Ethnography & Culture
Ethnography & Culture
#2.“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay lee
“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari”
How do you interpret the ‘title’ of the essay? What is the significance of the title?
How did cross cultural misunderstanding ensue between Lee and the !Kung?
How did these people interact with regard to the cultural meaning of the gift of an ox?
!Kung culture/ Canadian culture
People coming from a hunting society
and an industrial one
Intercultural encounters….
“Schema” or “frame” a set of expectations that we bring to an interaction based on our previous experiences or cultural norms (Holmes, 382)
!Kung
a !Kung hunter…shares what he kills with others and expects them to reciprocate
Notes that the !Kung denigrated the gift, saying the ox was too thin
Explains that the !Kung’s behavior was typical and a way to reduce arrogance (Why?)
The way the !Kung treated Richard Lee’s gift
of a Christmas ox reveals how much they value equality. How so?
Lee acquired the ox he intended to slaughter for the !Kung Christmas feast from Herero pastoralists living nearby.
Why was Lee a perfect target for the charge of arrogance and for the Bushman tactic of enforcing humility?
Lee says:
“As I read it, their message was this? There are no totally generous acts. All “acts” have an element of calculation. One black ox slaughtered at Christmas does not wipe out a year of careful manipulation of gifts given to serve your own ends. After all, to kill and animal and share the meat with people is really no more than the Bushmen do for each other every day and with far less fanfare.” (18)
1) Meaning in context?
2) Why do Americans expect people to be grateful to receive gifts? (Is this “ideal” culture or “real” culture?
#3. “Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS” by Claire Sterk
questions
How is ethnographic research different from other social science research?
What can ethnographic research reveal that other forms cannot?
What were some of the techniques that Sterk used to enter the field, conduct her research, and leave the field? What problems did she face? What advice does she give?
Ethical issues?
Sterk discusses ethnographic fieldwork as a process—
entering the field,
making contact,
and developing rapport,
as well as ethical dilemmas and stress.
Methodology
Gaining entree
Leaving the field
Undertaking fieldwork in a Western microculture
in this case the culture of prostitute life illustrates how participant observation originally developed to discover the content of non-Western cultures, can be adapted for use at home.
Sterk’s goal was to learn about the lives of prostitutes from the women themselves.
The article describes
the experience of setting up and conducting an ethnographic study of prostitutes in New York and Atlanta (180 women)
Argues one should not count on “gatekeepers” or assume a role as expert
Fieldwork involved stress, which was partially relieved by being able to leave the field. Leaving the field, however, led to feelings of guilt. (Why?)
What Six themes did Sterk outline
In her ethnography of prostitutes?
Concludes six points about prostitutes from the perspective of the women themselves
1) Prostitutes often blame past experiences for their current status and
2) alienation from “normal” people.
3) There are different kinds of prostitutes—streetwalkers, women who became hooked on drugs after they started in the profession, women who entered the life already addicted to drugs, and women who turned tricks as payment for drugs.
Cont’d
4) Contracting AIDS was a great risk for prostitutes, but condom use was often rejected by their customers and pimps.
5) Men are often violent toward prostitutes.
6) Finally, women did sometimes leave this microculture, but their past often followed them.
What advice does Sterk offer
For aspiring ethnographers?
“Gatekeepers” are important in gaining initial access to a scene
Talking with informants in groups often inhibits ethnographic discovery.
Interviews
Participant observation
First experiences as prostitutes often involve alienation from people outside the life.
Sterk found that in-depth interviews worked best if held in private
Model for cross cultural understanding
Non-judgmental
Participant observer
Dialectical
Listen
Seeing the world “through their eyes”
#4. Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas by George Gmelch
concepts
“Naïve realism”
What is naïve realism?
Why is this story a good example of naïve realism?
Offending behaviors/ reactions
What behavior of an American study abroad student offended the Barbadian villagers she lived with? Why was she surprised by their reaction?
Overview
Mediation in cross cultural misunderstanding
What did George Gmelch do to mediate the cross-cultural misunderstanding? How successful was he?
Social class
What is social class? What part did it play in this event?
Prejudice/ discrimination
“Others”
“Within”
Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas
Illustrates the role that naïve realism plays in the relationship between a student fieldworker and her Barbadian informants
American insensitivity to the existence of social class and the nature of small communities
Autonomy vs communal life
The article
Shows how an American student’s values on equality conflicted with Barbadian views of class, in this case the low social position held by Rastafarians
Illustrates the role of naïve realism in cross-cultural field studies
Hannah’s story?
Her fieldwork was based around the concept that anthropologists are supposed to be interested in different kinds of people
Symbolic interactionism
What role did “class” play in shaping Barbadian perceptions of Rastas?
Perceptions vs Realities
Lazy, thieves
Hanna’s homestay family, some others in the village
Epitome of “cool”
Laid back
Reject mainstream values
Vegetarians
Rastafarianism – began in the 20s & 30
Spiritual and social movement
Diversity of Rastafarians
Yes, SOME are lazy or live alternative lifeways…others are healers, teachers, musicians
Bob Marley 1945-1981
Jamaican singer-songwriter
international musical and cultural icon
Credited with popularizing reggae music around the world and served as a symbol of Jamaican culture and identity.
a committed Rastafari
infused his music with a sense of spirituality.
“Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad…but it is everything in between that make it all worth living.”
“Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.”
Bob Marley: “Get up Stand Up for your Rights”
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaXe5DsXmU0
Culture
Is NOT “homogenous” it’s “heterogeneous”
Various, diverse, subcultural microcultures
Within social groups as well as between them
!Kung/ other south African groups/ Canadians/ North Americans
Main stream society/ prostitutes (diversity of these as well)
Barbadians/ Rastafarians/ tourists, exchange students, etc
Comments? Questions? Clarification?
Of the articles in the chapter…which did you respond to most/ least? Why?
Works Cited:
Gmelch, George. “Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas.” In Conformity and Culture: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. pp:13-19.
Haviland, William, Harold Prins, McBride and Walrath. Cultural Anthropology / Edition: 14TH by (Cengage)
Holmes, Janet. (2013) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Fourth edition. Pearson.
Lee, Richard Borshay. “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” In Conformity and Culture: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. pp:13-19.
Spradley, James P. “Ethnography and Culture” In Conformity and Culture: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. pp:6-12.
McCurdy, Shandy and Spradley. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology/ Edition: 15TH by (Pearson).
Sterk, Claire. “Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS.” In Conformity and Culture: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. pp:20-30.
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