Chapter 12 - The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Chapter 12 of Conformity and Conflict, titled “The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Worlds” by David S. Thomson, begins with a paragraph that introduces the essay. It mentions “language mirrors reality” (Thomson 113). The ending sentence uses the word “doublespeak” and that was significant in my being able to enjoy the essay. The topic had me skeptical, I did not understand the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and my prior understanding of it was negative. But, being that I just finished reading George Orwell’s 1984, I was familiar with the Newspeak reference and that opened my mind. The essay begins with the notion that a word, or small phrase, doesn’t capture the entire idea that people intend it too. The example of the accidental explosion (Thomson 114) was a great in furthering my understanding of the Hypothesis. That made me comprehend that language is limited in describing meaning. Then, there was the example regarding color (Thomson 118). Those who speak Bassa are restricted in describing the various colors they see, but they are able to comprehend that the colors are different. The Hypothesis, when first introduced to me in the Kottak book, made me feel that speakers of other languages lacked the intellectual capacity as a result of having unsophisticated language. But Thomson’s essay better explains that the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis gives a possible reason for why people relate to the world differently, because the symbols in their language are not varied enough. The essay concluded with Orwell’s 1984. Newspeak, in the book, was preferred in that in limited thought. Because people had fewer words to use, they had less opportunity to commit thoughtcrime.

Kalahari - Chapter 2

“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay Lee is about a joke that was played. The !Kung of Africa celebrate the Christian holiday, Christmas. To them, it is the celebration where they “praise the birth of white man’s god-chief” (Conformity and Conflict p. 11). The tribe remains interested in the holiday due to the Tswana-Herero tradition where an ox is slaughtered. Lee, a social anthropologist, would slaughter an ox for the Christmas celebration. He had the sincerest intentions. He had chosen the biggest ox in a herd. He believed it would be the best for the celebration. But the villagers joked and said they thought it was a “bag of bones” (p. 13). Lee had been led to believe that the villagers, the older the ox, and the less fat it had. Fat is where the energy, the nourishment is, and this old ox didn’t have enough fat. The villagers revealed that they were joking about the ox; however, Lee couldn’t shake his doubts. He asked Tomazo why they had played a joke on him. He said, “Why insult a man after he has gone to all that trouble to track and kill an animal and when he is going to share the meat with you so that your children will have something to eat” (17)? Tomazo repied, “Arrogance” (17). The villagers played a joke on him to keep him level headed. It was reasoned that just because Lee could afford the gift for the villagers did not make him any better than them. Lee rephrased this as, “There are no totally generous acts” (17). Lee's essay, to me, shows the way villagers protect themselves from external influence. They changed the holiday and then they changed the way Lee viewed his gift to them.

Introduction

This is my first blog. I've had online journals, but the people who had access to it where the closest of friends. Needless to say, nothing personal shall go into this. But, I did, as you can tell, put some effort into personalizing my blog. It looks a lot like my myspace, minus the knuckle rings. Enjoy reading my future Anthropology related posts. And have a lovely night. Or day. Depends on what you're doing. I don't know.