Term
|
Definition
| study of human nature, human society, and the human past |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| trying to fit together all that is known about human beings |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| considering similarities and differences in as wide a range of human societies as possible before generalizing about what it means to be human |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interest in human beings in all places and at all times and how this affects the current situation |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (primatologists, paleoanthropologists, forensic anthropologists): looks at human beings as biological organisms. Interested in many different aspects of human biology including our similarities to and differences from other living organisms |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| study the factors that contribute to human disease or illness as well as the ways in which human groups respond to them |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| fieldwork, experiential, informants, participant-observation [paradox]: how variation in the beliefs and behaviors of members of different human groups is shaped by culture |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| [both done and written], ethnologists/ethnographers): scholarly work about a specific way of life. Ethnologists compare ethnographic information on many different ways of life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| concerned with the study of human languages. Language, the system of arbitrary vocal symbols we use to encode our experience of the world and of one another. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (prehistory, ranges of prehistory, regions of prehistory): analysis of the material remains of earlier human societies. Interested in seeking answers to cultural questions that can only addressed properly by considering the passage of time. Prehistory: the long stretch of time before the development of writing. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| using the methods and findings from every subfield of anthropology to address problems in the contemporary world. Sometimes called development anthropology because their aim is to improve people’s capacities to maintain their health, produce their food, and otherwise adapt to the challenges of life in the contemporary world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| undistorted, and thus universally valid knowledge about the world, applying the scientific method to all areas of anthropology, Objectivity |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| liberation from outdated traditions that prevent people from building better lives for themselves and their children. A culture bound enterprise connected to a specific definition of progress. Western-style “progress” has meant the loss of political autonomy, an increase in economic impoverishment and environmental degradation, and destruction of systems of social relations and values that clash with the “modern” way of life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| questioning the universalizing tendencies of modernism, especially of modernist understandings of science. People occupying powerful social positions are often able to pass off their own cultural or political prejudices as universal truths, while dismissing or ignoring alternatives held by powerless groups. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (socially situated actors, explicit about limitations): the cultural identity and personal characteristics of fieldworkers had to be taken into account when attempting to make sense of ethnographic writing. Anthropologists must scrutinize both their own contribution to fieldwork interactions and the response these interactions elicited from informants. Began to consider the effect that they had on the people with whom they were living/studying |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| follow people, obects, or cultural processes that are not contained by social, national, ethinic, or religious boundaries revealing interconnections and influences. Finding a wayto combine the most valuable elements of the postmodern critique with a continuing respect for empirical evidence. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| learned sets of ideas and behaviors that are acquired by people as members of society. Designed to counteract the racism implicit in 19th century physical anthropology. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| collected evidence to show that the diverse beliefs and practices that distinguished different groups of human beings from one to another were due to differences in social learning, not differences in racial biology. “a person’s physical attributes – skin color, hair texture, nose shape, stature, or the like—in no way compelled that person to speak or behave in any particular way” |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| human category based on perceived physical differences |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| on the one hand, the concept of race has NO biological, scientific validity. A scientist cannot look at a person’s genes and decide which race that person belongs to. The scientific racism that Boas was working against has largely ceased to exist. No reputable biological scientist would support it. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| racial identities continue to exist. Because this heritage of scientific racism lasted into the 1950s in some parts of the US, race continues to be a dominant means by which people identify themselves. However, this identity is not supported by scientific evidence but rather by cultural patterns: popular perceptions, ways of speaking, clothing and music styles, shared history and experiences, and continued solidarity within communities. However, because it is a cultural identity, its boundaries are fuzzy, and as a result some people can choose to identify with many different groups. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a social construction that indicates identification with a particular group which is often descended from common ancestors. Members of the group share common cultural traits (such as language, religion, and dress) and are an identifiable minority within the larger nation-state |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| all human beings everywhere face the same problems of survival/ experiences the same basic human needs. The members of each society use culture to devise ways of meeting these needs. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| unlike other primates, human beings rely far less on instinct and far more on learned behavior. Thus although human bodies are relatively frail and human senses are not extraordinarily acute, humans have used culture to adapt to an astounding range of environments—they are “weedy generalists |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| something that stands for something else. There is no necessarly link between the symbol and that which it stands for. The relationship between a symbol and that which it stands for is conventional and arbitrary, and systemic. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| reliance on learned, shared traditions that focus on the understanding of symbols. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| using the practices of your own people as a yardstick to measure how well the customs of other, different peoples measure up. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interpreting specific beliefs and practices in the context of the culture to which they belong. Not making snap judgments about the value of other peoples’ customs but to consider first the role those customs fulfilled within the culture in which they were found. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| no morals across cultures. Rejected by anthropologists, professionals follow the human rights perspective. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| anthropologists tend to deny the existence of a singular culture. Noun form takes a technical term and makes it real when it should be a tool (adj form). Must take into account the dynamic nature of culture |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the mixing and reconfiguring of elements from different cultural traditions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a system of arbitrary vocal symbols that human beings use to encode their experience of the world and to communicate with one another |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| all languages believed to have descended from a common ancestral language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| concerned with change over time |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| concerned with the patterns present in a particular language at a particular point in time |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| language history influenced by the orientation and practices of scholars like Saussure |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the elements of language and rules for combining words |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the study of speech sounds human beings are theoretically capable of producing and hearing |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| minimal units of sound recognized by speakers of a particular language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| study of a specific language’s sound patterns |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the study for the rules of combining morphemes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| minimal unit of meaning in a language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a special system of notation used to study body language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| rules of language shared by all speakers (1) Ferdinand de Saussure: ppl follow these rules unconsciously (2) Parole: actual speech from actual people (3) Language: underlying systems of rules that generate speech |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| langue was a self-contained system and that the significance of any element in the system depended on its relationship with other elements in the system, rather than on some feature of the outside world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| patterned series of items (“The dog bit the man.”) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| paradigm, types of items that can go in locations (“The dog bit the man/horse/cat/bone/tire.”) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| what came out of people’s mouths when they spoke/ how language works in everyday situations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| intuitive knowledge about how language works |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the underlying knowledge of grammatical rules encoded in the brains of all fluent speakers of a language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the actual things people said |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| successful use of language to communicate with other people requires speakers to choose vocabulary and topics of speech that are suitable to different audiences in different social settings. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| culture and thought patterns of people were strongly influenced by the language they spoke. Culture and perception are strongly influenced by language |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| any concrete community of individuals who regularly interact verbally with one another. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| versions of a particular language associated with particular geographical settings |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| versions of a particular language associated with particular social groups |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| switching from one variety (or code) to another as a the situation demands |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| speech communities in which everyone is fluent in two or more codes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| study of how rules of speech and conversation are determined and developed in situations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| simplified third language used to communicate between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| beliefs and practices about language that are linked to struggles between social groups with different interests, and which are regularly revealed in what people say and how they say it. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| sees individuals as the primordial ‘natural” units in the human world. Individuals are believed to be endowed by nature with the desire to pursue their own personal self-interest above all else. |
|
|
Term
| Origin myth of capitalism |
|
Definition
| social obligations are always seen as unnatural restrictions on natural individual liberty. “state of nature” |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| individuals abilities to reflect systematically on taken-for-granted cultural practices, to imagine alternatives, and to take independent action to pursue goals of their own choosing. Recognizes degrees of individual freedom. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| integrated patterns of an individual personality |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ways of thinking, feeling, acting that are unique to a specific individual and that might explain that individual’s consistency of behavior over time and across a variety of social settings. |
|
|
Term
| Culture-and-personality research |
|
Definition
| cross-culture ethnographic information used to assess the degree to which distinct personality configurations were regularly associated with particular cultures |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the social processes through which children come to adopt the ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving considered appropriate for adults in their culture. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the ways in which adults (parents) in a particular culture tried to shape children’s behavior to bring it in line with culture-specific ideals of appropriateness. Sheds light on larger cultural issues. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| mental and emotional behaviors and experiences that are viewed as unusual and disturbing to the members of particular ethnic groups. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the prototype of successful individuals in western capitalist societies |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| regarding oneself as distinct and unique, separate from other things and individuals in society |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| realistic assessments of one’s likes, dislikes, strengths, and weakness |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| seeking to develop as fully as possible a unique set of gifts in pursuit of unique personal goals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| engages adults with children in ways that promote the children’s ability to rely on themselves, rather than others, to achieve personal goals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| strong group structures. Each group’s first duty is to act in such a way as to promote the well being of the group because only if the group is strong will the individual be strong. