Cultural Anthropology Exam 1 Study Guide PDF

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This is the exam 1 study guide from Dr. Leatham's class that I filled out after every single lecture....

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Cultural Anthropology Exam 1 Study Guide Portraits of “The Whiteman” 

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How do the principles of “contrast” and “distortion” operate in Western Apache performances? o Contrast principle  Choose for imitation the members of a status-role category typically occupied by Anglo-Americans that is culturally paired with a second category, Western Apaches  Using the joking variety of Western Apache English  Emphasize role using stock phrases and lexical items associated with forms of activity in which members of the first category regularly engage with members of the second category  Select for presentation elements of Anglo-American behavior that contrast with functionally equivalent elements in the behavioral repertoire of Western Apaches o Distortion Principle  Distort the behavioral elements selected by modifying aspects of their form, thereby heightening the contrasts that motivated their selection in the first place  Regarding elements of verbal behavior, distortion may be accomplished by:  Increased speech volume; increased speech tempo; exaggerated elevations in pitch; repetition of whole phrases; modification in voice quality  Regarding elements of nonverbal behavior, distortion may be accomplished by:  Exaggerated abruptness or jerkiness of movement; repetition of movements; lengthened duration of visual and bodily contact o These principles act together to show others that the joker is joking, and sets and example for what the Anglo-American, and what the Apache is not. What is the dramaturgical framework through which “playing the Whiteman” is done? How can the metaphor of drama aid in explaining the meaning of “Whiteman” joking to non-Apaches? o The actor is the person who is telling the joke o A switch to the English language signifies that the person is now playing a joke o By taking it to the “stage” Apaches are essentially acting out dramatization of scenes which they have seen that are starkly contrasted to what they deem socially acceptable What cultural concerns do Apache performers dramatize in these jokes? For what reasons do the Apache feel the need to express themselves in this manner from time to time? o Apaches usually express themselves in this manner to acknowledge the differences in Anglo-American culture and because it is so geographically close, and create an ethnic boarder for which other Apaches should not cross o “Hello my friend”  Apaches think Anglo-Americans use “friend” too much and not in the correct contexts, calling people who they barely know friends

Asking an Apache how they are doing is an invasion of personal privacy Apache prefers to join or leave social groups without public attention and find it embarrassing to have much attention drawn to them o In Apache culture, calling someone by name is sometimes likened to temporarily borrowing a valued possession. o Except when participating in physical activities that involve necessary physical interaction and touch, Apaches do not touch each other in public  So, when the Whiteman slaps them on the back or shake hands it is rude o “Come in come in”  Considering bossing an Apache around, and is rude and offensive o Apaches consider it rude to repeat a question more than once From what sources do Apache jokers derive the experiential knowledge required to construct and effective “Whiteman” joke? o Apaches use their own interactions with Anglo-Americans and their culture as template for their jokes o They also use the stark contrasts in cultures to set up jokes (ex: shaking hands and patting people on the back) How does an Apache joker set up the scene of his joke involving another Apache man? How does choice of communicative resources impact the interpretation of the scene by hearers of the joke? o Traditionally, when the Apache switches to using the English language, it is a tell that a joke is being made in relation to the Whiteman o When an Apache switches to English and is acting in ways that are thought to be more Anglo-American, the hearers understand that he is now making a joke and that his actions are not expected to be Apache and withhold their cultural values and beliefs How do the Western Apache classify forms of humor and in what category does “Whiteman” joking fall? o The Whiteman jokes are considered dangerous o Banagozdo? – when the person at whom the joke is directed is depicted as something, he or she is not  The butt is made a subject in the metaphor Although seen as risky activity, why do most W. Apache listeners not take offense to “Whiteman” joking performances? What is the role of “framing” in producing this outcome? o When the Apache code switches to English, most Apaches understand that the Apache is no longer responsible for his actions because he is embodying the “Whiteman” who do not follow Apache customs and social norms Under what kinds of circumstances and with what kinds of social actors are “Whiteman” performances done? o These jokes are only performed with those whose relationships are a “soft hide”; people who have grown up together and whose relationship is so solid that a joke will not do substantial damage Why does Basso place the term Whiteman in quotes in his title? o o

