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CULTURALANTHROPOLOGY
SIX : INTERPRETIVISM
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMDilemma for anthropologists Interpreting Meaning
Do categories organizing life for Europeans and
Americans have equivalents in other societies. e.g.
ncestorworshipis this Religion, Kinshipor SocialOrganization?
and if angering the ancestors results in punishing the
living, is this Law?
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISM
Malinowskis belief : the ethnographers primary
task
is to grasp the natives point of view,
hisrelation to life, to realize hisvision
of hisworld
(Malinowski, 1922, p. 25)
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMLanguage important to discuss issues and world views of
the people under consideration.
Since 1970s Interpretive Anthropology Approach:
describing and interpreting what is meaningful to
natives
cultures as texts whose forms, and particularlymeaning, must be read and deciphered in specific
historical and cultural contexts.
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMCLIFFORD GEERTZ
Definition of culture
Ideas based on cultural learningand symbols.
Enculturation involves theindividualization of previouslyestablished system of meaningsand symbols.
Cultural system defines theirworld, expresses their feelingsand helps making judgments.
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMTHICK DESCRIPTION
(Geertz, 1975)
Guides methodological
approach for
interpretive
anthropology
Thick Description is
delving below the
surface of customs and
events to detectdeeper levels of
signification
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMContraction of one eye
Q1 Is the action a wink or twitch?
If a twitch = action is unconscious
If a wink = action is conscious
Q2 What does the wink mean?
Flirtation?
Acknowledging a shared secret?
Prearranged signal?
A gesture of disrespect?
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMAim of Thick Description = to account for
meanings as accurately as possible
View focuses on symbols, or meanings attached toactions, things, experiences
These are under constant renegotiation and
reinterpretation They are also implicit and shared between
participants.
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMAccording to Geertz :
anthropologists can choose anything in a culture that
interests or engages them, fill in the details, and
elaborate to inform their readers about meanings inthat culture. Meanings are carried by public
symbolic forms, including words, rituals, customs
BUT The interpretations of outsiders remains
contestable.
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMVICTOR WITTER TURNER
British cultural anthropologist
Best known for work on
symbols, rituals, rites of
passage
Symbolic or Interpretiveanthropology
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMTURNERS WORK
Exploration of rituals and
concern with conflict
Created the new concept ofSocial Drama to account for
the symbolism of conflict
and crisis resolution
among Ndembu villagers in
Northern Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe)
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMAccording to Turner,
Ritual is
"a stereotyped sequence of activities involving
gestures, words, and objects, performed in a
sequestered place, and designed to influence
preternatural entities or forces on behalf of the
actors' goals and interests"
(Turner 1977:183)
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMTurner recognised connections between :
symbolic anthropology
the study of symbols in their social & cultural context otherfields e.g. psychology, social psychology & psychoanalysis.
Sigmund Freuds psychoanalysis : symbols had meaning forindividuals emerging during analysis & interpretation oftheir dreams.
Q: Is anthropology a science or branch of the humanities?
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMLets try to Interpret the meanings behind
Body Art or Tattooing
? Form of body modification, made by the
insertion of indelible ink into the dermis skin tochange the pigment.
The Oxford English Dictionary : derives from the
Tahitian 18
th
Century word tatu. Thepronunciation was changed to conform toEnglish phonology as "tattoo
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMInterpret photograph 1
Where and Who?
Why?
Stylised / Random?
Explicit / Implicit?
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMInterpret photograph 2
Where and Who?
Why?
Stylised / Random?
Explicit / Implicit?
