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Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Naricema By Horace Miner

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In the article " Body Ritual among The Naricema", Horace Miner speaks about a tribe and thier extremely perculiar behaviors. He goes on to explain how this tribe performs odd daily rituals, discussing them as unfamiliar people. By Miner speaking of specific behaviours and these "rituals" performed by this tribe, he allows people to gain an understanding of how cultural misunderstandings can occur by not having the knowledge of a society's basis. In this article it is obvious that Miner is making reference to the American people, but by portraying them as an odd tribe with strange behaviours, you as the reader are forced to try to understand the rituals and customs from an etic perspective. Miner often uses satire to show The Naricema or American people as being obssessed with rituals based on the vanity of the body. He explains how the Naricema have a strong belief of the human body being ugly. Miner goes on to describe a "shrine with medicines and magical materials placed inside." This is a direct reference to a bathroom where bathing takes place among other rituals, and a medicine cabinet with medicines inside. Other rituals include"Scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument." This depicts a man's shaving regimen in American culture. …show more content…

Miner's word choice confuses the reader but adds a bit of amusement to the

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