lecture 4 (3 is the recording you haven't done yet) Flashcards
who was Bronislaw Malinowski
pioneering ethnographers of British social anthropology
what did Bronislaw Malinowski look for
looked for institutions that lead to social stability and order in the societies he worked on
what did Bronislaw Malinowski think about documentation
the more we could document about society the more we could under stand humans (the way they think, understand the world, etc)
he didn’t completely reject the project of the 19th century, but he felt that the observation of the comparative…
did Bronislaw Malinowski on missionary accounts like the people before him
cant rely upon missionary accounts because they had their perspective wrong, they noted things that just struck them as odd and made no sense, but was all with a biases/wrong perspective
what were the ways of documenting and studying before Malinowski
rely on missionary accounts
excessive of the imagination; if I was a savage, what would I think of
why did Malinowski thin the old ways of studying people was insane
Malinowski thought this was ridiculous that people did this to understand all societies because you CANT know unless you ARE that person
what did Malinowski propose
He proposed science; the more rigorous possible method of observation; learning the language, this was a romantic appeal; he didn’t just intend to go and see, he intended to LIVE as they live and, in a sense, become one of them as the would participate in all their activities and duties and language, figure out the trading systems, etc. He figured out how their lives were built around a system of family and tradition, etc… this was what he concluded was their law
what did Malinowski want to do about the brisk colonies that colonized the people he studied
life under the British empire (the people he was studying were under their power) he studied, he dedicated his research to improving the life under the British empire as he saw how bad it could get
wanted, for example, to get a better administration
what is the paradox of Malinowski
this was the contradiction
he wants to record them as they disappear
but the agent of their dissapeaence is the colonial power, but he is under the colonial power as well
he isn’t using his engagement and research of how to stop their dissapeaence, he just accepts their dissapearence as an enevidable
but why? why wouldn’t he try and change this and get suggestions for the administration and improve their lives
did malinowski believe the supernatural authority or laws controlled society
the social structure includes its own social sanction
Malinowski did believe that the supernatural had authority, but he looked at every aspect of life of the people he studied to see what contributed to social order
he figured out how different things contributed to the social function, how social order was maintained
who was E. E. Evans-Pritchard
referred to by friends and associated as EP
great ethnographer
critiqued by clifford haris? for his connection to the colonial power
critiqued for _____ the social order in the societies he observed
he also did a study in the ______ (the Muslim brotherhood of the…)
he was a participant in the subterfuge against the Libyans
quality of giving up who one is in this guy’s research
committed suicide in 1973
he destroyed absolutely everything before he died
what is a notable thing EP did a study on
he was a participant in the subterfuge against the Libyans
what case study is evans-pritchard most associated with
Zandeh
how did the Zandeh conduct social order
the way people explained misfortune involved witchcraft
if you were injured (seriously), you would immediately ask yourself who might have bewitched me?
witchcraft could exist in people unknowingly…when someone has really wronged you, you can cause misfortune
explain the case study of the Zandeh
Zande live in the Sudan
Granary is a perfect place for shade
to keep this place away from insects and stuff, you elevate it, and under it is shady so people go there and chill
sometimes the termites eat the pillars that hold up the granary
the granary collapses, people injured
Zande would ask why the pillar broke just when these people were sitting under it? They would look into who might have had an animosity towards these people and who might have cultivated which substance that had an effect on the circumstances which occured
you would go out and consult a which doctor
what is the benge oracle (associated with the Zandeh people)
Consulting the benge (poison) oracle
feed poison to a chicken
if the chicken lives through poison when you mention a name, that person is cleared but if it dies, that person is guilty
they do not propose names randomly— they are knowledgeable about what is going on and who might hold hostility and they mention those names
how did the fear of witchcraft conduct social order when there was no formal, westernized “law”
(Zandeh people, Evans-pritchard)
people do not want to be known as a witch
someone will hold you accountable if someone is hurt and you held any animosity towards them
you hold in any magic you may have
in every society there is animosity and hostility
the consequences of british rule had an impact on witch craft but was not central in his studies
he points out a system of social order in the absence of the state
a way in which a society ca work and get along without a bearctricy/ police force/etc all these things that we take for granted in our society that we think is needed to maintain order
These societies work!
who did study of Bamba in Zambia
Audrey Richards
what is Chisungu
Audrey Richards, Chisungu: A Girl’s Initiation Ceremony among the Bemba of Zambia, 1956
how did the Chisungu: A Girl’s Initiation Ceremony among the Bemba of Zambia, work
she described everything that had to do with the ceremony that transitioned girls to women
“rights of passage”
she describes this initiation in detail with attention to the way the girls are instructed in and memorizing the way of adulthood and what is expected of them
she developed a way of understanding what was expected of the girls; a part of the girls duties of the initiation was to memorize poems/songs associated with these little figurines’ and she has to show through a performance that she has committed them to memory
these songs were about the way she has to behave and what is expected of her as an adult woman
what was significant about the songs of the Chisungu
these songs were like a law
she demonstrates how this was like a law
tempted women may have wanted to go off and drink with friends while leaving behind her baby, but an older woman would recite the songs to her and she would reevaluate her actions. The sanctions may not have been so bad, but it was still considered a law, something she had to do.
when new circumstances arrive, the poems could be adapted
through the memorization there is a codification of morality, people can remember it
it was kind of like a legislation
what are the main differenced between Malinowski and Richards
M— Ephasis on group ties, recirocity, social structure
R— psychological functions
M— synchronic analusis, emphasis on stability, order
R— symbolism = diachroniconic qualities…
what was Richards most interested in
she is nostalgic as the rituals are disappearing and how they re dying out and how she was even asked at one point to initiate a Chisungu ritual