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Apaches are not making fun of an individual, but of the culture and stereotype that is the Whiteman, it is seen as a representation of the Anglo-American culture and their interactions with Apaches

General Anthropology  

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Anthropology: Study of humans Cultural relativism: not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right and wrong o Ex: eating fried crickets o Opposite: ethnocentrism- whatever your culture is the center of all cultures and anything outside is considered other  the process by which a child learns their culture o methodology used in field work that emphasizes setting aside personal judgments  meaning emerges form own contexts  learning function and meaning of the symbol and actions Four-field anthropology o Holistic approach  Approaching anthropology with all four fields of anthropology in mind o Cultural anthropology, Linguistic anthropology, Physical anthropology, Archaeology Franz Boas: Father of American Anthropology o Studied Native Americans to write ethnographies to attempt to save cultures during American war on Indians o First anthropologist to incorporate and insist on incorporation of fieldwork Ethnology: Study of modern people and culture o Sociocultural, cultural anthropology Archaeology: the study of ancient people and cultures o Focuses on the context of artifacts found o “dead cultures” Linguistic anthropology: language in cultural context studying o How people communicate and how humans interpret sounds Physical (Biological) anthropology: study of ecology and behavior of primate order and their evolution o Paleoanthropology: study of human evolution and early Homo  Focuses pre-agricultural revolution o Forensic anthropology: use of biological/physical anthropology in a law context o Primatology: concerned with human interaction and effects on primates  Ethnography of primates and their culture

Fieldwork 

Ethnography: the process of discovering and describing culture o Fieldwork is the primary mode of research

Documentation of culture Process and product of cultural observation Look for 3 things  What people should do  What people say they do  What people actually do Emic and Etic data o Etic: outsider data  Information derived from non-native people  Stats, numbers, historical accounts, neighboring accounts  Quantitative data o Emic: native/local meanings  Own understandings and meanings  Being able to see things the way natives see themselves  Quantitative data Participant observation: involving oneself in culture and observing at the same time o Another word for field work; the verb for field work Longitudinal research: going back multiple times to a culture o Going back over time allows the ethnographer to document cultural changes (or not changes) Ethnologist as “marginal insider” o Ethnologists will participate in the cultural activities, but are not part of the culture because they are there to understand the culture to write down the meanings Culture shock: a form of anxiety that results from an inability to predict the behavior of others or to act appropriately in cross-cultural situations Qualitative approach (subjective data) o Not numbers o Descriptions of culture and acts o Defining the meaning behind acts and cultures Quantitative approach/data o Surveys or questionnaire o Numbers and statistics AAA Code of Ethics o Protection of informants  Record things informants ask you not to  Revealing informants o Forbids undercover research o Sexual liaisons Ethnography of Nueva Jerusalen o This group didn’t like the Vatican II changes o Value of life histories  Life history: interviewing to find out about life stories  Major motifs in catholic derived groups for motivation to join  Use of group as a halfway house o o o

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o No alcohol, drugs, sexual activities Reform of husbands from womanizers o Preventing him from cheating o Domestication of men- alteration of masculinity Escape from violence from home o Sometimes will come to sect. to escape violence at home (caused by military or gangs, etc.)

