Week 13 (Expressive Cultures)

Question 1

Expressive Cultures

Answer 1

Expressive cultures
* Art
* Leisure
* Play

Look at art, leisure and play within their cultural context
* Not every culture share the same concepts or categories what art or play is.
* Products, practices and processes as arts.
* Study artist’s position in society.
* Connection between local cultures, inequality and power.

Question 2

Art

Answer 2

Definition of art matters
* Impact people’s value
* How people treat art

A broad definition
* Application of imagination, skill, and style to matter, movement and sound that goes
beyond practical
* No cultures lack artistic activity.

How cultures construct and changes artistic traditions.
* Different time periods
* Different medium of expression.
* Graphic arts vs. decorative arts.
* Body adornment
* Performance vs. verbal arts.

Question 3

Art II

Answer 3

Fine art vs. Folk art.
* Ethnocentric

Fine art
* Rare
* Expensive
* Artist trained by western tradition.

Characteristics of Fine art
* Made for the market.
* Associated with particular artist.
* Valuation.
* Art for arts sake.

Question 4

Art III

Answer 4

Characteristics of Folk arts.
* No formal training.
* Not for sale.
* Not associated with particular artists.
* Everyday use.

Esthetics
* Social accepted notion of quality.
* Not always written or formalized.

Question 5

Art in Society

Answer 5

Ethno-esthetics
* Cultural specific definition of what art is.
* Yuroba, Nigeria
* Wood boats in Iceland

Meaning of art for society.

Franz Boas

Functionalist vision of art
* Socialize children into society.
* Legitimize political leaders
* Effort in wars

Question 6

Art in Society II

Answer 6

Participant observation
* Collecting oral and written
materials.
* Linguistic and cultural
anthropologists.

Chernoff
* Immersed oneself into the
art.
* Learned how to play drums.
* Social and ritual context.

Question 7

Art in Society III

Answer 7

Focusing on the artist.
* Look at the artist through the artist’s perspective.
* Social status matter.
* Class & Gender

Local cultures, art and Power
* Sense of pride
* Art appropriated by more powerful groups.
* Express resistance.
* Rap.

Question 8

Performance Arts

Answer 8

Ethnomusicology
* Cross cultural study of music

Music & Gender
* Temair, Malaysia
* Cultural materialist: Equal access to resources – equal access to music.
* Complimentary and balance between the genders.

Country music and Globalization
* Brazilian country music
* Adopt American country music.
* Critique of American imperialism.
* Duo without a dominant voice
* Importance of kinship.

Question 9

Performance Arts II

Answer 9

Theater & Myths

Strong connection between myth, rituals and
performances.

Kathakali
* India
* Ritual dance drama
* Characters of Indian mythology.

Question 10

Architecture & Decorative Arts

Answer 10

Architecture can reflect upon
* Social class
* Gender
* Age
* Ethnic differences

Decorative arts include
* Interior design
* Buildings
* Gardens

Question 11

Architecture & Decorative Arts II

Answer 11

Architecture and Interior design.

The state
* Centralized planning
* Temples
* Administrative buildings
* Memorials and museums.

Interior design became more complexed
* Status through consumption pattern.
* More participation for women in the public sphere.
* Only high class can afford to meet demands

Question 12

Architecture & Decorative Arts III

Answer 12

Gardens and flowers
* Not culturally universal.
* Associated with State-level societies.

Islamic gardens.

Gardens tell something about people’s identity
* Heterotopia
* Elements drawn from multiple and diverse context.

Cutting flowers
* Provide incomes

Question 13

Leisure Travel

Answer 13

Research on tourism.
* Travel to “less” industrialized countries.
* View on “authentic” cultures.
* Myth plays a major role

Tension between the image and reality.
* Appalachia in Virginia,
* The image of “hillibilly life”

Impact on Indigenous people
* National park in Kenyna
* No benefits for the local people.

Question 13

Play, Leisure & Culture II

Answer 13

Sports/play can tell us something about cultural ideas
* American football
* US vs. Japanese baseball.
- The role of Wa in Japanese baseball.

Sports and spirituality
* Male wrestling in India
* Wrestling separates wrestlers from everyone else.
* Working with a guru.
* Similar to Hindu sannyasi
* Control body and life force.

Question 13

Play, Leisure & Culture

Answer 13

What people do for fun

No clear distinction exists between leisure/play and arts.

Leisure and play include
* No direct utilitarian purpose.
* Limited in time.
* Has rules
* Contain chance and tension.

Leisure and play part of the social system.
* Involves teams instead of individual
* Social roles and status matters

Question 14

Changes in Expressive Cultures

Answer 14

Colonialism and Syncretism
* Extinction of indigenous art.
* Trobriand Islands
* Eradicate warfare as a part of pacification process.
- Replaced by competitive sports.
- Islanders changed cricket to fit their own ideas.
- Competition between big-mans
- Brought magic into cricket.
- Winning do not matter.

Question 14

Play, Leisure & Culture III

Answer 14

Blood sports.
* Seek to provide flow of blood.
* Boxing.
* Cockfights and bullfights.

Question 15

Tourism Complex Effects

Answer 15

Decline in quality of indigenous arts.

Belly dancing in Turkey

Material Cultural heritage
* UNESCO
* 100 sites have been listed to the world heritage sites.
* Financial support for preservation.
* Anthropologists involved.

• Intangible cultural heritage
• Oral tradition
• Languages
• Performing acts.
• rituals

Question 16

Cultural Heritage as a Contested resource

Answer 16

Power matters the most
* Who defines cultural heritage in what is authentic and inauthentic?
* How to design preservation to address both insider and outsider roles and
interest?

Hula
* Dance in Hawaii
* Reviced language, Hula
* Created conflict
- Questions of the quality of the dance.
- Violates traditional rules.
- Tied to religious beliefs and deities.