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Websites
- Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction
https://symbolicinteraction.org/
Many scholars believe that meaning—how we construct it, engage in it, and understand it—is based on our individual perspectives and/or realities. As such, meaning, as a concept, is founded on many truths. These truths are constructed by the individual and the society most applicable to that person’s perception of self. With this notion in mind, academic scholars from around the world developed an organization called the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism to research “meaning” more holistically and cross-culturally.
- “Art, Residential Schools and Reconciliation: Important Questions. ,” November 14, 2013 CanadianArt
https://canadianart.ca/features/art-and-reconciliation/
This particular publication, written by Leah Sandals, highlights the use of art to address trauma and experiences of Indigenous students and artists. Numerous links to related materials are given in the article that highlights several artists and discussions.
Videos
English Oct 26 2016. “Legends of the South Pacific” YouTube video, 52.24 https://youtu.be/BGBi5rJF8Bk
A video account of the islands of Vanautu and Solomon’s to explore the different ritual and social activities of the peoples who live there today. The discussion of the history of exploration of the peoples and the relationships to ritual and cultural beliefs with active narration by the film-makers. The goal is to understand the accounts of Mitchener’s “Tales of the South Pacific” and reconcile it with the archaeological and anthropological accounts that exist today.
FRANCE 24 English. 2010. “Vanuatu: The Return of Prince Philip.” France 24 Production. YouTube video, 11:32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOOoKXpwxRI.
This short video documents the formation of a revitalization movement on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. Here, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is revered as a local deity, and it is believed that he will return to the island and save the inhabitants of Tanna.
Singer, André. 1982. Witchcraft among the Azande. London: Granada Television, Disappearing World Series. DVD, 53 min.
This classic anthropological film pairs perfectly with the discussion of witchcraft and Evans-Pritchard’s work among the Azande in Chapter 10. This film adopts a structural-functionalist approach to the study of witchcraft and asks why witchcraft is important among the Azande. In other words, what is the social function of witchcraft? The film explores the processes of witchcraft accusation, oracle consultation, and the judicial, trial processes that surround such accusations.
Gleason, Judith, and Elisa Mereghetti. 1993. The King Does Not Lie: The Initiation of a Shango Priest. New York: Filmakers Library. DVD, 43 min.
This film documents the religious tradition of Santeria as it is practiced among a group of Americans of Puerto Rican heritage. It follows the stories of one priest who discusses the marginalization that he and his community members experience.
Books and Articles
Bennett, Gillian. 1986. “Ghost and Witch in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.” Folklore 97 (1): 3–14.
Bennett discusses how changing views of ghosts and witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced the Gothic literature of the nineteenth century and still affects how we think about the supernatural today. The close link make between ghosts and witches, particularly after the Protestant reformation, is partly responsible for the witch persecutions in England and elsewhere.
Brandes, Stanley. 1998. “The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity.” Journal of American Folklore 111(442): 359–380.
Brandes demonstrates that the Day of the Dead is not a Mexican version of an American Halloween, nor is it a holdover from Aztec traditions. Rather, the Day of the Dead is a Mexican version of Catholic holy days. Students will learn details about this important Mexican holiday, as well as how it has become central in attempts to maintain a Mexican identity from a perceived onslaught of American beliefs an customs.
Brown, Michael F. 1998. Can Culture be Copyrighted? Current Anthropology 39 (2):193-222.
There is a growing demand for the protection of cultural and intellectual property among traditional peoples, stemming from the broader trend of allowing artists and inventors to benefit from their work. While the aim is admirable, Brown points out that letting cultural groups have permanent control over all elements of its own heritage could be problematic: the Greeks, for example, developed syllogism, so do they “own” it? If we reduce culture and art to economic value we might cheapen its deeper value, where “the culture of the copy muddies the waters of authenticity” (Brown, 1998: 202). Anthropologists now are starting to help navigate the frameworks of joint stewardship with Indigenous groups to create a tangible system that reflects culture and legal values.
Everett, Holly. 2000. “Roadside Crosses and Memorial Complexes in Texas.” Folklore 111: 91–103.
Everett presents an interesting case study on the ways that some Americans—in this case, specifically Texans—commemorate people who die in automobile deaths. As many students see these roadside markers on a regular, if not daily, basis, they may find her analysis fascinating. Of particular interest is the notion that people are commemorating the place of death because that is where people view the soul as having left the body; cemeteries are simply seen as places that house a corpse.
Hickman, Jacob R. 2007. “‘Is it the Spirit or the Body?’ Syncretism of Health Beliefs among the Hmong Immigrants to Alaska.” National Association of Practicing Anthropologists Bulletin 27: 176–195.
Beginning in the 1970s, Hmong refugees fled to the United States following the communist takeover of Indochina. Hickman discusses the conflict between the Western health care system and traditional Hmong folk health beliefs that emphasize spirituality. Earlier discussions of Hmong health beliefs have focused on the need for culturally sensitive health care. Hickman documents the syncretism among Hmong communities in Alaska between their traditional beliefs and Western medicine.