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| mental processes by means of which individual human beings make sense of and incorporate information about the world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interested in the ways people in different cultures categorized their experiences and classified objects and events in the wider world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cognitive unit that allows people to unconsciously classify items and experiences not previously encountered. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| typical instances of objects and events that are familiar and known |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| typical way that individuals or members of the same group tackle a particular task |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| innate abilities to classify, compare, draw inferences, etc. |
|
|
Term
| Global style (field-dependent) |
|
Definition
| whole-to-part—individuals first fix their attention on the situation as a whole before paying attention to the detailed elements that made it up. (typically non-Western-educated subjects) |
|
|
Term
| Articulated style (field-independent) |
|
Definition
| part-to-whole—individuals first pay attention to the detailed elements that made up the situation and only later look for the relationships these elements might have with one another. (typically Western-educated subjects) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| categories of feeling or patterns of affect. Anthropologists focus on the meanings used to distinguish emotional experiences |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| interior experiences of persons that are shaped by their locations in a particular field of power relations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| severe suffering caused by forces and agents beyond the control of the individual |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| results from the way that political and economic forces structure risk differently for different subgroups within a population |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| encompassing picture of reality based on a set of shared assumptions about how the world works |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| worldview in which people personify cosmic forces and devise ways to deal with them that resemble the ways they deal with powerful human beings in their society |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| religions based on belief in the existence of such souls or spiritual beings |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ancestors are believed to maintain a strong interest in the lives of their descendents and are believed to act to maintain social order by sending sickness or other misfortune when the rules which people are supposed to live by are violated |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| have many of the personal attributes of human beings |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| stories who truth seems self evident because they do such a good job of integrating personal experiences with a wider set of assumptions about the way society must operate. Myths that explain the creation of the world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| myths are charters for social action that is the beings and places who figure in the myths can be referred to by living people in order to justify present day social arrangements. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the very structures of mythic narratives are meaningful. Myths are cognitive tools for resolving logical contradictions in human social experience that cannot otherwise be overcome in the world that human beings know |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| repetitive social action that has (1) a sequence of symbolic activities that is (2) set apart from everyday life, (3) recognizable by members as a ritual, and (4) closely connected to a specific set of ideas that are encoded in myth |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| "true practice,” the way of conducting a ritual that has been identified as correct by religious authorities |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| “other practice,” ways of conducting a ritual that are not sanctioned by authorities |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Ritual that marks movement between social status (separation, transitional state, reaggregation) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| time during which the person going through the rite of passage is in between statuses |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Feelings of belonging shared by all people who have gone through a similar rite of passage |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ritual practices that do not have technically or scientifically apparent effects but are believed by the actors to have an influence on the outcomes of practical matters. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| performance of evil by human beings believed to possess an innate, nonhuman “witchcraft substance” that can be activated without the individual’s awareness. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| part time religious specialists commonly found in small-scale egalitarian societies priest: skilled in the practice of religious rituals which are carried out for the benefit of the group or individuals within the group |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| adoption of an entirely new worldview |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| creative synthesis of old and new religious beliefs and practices |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| deliberate, organized attempt by some members of a society to create a more satisfying culture. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| “Cultural significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium.” |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| “Appreciative of, or responsive to, form in art or nature.” |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| study of the musical traditions of the world. |
|
|
Term
| Political commitment, Women’s Movement |
|
Definition
| (p.5) more equal since women still gather the majority of food; don’t have to be tied up baby making all the time, caring for kids since they only have one every 4 years |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| thousands of years: (p.6) false: we don’t know how long the !Kung were living as hunters and gatherers bc they have no written history. Shostak is making a generalization when she says “thousands of years” |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| have great diet compared to typical Indian, etc. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| only 1 in 2 infants reach adulthood, average lifespan of adult is 60ish |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| extensive knowledge of the bush and edible foods and water hole locations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
/ = tsk (dental)
≠ = [tasty!] (alveolar)
! = (alveolar-palatal)
// = to a horse (lateral) |
|
|
Term
| Tobacco issues: Why did Shostak resist giving the people tobacco? |
|
Definition
