Cultural Anthro Quiz 2 – Flashcards

American Tongues is a 1988 sociolinguistic documentary examining American English dialects and accents and perceptions thereof.

Plot summary: Ongka, a Big Man of the Kawelka tribe in Papua New Guinea, has decided that he will arrange a moka to pay back a neighboring tribe that hosted a moka nearly 10 years ago. That tribe gave the Kawelka 400 pigs; Ongka wants to repay them with 600. In fact, 'moka' means 'interest,' the amount of pigs that is given above the amount originally distributed. The Kawelka are horticulturalists, raising pigs, yams and other vegetables and living in sedentary small villages and hamlets. The only way to accumulate much food surplus is to invest extra yams into pigs, turning carbohydrates into protein. Ongka has 4 wives and 9 children. His favorite wife, Rumbeka (all spelling is approximate), is caring for up to 10 pigs to serve as Ongka's contribution to the moka, and her father has been caring for a large number of pigs for Ongka. Ongka has 'invested' up to 100 pigs with various friends and relatives, one of which is a 2-day walk from Ongka's village. The preparations for this moka have taken 5 years. Arranging for a moka is hard work for Ongka, his friends, his relatives, and for the women in the group who are taking care of the pigs. Ongka gives a passionate speech in the video about how important pigs are to his people. Pigs are used to "pay for troubles" after warfare or murder, to put on mokas, and to give in exchange for wives. According to Ongka, "without pigs you are rubbish . . . there are men who don't realize this," an attitude Ongka finds difficult to accept. As a Big Man, Ongka has no real authority. He can only attempt to persuade other men to accept his plans, plots and machinations. Arranging for a moka involves haranguing other men to work hard so that the tribe will be successful, since all the men are expected to contribute, making speeches at small mokas that extol the virtues of Kawelka society, and conspiring against other Big Men in the Kawelka tribe (Raima, for example) about who will be successful in fixing the date for the big moka. Ongka is seen whispering with another man as they decide which date will be best. Crisis Event: The sudden death of a Big Man in the neighboring tribe for whom the moka had been intended delays the event and nearly leads to the Kawelka being attacked. The neighboring tribe (the Tongka tribe, one of whom's Big Men is Perewa, a member of the Papua New Guinea National Assembly), has heard some Kawelka men sitting in a truck, drunk and singing, as if in celebration. This is taken to be evidence that the Kawelka tribe used sorcery to kill the Tongka Big Man. The traditional response was war and raiding, and both Ongka and his father-in-law have participated in raids in the past. Ongka calls to some of his relatives who have married into that tribe, giving them a pig for the funeral/memorial ceremony along with a special branch that marks his oath that the Kawelka had nothing to do with the Big Man's death. Resolution: The moka is eventually held, but not before other troubles occur. As stated, rivalry between competing Big Men in the tribe is unending. Raima, one of the other Big Men in Kawelka, disrupts the moka the night before it is to occur by leaking information that claims he and his supporters did, in fact, kill the other Big Man in the Tongka tribe by sorcery. Ongka is upset, because Raima has no business bringing the topic up at such a late date, and because the information causes a huge commotion among the people. The following day, the day the moka was to be held, the members of the Kawelka tribe who have married into the Tongka tribe begin a raid on Raima in revenge for his alleged sorcery. Ongka stops them by sitting in the middle of the road. They stop their attack momentarily to listen to his advice, and some of them drop out of the war party while others continue. Raima is not killed, but a few days later four of his pigs are killed. Perewa, who had been waiting at home all summer for the moka, takes the truck that had been bought to be distributed to his tribe at the moka and leaves, returning to Port Moresby to consider matters of national independence. The moka is held finally. In it, 600 pigs, $10,000 Australian dollars, 12 cassowaries, 8 cows and a motorbike are given. The truck has been brought back, washed and decorated with flowers and is 'given' again in the moka. In his speech at the moka, Ongka says, "Now that I have given you these things, I have won . . . I have knocked you down by giving so much."

The use of a symbol, generally an animal or plant, as a physical representation for a group, generally a clan

A dramatic rendering or social portrayal of meanings shared by a specific body of people in a way that makes them seem correct and proper

*Bronislaw Malinowski claimed that ppl turn to gods and spirits to influence life events that they feel helpless to control

increasing group cohesion or providing supernatural sanctions for the violation of group norms

the rituals, myths, arts, literature, and music that we enjoy or participate in - they all play a role in organizing and making concrete a particular view of the world.