Limitations  Not joining  Pressure from the group and superiors to join  Telling the group, you are not joining because it is an ethics violation to do undercover research  Policed and monitored all the time  People assigned to watch you and report back to the heads  Freedom as a researcher and human is taken away  Very strict rules  Must have extreme caution with language/terminology  When people start hearing you use the same terminology as them they begin to not understand how you can use the words and not be joining the cause or believe in the message  Sense of exclusivity tailored by the culture o Millenarian: people who think the world will end at a certain date  Aka: end of the world/ doomsday groups Informant (consultant): a person who teaches his or her culture to an anthropologist Key consultant: person in the culture who know the area well o Can get many different insights o Gatekeeper: those who believe they know everything and can try to control research  Can cut access to other informants Scheduled vs. open-ended interview o Scheduled/ structured interview  Specific questions pre-prepared  Not a roaming interview  Targeting questions addressing main research topic o Open-ended interview  Allowing the consultant to talk and wander through topics  Not a lot structure Genealogical method: includes procedures by which ethnographers discover kinship and marriage patterns through diagrams and symbols o Mapping this part of the social structure that is kinship related o

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The Culture Concept 

Primate background to culture

Early Homo in East Africa (2.75 mya)  800,000 ya tools worked both sides (bifacially)  Proof of shared knowledge  H. erectus used fire o Homo sapiens sapiens  Anatomically modern humans (250 thousand ya)  100,000 ya humans began to develop modern human behavior  35,000 ya evidence of religion Adaptation o Humans can create occupations/ecological systems using culture  Can be flexible and create our own reality Ethnocentricity: a mixture of belief and feeling that one’s own way of life is desirable and actually superior to others Keesing’s three-part definition of culture o A system of knowledge shared differentially by members of a society  Shared to different degrees which facilitates culture change  Set of ideas and knowledge that is systematizes and nonrandom through logic and organized thoughts Biocultural nature of humans o Co-evolution of cultural behaviors and human biology  Humans used their culture as they evolved to survive  Ex: fire and tools Culture as filter of all human experience o Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: if you don’t have a word for something, you cannot say it out loud so therefore, it’s not a thing Increasing complexity of culture o Throughout the evolution of humans, as they became more dependent on culture, their culture became more complex o Ex: tool evolution with humans Increasing dependence on culture o As humans began to evolve, they became increasingly dependent on the tools that helped them in their evolution (ex: fire) Socialization: the process of an individual becoming part of a cultural community o Larger part of the way in which culture is learned o Personal interactions, parental discipline o Do your understanding match/meet the expectations of other? o Feedback based Symbol: anything that humans can sense that is given an arbitrary relationship to its referent o Way in which culture is encoded o Arbitrary association: association between symbol and an idea (made or unmade) o Filtering of perception: seeing same thing but not interpretation the same o Flexibility in mapping: basic human capacity; changes over time o Channeling of biology: basic needs that determine culture/culture affects needs o

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The symbol is not the physical, but the meaning that you give the physical  Link the stimulus to the symbol non-naturally Frame/framing o Frame: understanding of what is going on; orientation of reality  Frame results from key  Missframing: not having the appropriate response to a key Key/keying a frame o Keying a frame: sets of symbols/relationships that set angles of interpretation o Key: stimuli that has meaning and signals to listener to reorient their knowledge of what is going on  Ex: Apache switching to English  Key is the actual signal Ideal vs. “real” culture o Ideal cultural: what people should do o Real culture: what people actually do as observe by the anthropologists Naïve realism: the notion that reality is much the same for all people everywhere o Assuming characteristics in one culture is universal Symbolic interaction o A theory that seeks to explain human behavior in terms of meanings  Ex: humans don’t respond to stimulus, but to meaning of the stimulus o Association between stimulus and meaning Tasset culture: don’t talk about a social rule, but it’s there o Ex: people spreading in an elevator when someone comes in o

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Ethnicity and Race 

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Microculture: systems of knowledge characterized by mission/tasks o Ex: waitors and waitresses in the serving business o Usually do not have all the pieces of culture (such as kinship patterns, etc.) o People aren’t born into microcultures, but they could have a strong family tie to a microculture  Ex: military families Embodiment: physically routining people to condition a culture and meaning o Ex: nun praying in physically demanding position o Reinforces memory of meaning (like muscle memory) o Socialization mechanism o Usually embodied as: routines, postures, food regulation, physically tolling things Strategic Air Command (as microculture) o Shield symbolism  The strong hand that holds the power of nuclear bombs but also an olive branch because it’s important to have diplomatic peace  The sky is there because they are pilots who fly in the sky. o 7-day “alerts” as form of discipline/conditioning