Kramer, Jennifer. 2006. Switchbacks: Art, Ownership and Nuxalk National Identity. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
In this ethnography, anthropologist Jennifer Kramer explores the relationship between cultural appropriation and art among the Nuxalk of British Columbia. She argues that the Nuxalk tend to oscillate, or “switchback,” in terms of their perceptions and attitudes toward the appropriation and commodification of their art by tourists and various “outsiders.” This is often viewed as a form of theft, while at other times it is viewed as a sign of respect. As such, Kramer argues that cultural context is an important consideration when exploring the role of cultural appropriation in different communities.
Laderman, Carol. 1997. “The Limits of Magic.” American Anthropologist 99 (2): 333–341.
Laderman discusses her interactions with a Malay bomoh or traditional healer known as Cik Su. The Malay bomoh did not follow traditional ways to acquire her healing powers. Usually Malays become healers because one of their loved ones becomes ill, and they feel powerless to do something. Cik Su became a traditional healer after a violent conflict with her husband’s ex-wife. The author discusses Malay views of health and evaluates them in terms of how Cik Su performs healing.
Mannik, Lynda, and Karen McGarry, eds. 2015. Reclaiming Canadian Bodies: Visual Media and Representation. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press.
In this edited volume, Mannik and McGarry examine the ways in which various forms of Canadian art and sport are linked with national identity in the Canadian mass media. Papers included in this volume explore such topics as wartime photography, hockey, and professional figure skating.
Morgan, John. 1977. “Religion and Culture as Meaning Systems: A Dialogue between Geertz and Tillich.” The Journal of Religion 57(4): 363–375.
Morgan presents a “dialogue” between Clifford Geertz and Paul Tillich. Geertz was a prominent anthropologist who tied his definitions of religion and culture to the notion that humans actively seek “meaning.” Paul Tillich was a philosopher of religion who developed a “theology of culture” that also relied on meaning to examine the relationship between religion and culture. The author contrasts writings from Geertz and Tillich to create a “conversation” to demonstrate the possibility of positive engagement between anthropology and theology.
Norget, Kristen. 2005. Days of Death, Days of Life: Ritual in the Popular Culture of Oaxaca. New York: Columbia University Press.
Canadian anthropologist Kristen Norget draws upon her fieldwork in Oaxaca, Mexico to discuss the performative and ritualistic aspects of the Day of the Dead. An annual tradition that coincides with All Soul’s Day and the North American tradition of Halloween, the Day of the Dead is a celebration of the life of one’s ancestors, and it represents a time for family gatherings and the construction of alters for the deceased. Sweets and other special food and drink, often made in the form of skeletons, is offered to the dead.
Peck, Elizabeth. 1999. “The Making of the Domestic Occasion: The History of Thanksgiving in the United States.” Journal of Social History 32(4): 773–789.
Students will likely enjoy Peck’s discussion of the history of Thanksgiving in the United States. She shows how the holiday was invented and reinvented repeatedly between the early 1800s and the early 1930s. By the 1930s, the New England custom had become a national holiday celebrated by people of all walks of life as an iconic example of family and domesticity.
Robidoux, Michael A. 2001. Men at Play: A Working Understanding of Professional Hockey. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
In this ethnography, Robidoux examines hockey as a Canadian national pastime and seeks to understand how and why this sport has become linked with a Canadian national identity. In the process, he explores issues like violence in hockey, the construction of gender, and, specifically, masculinity, as well as how the sport is often exclusionary to many individuals (of particular classes and racial backgrounds, for example).
Rosenblatt, Daniel. 2013. Art and Biculturalism: Innovative Maori Meeting Houses and the Settler Nation. Visual Anthropology Review 29 (2):133-151.
New Maori meeting houses blend contemporary art with contemporary traditional art in their forms, showing the shift in the meanings of biculturalism. Houses serve to represent the body of an ancestor, a tracing of the genealogy of a tribe and it represents the cosmos as a whole (kaupapa—meaning of house). After World War II there was a Maori migration to Auckland and Wellington and houses became multi-tribal and a pan Maori identity emerged. More contemporary elements were merged into these houses, with carvings of ancestors and an overall focus on the history of New Zealand in one part, and a street map and DNA code on another wall. Through these houses and museums, argues Rosenblatt, Maori continue playing out a narrative of renewal and congruence that reflects their culture strength and context in the present.
Schildkrout, Enid. 2004. Inscribing the Body. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:319-344.
The post-structuralist “disembodied” body has been critiqued by Turner and Csordas with the need to return to seeing the body as 'being-in-the-world", where body tattooing and modification reflects tradition, rituals, and the exteriorization of the interior. Schildkrout reflects on the ambivalence of inscribed skin, with the marking of slaves, occupations, and religious affiliations being practiced throughout history in the world; today the practice can reflect cultural affiliation or individual expression.
Stringer, Martin D. 1999. “Rethinking Animism: Thoughts from the Infancy of Our Discipline.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 5(4): 541–555.
In 1871, E.B. Tylor published Primitive Culture. In this book, Tylor presented theoretical perspective on the origins of religion that focused on the concept of animism. Stringer shows that Tylor was influenced by a strong view of cultural evolution that contrasted “primitives” who were like children with more progressive European societies. The author re-evaluates Tylor’s ground-breaking work and considers recent critiques of Tyler, some of which have misinterpreted his discussion of animism.