Constructing Realities Flashcards
Worldview
People’s reality based on shared cultural assumptions on how about how the world works
Secularism
Separation of political or economic realms of society from religion or spirituality
Metaphor
Figure of speech, word, or phrase is applied to an object or action in which it is not literally applicable
Symbolic Actions
When activities such as myth, art, dance, etc. are used to dramatically depict meanings shared by a group of people
Domains of Experience
Areas of human experience from which people borrow meaning to apply elsewhere
Key Metaphor
One or more domains that a culture consistently borrows from and attributes to their experiences
Kwakwaka’wakw Metaphor of “eating”
- Indigenous people from the NW Coast
- when someone dies, their soul is transferred to a salmon and when it is eaten, its soul transfers to a human child
Symbolic Actions
Activities that dramatically depict shared meaning of people (ritual, art, myth, literature, games, music, etc)
Hamatsa Dance
Cannibal Dance
- Initiates youth and represents the power of hunger and their ability to control greed and conflict
3 primary stages of childhood to adulthood
- Described by Arnold Van Gennep
1. Separation (leaving the familiar)
2. Liminality (a time of testing, learning, and growth)
3. Reintegration (a return)
Key Scenarios
Dominant myths or stories that portray the values and beliefs of a specific society
Ethnographic Time
Case studies or examples written some time ago that only show a screenshot in time and often hold bias
Maori of New Zealand
- Beliefs connect to the physical environment
- Origin story has Sky Father and Mother Earth
- Humans are not seen as separate from the rest of nature
Euro-North American
- See humans as a separate entity
- Have a right to the earth’s resources
Shamanism
It varies from culture to culture, but generally spiritual practitioners, or shamans, enter an altered state of consciousness to seek guidance from spiritual beings
Things that disrupted worldviews
- Colonization
- Christianity
Changing Cultures and Worldviews
- Cultures are dynamic and susceptible to change
- Difficult to change the meaning ascribed to experiences
- People rely on their worldviews to make sense of change
Acculturation
A process whereby culture receives traits from a dominant society
Revitalization Movements
Revitalized belief systems or new belief systems forming altogether
The Ghost Dance
Paiute named Wovoka had a vision about peace through a dance. It was adapted into many cultures (also a way to rebuild indigenous culture
Wounded Knee Massacre
- Sioux people practiced Ghost Dance
- People fled, then surrendered at Wounded Knee
- Ended in a massacre but people came together withing their community
Syncretism
The combination of 2 or more worldviews using old and new beliefs to create a new worldview
Creole
The blending of African and European cultures to create something uniquely Caribbean
Atheism
A lack of belief in supernatural forces or beings
