Anthropology October 2 2014 11 07 AM 30 Chinese case Why do they prefer FSD over MBD Sister exchange Moieties MBD is same as FSD because MB marries FS Direct exchange Cross cousins Family types Nuclear Joint family Stem family Inheritance conflicts Six major kinship systems Omaha Iroquois Pattern recognition Trobriand Islanders Oedipus complex Marriage Matrilineal Human psychology Language Perspectives French structuralism Historical particularism One reading from discussion Linguistic approach Synchronic linguistics phonemes not specific phonetics What it means to be fluent Language is a medium through which culture can be expressed Humans are genetically capable of speaking but language is acquired learned Five elements of language Language October 4 2014 3 53 PM Language is a medium through which culture can be expressed Humans are genetically capable of speaking but language is acquired learned Language is prerequisite for culture however culture also determines the content of the language Language is Symbolic Arbitrary symbols are given meaning through general consensus which are different in each society Displaceable Humans can talk about topics that are displaced not present past or future or abstract ideas Semantically universal All languages contain certain structures and patterns such as grammar nouns verbs etc Tends to change slowly o Written languages are more permanent more gradual change than spoken Parole speech is more easily modified than langue grammar Requirement of mutual intelligibility constrains the rate of innovation in language o o Dialect formation Geographic isolation Relatively isolated regions Economic isolation Different economic statuses Queen s English o When dialects differ to such an extent where one speaker cannot understand the other they are considered different languages Cantonese and mandarin are so different orally that they are considered separate languages yet they are written the same way o All forms of mass communication tv radio etc hinder development of local dialects Duality of patterning o o The same symbols alphabet can be combined in various arrangements to form different meanings Elements individually phoneme hold no significance but hold meaning only when grouped together Telephone chinese electric speech english teleport sound Accents form when one reproduces a foreign language s phonemes using another language Phonemes are written like this p p and b are mutually contrasting Sapir Whorf hypothesis The language you learn from birth affects your cognitive process and essentially the way you conceptualize the world Trobriand Islanders October 4 2014 3 56 PM Trobriand Islanders by B Malinowski New Guinea early field work Avunculocal post marital residence living in mother s brother s residence Matrilineal society FSD patrilateral cross cousin marriage is first preference Strengthens ties with father s lineage which is separate from the mother Delayed direct exchange A man marries a woman from the same lineage as his grandmother Does not produce hierarchy exchange of women given in one generation returned in next cancels out power difference Urigubu Immediately following the yam harvest men give half of their yams to their sister s husband idea is to make sure the family stays healthy so that the sister will have many children to carry on the matrilineage Payment in yams goes back and forth just like the exchange of women through generations Oedipus complex exists between men and their uncle mother s brother not sex oriented Chinese case October 4 2014 4 14 PM Contradictions with a patrilineal father s sister s daughter marriage system o Structural instabilities makes it unlikely that it would be a habitual practice Chinese case Why do Chinese avoid FSD marriage and prefer MBD EXAM MBD matrilateral cross cousin preferred because the in marrying spouse is the husband s mother s niece rather than in FSD where the spouse is not related to the mother In a patrilineal and patrilocal society daughter in law must live with mother in law Reduces conflict between mother in law and daughter in law Primogeniture firstborn male inheritance Oldest brother inherits property o Reason for why Chinese families stabilize at stem families and never become joint families Chinese Table Manners You are how you eat September 16 2014 1 46 AM Food habits symbolize order and relate to the social structure in China There is a continuous process of yielding and deference between the host and the guests where certain formalities depend on the status difference The author is qualified is because he did fieldwork for five years at a Chinese household and has a Chinese wife who taught him Leaving grains of rice on the table after eating shows insincerity and serving oneself before asking others to be served reveals selfishness In Chinese culture food is commonly shared amongst everyone eating whereas in American culture everyone usually has their own plates and dishes Both cultures believe in staying seated until everyone is done eating In the working class the co workers will fight over each other to pay for the meal whereas in the middle class they usually split it At public events one usually takes their own food and lets everyone serve themselves but at banquets it is the host s job to always place the guests ahead of him The author is saying that the way you direct yourself at a table reflects on your personality and nature which is a common trait in every culture that has a set of table manners Each member of the group pays for the amount of food that they consumed They are disciplined into following the table manners through statements such as each grain left on the table will materialize as a pockmark on the face of their future spouse Dim saam exists in both informal and formal contexts precursor to main meals The unit of analysis is Chinese table manners and it is an anthropological because it is based off of participant observation other anthro texts Family types October 4 2014 4 29 PM Types of family o o Conjugal nuclear Parents children Extended Several nuclear families related by blood living together Stem family Parents living with oldest son and his family Joint family Parents living with all of their sons and their families Brothers decide to keep living together even after the death of their parents Weaker family structure due to large size and fight for inheritance For joint families to exist siblings must be same sex females in matrilineal