Nacirema Culture Analysis
Recommended: Ethnocentrism culture of united states of America
After reading “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” I believe the Nacirema are the Americans. First Nacirema is American spelled backwards. I also think it is America because it said “North American group living… Little is known of their origin, al- though tradition states that they came from the east.”
In the documentary, “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America,” portrays the journey of an immigrant Hmong family battling to maintain their cultural traditions alive in the United States. In the Hmong culture, it is believed that every individual has seven souls and if they have an illness, for example sickness, it means that their soul has departed or taken by evil spirits. Hmong people believe in Shamans, who are gifted and respected people who can make contact with their ancestors and return the lost souls of people. In this documentary, the main character Paja Thao is a shaman who is challenged by American customs to keep his cultural Hmong traditions alive and pass it down to his children. Paja becomes sick because he feels like his children don’t care about the Hmong tradition anymore because they don’t participate in his rituals and realizes his children have assimilated to the American culture.
Miner’s Definition of Culture Miner defines culture through the lens of rituals and customs. He focuses on how these practices reveal the underlying beliefs and values of the Nacirema. The emphasis is on the body's appearance and health, illustrating a unique cultural ethos that sees the body as inherently flawed and in need of constant
The Emic method gives a clear and accurate understanding of a culture due to the in-depth interview conducted by the anthropologist. But because there was a lack of information, confusion and strange descriptions of a non-exotic culture there is no way that this “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” used the Emic method. Because of this it supports the fact that this essay was a Etic inspired
This is material culture because the material culture has to do with art and the Nacirema culture uses art to fancy up their shrines. Minor also describes many rituals that make the Nacirema a nonmaterial culture too. There are a few examples that show the nonmaterial part of the Nacirema culture. One example is that the Nacirema culture believes that the magical materials in their charm-boxes that are in their shrines are supposed to heal certain
Nacirema Body Ritual The Nacirema culture was a nation that originated by the culture hero, Notgnihsaw. Their culture was characterized by a rich natural habitat. Now while they spent some time working on economic pursuits, majority of their day is spent in ritual activity. They believe that the human body is ugly and that it has a tendency to debility and disease and that the only way to protect themselves is through ritual and ceremony.
Nevertheless, the culture develops from the rich natural habitat known as the natural resources to develop the economy. The main concern of the people of Nacirema, is the human body and their health. The
This article by Horace Miner is, in a way, a comparison that is used to describe the American society. After reading the article for a couple of times, I came to realize that the name of the tribe, Nacirema, is American spelled backwards. Article also states that the tribe and its culture are characterized by highly developed market economy, which is also characteristic of the economy of the Unites States. What is so unusual for civilization living in such advanced economy and market are their rituals and traditions. The people from Nacirema culture pay great attention to their health and were ready to deal with irrational pain levels and procedures to achieve health and great looks, just like we are nowadays.
It is important to understand oral cultures since
Although Native Americans are characterized as both civilized and uncivilized in module one readings, their lifestyles and culture are observed to be civilized more often than not. The separate and distinct duties of men and women (Sigard, 1632) reveal a society that has defined roles and expectations based on gender. There are customs related to courtship (Le Clercq, 1691) that are similar to European cultures. Marriage was a recognized union amongst Native Americans, although not necessarily viewed as a serious, lifelong commitment like the Europeans (Heckewelder, 1819). Related to gender roles in Native American culture, Sigard writes of the Huron people that “Just as the men have their special occupation and understand wherein a man’s duty consists, so also the women and girls keep their place and perform quietly their little tasks and functions of service”.
In the study called Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, the author calls the rituals and ceremonies the people perform “excessive”. They are insane rituals that people in America wouldn’t seem to think about doing. They sound so different, and unusual. As one reads the fieldwork, it raises a lot of questions and concerns. To anyone from another country it would seem these rituals are excessive because of the way they are performed, and the things they use to perform them.
Cultural competency: Indians Culture competency is defined as one has the knowledge, the abilities and the skill to deliver care congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Purnell, 2013). As a nurse or a health care provider, increasing ones consciousness of culture diversity improves the possibilities for health care practitioners to provide competent care (Purnell, 2013). Nurses and all health care providers should be aware of other cultures to provide the best care that they can for that individual. Developing a relationship with diverse cultural groups involves good interpersonal skills and the application of knowledge and techniques learned from the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as the humanities (Purnell, 2013). I am choosing to select the Indian culture for my first assignment.
With the other aspects of the Nacirema culture it seems to be quite similar to the American culture of today with being characterized as a highly regarded economy which has been evolved by a rich natural habitat. Like the people of today the Nacirema are also wanting to thrive by devoting themselves by having rich economic
This book was composed time before the World War I, here the author talks about eight “high cultures” of the past: Babylonian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Arabian, Mexican, focusing particularly on the Classical and
Ever since I was young, dentistry had sparked my interest for my career. Dentistry appeals to me chiefly because I had always wanted to be involved in a profession where I can help people. My love towards human biology especially human teeth also contributes to my career choice. Most importantly, I find human teeth interesting, often fascinating. Due to my compassionate nature, I have since long known that I would want to pursue dentistry as my career because I get to form relationships with my patients, work hand in hand with many people on a face to face basis.
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