Twin Pitfalls in the Cultural Diversity

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Both Richard Lee in his book The Dobe Ju/’hoansi and Richard Robbins in his book Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-based Approach address the issue of the cultural diversity that needs to be comprehended appropriately.

Lee mentions the dramatic changes that occurred between the 1960s and the 1990s in the Dobe area that is located in modern Namibia. The author describes gathering mongongo and other plants, hunting, and lifestyle of !Kung people. The author emphasizes that despite the absence of globalization and modernization, for instance, wage labors or supermarkets that are integral parts of the modern world, people lived happily and peacefully bringing healthy children.

In other words, “even in this hard-bitten age of social and ecological crisis, of wars and economic depression, !Kung San show us that other ways of being are possible” (Lee xii). It demonstrates the existence of the other way of living than modern industrialized world.

However, it is incorrect to romanticize !Kung people as they also possess all the failures of humans including violence, homicide, and racism. The latter along with romanticism that suggests the idealization of the nation to some extent are two pitfalls.

First, Lee dispels the myth that they are missing links to the outside world. The author claims that Bushmen are the same humans as others and provides the reader with a number of persuasive arguments: !Kung people enjoy tobacco, women wear bracelets, and nation’s language is made of clicks. Second, Lee reveals the fact concerning racism, in particular, apartheid that took place in some regions of Africa by the white population against the black one. The restriction of blacks’ rights in South Africa was practiced since the time of the arrival of the Europeans. All the South Africans were divided by race on white, colored, black, and Asian. In their turn, Ju/’hoansi supported the system of human rights violation policy.

Moreover, Eating Christmas in the Kalahari illustrates the difficulty of avoiding personal interpretations by an anthropologist and ethnographer during their research and analysis. Lee states that he came to Kalahari to examine the hunting and gathering of the !Kung people. Nevertheless, he was confused by the unusual behavior of locals, who demonstrated that Christmas is when a man kills a big animal, he might refer to others with some disregard.

At the same time, Christmas means happiness and brotherhood for white people. Although Lee experienced !Kung culture for years, he unexpectedly realized that he knows nothing. It should be noted that the reason for such misunderstanding was personal beliefs. The above situation demonstrates that, as a rule, people consider other cultures through the prism of their own cultural peculiarities that causes misinterpretation. Instead, it is more appropriate to avoid personal evaluation to achieve clear comprehension of the other culture.

In his Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-based Approach, Robbins examines the issue of differences between cultures and the necessity of the tolerance in regard to others as well. The author reflects the core of the difference pointing that every culture involves a set of specific traditions, beliefs, way of life, and plenty of other aspects. For example, he states that “members of some societies accept death as a natural and inventible occurrence, whereas others always attribute the death of the malevolent of some person – often through sorcery” (Robbins 5).

Robbins suggests that it is the ethnocentric fallacy that plays a crucial part in the formation of the culture. “Ethnocentric fallacy is the idea that our beliefs and behaviors are right and true, whereas those of other peoples are wrong and misguided,” states the author (Robbins 8). Therefore, it becomes clear that it is erroneous to consider the other cultures as something wrong or inappropriate.

In order to reveal the situation with the perception of the other culture more comprehensible, Robbins takes the examples of virginity examination in Turkey and cannibalism of Wari. The first example shows the reader the tradition of Turkey according to where women have to avoid sexual contacts before marriage. After the wedding night, the husband should demonstrate the family blood on the sheet to prove the innocence of his wife.

As a result, one might ask whether it is the abuse of women and violation of their rights or centuries-old meaningful tradition. Perhaps, the above procedure would be considered strange and even absolutely senseless in the United States. The second example conveys the situation with cannibalism practice of eating dead among the Wari caused by the smear tactic that is incomprehensible for the rest of the world. What is rather appropriate in one culture might seem completely unacceptable in the other one.

According to anthologists, the best way to resolve the issue of the ethnocentric fallacy is to try to see the world through eyes of others. In other words, it is of great importance to consider the morality of the particular culture objectively taking into account the context, history, and place of the culture. It is the point of contact of Lee and Robbins discussions of the ethnocentric fallacy. Both of mentioned authors examine cultural differences along with their causes and perception by people outside the considered culture.

In conclusion, it should be stressed that both Lee and Robbins investigate the issue of cultural differences and tolerance to each other grabbing the reader’s attention by means of bright examples and convincing arguments. It was stated that both authors determine the cause of the ethnocentric fallacy as the existence of several cultures with their peculiar traditions and characteristics. Therefore, one might conclude that the best way to avoid the misinterpretation of the other culture is to consider it without personal interpretations.

Works Cited

Lee, Richard B. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2012. Print.

Robbins, Richard H. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-based Approach. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2013. Print.

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Twin Pitfalls in the Cultural Diversity

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