...A. Introduction One of the ways to tell and educate the children about moral values is by telling a story. At school, teachers usually tell the students some inspiring stories which usually are fiction, such as fables, legend and other folktales. One of the most famous stories told by teachers and parents is Kancil (Mousedeer) story. Kancil story is kind of fable as the characters in the story are animals. Fables, which frequently feature animal characters, are told with the intention of educating the listener or the reader[1]. The stories which often use animal characters are memorable way of reinforcing moral and ethical precepts and of teaching practical lessons on how to get along in the world[2]. Kancil (Mousedeer) is one of the most famous characters in a fable in Indonesia and some other Asian countries. There are a lot of stories using Kancil as the main character. In Indonesia the story about Kancil is influenced by the culture of the people in one region. Therefore, as Indonesia has a lot of ethnics with their culture, it makes Kancil stories are told in different version and different name based on the language, custom, value and religion of one society. For example, Aceh and other Malay people call Kancil as Pelanduk with the famous story “Hikayat Pelanduk Jenaka”; while in North Sumatera, Bataknese people call it Paes. However, still all the stories about Kancil describe him with the same character. Kancil is usually described as a clever, tricky and...
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...Anthropology 202 Fall 2015 Instructor: Ian Kalman Written Assignment: Ethnographic Observation This assignment is an exercise in ethnographic observation. Students are asked to choose a location in the Montreal area for a field site. There, they will spend at least an hour, taking (hand-written) notes on what they observe. Successful sites are those in which, to some extent, what is considered ‘normal’ differs from the observer’s own sense of normal. In other words, students are asked to go to a place where taken-for-granted knowledge differs from their own and report on their experiences and insights. In doing so, you make something that was previously strange slightly more familiar, and write about it. Students are then asked to write their papers in two parts, including both a description and analysis of their experience (total 1800 words maximum). Analyses should be no more than 400 words. Papers will be assigned a grade based on the success with which they, (1) demonstrate they have chosen a site appropriate for anthropological observation, (2) richly describe what they observed, and (3) draw out and support interesting interpretations rooted in their experience. Assignments count for 30% of the student’s final grade. Unexcused late submissions will be penalized five points per day of lateness. Papers must be submitted in word format electronically before 2:30PM on Tuesday, October 20th. Please note that as this is an electronic submission, you will be...
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...In his essay, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight” Clifford Geertz described what appears to be playing sports or even gambling – cockfighting. But reading further, one can understand that one important point of the article addresses human passions, self-expression, and relationship building aspects of the people of Bali. In my mind this essay is a microcosm of humanity as a whole, one difference is found in the representation of different cultures. At the onset, Geertz tells us a story of his first hand observation of an illegal cockfight in one of the villages in Bali. Prier to the cockfight he and his wife were unacknowledged in the village, but were accepted into the local society after their support in covering up the illegal event to the police. That is the moment when he realizes that cockfighting in Bali is not a just about gambling, but is much more civic in nature. After watching numerous fights he suggests that the fights are metaphoric; and not between cocks but between people. These fights are, “… a convulsive surge of animal hatred, a mock war of symbolical selves, and a formal simulation of status tensions.” He uses this occasion to represent one’s feelings towards other members of the local society. Even though there is money involved in making bids, it is secondary to the metaphoric demonstration of one’s pride, poise, dispassion and masculinity associated with the fights. Even though people are unharmed, it is only the cocks that pay with their life...
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... 04 September 2013 Integration Paper on: “Deep play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight” CLIFFORD GEERTZ Clifford Geertz in his article entitled “Deep play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”, uses interpretative analysis in the context of cultures as symbolic systems or a set of texts consisting of practices which create shared cultural meaning that is to be read by the anthropologist. Using direct observation of cockfighting and its significance within Balinese society, Geertz makes assertions of its symbolic meaning and relation to Balinese culture, concentrating largely on its social implications and masculine symbolism. To the outsider, one may mistakenly see Balinese cockfighting as simply placing a bet on an animal fight like many other sports concerning animal matches, but there is more to the cockfighting tradition than just that. Cockfighting was firstly shown more than a sport and somewhat of a rite of passage into the Balinese social group/life when an incident concerning Geertz, along with the community, runs away during a police raid of an illegal cockfight instead of simply pulling out their papers and asserting their Distinguished Visitor status. Geertz, before this incident, was treated, along with his wife, as if they were but ghosts in the village that they were observing, thus he portrays this incident as the juncture of his successive acceptance into...
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...Bibliography Clifford Geertz (1972): Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight. Daedalus, vol. 101, no. 1, pp. 1-37 Summary The article by Clifford Geertz describes the explicit procedure and context in which Balinese cockfighting is performed. His first established presence in this unfamiliar country exposed him to an unwelcoming depiction of how the Balinese ignored foreigners. When fleeing with the locals upon a police raid from a cockfight, they overcame the biased expectations of the Balinese and were finally able to engage with the locals. His studies comprised primarily on cockfighting due to its diverse analogies associated to the Balinese every day life. The symbolic representation of the cock as an extension to the man, the importance of betting as a representation of their status and their approach to village rivalries through birds tearing each other apart demonstrates cockfighting is as significant a cultural expression to the Balinese as is baseball to Americans. Main Concepts Anthropological fieldwork is information collection outside of an office or laboratory where research on given subjects are conducted (Geertz, 1972, p. 2). Visitor status is social standing or perception on someone who does not come from their “home” (Geertz, 1972, p. 2). Narcissistic ego is the excessive interest in self-importance and status (Geertz, 1972, p. 3). Platonic love is a none sexual but intimate relationship with something or someone (Geertz, 1972, p. 4). Deep play...
