SIX : INTERPRETIVISM

8/12/2019 SIX : INTERPRETIVISM

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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.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?sa=X&biw=1019&bih=531&tbm=isch&tbnid=YPT1OCo4O-OFFM:&imgrefurl=http://makinganthropologypublic.wordpress.com/category/symbolic-interpretive/&docid=n0EQqarZeQBdMM&imgurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/524/000097233/clifford-geertz-1-sized.jpg&w=240&h=322&ei=MzLGUqarG4ujiQfl3IHIDA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=235&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=100&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:122&tx=64&ty=56


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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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Where and Who?

Why?

Stylised / Random?

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&


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Where and Who?

Why?

Stylised / Random?

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&


19/23


Where and Who?

Why?

Stylised / Random?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Auschwitz_survivor_displays_tattoo_detail.jpg


20/23


Where and Who?

Why?

Stylised / Random?

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&


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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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SIX : INTERPRETIVISM