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Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism
What is ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
What's difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
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All around the world there are many different customs, beliefs and different cultures. These are the things that interest anthropologist and it’s what makes them want to learn about society. Laura Bohannon is an anthropologist who went to visit the Tiv tribe in West Africa. While staying there she had to learn to overcome the changes in culture and ethnocentrism. While doing so she learned the idea of human nature.
While going to visit the Tiv tribe Bohannon decides to tell the story of Hamlet to them because they are big story tellers, and it is a popular story in the western world. She begins to tell the story and notices the idea of culture relativism. That idea being that each culture or society must be understood on its own terms not those of outsiders. She notices this when the elders begin to ask her questions like, “Why was he no longer the chief” (Bohannon 3)? These questions sparked Bohannon’s attention because they called the king a chief. The Tiv tribe would try to relate the story of Hamlet into
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Laura Bohannon wanted to share the story of Hamlet to a West African tribe called the Tiv to see their ways of life. Human nature is the characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits of humankind, something that is shared by all humans. Both ideas of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are reactions to how we treat other people’s cultures and ways of living. As humans we will always have negative thought towards others because every person comes from different background and different traditions. Even though the Tiv came from a different culture than Bohannon, by the end of the story they come to understand the story of Hamlet from each cultures perspective. Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are things that can be overlooked but many people will continue to see things in only one perspective, and that way being their
Robbins, R. H. (2014). Cultural anthropology: a problem-based approach (Second Canadian ed.). Itasca: F.E. Peacock.
All humans have different views on certain topics. It is one of the blessings of being individuals. The view one person has may not agree with the view the rest of society has. These are typically the people that lead revolutions, the people that start new ideas. Authors write individuals into their works to show a complexity of views on many variations of topics. The common view of life and death in Hamlet and Brave New World is opposed by the atypical view of the individual, leading to a higher truth about the novel.
Abdulaziz Alsaif, Omar. “The Significance of Religion in Hamlet.” Journal of English and Literature 3 (2012): 132-35. Academic Journals. Web. 15 May 2014. .
“Shakespeare and the Bush” is about Laura Bohannan’s second experience to West Africa, where she stayed and interacted with the Tiv People Ethnocentrically. Bohannan is pressured into sharing the story of Hamlet to the Tiv people, even though she is not trained in the art of storytelling. As she tells the story, the Tiv people keep interrupting or mis-interpreting the story, as they are comparing the story to their own culture, and thinking their way is the best way or the correct way, thus making it Ethnocentric. The Tiv people have a hard time understanding things in the story, for example they do not understand the ghosts, they believe it is an Omen. There are many things like this that happen throughout the story, which will be discussed as the paper goes on. Eventually the Tiv people get the jist of the story, but it is not really Hamlet anymore. The Tiv even offer to correctly explain any more stories for Bohannan. I believe this experience was Ethnocentric for the Tiv people. When Bohannan says “The dead chief’s younger brother had become the great chief. He had also married his elder brother’s widow only about a month after the funeral.”(Bohannan. Pg 1) and is explaining how it it wrong that he did that the Tiv people respond by saying ““the younger brother marries the elder brother’s widow and becomes the father of his children” (Bohanan pg 2). This shows that the Tiv people
The world of anthropology is tightly woven into research of humans and their cultures. One of the most important principles of the Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) is found in Part III, Section A, Number 1: “Anthropological researchers have primary ethical obligations to the people, species, and materials they study and to the people with whom they work.” (American Anthropological Association, 2009) This main principle helps to guide social scientists through a maze of ethical dilemmas such as if and how the research itself may harm or otherwise impact those with whom they are studying. While the purpose of the research may be to gain knowledge of the plight of a certain individual or group of individuals, by the extension of the sharing of this knowledge the person or persons being studied may draw unwanted attention. By utilizing the Code of Ethics, the framework has been established so that the researcher is guided “to consult actively with...
