Posted: October 15th, 2022

Identify: a cultural phenomenon or practice to analyze.

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PART II: Applying different theoretical perspectives to novel cultural information (3-5 pages)
IDENTIFY: A cultural phenomenon or practice to analyze. You may choose to write about the !Kung (as observed in the film N!ai), the Yanomamo (described in the reading posted on Canvas), or a cultural practice that you have personally observed. Be sure to focus on a specific cultural practice / phenomenon, for example: subsistence patterns, kinship patterns, child-rearing patterns, ritual practices, intercultural trade and/or conflict, sex roles, etc.
SELECT: Two (2) scholars about whom we have read. These must include at least one scholar from each section of the book we’ve read, i.e. Part IV: Evolutionary, Adaptationist, and Materialist Theories (White, Steward, Harris, and Leacock) and Part V: Structures, Symbols, and Meaning (Lévi-Strauss, Turner, Geertz, and Douglas).
ANALYZE: Consider how each of the scholars you’ve chosen would analyze the cultural information you’ve selected. For example, if you choose to write about Yanomamo social organization, you might consider how Marvin Harris, Victor Turner, and Mary Douglas might each interpret the social practices and behaviors of the Yanomamo. Harris would likely try to situate the social practices of the Yanomamo within his framework of infrastructure, structure, and superstructure, and try to trace how the material requirements of life in the Amazon have shaped the social practices of the Yanomamo. Victor Turner might focus on the role of ritual practices in defining Yanomamo social roles. And Mary Douglas might attempt to infer from the underlying structure of Yanomamo beliefs or social organization from symbolic representations present in Yanomamo culture. You must specifically compare and contrast the approaches from the different scholars, including how their analysis might inform our understanding of human cultures more generally.
Your analysis must rely on specific examples from the texts, both from the culture sketch and from the original writings of the scholars being considered. For example, you would want to link specific words written by Harris regarding the importance of infrastructure to specific information included in the culture sketch to demonstrate how you think Harris might have interpreted Yanomamo culture given his theoretical perspective and that specific information. All quotes or paraphrased information must be properly cited with page numbers.
Your answer should be written in academic essay form, and should include the following information:
A brief description of the ethnographic example being discussed
Detailed descriptions, with evidence from the texts, about how you think each of the scholars you’ve selected would analyze that ethnographic example
A comparison of the conclusions that you think each of the scholars you’ve selected might draw regarding Yanomamo life, beliefs, or society or how Yanomamo life, beliefs, or society serve as evidence for their own theoretical arguments.
An assessment of what you see as the strengths and/or weaknesses of the three approaches you’ve described. Do the insights provided from these three perspectives complement one another? Contradict one another? Do you feel that some are more useful than others? Why?
Your essay MUST include a Works Cited section. You may use any citation format style you like (e.g. APA, Chicago, MLA) as long as you are consistent.

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