In criticizing behaviourbeliefs they encounter

in criticizing behaviour/beliefs they encounter
 Scheper-Hughes as an anthropologist refused: to only observe, document, and write
about their lives truthfully
o She believed if they were to work with her, she would have to work with them to
fight for better lives
 She calls it a more “womanly” anthropology  one concerned with how
people treat one another

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Question 1.4: How Can The Meanings That Others Find In Experience Be Interpreted And
Described?
 Ex. Sherlock Holmes Story (Page 24)
 An anthropologist might infer that clocks are instruments of discipline; they tell us when to
get up, go to bed, eat, when to start and stop work
 Holmes “read” the watch as if it were a cultural text
 Cultural Text – thinking about culture as a text of significant symbols, drawings, etc.
 To understand a culture we must be able to decipher the meanings of the symbols that
comprise a cultural text (Ex. Holmes viewed the watch as a text inscribed with symbols that
revealed ideas about time and work)
 Must be able to interpret meanings embedded in language, objects, gestures, shared
by members of a society
a) Deciphering the Balinese Cockfight
 Ex. a cockfight on island of Bali: a ring in which 2 roosters with sharpened metal
spurs attached to their legs are set at each other until one kills the other with men
shouting encouragement for the one that they want to win
o To understand how Balinese view their world:
 Might find out the language they use to talk about the cockfight
 The synonym of rooster is the same as us North Americans
 Cock fights are public events held from late afternoons until after
sundown
 The owner of the winning cock takes the carcass of the loser home to eat
 Balinese contrast heaven and hell by comparing them to mood of a man
whose cock has won and the mood of a man whose cock has lost
 There are strict social conventions that dictate wagering
 Ex. man will never bet against cock that is owned by someone of
his family, village, or friend’s family group
 Aren’t about economics; more about status  cocks represent men (their
owners)
 Cockfight is meaningful to Balinese
o Tells them something real about their own lives in a way that doesn’t directly
affect their lives
o They see struggle for status that is part of everyday life
o Even in cockfight itself, no one really gains/loses status in any permanent
sense
Question 1.5: What Can Learning About Other Peoples Tell Anthropologists About Their
Own Societies?
 An objective of studying other cultures is to help us recognize meanings we impose on our
experiences (Ex. page 28)

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o Realize they use similar expressions in talking about hockey: roughing and