for a metaphor for the transcendent expierence of awe and wonder, it is revealed to be, not an answer but an invitation into that existential mystery that sits at the center of our life, breathing us and everything we know into being. God as a sign is dead, but God as a symbol is indispensable.
Over the years many artists and art historians, such as Giorgio Vasari, Pablo Picasso, Paul Rand and Marcel Duchamp, have explored the definition of art. This essay will look at the opinions of these individuals and explore the concept of art by looking at various art movements, such as Dadaism and Cubism, which have influenced the definition of art, as we know it today. In this essay, I will also discuss the two elements of art; form and content, as well as how they are key to any discussion about what makes “good art” and “bad art”.
Friedrich Nietzsche has probably been one of the most criticized and controversial philosophers of modern times. His philosophy and ideas offended many, as much as it attracted others for over a century after his death. Most of his work was done under ill conditions that included headaches, depression and loneliness throughout the years he lived. His philosophical ideas included, firstly, that God was death. Secondly, the concept of an “Overman”. Thirdly, the idea of master morality. Friedrich’s arguments have influenced on how different individuals see today’s concept of religion, morals and achievement of power.
Cultural anthropology known as the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development. Cultural anthropology is also known as the study of human cultures, their beliefs, practices, values, ideas, technologies, economies and other domains of social and cognitive organization. Cultural anthropology studies how human cultures are shaped or shape the world around them and it focus a lot on the differences between every person. Human societies has been culturally involved throughout generations because of human development and advanced. The goal of a cultural anthropology is to teach us about another culture by collecting data about how the world economy and political practices effect the new culture that is being studied. However, cultural anthropology has gave us a understanding of world affairs and world problems, the way to interpret the meaning of social actions by putting them in as much context as possible, and a deeper insight of humankind-at all times, in all places and of yourself as part of a culture.
Subsequent to the study of different philosophies of art, as well as completing projects asking for personal preference in art as well as objective “fine art,” a personal philosophy may, by necessity, include subjective and objective facets. In determining what fine art is, the quality of universality is important. There also does not have to be a traditional presentation of beauty for a work of art to be fine art. Contrary to R. G. Collingwood’s philosophy, for fine art the culture and setting in which art is created should not matter, because if art is universal and timeless, meaning endures outside of where and when it was created. Evaluation of art can be subjective, but fine art is universally appreciated regardless of understanding background,