Body Ritual Of Nacirema Analysis

In history, Europeans have been known to colonize many parts of the world. The Europeans were so spanned across the globe that the notion that the “sun never sets on the British Empire” was inevitably true. However, this leads to the questioning, what motivated the Europeans to colonize such a vast amount of countries? In the documentary video, “First Contact,” three white men stumble across thousands of natives in a foreign land and eventually colonize the native’s land. This concept of white men colonizing natives is the foundation for colonialism. But the question remains, why were these men compelled to colonize these natives? In the two articles, “Body Rituals of Nacirema” by Miner Horace and “Geographical Basis of World History” by Hegel

In Miner Horace’s “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema,” he portrays how an outside perspective affects perception of an alien culture. In the reading, it starts to come clear that Horace is observing not a foreign tribe, but rather Americans and their every day rituals. Within the Nacirema tribe, Miner describes strange “mouth rituals” (Miner, ), which, in reality, is just brushing one’s teeth. This simple, daily act is the norm for the American society, however, it may seem ridiculous and unnecessary to another. To another culture, it may seem so different and strange, but it is perceived as completely normal to the people who live them. In addition, Miner observes that the tribes people visit a “listener specialist” to discuss their problem. Assuming that the Nacirema tribe is primitive without knowledge, Miner presumes that they go to the listener as a ritual to “exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people that have been bewitched” (Miner, ). In relation to colonialism, this sounds very similar to how Europeans observe natives and their seemingly bizarre customs. Furthermore, Miner is studying the American culture to portray how a European would observe a native tribe. Miner goes as far as using diction such as “exotic customs” and “habitat” to simulate that the Nacirema tribe is wild and have a culture that is based on ridiculous traditions and absurd beliefs. Through this example, it can be seen how an outside observer’s perceptions can be narrow-minded as he or she concludes that a race is inferior due to their