ANTH 100A Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ritual Purification, Cud, Book Of Leviticus
Document Summary
In some cases, even discussion of that thing is forbidden. Chew the cud but does not part the hoof etc. No rational reasons for these prohibitions, evidence also disproves hygiene theory. Douglas highlights the "unusual" particularities of judeo-christian practice as worthy subjects of anthropological study. Culturally constructed notion of what being clean is. We can"t understand food taboos without understanding how the whole system works. Need to create the overall framework in which the rules are being ascertained. Whatever we think of holy, sacred, or pure is one that should have an integrity of the whole itself. We all define it as dirty, though it can perfectly normal in some social constructions. Hair on a person"s head vs hair being pulled out of a drain. They establish social laws which must be followed in order to gain or maintain group membership. They establish boundaries between groups, and provide a rationale for maintaining closeness with some and distance from others.