- a hypothesi that the structure of a language determines a native speaker's perception and categorization of experience. -- The idea that there is an explicit link between the grammar of a language and the culture of the people who speak that language

-An area of human experience from which people borrow meaning to apply to other areas -metaphors take language from one *domain of experience*, such as domain of the body or the domain of animals, and apply it to another domain, such as lanscape features or persons -ie in English, time is spoken of not only as if it were a distinct thing but also if it were a specific type of thing ("you're wasting my time" --time being referred to as if its money) -sports represent another domain from which Americans borrow heavily for metaphors *ie , a male baseball enthusiast might say: I met a girl, and I thought she'd play ball and that I'd not only get to first base but would score, but I struck out -these domains become *key metaphors* that give to each culture a style or cast that makes the culture distinctive-- thinking and speaking of many domains of experiences in terms of a particular domain is a way of achieving a certain coherence in the meanings in any culture

-Walens suggests that the act of eating is a key metaphor for the Kwakwaka'wakw-- they speak of many different things by using the vocab and language associate w hunger - a fundamental meaning the Kwakwaka'wakw find in their experience is that the universe is a place in which some beings are eaten by other beings and some beings must die so other beings may eat them and life

The initiate of a ceremony by the Kwakwaka'wakw

A term coined by Sherry Orner to identify metaphors that dominate the meanings that people in a specific culture attribute to their experience

-stories or myths that, like ritual, portray certain values and beliefs *In the same sense that people act out and communicate their view of the world in ritual and come to learn to feel in that world, they can be said to act out the scenarios contained in their myths

the slow, often unacknowledged shift in someone's manner of interpreting events as they become involved with a particular activity - interpretive drift continues when there are systematic changes in the way the believer interprets experiences and events

A term suggested by E.E. Evans-Pritchard for people's attempts to explain away inconsistencies or contradictions in their beliefs.

The tendency of people to see and recognize only those things they expect to see or those that confirm their view of the world

The tendency to reject or ignore evidence that challenges an accepted belief

*high grid & low group -Fixed place in society. Human nature is unpredictable; some people might be benevolent, most are hostile examples: the elderly, peasants, the poor non voters

High group pressure and high grid restrictions. -human beings are born sinful or evil, but can be redeemed by good institutions examples: military, church, sports teams conservative

low grid/high group human beings are born good but are corrupted by evil institutions Significant difference between us and them. examples: political activists liberal/progressive

Low grid, low group. Human nature is stable. A view of the self in which the individual is primarily responsible for his or her own actions

The term suggested by Anthony F.C. Wallace for attempts by a people to construct a more satisfying culture

Mental structures that shape the way we see the world

Can't freely interact with each other

Well-defined social boundaries

Can freely interact with each other

Loose boundaries

The family group that consists of ego and ego's father, mother, and siblings

The family group that consists of a husband, a wife, and their children

A system in which individuals trace their descent through both parents

The family group consisting of a father, a mother, and their biological or adopted children

A system of descent in which persons are related to their kin through mother only

A system of descent in which persons are related to their kin through the father only

The requirement that when a couple marries, the groom must work for the bride's parents for some specified period of time

A lineage that is formed by tracing descent in the female line

A family group based on blood relations of three or more generations

A lineage that is formed by tracing descent in the male line

A rule that prohibits sexual relations within certain categories of kin, such as brothers or sisters, parents and children, or, in some cases, cousins

A unilineal descent group whose members claim descent from a common ancestor

A rule that requires a person to marry someone outside one's own group

The valuables that a groom or his family are expected or obligated to present to the bride's family

The goods and valuables a bride's family supplies to the groom's family or to the couple

A form of marriage in which a person is permitted to have more than one spouse

A form of marriage in which a man is permitted to have more than one wife

A form of marriage in which a woman is permitted to have more than one husband

A form of inheritance in which the goods or property of a family is divided among the heirs

A form of inheritance in which family property is passed undivided to one heir

Views that people have of their own and others' positions in society. Individuals seek confirmation from others that they occupy the positions on the social landscape that they claim to occupy

A view of the self in which the individual is primarily responsible for his or her own actions

A view of the self in which the individual cannot be conceived of as existing separately from society or apart from his or her status or role

A view of the self that defines each person as a replica of all humanity the locus of motivations and drives; capable of acting independently from others

A view of the self that is context-dependent; there is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities

Features of a person's identity (such as gender, age, or personal appearance) that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self

Features of a person's identity (such as gender, age, or personal appearance) that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self

The attribution of personal characteristics believed to be undesirable

neither male nor female based on a societies idea of what male/female are

The term suggested by Arnold van Gennep for rituals that mark a person's passage from one identity or status to another

A term coined by Peggy Sanday that refers to the deployment of the penis as a symbol of masculine social power and dominance

The social principle that giving a gift creates social ties with the person receiving it, who is obliged to eventually reciprocate

The circulation of gifts among trading partners on different islands(Trobriand)

Goods that carry little personal meaning

Goods that are associated in some personal way with their producer and/or distributor

A term coined by Wallace and Fogelson to characterize interaction in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a person claims to possess and the identity attributed to that person by others

A form in ceremonial gift exchange in which a man makes an initial gift to a trading partner and then receives in return more than he gave

-Ortner, in "On Key Symbols," identifies symbols as a way of accessing or knowing the world of another culture; she identifies symbols as both a product of a culture and that which shapes culture -Symbols function as shortcuts in that they are able to condense a massive amount of cultural meaning; they are also multivocal in that they can be interpreted in a multitude of ways -She identifies the "function of culture in general: to provide for its members 'orientations,' ie., cognitive and affective categories; and 'strategies,' ie. Programs for orderly social action in relation to culturally defined goals"