Cultural Anthropology: Paper 2 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. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a ethnography written by Anne Fadiman. The first chapter of the book introduces readers to the cultural conflict between American doctors and Hmong by describing in detail the aspects of birth in both cultures. Heavy emphasis is placed on how the Hmong deal with placentas and their baby naming ceremony. Many details behind the Hmong culture rise and naturally this leads to conflict. Baby Lia begins to develop epilepsy and her parents take this as a symbol of divinity while the doctors at the nearby hospital, MERCED, only look at it as a disease. As doctors continue to try and prescribe medicine to reduce the amount of seizures the parents continued to reject it. They believed the Spivey 2 medicines were the reasons for the seizures, not the cure. The parents became frustrated as did the doctors. So frustrated at the parents refusal to provide their child with medicine, Doctor Ernst called CPA and Lia was removed from her parents’ custody. She showed no improvement in foster homes, and it was obvious that her development was far behind where it should have been. The seizures did not stop, in fact they increased. Luckily, a hospital in Turlock was able to get her to a stable point to where she could go home. This opened up Lia to a variety of unknown ... ... middle of paper ... ...as considered the infants first and finest piece of clothing. The Hmong would bury the placenta outside face up because they believe that after death the soul journeys back to the placenta for rebirth. In American culture the placenta is not regarded as a special item from the labor process, or is it associated with a soul, and it is immediately discarded. However the umbilical cord is considered symbolic and is kept by many people after their child’s birth. In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down many doctors at MERCED were aware of this Hmong tradition and provided a baggie with the placenta immediately after birth. Many ethnographies like this one by Anne Fadiman has helped people from other cultures become educated on how other societies run. The point of ethnographies are to give true and real-life accounts of other cultures and that is what Fadiman did.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a nonfiction book that brings to light the clash of Hmong culture and Western medicine in Merced, California. Anne Fadiman tells the story of a Hmong immigrant family, the Lees, and the unfortunate condition of epilepsy that their daughter Lia suffers from. Throughout the book the reader sees great conflict inflicted on medical practitioners due to the Lee’s own cultural beliefs and the frustration suffered by the family due to miscommunication. Anne develops the story by giving a detailed background of the Hmong peoples’ lifestyle in their indigenous land of Lao, how it contributes to their beliefs, and their struggle to understand and accept Western practices.
The cultural barrier between the Lee’s and the doctors was result of their negatives assumptions about each other. Both parties believed that their own treatment was the best way to help Lia deal with her epilepsy. As a result of their inability to look past their own perspectives and remain in their own spheres they moved further away towards a mutual understanding. It is usually harder to trust someone when you already have negative assumptions about them, making the trusting each other near to impossible. If the doctors and parents look passed these assumptions and looked at the situation through an untainted perspective then they would have had better chances of having respect for each other in the beginning.
In “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, the whole story revolves around Lia, the thirteenth child of Lee family. Lee family was a refugee family in USA and Lia was their first child to be born in US. At the time of time of birth, she was declared as a healthy child but at the age of three it was founded that she is suffering from epilepsy. In the words of western or scientific world the term epilepsy mean mental disorder of a person and in Hmong culture, epilepsy is referred to as qaug dab peg (translated in English, "the spirit catches you and you fall down"), in which epileptic attacks are perceived as evidence of the epileptic's ability to enter and journey momentarily into the spirit realm (Wikipedia, 2014)
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of a young Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, her family, her doctors, and how misunderstandings between cultures can lead to tragedy. The title comes from the Hmong term for epilepsy, which translated, is “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. Anne Fadiman alternates between chapters on Hmong history or culture and chapters on the Lees, and specifically Lia. The condensed history of the Hmong portrayed here starts at their beginning, and traces their heritage, their movements, and why they do what they do as they flee from enemies to country to country. This record allows the reader to better understand the Lees and their situation without bogging him down with details that may
This essay will be evaluating the question: how did language and communication play a role in shaping what happened to Lia? Also, it will look at if Fadiman points out ways in which communication practices between doctors and patients could be improved. These were important in the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, because they shaped what would happen to Lia in the end. The evidence we will look at will include the facts that the doctors and the Lees couldn’t understand each other, the hospitals didn’t have enough interpreters for everyone, and that the Lees did not trust hospitals or doctors in the first place because of their culture.
It is important to know what ethnography is, as well as methods that can be useful (or even detrimental) to your experience. These are questions that will be answered, and I will also be sharing some personal experiences that can help to think of culture in an accepting manner. The simplest way to put it is the study of cultures. This differs from Anthropology because it is the process of first-hand experiences that allow you to learn about the culture.
In Hmong’s, they have their own traditional beliefs in which they hardly ever alter due to a different atmosphere. Some of the Hmong beliefs are they prefer traditional medicine, are culturally active, host ritual ceremonies, and are spirituality influenced. In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, refers to the Hmong culture and their beliefs on medicine while their baby Lia Lee, is suffering from epilepsy in which they have a hard decision. Traditional Hmong’s have their own medicinal beliefs which they obey prior to obtaining Western medicine. The gulf between Western medicine and Hmong health beliefs is an impossible abyss. Also, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down describes the life of Hmong refugees assimilating to the American culture which brings challenge to Hmong traditions.
A cultural artifact is something that does not come from nature, it is something that is invented or made and helps tell us about the way the world is. Cultural artifacts can be seen as a good and bad thing; depending on your generation or how you look at how the artifact being used. Cultural artifacts have changed the way the world is and the way the world works. For this paper, the cultural artifact the cell phone has changed the way we communicate and do business. Everything we need is just a few clicks away.
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.
One cannot generalize or predict all human behaviors, thought processes, morals, and customs. Because human nature is dominated by different types of cultures and societies in various parts of the world, this can often lead to misunderstanding which ultimately leads to the illusion of cultural superiority, and in most cases this can lead to genocide - the systematic murder or annihilation of a group of people or culture. Anthropology is the study of humans, our immediate ancestors and their cultural environments this study stems from the science of holism - the study of the human condition. Culture is crucial in determining the state of the human condition, as the cultures are traditions and customs that are learned throughout an individual
Van Willigen though, says that applied anthropologists’ research is not determined by the field of study, but rather by the difficulties (Sillitoe 2007). Darnell is uneasy with the word applied anthropology as a whole because she considers that “all anthropology is applied” making it even harder to define applied anthropology (Darnell 2015). Although anthropologists can’t agree with a single definition, they do comprehend that culture is essential when trying to figure out how to find out the solutions to complications as well as essential to a lot of the patterns we perceive (Sillitoe 2007). A word that comes up when trying to define anthropology is ethnography (Sillitoe
Evolution in physical anthropology is an biological science that deals with the adaptations, variability and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives (Hagan, 2009). Because it studies human biology in the context of human culture and behavior, physical anthropology is also a social science (Hagen, 2009). In our reading textbook, the meaning of evolutions means we affect it, it affects us, and we are dependent on it. Another meaning is the actions of the natural processes that have affected every living organism (Park, 2009).
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”.
There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.
Anthropology and Tourism: A Sociological Comparison There are multiple similarities and differences between anthropology and tourism. Similar because they both involve observing the culture of another society, but different in how it is conducted and how it can affect people. Anthropology is meant to be respectful, ask for permission, and make sure that there is no obstruction of boundaries. The main goal of anthropology is to research and understand the way people do things and how the society works. Tourism, on the other hand, can be seen as obtrusive and offensive to the host’s culture.