| Didn’t want to corrupt the society |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| frowned upon, happens rarely. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| spaced out 4 years so the mom can handle them (birth control because they nurse until they are toddlers), older siblings are initially resentful of the loss of milk but eventually grow to love their siblings, entertain them (why babies are carried low on the hip – perfect level for older children to see them), and help carry and care for them. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| start playing as young children, there is literally no word for ‘virgin/virginity’ in !Kung society – absolutely no value is placed on sexual purity whatsoever. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| parents have sex in their tent while their children are sleeping there, they assume the children will sleep through it or not understand; they also think this is how children learn what to do |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| very happy, long lasting until he dies at the young age of (35?); Nisa slept around with his brother often, but lied about it; their first child was actually fathered by Tashay’s brother – Nisa attributed her death to Tashay’s suspicious nature; |
|
|
Term
| first menstruation and ceremony |
|
Definition
| a ceremony is held when each girl first has her period; Nisa had hers in Tashay’s village away from her mother when Tashay and his brother(?) went hunting one afternoon. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| no one wants to be a co-wife; the only conceivably good situation is if two sisters marry the same boy otherwise there will be too much animosity; the man has to be careful to share his attentions with both of the women equally but also to make the first wife feel special; the younger/second wife must obey orders from the first wife such as doing the hunting and water fetching |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| women are typically given to extreme emotional fluctuation; children make life enjoyable; usually at least one older woman will accompany the young mother – her mother or someone from her husband’s family |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| everyone is unfaithful but you must be careful not to get caught; if you are easily scared you should choose not to have an affair; affairs bring excitement and are considered beneficial, but only as long as the woman remembers to put her husband first. Actual extramarital sexual encounters are infrequent, mostly due to the lack of privacy. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the !Kung realize that a man must be present in order to be the father – if a man has been absent and his wife becomes pregnant, he realizes that it is another man’s child. If this happens, the lovers will sometimes dissolve their previous marriages and marry each other; this is very emotionally draining and potentially physically dangerous. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| children are not allowed to see other children (it would make them sick); when someone is buried, they move the location of their camp; a woman typically grieves for her child until she is pregnant with a new one; women do not dwell upon their loss. |
|
|
Term
| births and children (Chuko-died, Nai-lived, stillbirth, Bau-died, Kxan-lived) |
|
Definition
| born four years apart from each other; women are encouraged to give birth alone and with as little help as possible – this is probably why so few women and children die in childbirth: if other people were to attempt to help, they would only end up infecting the woman or child. If a woman is afraid of childbirth or screams out, God will take her baby. |
|
|
Term
| induced miscarriage (abortion?) |
|
Definition
| abortions are considered socially acceptable, mostly because it is understood that a woman cannot handle more than one child closer than 4 years apart. If a woman wants to have a miscarriage she either a) sleeps with someone else or b) cook your food in someone else’s fire |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| can remarry if they want, but don’t have to; typically move back in with their parents at first. |
|
|
Term
| Tswana and Herero influences |
|
Definition
| bring venereal disease; add stability in contrast to !Kung life – if times get bad they can always trade labor for milk and grain; springs become contaminated; herds of cattle and goats frighten !Kung game and eat !Kung plants; !Kung turned into beggars; tribal politics change; women who are not nomadic can have more children closer together and typically do not leave the home to gather. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| hunting is only done by males, gathering is done primarily by females but also occasionally by males; gathering is usually a one-day-at-a-time thing, while hunting trips can last for many days at a time while they track an already-shot animal and wait for it to die from the poison. |
|
|
Term
| causation is interpersonal: (p.291) |
|
Definition
To what extent would the people in the communities go out to lend a hand to their neighbors?
Everything is interpersonal |
|
|
Term
| jealousy is dangerous: (p.306) |
|
Definition
Bead example
When living with others, you can’t afford to upset the balance
- Total opposite of our society, in which we purposefully buy shiny things to show off |
|
|
Term
| crimes are against people, not the state: (p.313) |
|
Definition
| - Nisa vs. Besa in divorce: victim is paid by the perpetrator (our society is not like this because the state is playing mediator between the two) |
|
|
Term
| old age and sexual desire |
|
Definition
| people still have sex when they are old (according to Nisa), but I am more inclined to think that they do not; Nisa is particularly sexually active and she has been turning down sexual partners as of late |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| menopause is referred to as “the stopping of one’s moons” (?) and is looked positively upon if one has had all of the children one wants; if one has had many miscarriages, the ceasing of the moons is looked upon as a punishment from God. Menopause amongst the !Kung has little to no reported symptoms, but you should keep in mind the fact that the !Kung are trained not to speak up about discomfort. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact age of menopause because it usually occurs while the last child is still breast-feeding, and there are no periods during this multiple year process anyways. |
|
|
Term
| impoverishment through civilization |
|
Definition
| could argue that they are about the same still, but really, they’re a little worse off now because of their loss of innocence. They have no fewer or greater possessions, but they are now deemed poor by society. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1.Gardens were being planted
2.Herds of goats were being tended
3.Donkeys were being used to transport food from the bush and cattle were being bought with money saved from selling crafts
4.Kung looking to the agricultural and herding people as a model
5.Changes as a result of Herero and Tswana
6.Office for Basarwa Development created. Gather statistics on the number of San in the country
7.Kalahari People’s Fund created |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the healer draws the illness into his own body and expels it with the help of n/um; typically the healer is thought to be bargaining with the ancestors of the ill. The healer is never blamed for the death of a person. Apprenticeship occurs when men are young and women are old (so the drugs don’t interfere with childbirth). Women trancing is becoming more common. |
|
|
