Language, Communication and Culture How Anthropologists Study Meaning
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 The KEY Questions How do anthropologists study meaning? What are basic features of language? How do culture, society and communication interact? Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Origins of Language Verbal language developed around 50 000 years ago Using calls, body postures and gestures Emergence of writing associated with emergence of the state Development of the international phonetic alphabet. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
Thought, Language and Society Sapir-Whorf language determines how we see the world and behaviour reality is filtered through language categories Sociolinguistics social position determines the content and form of language, e.g. in the relation between languages and dialects. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
Properties of Language It is symbolic: the relation between the word and the object referred to is arbitrary and culturally determined. A symbol is defined as something that stands for something else, e.g. a flag for a nation. If we examine the word for ‘dog’ in many languages, we can see that there is no ‘natural’ relationship between the symbols d-o-g and a four-legged furry mammal. All words can be divided into the signifier, i.e. the oral or written symbols that represent something. And the signified, the concept of the thing to which the signifier refers. The relationships between signifiers are relations of difference: we know that dog is a dog because it is not a cog, a fog, or a god. These relations of difference can be studied by anthropologists. Levi-Strauss: every culture has basic, key symbols that are arranged in relations of opposition. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
Properties of Language II Language exhibits ‘displacement’, i.e. it can refer to events in the past or future and in places that are distant from the speaker or writer. Language is also conventional: it is defined by its use. E.g. the Oxford English dictionary. Language is productive: individuals can combine words to make new meanings. It is universal: all human societies possess language. Geertz: Culture can be ‘read’ as one reads a ‘text’. Through examining public documents, e.g. prominent literary works, scientific works, legal maxims, etc. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Symbolic Productive Conventional Binary Oppositions Universal “Culture is like a text” Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
An Example of Symbolic Analysis: The Egg and the Sperm Emily Martin examined medical textbooks used in universities. Despite their scientific neutrality, she found that gender images and symbols were very important in them. Especially relating to biological processes of conception, birth, menstruation and menopause. In describing conception, the egg is portrayed as passive, and the sperm as active. After 1984, new research showed that the egg possessed adhesive molecules that actively embedded the sperm in the egg. Also the action of the sperm’s tail was shown to be mainly sideways and not forward. After this, medical textbooks portrayed the egg as a ‘vamp’ that entrapped the sperm. Imagery and metaphors of ideal gender relations, in which good women are generally more passive than men when it comes to dating and romance. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004