Anthro-essay

Anthropology Essay Rylee C B3


From the seemingly primitive African Bushman to the decidedly sophisticated Englishmen, there are a plethora of contrasting and unique cultures the world over. So many of these cultures have such compelling differences, it’s almost impossible for one to imagine them having anything in common other than the diminutive fact that they share the same planet. All of these differences make the job of an anthropologist immensely challenging. They hope to acquire at least a sufficient amount of knowledge about the way of life for cultures other than their own, and this task is not always easy. Ethnocentrism often creates a sort of blockade between cultures and their acceptance of one another’s differences.

An anthropologist tries to exercise cultural relativism as he or she enters the field. They must try to be observant, accepting, and even more importantly, accepted by the culture about which they want to learn. In the story “Shakespeare in the Bush”, the anthropologist tries to tell the bushmen the story of “Hamlet”. She expects the bushman to at least understand the plot and general motives of Shakespeare’s renowned characters, but she was greatly mistaken. They completely twist the story, and the poor anthropologist gets upset and breaks from being calm and observant and accepting. Because of their ethnic background and somewhat elementary upbringing, they cannot seem to grasp some of the concepts that are so easily understood by the Europeans and even Americans. She became a trifle ethnocentric about the whole ordeal whenever one of the bushman contradicted any of her explanations, causing her to become less professional, so to speak, as an anthropologist.

In the story “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari”, the anthropologist faces a similar complication and reacts in a similar way. The bushmen for some reason anonymous to him monotonously tell him that the huge fat ox he had just bought was a sickly creature unfit to be eaten. The anthropologist cannot for the life of him figure out why they would call such a vast creature thin and poor. Turns out it is in their culture to enforce humility by destroying one’s self esteem so to speak, by calling the food they attain small and sickly no matter how excellent a kill they were able to procure. The anthropologist reacts with relative disarray and objects to all their notions, insisting it is a fat and wonderful ox he has bought for their feast. He makes himself almost sick with worry over the contradiction. When the ox is slain and it proves to be as fat as he had hoped, he believes the bushmen were playing a cruel joke on him. When he realizes the truth of the matter, he comprehends that their reactions were just part of their culture and there is no need to be upset.

Anthropologists face many challenges throughout the course of their studies. But if one steers away from ethnocentrism and embraces the concept of cultural relativism, they will ensure a better chance of achieving success.