Exam 1 (What is Cultural Anthropology?)

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

the holistic and scientific study of humanity.

Question 2

Holistic

Answer 2

An attempt to integrate all that is known about humans. The theory that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
– Holistic approach: An integrated perspective that assumes interrelationships among parts of a subject including both biological and cultural aspects.
– Emergent properties

Question 3

Cultural Anthropology

Answer 3

the study of contemporary human cultures, the diversity, similarities and processes of change.

Question 4

Culture

Answer 4

the patterns of learned and shared beliefs and behavior. The “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capability acquired by man as a member of society.”

Question 5

Four Subfields of Anthropology

Answer 5

1. Cultural Anthropology
2. Physical/Biological Anthropology
3. Archaeology
4. Linguistic Anthropology

Question 6

What sets cultural anthropology apart?

Answer 6

1. ethnographical and ethnological approaches,

2. the essential perspective of cultural relativism, 3. advocacy for maintaining cultural diversity.

Question 7

Ethnography

Answer 7

– means “culture writing” – the descriptive study of ones culture, subculture, or microculture based on fieldwork.
– provides a first-hand, detailed description of a living culture
– based on first-hand research

Question 8

Ethnology

Answer 8

– the comparative study of cultures; it presents analytical generalizations about human culture.
• marriage forms, economic practices, religion, etc.
– uses ethnographic material

Question 9

Cultural Relativism

Answer 9

• The idea that cultural traits are best understood when viewed within the cultural context of which they are a part
• Serves as a cognitive tool to help us understand why people think and act as they do

Question 10

Etic

Answer 10

– data gathering by outsiders that yields answers to particular questions posed by outsiders
– An outsider’s view of culture

Question 11

Emic

Answer 11

– descriptive reports about what insiders say and understand about their culture
– “people’s talk”, an insider’s view of culture

Question 12

Absolute Cultural Relativism

Answer 12

– whatever goes on in a culture must not be questioned by outsiders.

Question 13

Critical Cultural Relativism

Answer 13

– poses questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why.
– recognizes power relationships (oppressors, victims)
– a critique of absolute cultural relativism

Question 14

Ethnocentrism

Answer 14

• The opposite of relativism is ethnocentrism. When you see the world using only your own categories and meanings.

Question 15

cultural imperialism

Answer 15

situation in which a dominant culture claims supremacy over minority cultures and makes changes in both its culture and the minority culture(s) that serve its own interests at the expense of the minority culture. (ex. missions, colonialism)

Question 16

Three tenets of Cultural Anthropology for the study of culture

Answer 16

1) holism- broad and interconnected view of the human experience, an integrated whole with emergent properties (symbolism).
2) diversity- use the comparative method of ethnology to study cultural similarities and differences. Use the concept of cultural relativism as a way to understand a culture in it’s own terms, rather than impose ones own alien or outside categories and interpretations. The opposite of relativism is ethnocentrism. When you see the world using only your own categories and meanings.
3) change- culture is not stagnant. Cultural evolution- culture adapts to physical, biological and cultural forces over time. Individuals have ‘power’ to cause or create cultural change

Question 17

Culture is:

Answer 17

– Learned – active teaching & passive ‘habitus’
– Shared – defines a group, meets common needs
– Patterned – reoccurrence of similar ideas
– Adaptive – helps individuals meet needs across variable environments
– Symbolic – simple and arbitrary signs represent something else, something more

Question 18

Symbolism

Answer 18

when something represents

abstract ideas or concepts. – object, figure, sound, color, gesture

Question 19

Cultural proficiency or cultural competence

Answer 19

the ability to produce and interpret the meaning of a culture’s symbols. Acquired through the processes of enculturation and acculturation.

Question 20

Familial culture

Answer 20

the culture you share with your family, your learning context, people who share your language (primary shared symbolic system).

Question 21

Enculturation

Answer 21

the process through which we acquire and transmit culture, establishing individual behaviors and beliefs.

Question 22

Subculture

Answer 22

a subdivision in complex diverse societies that shares some features with the larger society and also differs in some important respects

Question 23

Cultural universals

Answer 23

general learned behavior patterns that are shared by all of humanity (because they solve problems shared by all human societies)

Question 24

Human capacity for culture

Answer 24

1. Transmission
2. Memory
3. Reiteration
4. Innovation
5. Selection

Question 25

Adaptation

Answer 25

the way that humans cope with (or productively interact with) the environment. Adaptation allows humans to satisfy basic needs in varying environments.

Question 26

Processes of culture change

Answer 26

Internal changes (inventions and innovations) can spread to other cultures. Changes may be deliberate or unintentional.
•	External changes (cultural diffusion) spreading of cultural elements from one culture to another. Diffusion is responsible for the greatest amount of change in any society

Question 27

Acculturation

Answer 27

A specific form of cultural diffusion in which subordinate culture adopts may of the cultural traits of a more powerful culture.

Question 28

Linked Changes

Answer 28

Changes in one part of a culture brought about by changes in other parts

Question 29

Proscribed Enculturation

Answer 29

prohibited behaviors and beliefs

Question 30

Prescribed Enculturation

Answer 30

encouraged behaviors and beliefs