Chapter 12 " The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words"

When I started to read the first pages of “The Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words” it was confusing for me because I couldn’t see how languages shape our view of the world. But at the second paragraph of the page 118 it was much clearer for me. The example of the shade of colors is familiar to me since in French we have countless words to describe one color e.g. purple that can be “lavender” or “plum”…

Another example that I find interesting is the comparison between rice grains and automobiles p 118/119 made by Gleason. The contrast between the amount of vocabulary of the Hanunoo to describe rice and the amount of vocabulary of Americans for automobiles stunned me! Actually it is very true and obvious! Depending on where you live and what is familiar to you, you are most likely to acquire certain words linked to the way you live.

When came the illustration of translating one word from French into English I totally recognized myself through it. I always try to translate directly from French into English and sometimes it sounds like neither French nor English for my listener. The comparison that the book made between “distingue” and “distinguished” are one among numerous. The word “cinema” in French, which means “Movie Theater” in English, was kind of new for me. I always thought that it was the same word in English! I just discovered that it was not while I was speaking with a friend. In the same way, strangely as it is, there are words that are used both in French and English. It is probably a great illustration of how culture is shared through languages.

I experience all of these little things everyday, especially when it comes to write something. French people, we tend to write our thoughts not in a straight way as English or American people do. We love to put adjectives, euphemisms or images whenever it’s possible. As an example instead of saying: Yes I want to see you, I would say: It would be a pleasure to have the possibility to meet you again. Problems here I come! When first I came here, I learned how to be concise when writing and I struggled with it and still I do. Changing the way I think before to write down is very tough, it is almost learning how to write again for me.

That is how I finally understood how Worlds are shaped by Words. Each culture has its own language but also its own way to perceive, to feel and to interpret things. I think that culture and language definitely go hand-to-hand and that it influences our perception of the world as well.

Inspiration of the day

I love Starbuck's coffee and everyday I get my quote of the day, which is on the back of the cup. The one that I got today wonderfully fitted with the theme of chapter 4.I almost thought that it was made on purpose! I really enjoyed it.It was a great way to start the afternoon.Little things are often full of inspiration.

The Way I See It #21
People need to see that,far from being an obstacle,the world’s diversityof languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure,affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.
– Youssou N’DourMusician.

"Eating Christmas in the Kalahari", Richard Borshay Lee.

Charlene Scavetta
February 22, 2009
ANT 1001 TV24A/ Gaunt
1st year (undecided major)


“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay Lee, shows not only how tough it is for an ethnographer to get away from his own beliefs, but it also gives us an example of how personal interpretations can interfere between people.
At the very beginning, Lee said himself that he came “to the Kalahari to study the hunting and gathering subsistence economy of the! Kung Bushmen” p12, for that reason, Lee should have known how they interact with each others and what Christmas meant to them. Lee thought that the ox that he bought couldn’t be better. He was just perfect for him: fatty with a lot of meat.

It was the ideal gift to thank them during Christmas time. However, he became very disappointed when the tribe told him “Do you expect us to eat that bag of bones?” p13 although “It looked enormous” p13 to him. At this particular point, Lee forgot to deep thinking about what he learned along his ethnography and kept asking himself what was wrong with the ! Kung Bushmen.

At no time he thought that the problem might be something within him “Are you out of your mind?” p 15. When he realized the joke “Yes, when a young man kills such meat he comes to think himself as a chief or a big man. And he thinks of the rest of us as his servants or inferiors […] so we always speak of his meat as worthless” p 17, Lee remained shocked: it was about humility. What Christmas meant to him, “With us Whites […] Christmas is supposed to be the day of friendship and brotherly love” p 16, did not have the same meaning for the villagers. The culture that Lee shared for years with the ! Kung Bushmen suddenly appeared unknown, unfamiliar to him.
He became subjective instead of staying objective because what was happening was directly linked to him. Even though, Lee had been living with the Bushmen for 3 years and knew the situation concerning social conflicts, he was not yet aware of their hunting traditions as well as their manner of enforcing humility among them.

This experience reinforces the idea that even for an ethnographer is hard to get away from his own culture and values and it is easy to misunderstood acts and words from someone else if you don’t ask for the true explanation. ““But why didn’t tell me this before? I asked Tomazo […]” “Because you never asked me, said Tomazo”” p 17.

After reading this text, it reminded me the experience that professor Gaunt shared in class about how she misinterpreted what a man told her about Obama’s eloquence. It also enabled me to see that misunderstanding something or someone is easy. When I don’t put away my personal beliefs I tend to take things very personal. It doesn’t require being an ethnographer to understand another culture but certainly to speak up. I can’t be familiar with another person who has a different culture if I don’t ask her the good questions. I wonder if it could be another aspect of cultural relativism.

Bibliography
Lee, Richard Borshay. “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.” In Conformity and Conflict: Readings to Accompany Miller, Cultural Anthropology, 4 ed., ed. Spradley and McCurdy. Pearson, 2008, Chapter 2.

Introduction

Hey Everyone!
I'm Charlene, and I come from Monaco.It has been now 1 year that I moved to New-York and I can get borred from what New-York offers daily. Leaving a small Principality for a huge city is a rewarding experience.I feel like I discover the city everyday. Since I'm here I met people from different countries and find interesting how all cultures live together and share both different and common things. I like to share my thoughts althought public speaking is not always easy for me. I see Life in a positive way (even in the worst case lol).Hope you will enjoy the blog and feel free to comment and correct any mistakes that I might do. Good critics are often helpful :)