Anthropology 1020E Lecture Notes - Ecotourism, Patrilineality, Marvin Harris
Document Summary
Sociocultural anthropologists are cited more often in tabloids than in the mainstream. Anthropology in the news press (study in uk) People view anthropologists as experts of the bizarre, the strange & the exotic. Misconception 1: sociocultural anthropology is the study of the exotic, , bizarre or otherwise strange behavior. Fact: making the strange seem familiar and the familiar seem strange . Eg: northern madagascar location research of dr. walsh. Thousands of people come to a river/ocean and bathe annually. History: their ancestors instead of giving up to the invaders of another group, they drowned themselves. By bathing themselves in the water now, the people commemorate the tragedy. Purpose: to reproduce the commonly held ideas about life, death & the afterlife. To commemorate tragedies of the past that remain relevant in the present. Eg: 9/11 commemorations we do things similar to what people do in madagascar.