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Example of embodiment Went into an underground home and would have “drill” and get all of the stuff ready to fly and when the decoders decoded the message, if they all got the same message then it was a drill, if they didn’t then it was not a drill (or visa versa I’m not sure) o Communication of unit’s mission Ethnicity: a culture designating a group of people o Identification gives social relativism  Provides cooperation and altruism  How we group ourselves and each other o 2 axes of ethnicity  Heritage: historical destiny of an ethnic group  Cultural style: individual adopts love or attraction for forms or expressions associated with an ethnicity  Ex: speech, dress  Important factors for historical identity Ethnic marker: symbols of ethnicity o Ex: dance, song, etc. o Anything that denotes an ethnic culture Ascribed vs achieved status o Ascribed status: imposed status  Ex: female, daughter, 19-year-old, African American, Caste system organization o Achieved status: earned or chosen status  Ethnicity is usually achieved (not imposed on anyone) because of its situational nature  Ex: classmate, employee, friend, student Situational negotiation of identity o Ethnic labels: words used to designate groups o Situationally negotiated by individuals to present themselves in a desired manner o Pan-ethnic label: labels that lump groups together  Ex: Hispanic, Indian, Asian Ethnic rite of intensification o Ethnic intensification: festivals that intensify a groups affiliation to a culture  Show off their culture and become “more in touch with their roots”  Ex: Octoberfest (Catholic Germany); Armenian festivals; Hmong New Year Hmong refugee o Origins  Come from Laos  Monarchy of Laos fell to communist party during the Vietnam War (1969- 1972)  Vang Pao: Hmong man who recruited Hmong to serve for the American government (American was not supposed to be in Laos because it was a neutral territory)  When Monarchy fell, Hmong fled Laos and went to Thailand

 Stayed in a multiethnic camp waiting to be airlifted to America 5 ethnic tribes originally in Laos characterized by colors worn and made by the women o Adaptational challenges  Women became the bread winners  Sold needlepoint work  Men could not speak English and were not educated so could not obtain a job (made it hard for the rigid patriarchy which they socially had)  Inverted the familial hierarchy  Children suddenly became more accomplished in American society because they grew up in American schools learning the language  Older people who were originally respected and turned to for any decision could no longer get jobs to feed the family and had to go on welfare which was a blow to their egos Armenian o Persecuted in the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish Ottoman Empire o Flew in mass to California o Language lost by second generation Basque o Flew from civil war in country o Went to Idaho (not sure about that one?) o Uses clothing in festivals representative of the culture when they left the country of origin  Almost frozen in time Paj ntaub/ story cloth (Hmong) o An adaptation of the flower cloth (Paj ntanb)  Dreams and abstract designs o Women embroider the pictorial representation into cloth  Usually depictions of rural Laos scenes and the story of the Hmong journey o A product of exposure to other cultures and experiences as a group  Ethnic marker for American Hmong; this will not be found in Hmong groups outside of the US Folklore of differential identity o Contrast ethnic differentiation o Designed for ethnic boundary maintenance Agringado joking o Agringado: a person who is becoming more Anglo-American o The joke is usually told to the person present, alluding that they are becoming less like their ethnic community and more similar to the Anglo-American o Uses the Agringado’s words and actions to turn around and point out that they are leaving the ethnic community to the subject o Ex: skunk and possum run into each other -> “I’m sorry” (undergrad student is no longer able to speak Spanish as well which is a huge ethnic marker of his culture) Marking (African-American verbal art genre): 

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o Mocking what a person says to make a point Ethnic boundary maintenance o Maintained in Apache society by the jokes, exemplifying what is and is not Apache Biologi...