Mid Term 1: Study Review Flashcards
4 Sub fields of Anthropology
- Cultural
- Physical
- Archaeology
- Linguistics
Cultural Anthropology
Study of all aspects of living human behavior
Archaeology
Study of material remains of past culture
Physical Anthropology
Biological aspects of humans
Linguistics
The study of language, origin, and acquisition
Ethnocentrism
Assumption that one’s own culture is the best, most sensible, natural and normal
Ethnography
Includes both fieldwork among people in society and written results of such fieldwork.
Franz Boaz
Believed fieldwork was key to understanding culture. Developed theory of relativism.
Dialectics
Used to describe a long term historical change
Human Condition
Holistic and has dialectical properties
Culture
complex whole which included knowledge, belief etc as a member of society
Components of Culture that make human exeptionality
- -> enhance our holistic possibility
- -> dialectical aspect
Imperatives for Culture
- Cultural Self-awareness-reflexivity
- Cultural as dynamic as “meaning making”
- Cultural as relational (no butterflies)
Ethnocentrism
Dualism
Cultural Relativism
Dialectic
Requirements for fieldwork
- Permisson
- Ethics: minimize harm, anonymity
Methods for gathering Data in the field
- transects, surveys, interviews
- focus groups or participant observations
Colonialism
Erosion of trade ways of life that protected from desituation
Talal Asad
Anthro and the colonial encounters it reinforces the inequalities in capacity between the European and the non-European worlds
Challenges in Fieldwork
Social
- unevan acceptance
Physical, psychological
- isolation
- Culture shock
Holism
non-reductionist perspective
Morgan’s Scheme
(1877)
- Savagery
- Barbarism
- Civilization
Transcription
Taking a fieldwork, recording it, and then typing it out
Coding
Highlighting words you think are important
Field Recording
Recording every word in interview
Focus groups
Focused on interaction with a group
Situated Knowledge
Account for both the agency of knowledge producer that of the object of study
Fact
Widely accepted observation taken for granted item of common knowledge
Uniliear Cultural evolution
Theory all cultures change overtime and the ones that don’t are behind in time (western civilization)
Cultural relativism
Perspective all cultures are equally valid and can only be understood in their own terms
Language
System of vocal symbols we use to encode our experiences of the world
Human Communication
Transfer of information from one person to another
Speech Community
Group of people where language is associated
Charles Hocked
(1966) Listed 16 different design features of human language
Openness
Ability to talk about the same experiences from different perspectives
Terrence Deacon
Set of 6 calls.
- Laughing
- Sobbing
- Screaming
- Crying
- Groaning
- Sighing
Arbitrariness
Lack of transparent connection between the form of symbols and its function or meaning