Class notes 3/3/2016 Ethnocentrism vs Cultural relativism Linguistic relativity (Sapir – Whorf hypothesis)

Ethnocentrism – the practice of judging all other cultural practices by the standards of your own culture Cultural relativism – the belief that the behaviors and customs of any culture must be viewed and measured by the culture’s own standard

A couple of years ago, Annette Sorensen, 30, an actress from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Exavier Wardlaw, 49, a movie production assistant from Brooklyn, NY, were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day, while they ate inside the restaurant. They left her in her baby carriage on the sidewalk. Many passersby called 911 to alert the police. New York authorities took the child away from her parents and temporarily placed her in foster care. What do you think of these parents? This mother? This father?

In an ensuing article in the New York Times, one Danish commentator observed that leaving a baby outside of a restaurant is a very common practice in Denmark. The commentator wrote, “Often, Danish parents…leave their babies outside. For one thing, Danish baby carriages are enormous. Babies ride high above the world on horse-carriage-size wheels. It’s hard to get such a carriage into a café…Besides, Danish cafes are very smoky places.” The commentator continued, “In Denmark, people have an almost religious conviction that fresh air, preferably cold air, is good for children. All Danish babies nap outside, even in freezing weather—tucked warmly under their plump goose-down comforters…In Denmark all children own a sort of polar survival suit that they wear from October to April, and they go out every day, even in winter.” What do you think of the parents? This mother? This father? Would it make a difference if the parents came from a rural community in the far reaches of the artic and had no acquaintance with city life, no experience with American media etc? Sociology doesn’t EXCUSE – it attempts to explain behavior based on social forces

Does language influence the way a person thinks? The behavior and values of a culture? If so – what are the implications of this across cultures? Are some languages more conducive to certain types of thought?

Linguistic relativity The hypothesis that language influences non-linguistic thought. In other words our thoughts are limited by or facilitated by the language we speak.

Sapir – Whorf Hypothesis 1950’s Habitual categories create “grooves in the mind” Influence the ways we perceive and analyze the world Landscape metaphor In terms of thought & creativity - we take the roads that language allows us and don’t venture into the possibilities of the fields

An exercise: Describe this scene

Grammatical Differences differ across languages English requires tense But Hopi and Mandarin do not Russian requires Tense Grammatical gender Whether it ate it all or just some Turkish requires Whether the event was witnessed or hearsay Languages parse the scene differently

Does language reflect beliefs & culture or do beliefs and culture reflect language? Both? Some studies show differences in saving and spending behavior in future and non future languagessaving and spending behavior in future and non future languages Some people have the ability to always know direction because their language requires it