ANTH1001 Lecture Notes - Racial Hierarchy, Nuclear Family
27 May 2018
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Lecture10 International Adoptions
Culture is symbolic
○Symbols are systems of meaning that vary culturally
○Symbols are systems
○Symbol systems and their associated meanings are shared
○Symbol systems are integrated; they interest and overlap; they do not exist as
individual ‘things’
○Symbol systems over and intersect with the material aspects of cultural system
The cultural construction of the person: food and space
○O’Donnell: In China/Shenzhen, the good life has food as a central component —
food is both material and symbolic
○Megs: Hua and Shenzhen: how food is shared/distributed marks social relations
—Kinship (ex: the Hua) and the larger polity
○Rademacher: Suhmbasi/hukumbasi: different social/ political categories produce
different kinds of urban people
Eleana Kim: Adoptions
What questions does international adoption highlight?
○What is kinship?
○What is national identity?
○What is the cultural construction of the person when people leave their home
country?
Assumptions of isomorphism
○Common assumptions: place, people, race, culture, history, ethnicity, nation,
language — are all overlapping forms of same thing
○International adoptees: No ‘multicultural’ capital, no legal ties to Korea, few if
any language or cultural ties to Korea, legal kinship based in adopted countries
The ‘isomorphism’ paradox
○Culture is learned VS Culture is inherited
○What is the role of the nation and nationalism in this debate?
○How is the isomorphism made through people’s social relationships?
○Do people ‘naturally’ belong in a particular land/country/nation? Why or why
not?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Symbols are systems of meaning that vary culturally. Symbol systems and their associated meanings are shared. Symbol systems are integrated; they interest and overlap; they do not exist as individual things". Symbol systems over and intersect with the material aspects of cultural system. The cultural construction of the person: food and space. O"donnell: in china/shenzhen, the good life has food as a central component food is both material and symbolic. Megs: hua and shenzhen: how food is shared/distributed marks social relations. Kinship (ex: the hua) and the larger polity. Rademacher: suhmbasi/hukumbasi: di erent social/ political categories produce di erent kinds of urban people. Common assumptions: place, people, race, culture, history, ethnicity, nation, language are all overlapping forms of same thing. International adoptees: no multicultural" capital, no legal ties to korea, few if any language or cultural ties to korea, legal kinship based in adopted countries. Culture is learned vs culture is inherited.