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...In attempting to answer the ominous and age-old issue of what religion is, Emile Durkheim and Clifford Geertz offer two quite in-depth and distinct definitions that can be viewed as very similar, yet truly different on a number of levels. In this essay, I will examine the similarities and differences between the two authors’ definitions of religion and offer my own perspective on each. Both anthropologists provide definitions that share the emphasis on religion as specific to a people, and also share the acknowledgement of rituals or practices within religion. However, Durkheim and Geertz have different fundamental, explicit concepts of religion, and in turn emphasize different aspects of religion and its social function. Many critiques on both definitions have provided a number of pros and cons to each, which in turn have led to my preference of one over the other. In examining the similarities between Durkheim and Geertz’s definitions of religion, one must observe that both authors conceptualize religion as specific to the group of people that it is present in, with limited applications outside of the group. At the heart of Emile Durkheim’s definition of religion is the concept that religion is central to society and that “religion is an eminently social thing” (DURKHEIM 2008: 39). Embedded in this idea of religion as a social entity is the concept of religion as socially-specific; as applicable only to the specific group it exists in. He goes on to claim that beliefs and...
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...Rachel Burgess Dr. Shawn Schulenberg PSC 207-201 After reading Geertz article, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” I decided that I agree with the author’s idea that culture could be seen as a set of texts to be interpreted. However, for me, I believe that after considering the above; it is important to then understand the vital question of how texts are created and where do they come from? In this sense, this is where history comes into play. I believe cockfighting can be identified in many complex ways relating back to human nature itself. However, the social origin of status in Balinese society is never really discussed. It is important to decide whether or not these cockfights are metaphorical to the battles over status rather than battles over money. To my beliefs, it seemingly appears that the article could be considered slightly agnostic due to the fact that Geertz believes ones status and character can be defined through the distinguished success of their fighting cock. However, I would like to argue that this should not be taken as truth. In other words, I suggest that in the event and processes of cockfights are only symbolizing the idea of establishing power of ranks in Balinese villages. The main purpose of the article is the interpretation of different cultures. At first, Geertz was failing to conduct his research adequately due to the lack of recognition of existence that he and his wife were receiving from the people of Bali. Eventually however...
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...This paper will discuss the ethnographic study that I conducted. It will describe the symbol that I chose and explain why I chose it. It will discuss the interview that I conducted with a man from my local GAA club and his take on the symbol that I chose. Finally, it will relate the symbol and findings to Ortners article and also the work of Ingold and Geertz. To me a symbol can be described as representing an idea or concept. The symbol that I have chosen is the GAA. I think this is a key symbol and has significance to me personally and to a lot of other people, including my research participant. The GAA has huge culture significance in my opinion and has a rich history. It promotes Irish cultural activities running competitions in music, singing, dancing and storytelling .One could say that the GAA has a huge impact socially. The GAA is an extremely powerful symbol in my opinion because it is has such significance to the vast majority of the country. As I said before a symbol can be described as representing an idea or concept, and the GAA represents a nation. It’s evident that it’s part of our culture and how popular it is. Whether it’s playing for your local GAA club or watching your county in Croke Park with 80,000 it has an impact socially and there is a real togetherness about the GAA and that is why I think it is such a powerful symbol. I will now discuss the interview that I conducted with my research participant. My research participant that I chose is a man from...
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...Geertz was interested in the cultural aspects of religion. He offers a very clear cut format for studying a culture. He believed that it was very important for an intense and detailed study of both the culture itself, as well as the environment from which it arose. This idea can help to explain the origins of Barstool’s current culture. The world of the internet, especially in the last 6-8 years, has become a place of division. Political fights run rampant throughout social media and blogs like Barstool. The culture of Barstool arose from this environment. The founders of Barstool want to avoid heavy hitting news stories. They want their readers to enjoy themselves with a laugh, not being barraged with political news and conflict. The first part of Geertz’s definition of religion is, “A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men…” (Geertz 349). In many ways, this can help to explain the phrases of Barstool, and their connection to the purpose of the website. These phrases act as symbols of the humble origins of Barstool. They are a constant reminder of the original purpose of Barstool Sports. The repetition of these phrases establishes the continued “mood and motivation” of Barstool to create content that generates happiness, rather than anger, in its readers. In this sense, Geertz helps to explain the use of symbology and phrases within the Barstool...
