ipl-logo

Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Naricema By Horace Miner

547 Words3 Pages

In the article " Body Ritual among The Naricema", Horace Miner speaks about a tribe and thier extremely perculiar behaviors. He goes on to explain how this tribe performs odd daily rituals, discussing them as unfamiliar people. By Miner speaking of specific behaviours and these "rituals" performed by this tribe, he allows people to gain an understanding of how cultural misunderstandings can occur by not having the knowledge of a society's basis. In this article it is obvious that Miner is making reference to the American people, but by portraying them as an odd tribe with strange behaviours, you as the reader are forced to try to understand the rituals and customs from an etic perspective. Miner often uses satire to show The Naricema or American people as being obssessed with rituals based on the vanity of the body. He explains how the Naricema have a strong belief of the human body being ugly. Miner goes on to describe a "shrine with medicines and magical materials placed inside." This is a direct reference to a bathroom where bathing takes place among other rituals, and a medicine cabinet with medicines inside. Other rituals include"Scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument." This depicts a man's shaving regimen in American culture. …show more content…

Miner's word choice confuses the reader but adds a bit of amusement to the

Show More
Related

  • Shaman's Apprentice Book Report

    752 Words  | 4 Pages

    • This book is about finding medicinal plants in the Amazon Rainforest to cure common diseases. • Sometimes, Western medicines cannot cure the common diseases. • This book was written by Mark Plotkin and it was published in 1993. • Mark Plotkin travels to different parts of the rainforest and collect several medicinal plants for a research experiment. •

    Read More

  • The Body Ritual Of The Nacirema Analysis

    488 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Body Rituals of the Nacirema”, provided the outside perspective of American culture. Horace’s point of view permitted a new perception of the current and corrupt society of America today. I obtained the perspective of

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes

    1690 Words  | 7 Pages

    Thus, in an expedition that consists of the competing and often interchangeable narratives of Gold of God, there is the apocryphal rhetoric of the indigene’s cannibalism that seems to be as pivotal as gold in holding together the discourse of the

    Read More

  • Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis

    890 Words  | 4 Pages

    Has there even been a moment in your life where you could figure out In the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, by Horace Miner, American culture is satirized due to the way some practices and beliefs are so deeply indoctrinated into us that the American people fail to recognize how strange all of them really are. In “1848: When America Came of Age,” by Kurt Andersen, American society from the 19th century, most specifically the year 1848, is described by a series of movements and the emergence of the many beliefs that dominate American culture. In American culture, faith without question and with the expectation that progress will come because of it is demonstrated in all aspects of life. Practices so common and mainstream are never questioned

    Read More

  • Summary Of Jennifer Morgan Some Could Suckle Over They Carry

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example the African female body was seen as desirable by Ligon however, a laborer body could not be seen as beautiful. So to justify actions for the slave trade Ligon and other European slave traders had to write their (African females) bodies off as repulsive and “monstrous”(26). Another relative example of the lust that the European explorers had for both African and indigenous women would be comparing their bodies to a medieval wild woman who’s breasted sagged to the ground and could be thrown over her shoulders. This imagery used in comparing shows the lust of the explorers, because it was believed that her beauty and youth was a disguise to permit seduction on her “victims”. In excerpts from the travel narratives of Richard Ligon and Sebastian Munster this idea of a woman’s body being both desirable and repulsive is clearly

    Read More

  • Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis

    1419 Words  | 6 Pages

    Horace Miner, a American Anthropologist wrote an academic essay titled “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” In this article Miner described some of the bizarre rituals and practices of the “Nacirema” which the reader comes to find out that he is talking about North Americans. The way Miner goes into detail about how these people live makes them seem foreign. Thus making the norm for an American lifestyle seem odd because the certain type of lingo Miner uses to make this “tribe” more exotic then the actually are. His point in doing this is to show the reader how obnoxious anthropologist can be when they are explain a different culture.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Native Americans

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although Native Americans are characterized as both civilized and uncivilized in module one readings, their lifestyles and culture are observed to be civilized more often than not. The separate and distinct duties of men and women (Sigard, 1632) reveal a society that has defined roles and expectations based on gender. There are customs related to courtship (Le Clercq, 1691) that are similar to European cultures. Marriage was a recognized union amongst Native Americans, although not necessarily viewed as a serious, lifelong commitment like the Europeans (Heckewelder, 1819). Related to gender roles in Native American culture, Sigard writes of the Huron people that “Just as the men have their special occupation and understand wherein a man’s duty consists, so also the women and girls keep their place and perform quietly their little tasks and functions of service”.

