Victor Turner:Isoma

Victor Turner’s Planes of Classification in a Ritual of Life and Death is an analysis of his field work among the Ndembu (Northwestern Zambia).  He provides a definition and description of Isoma, a ritual performed around the occurrence of female reproductive issues, for example Turner says Isoma is a “manifestation of a shade that causes a woman to bear a dead child or brings death on a series of infants” (Turner 17). These issues are believed by the Ndembu to be caused by the sufferer forgetting their matrilineal lineage, as Turner explains the aims if Isoma rites are “to remove the effects of…misfortune or illness due to the displeasure of ancestral shades or a breach of taboo” (Turner 19).

                When Turner speaks of a “union of ecology and intellect” (Turner 27), it is in reference to the musoli tree, which “makes animals appear” due to its fallen fruit. This tree is used in Isoma ritual to “make children appear” (27). My understanding of what Turner is saying is that Knowledge is influenced by and intertwined with environment, the result being a materialized idea. Both human intellect and environment and ecology influence the result of a materialized idea (Turner 27).  Musoli, as a symbol, represents the union of ecology and intellect, because it shows the Ndembu have interpreted a medicine for their environment as making something appear and intellectually use it with that knowledge as a base.

                As for whether this union of ecology and intellect has any effect on the effectiveness of the ritual, I believe it does. I see the ritual system of the Ndembu to be extremely complex (I had to reread several times, and still unsure I fully comprehend the meaning). I illustrate this complexity with a quote from Turner, where it is illustrated the interconnectedness and complexity, of the ritual process:

Liminality, Marginality, and structural inferiority are conditions in which are frequently generated myths, symbols, rituals, philosophical systems, and works of art.  These cultural forms provide men with a set of templates or models which are, at one level, periodical reclassifications of reality and man’s relationship to society, nature, and culture (Bowie 156).

The meaning of the ritual symbols used by the Ndembu would be significantly different if they were in a different environment. I envision a change in the ritual system as traveling down a fuse; affecting every part of the ecosystem.

                Fiona Bowie provides an interesting distinction I would like to comment on, between intellectualists, and symbolists. Intellectualists subscribe to Turners ideas, and view religions primary function as a way to explain the universe. Symbolists follow Durkheim, who heralds that religion reflects society (Bowie 143). To put both views together (an intellectual symbolist) would say that religion is an intermix of both ideas, which can be shown explicitly in the Isoma ritual. For example, Isoma reflects the importance of matrilineal descent to the Ndembu, although they are politically patriarchal.

                The Isoma ritual is symbolically complex, I have not been able to grasp it’s full meaning from this article alone (something to keep in mind for future research, when I am not taking a full unit load). The symbols of a society can provide insight into not only their explanations of the universe, but their reflections on their own society.

You Can’t Hug your Children with Nuclear Arms

TOPIC: #8 Final Blog

TITLE: You Can’t Hug your Children with Nuclear Arms

SOURCE: Religious Studies course I took this semester (RS 300);

Bernard T. Adeney’s book Just War, Political Realism, and Faith

RELATION: The Anthropology of a Nuclear Weapons Laboratory (Robbins pp 193-195).

This semester, I took a Religious Studies course, where the topic is War and Peace. Our final unit is on the opposing perspectives of just war theory and pacifism. One of the big no-no’s for both viewpoints is nuclear warfare. To be honest, I never saw myself being interested in this topic at all, however as I was reading the final chapter of Robbins’ Cultural Anthro, I came across a study by Hugh Gusterson. He researched the opinions of the scientists who design and build nuclear weapons. To this point, I had only thought of nuclear weapons as something that was built to detonate, their main purpose to blow up enemies. When I read the opinion of some of these scientists, that “working on nuclear weapons is more ethical than working on conventional weapons, since conventional weapons are more likely to be used. Nuclear weapons… are simply symbolic chips in a game, the goal of which is to avoid using them” (Robbins 194), I decided to do some further research.

During this research, I read a portion of Bernard T. Adeney’s book Just War, Political Realism, and Faith. In it, he quotes J. Bryan Hehir, whose justification is very similar to that of the nuclear scientists. He asserts that weapons of mass destruction’s only purpose is that of deterrence, and that “If conflict occurs this policy has failed and we move into a new realm of action, combat policy…the weapons exist to be not used; their purpose is to threaten, not to strike” (Adeney 116).

Adeney argues that even when not used, the threat of nuclear strike is unethical. “According to traditional moral theology,” he says, “it makes little difference that there is no intent to carry out the threat. The threat is still immoral…” (Adeney 117). He is basically saying it is just as evil to threaten to blow someone up, as it is to actually blow them up. This speech act is being used in a coercive political way, in an attempt to intimidate and persuade the enemy. Even if not physically detonated, this threat is an act of terrorism, however I do not think the United States would see it as so.

LOST Without a Father: A Glimpse into LOST as a Reflection of Kinship

TOPIC: #6 Family Relations, Stresses, and Functions

TITLE: Lost Without a Father: A Glimpse into LOST as a Reflection of Kinship

SOURCE: LOST. American Broadcasting Company: ABC, Television.

RELATION: Robbins- finding important ethnographic relations by watching soap operas (P109-110)

In chapter 5 of Cultural Anthro, Robbins asserts that a good way to learn about family life in a society is to become familiar with their soap operas. I have chosen to look at LOST as a representation of American family values and tensions of religion. According to Robbins, “…though the behaviors of these characters may not really represent the daily lives of Americans, they represent enough of reality to allow viewers to identify with the characters and the situations...they can reveal something about the dynamics of American lives” (109).

Throughout the show each character is revealed to have a deep issue with their father; related to abandonment, manipulation, or abuse of some sort. This has caused great repercussions to each of their identities, either by reproducing their fathers’ fallacies, or affecting their mental persona, turning them against society’s acceptance. For example, Jack’s character is the son of a spinal surgeon, and is highly influenced into becoming one as well. His father, who should be perfect in Jack’s eyes, and a being to look up to, however, he is an alcoholic, which not only causes tension within their relationship, but has deeply engrained a drinking problem for Jack.

The relationship between Jack and his father (as well as the relationships with other characters- some of whom make a transformation into father figures themselves) embodies the contradiction of what the American Father should be, and shows the importance and reliance of the father figure as a guide and influence.

Religion is another aspect which parallels the relationship. Many Religions revolve around a paternal monotheistic creator, who is supposed to bring guidance. When this guidance is not received, trust is lost in the relationship, which often leads to a refusal to follow. This is very much like Jack’s lack of trust in his own father, which leads him to disown him.

The paternal relationship between Jack and his father are only a small portion of what can be learned about our society from LOST. There is also plenty of data on our ideas of marriage, culture (other than our own), identity, and reality just to name a few. There is much we can learn about ourselves as a culture, and as individuals from fictional stories such as LOST.