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcX4r6wJTJMcADIGJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIycDZkN25jBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANmNWY1NmJhZDRlYWI0NjEwODkwOWU3Y2Q4NGU3OGRjMARncG9zAzUEaXQDYmluZw--?back=https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=yakuza+tattoos&n=60&ei=utf-8&tab=organic&ri=5&w=374&h=591&imgurl=amazingstuff.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/yakuza_tattoo_4.jpg&rurl=http://amazingstuff.co.uk/art/amazing-yakuza-tattoos-2/&size=78.8KB&name=Amazing+Stuff!+%C2%BB+NSFW:+Amazing+%3Cb%3EYakuza+tattoos%3C/b%3E&p=yakuza+tattoos&oid=f5f56bad4eab46108909e7cd84e78dc0&fr2=&fr=&tt=Amazing+Stuff!+%C2%BB+NSFW:+Amazing+%3Cb%3EYakuza+tattoos%3C/b%3E&b=0&ni=96&no=5&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11njecocb&sigb=12tqiqj93&sigi=121ec9iom&.crumb=Ub4XlRUACJe&8/12/2019 SIX : INTERPRETIVISM
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMInterpret photograph 3
Where and Who?
Why?
Stylised / Random?
Explicit / Implicit?
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcXQR7QJTjLgA5UWJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIzaDNqMjhmBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM1ZDdkZDY1MTFjOTExZGM0MTM1Y2YzZjRjOTEwNTI0ZQRncG9zAzEzBGl0A2Jpbmc-?back=https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=sailors+tattoos&n=60&ei=utf-8&y=Search&tab=organic&ri=13&w=600&h=800&imgurl=fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/056/8/4/grewash_sailor_tattoo_by_jamierees-d3aekxx.jpg&rurl=http://jamierees.deviantart.com/art/grewash-sailor-tattoo-198875013&size=82.8KB&name=grewash+sailor+tattoo+by+jamierees+on+deviantART&p=sailors+tattoos&oid=5d7dd6511c911dc4135cf3f4c910524e&fr2=&fr=&tt=grewash+sailor+tattoo+by+jamierees+on+deviantART&b=0&ni=128&no=13&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=123noeqm1&sigb=1384q7m4p&sigi=12mcqf5os&.crumb=Ub4XlRUACJe&8/12/2019 SIX : INTERPRETIVISM
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMInterpret photograph 4
Where and Who?
Why?
Stylised / Random?
Explicit / Implicit?
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISMInterpret photograph 5
Where and Who?
Why?
Stylised / Random?
Explicit / Implicit?
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcYDP7QJTc64AwgyJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIzZnM5Z3RuBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAMzNTY4OWNiNjQ4NWM2ODYwOGQ3YTdmNGU3ZjA2YjUxNQRncG9zAzIyBGl0A2Jpbmc-?back=https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=tattooing&n=60&ei=utf-8&y=Search&tab=organic&ri=22&w=369&h=480&imgurl=www.amazingdata.com/Image/CraziestTattooEyeballTattooing_E575/CraziestTattooEyeballTattooing1.jpg&rurl=http://trickntips4u.blogspot.com/2011/03/craziest-tattoos-in-world.html&size=50.7KB&name=Tricks+and+Tips+4+u:+Useful+and+Informative&p=tattooing&oid=35689cb6485c68608d7a7f4e7f06b515&fr2=&fr=&tt=Tricks+and+Tips+4+u:+Useful+and+Informative&b=0&ni=128&no=22&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=127s4if4f&sigb=132jr9f2u&sigi=131roqmrq&.crumb=Ub4XlRUACJe&8/12/2019 SIX : INTERPRETIVISM
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KEY CONCEPT SIX INTERPRETIVISM
Tattoos as symbolic forms
5 images of tattoos show:
The social and cultural context of theirapplication affects Meaning and Interpretation
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References
Kottak, C.P. (2009). Anthropology: the exploration ofhuman diversity. 13thed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill
Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific.
New York:DuttonPerry, R.J. (2003). Five Concepts in Anthropological
Thinking. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice-Hall
Turner, V. (1977) Symbols in African ritual. In Symbolic
anthropology: A reader in the study of symbols andmeanings, edited by J. L. Dolgin, D. S. Kemnitzer and D.M. Schneider, 183-194. New York: Columbia UniversityPress.
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Conclusion of Interpretivism, thank you
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