Return To Laughter Summary

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Throughout time, numerous anthropological documents have been published that describe the politics, economics, ways of life, traditions, rituals, and customs in specific regions in the world. These passages are significant as they provide the reader with information about different places and cultures, but they also illustrate the history of anthropology and anthropological research. These documents also show the reader some of the issues anthropologists face today, and how many of these anthropological problems have been occurring for many years. One anthropological document that effectively describes a specific region in Africa, and the issues anthropologists face in that region is Return to Laughter, written by Elenore Smith Bowen. Bowen …show more content…

In Return to Laughter, the anthropologist describes the anthropological fieldwork they did in Nigeria, and explains how through this fieldwork, they learned a significant amount of information about Nigeria. In one example, the character described witchcraft in the West Africa, and explains how one time she was scolded for interacting with “a witch, one whom the entire community had ostracized” (Return to Laughter, 218). Connecting with witches was not tolerated in many African cultural groups, as many felt witches were evil. This example is significant as it illustrates how through anthropological fieldwork, anthropologists learn different values and customs in different cultural groups. In addition, another example that illustrates how anthropological fieldwork can provide individuals with information about cultural groups occurs when she describes how her understanding of the groups’ language improved significantly over time. She states, “As my grasp of the language improved, I began to be able to relax in company” (Return to Laughter, 78). Through her anthropological research, she was able to not only understand the language of the group, but she was also able to communicate effectively in that particular language. This is significant as it illustrates the importance of

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