Midterm 1 Flashcards
4 major subfields of anthropology
cultural anthrology, biological anthrology, linguistic anthrology, archaeology
culture
a learned set of values / behaviors among a group of people
culture is…
learned, symbolic, integrated, shared, holistic, changing
habitus
knowledge that is absorbed, not taught
enculturation
that sharing and learning of culture
Nacierma
shows how we can judge other cultures. if we take a step back from our own culture, we can see how it is “strange”
How do anthologists study culture?
doing fieldwork and ethnography. they surround themselves in the culture by living there and learning the language. they have informants to understand symbols and less obvious aspects of the culture
emic perspective
insider perspective
etic perspective
outsider perspective
ethnocentrism
the belief that one’s own culture is better than others (other cultures and “weird” or “strange”
cultural relativsim
no one culture is better than another
ethnography
the process and result of research (essay, book, film, etc.)
dialogic
idea that ethnography should be a dialogue between anthropologist and the culture they’re studying)
intersubjective
anthropologists should take different fields into account. there isn’t one way to look at a culture
reflexivity
when an anthropologist falls back on their own culture
participant observation
first hand research. the anthropologist lives with informants and does everything they do
thin description
being very literal about a description (i.e. wink = closing one eye)
thick description
asking “why” questions. what is the deeper meaning
interview
strategy of ethnography (formal vs informal)
culture shock
feeling of panic when in an unfamiliar culture / environment
language
a symbolic way of communication (voice, writing, gesture)
phonology
the sounds of a language
morphology
the study of the form of words
syntax
how units of speech are put together to create sentences
