Horace Mitchell Miner
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Course Hero. "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Study Guide." Course Hero. 20 Dec. 2019. Web. 27 Jan. 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Body-Ritual-Among-the-Nacirema/>.
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Course Hero. (2019, December 20). Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Body-Ritual-Among-the-Nacirema/
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Course Hero. "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Study Guide." December 20, 2019. Accessed January 27, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Body-Ritual-Among-the-Nacirema/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Study Guide," December 20, 2019, accessed January 27, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Body-Ritual-Among-the-Nacirema/.
Horace Mitchell Miner
1956
Essay
Nonfiction, Satire
"Body Ritual among the Nacirema" is an anthropological satire focused on the Nacirema people, a fictional North American tribe. The essay was published in the June 1956 edition of American Anthropologist. The tribe focuses its attention on the human body, including its appearance and health, both of which are considered inadequate by the Nacirema. The Nacirema treat the ills of their bodies through magical rituals and ceremonies, which are written so as to seem extreme and bizarre to outsiders reading the text. Nacirema is American spelled backward. Miner uses the fictionalized group to speak scientifically about American practices, as though they are being studied by an outside anthropologist. Although it is not a formal anthropological study, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" is commonly read and discussed in anthropology courses as a basic—albeit light—introduction to anthropological study, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism, as well as to basic ideas of similarity and difference among cultures.
"Body Ritual among the Nacirema" is written in the third person, from the perspective of a social anthropologist describing the "Nacirema" culture.
"Body Ritual among the Nacirema" identifies and describes the defining feature of the Nacirema people—attitudes about the body. The word ritual in the title emphasizes the idea that the Nacirema are a tribe with superstitious beliefs and magical practices.
This study guide for Horace Mitchell Miner's Body Ritual Among the Nacirema offers summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.