Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Anthropology: Meanings

10/21/09

-Certain symbols in a society are repeated and show the core values of the culture.
Ex. Baseball= 'America's pasttime'

-Modularity- idea that everything has it's own place
This idea is practiced solely in the midwest because in other regions every aspect of life is connected.

-Panopticon- seeing everything in a room standing from one place
Ex. Prisons and classrooms

Beliefs

-Ritualized myths, stories, and dramas show our worldview, our most cherished values. Ex. Cop shows show good vs bad and chaos vs order

-Everyday rituals reinforce our beliefs, what we do says something about what we believe Ex. Washing our hands prevents sickness

Magic

-definition: an attempt top manipulate the laws of nature for good or evil; used to accomplish goals
Ex. crops, fertility cure of illness

-You call on supernatural when there's a gap in information or need to have powers to solve a problem. Ex. ghost sickness (navajo in 1920's)

Types

-Sorcery and witchcraft: innate psychic power to cause harm
-Sypathetic/imatative: bruning effigies
-Contagious: things once in contact can influence another person
Ex. Voodoo dolls

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