Between the years of 1985 to 1987 Conklin spent a total of 19 months living amongst the Wari’ tribes. Her primary source of gathering information was to interview the Wari’ about their own culture and history. Performing return trips to the Amazonian society in 1991, 1999, and 2000 Conklin was able to confirm her gathered information by asking different Wari’ about their beliefs and cultural history. Amongst Conklin’s interview subjects were dozens of elderly Wari’ who could remember the life before the outside world had become a major influence. They c...
A person’s setting can tell you a lot about why they do certain things or behave a certain way. What’s taboo to us is normal to them. Their time and surroundings set the scene. Hamlet by William Shakespeare is set in Denmark during the late medieval time period: a time of dominant monarchies, a time of war. All of which plays into why the characters behave the way they do. They’re power hungry and hold a grudge like no other. Why? Social status, social status was everything throughout this time period, before this time period and very much after this time period. Thus they slaughtered each other and executed their tasks in secrecy, in hopes they would not be subject to the wrath of the one they wronged, to move up the social ladder. Throughout the time of kings and queens people struggled to climb the social ladder, not caring who they hurt in the climb to gain power. The power struggle that remained prominent throughout the ages is the underlying cause of most tragic events in Hamlet.
Ruth Benedict’s anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, “A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action” (46), but note, they are not the same by use of the word, “like.” Benedict is saying that figuratively, cultures are like personalities. Culture and individuality are intertwined and dependent upon each other for survival.
Anthropologists conduct fieldwork by studying people, their behaviours, and their culture. This is done in the field by actively striving to interpret and understand the world from the perspective of those studied (Powdermaker, 1968, Keesing 1981). Anthropological participant-observation includes a “deep immersion into the life of a people” (Keesing, 1981 p.16) with an aim to produce an ethnography that accurately details the experience in a holistic and valuable style (Powdermaker, 1968, Keesing 1981). Generally, full participation in a culture is thought to reduce the interference the researcher has on the behaviour of the informants (Seymour- Smith, 1986). Participant-observation is still widely used by anthropologists as it offers deeply insightful real world accounts which are difficult to achieve using other methods (Seymour-Smith, 1986, Li,
Peoples, James, and Garrick Bailey. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003. Print.
Hamlet lives in a country of different worlds. At the time, Denmark was in a state of transition between three metaphysical worlds; the heroic world, where a man's honour was foremost, killing was not accepted but expected, might was power, the Machiavellian world, an amoral world where politics and mind games were employed ruthlessly, the ends justified the means, and the Christian world of love and forgiveness. Hamlet was a Christian living in a dying Heroic world which was succumbing to the Machiavellian world. Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, belonged to the heroic world, and so for him revenge was of the utmost importance, shown by the fact that "but two months" (1:2, 136) after his death he returned to instruct Hamlet to avenge his murder. Hamlet's disgust at his mother's marriage to his uncle before "the salt of most unrighteous tea...
The American Anthropological Association 's (AAA) aim is to offer guidelines and promote education and discussion. American anthropologists do this often by speaking and interacting with individuals living and experiencing the culture. Truly understanding, learning, and becoming accustomed to a new cultural environment takes a significantly long period of time, perhaps even years of exposure to the culture in order to truly understand traditions, morals, and customs. For instance in the Shostak`s study on the !Kung people, it was important for the researchers to say words correctly, at appropriate times, and in a culturally accepted manner, in addition, in order to interview individuals, specifically women, the anthropologist would ask one to “enter work” with her and they would talk for an hour or a day, or over a long period of time, perhaps two weeks. When studying another culture, American anthropologists include host country colleagues in their research planning and when requesting funding, establish true collaborative relationships, include host country colleagues in dissemination, including publication, and they also ensure that something is given back to the host. When studying other countries, the process is done carefully and thoughtfully, in order to end the study with new information on a culture and to establish new connections
Hamlet answers her question of why he takes exception to her by berating her for insinuating his character is lacking. In society today I see white and black. White representing happiness, goodness,...
These issues are also raised in "Death and the King's Horseman", but more with showing how important and determinant our culture is for our personal identity. Thus, living in an era where this one is changing, because of the rough imposition of a new one, can torn one's personality, making them doubt all of their beliefs.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.