    Read More

  • Naturalism Napush Summary

    3260 Words  | 14 Pages

    In her paper “American Literary Naturalism: Critical Perspectives,” Donna Campbell writes that “the history of American naturalism is far from a completed chapter in literary history” (511). Naturalism has indeed come a long way since its emergence in the late nineteenth century. As a movement initially dominated by men, it has grown to include women and their versions of naturalism and continues to expand by including African, Native, and Ethnic Americans. Still more impressively, recent scholarship has helped “to shape a new and more inclusive conception of naturalism,” with some works focusing on “naturalism as a theme rather than as a time-defined movement (thereby extending the possible range of texts that could be considered as naturalistic)”

    Read More

  • Rituals In The Awakening

    654 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the next training session, Balthazar explained to him that he would in time teach him how to perform the Awakening. “To achieve this, certain ceremonial rituals must be successfully completed before you can summon the Awakening, which enables you to take the form of Vilgoth. While transformed, your eyesight, physical abilities and swordsmanship will be enhanced, as well as having the ability to predict other people’s movements. Even your voice will change, resonating Vilgoth’s own menacing voice. In essence, you become him–in mind, body and soul.

    Read More

  • What The Awl Means Summary

    1452 Words  | 6 Pages

    Effective Criticism, Ineffective Execution Janet Spector ’s book What The Awl Means is a break-way writing that reflects on many relevant issues within archeology during the twentieth century. She addresses the academic issues within archeology specifically when learning about Native Americans. Through in-depth reports on archeological sites and artifacts Spector, introduces a new form of archeological review.

    Read More

  • Fire Symbolism In Native American

    1124 Words  | 5 Pages

    Native Americans have a really diverse culture and one report is not enough to talk about all of their cultures. They have fourteen tribes so it is obvious that they will have a lot of different cultures and traditions between all fourteen tribes. It is impossible to have fourteen tribes with different people and expect them to all believe in the same things so some of them have different beliefs and different traditions. They worshipped a lot of gods and even some of the gods had dolls made for them. Some tribes worshipped the sun or fire or some serpents.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

    811 Words  | 4 Pages

    They name Nacirema spelled backwards is American. They really aren’t another culture. They are the American culture, made to seem extreme because that is how they seem to other places. The crazy acts are what people in America go through everyday, but they are not considered crazy until they are seen from another

    Read More

  • Analysis: Coming Of Age In The Dawnland

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    Science journalist, Charles C. Mann, had successfully achieved his argumentative purpose about the “Coming of Age in the Dawnland.” Mann’s overall purpose of writing this argumentative was to show readers that there’s more to than just being called or being stereotyped as a savage- a cynical being. These beings are stereotyped into being called Indians, or Native Americans (as they are shorthand names), but they would rather be identified by their own tribe name. Charles Mann had talked about only one person in general but others as well without naming them. Mann had talked about an Indian named Tisquantum, but he, himself, does not want to be recognized as one; to be more recognized as the “first and foremost as a citizen of Patuxet,”(Mann 24).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner

    746 Words  | 3 Pages

    Horace Miner, the author of “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, used very interesting and descriptive choice of words to describe the routines that modern Americans go through from an outsider point of view. He gives different terms to describe mundane routines, like brushing your teeth, and exaggerate the details as something that is bizarre. Some rituals Miner described as illogical because there was a low rate of success in what they are trying to achieve. This reveals that what determines something to be socially acceptable is not through logic, but only though the popularity of the community. One of the rituals that Miner described as illogical but everyone still do the ritual was the fact that the people kept going to the “holy-mouth-man”, or also known as the dentist, even if their teeth are still decaying.

    Read More

  • Eliade's Shamanism: Archaic Techniques Of Ecstasy

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Book Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Eliade explains to the reader what shamanism is according to his findings, and research. Shamanism does not have a set definition, it is a combination of religions and practices. Although, Eliade does give a safe definition of Shamanism, "a first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous will be: shamanism=technique of ecstasy." The reason behind this definition is due to the idea that a shaman goes into a different realm or world while under the effects of ecstasy.

    Read More

More about Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Naricema By Horace Miner

Open Document