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...Symbolic anthropology studies the way people understand their surroundings and make specific aspects of their society into a symbol in which the other parts of their life revolve around or connect to. When studying symbolic anthropology one can see that these significant symbols help tie together a bond between the people of that society; whether it be ritualistic or simple everyday actions. According to Clifford Geertz, symbolic anthropology should be understood well enough so that an individual can familiarize himself and get as close as they possibly can to that culture. Geertz wanted to look at culture like a text, and finding a symbol to connects all aspects of a culture would help one do so. "Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in...
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...the article/chapters? The overall claim of this article is that it shows us how a society can speak for itself through the various cultural and ritual events that take’s place. The importance of understanding peoples culture and their rituals is what anthropologists try to seek out. Through Balinese cockfighting only were they able to better understand how such an event can be used to show case culture and societies values. The association between an animal and man showed that more prestige was given to the more powerful one and thereby increasing male status in the village. b. What kinds of evidence does the author base this claim on? What are the anthropological methods used to collect this evidence? Geertz uses a mixture of research methods in his ethnography, predominantly employing long-term participant observation and supports this participant observation method with the inclusion of historical and literary research, and cross-cultural comparison. Anthropological methods such as interviewing along with the use of ethnographic realism which aims to define accurate and objective methods that accounts the different ways of life from first hand observations and experience. Other ethnographic techniques such as in depth interviewing of the Balinese people have made it possible to find out about the beliefs and perceptions. c. How does the author present the evidence to support the claim in this article? In other words...
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...William Roseberry thinks the position leads us into a misguided feeling of interpretive carelessness. Roseberry draws from Geertz's own particular commentaries to propose that Geertz disregards the significance of ladies ("conventional markets (where the battles were held) were 'staffed completely by ladies"), political economy ("the game has been one of the fundamental offices of the island's adaptation"), and post-pilgrim patriotism ("Balinese see the island as taking the state of a little, pleased rooster, balanced, neck stretched out, back tight, tail raised, in everlasting test to vast, carefree, Java.") Nor do we ever truly take in the social birthplaces of status in Balinese society pivotal data if these battles are emblematic fights...
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...Religious activities around the worldReligions by country Africa[show]Algeria · Nigeria · Sudan · Ethiopia · Seychelles Uganda · Zambia · Kenya · South Africa Asia[show]Afghanistan · Pakistan · India Nepal · Sri Lanka · Vietnam China · Hong Kong · Macau · Taiwan North Korea · South Korea · Japan Malaysia · Singapore · Philippines · Thailand Europe[show]Iceland · Ireland · United Kingdom Portugal · Spain · Italy · France Netherlands · Belgium · Germany Switzerland · Luxembourg · Austria Denmark · Sweden · Norway · Finland Poland · Latvia · Lithuania · Moldova · Russia Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Croatia Macedonia · Montenegro · Serbia · Slovenia Bulgaria · Romania · Greece · Cyprus Malta Middle East[show]Egypt · Israel · Lebanon Jordan · Armenia · Azerbaijan Iran · Iraq · Syria · Cyprus · Turkey North America[show] Canada · United States · Mexico Cuba · Haiti · Dominican Republic Trinidad and Tobago · Nicaragua Oceania[show]Indonesia · Papua New Guinea Australia · New Zealand · Fiji South America[show]Uruguay · Argentina · Chile · Colombia · Peru Bolivia · Brazil · Paraguay Religion Portal v · t · e Part of a series on Spirituality Outline Religion[show]History · Timeline Traditional[show]Christian (Catholic) · Mysticism Modern[show]"Spiritual but not religious"SyncretismNew religious movement Practices[show]Spiritual practiceReligious experienceEsotericism Influences Western[show]Proto-Indo-European...
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...roughly 4,200 religions in the world.[1] Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion as "the belief in spiritual beings".[26] He argued, back in 1871, that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or judgment after death or idolatry and so on, would exclude many peoples from the category of religious, and thus "has the fault of identifying religion rather with particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them". He also argued that the belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined religion as a "system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."[27] Alluding perhaps to Tylor's "deeper motive", Geertz remarked that "we have very little idea of how, in empirical terms, this particular miracle is accomplished. We just know that it is done, annually, weekly, daily, for some people almost hourly; and we have an enormous ethnographic literature to demonstrate it".[28] The theologian Antoine Vergote also emphasized the "cultural reality" of religion, which he defined as "the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or...
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...Suggested Bibliography Babbie, E. R. (2006). The practice of social research (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Edelman, M. (1981). The symbolic uses of politics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Geertz, C. (1977). The interpretation of culture. New York: Basic Books. Geertz, C. (1985). Local knowledge. New York: Basic Books. Hart, C. (1999). Doing a literature review: Releasing the social science imagination. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hoover, K. R., & Donovan, T. (2003). The elements of social scientific thinking (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Kanji. G. K. (2006). 100 statistical tests (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Kuhn, T. (2006). The structure of scientific revolutions. (3rd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D., & Festinger, D. (2005). Essentials of research design and methodology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Maslow, A. (1966). The psychology of science. New York: Harper & Row. Moses. J. W., & Knutsen, T. (2007). Ways of knowing: Competing methodologies in social and political research. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Trochim, W. & Donnelley, J. P. (2006). The research methods knowledge base (3rd ed.). Cincinnati...
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