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Report on Cultural Anthropology
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Added on 2020-05-04
Report on Cultural Anthropology
Added on 2020-05-04
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Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Cultural Anthropology Name of the studentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGYComparison of the approaches of three theorists regarding the symbolism of hairAccording to the theorist Sir James George Frazer in his book, ‘The Golden Bough’, ithas been stated that it is global notion that an individual might be bewtiched through the waysrelating to the cuttings of his hair or the parings of nails. The common suggestion regardingwhich the resting of superstition occurs is associated with the sympathetic association expectedto exist within an individual as well as everything that has once been part of his body or in anymanner had a close association with him. They are belonging that part of branch of sympathetcmagic that might be referred being infectious. In the ancient times, dread of sorcery did theformation of one of the most significant traits of the Marquesan islanders (Nanda 2014). Thesorcerer used to take some of the hair of the person he wanted to injure, did its warpping in a leafand did the placement of the packet within a bag made of fibres or threads that were constrictedin a complicated manner. The intention of a Maori sorcerer having the intention on bewitching aperson sought to receive a strand of the hair of his victim, the parings of nails or a slice of theperson’s cloth. After collecting the material, the sorcerer used to do the chanting of certain spellsas well as curses over it through a falsetto voice as well as concealed it under ground (Millar2014). With the dacaying of the matter, the individual whose part it was, was supposed to getwasted away. In the same manner, within Germany it is a common concept that when anindividual’s cut hair is found by a bird, and the latter does the building of their nests with it, theindividual will be suffering from headache, at times it is thought that he will be having anoutbreak on the head. There occurs similar prevailing of superstition, or was prevailing in WestSussex. It was seen in New Zealand that the uttering of a spell was done regarding hair-cuttingfor averting thunder as well as lighting. In the Tyrol, witches are expected to do the using of cuthair for making hailstones or thundestorms with (Lewis 2017). Within Scotland’s Highlands, it
2CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGYhas been stated that any sister should not be combing her hair in the night time when her brotheris travelling in the ocean. A fundamental problem in regard to the aspect of interpreting a ritual is associated withthe fact that the participants in every society might not have the ability to provide an overtdefinition of the meaning regarding symbols that should be having an involvement. There is ahuge significance of symbols as well as acts of symbol that is common towards a broadassortment of cultural aspects. Whilst any specific symbol is having different meanings fromsociety to another, it can be found out that these meanings are recurring in a constant manner(Rapport 2014). Dr. Leach did the examination of the association amongst the importance of symbolismwithin personal subliminal stage, as observed by a psychoanalyst, Dr. Charles Berg, as well asthe importance regarding symbolism in respect of social custom, as the ethnographers haveconstrued. The specific symbolism type that is used by him as the basis of discussion isconsidered to be the hypothesis of Berg stating that there is a fundamental symbolic uniformitywithin the hair in the head as well as genitals of men within the subliminal stage, such that thehair cutting is similar to castration (Lewin 2016). While yielding that rituals are not reflecting anindividual’s psychological condition regarding performance, but rather that the structural aspectof the social circumstance will be requiring th actor in making official symbolic statements of aspecific type, Leach still finds the hypothesis of Berg in regard to the aspect of head shaving atbereavement – that the loss of a dear one will be is similar to castration as well as hair loss – tobe having appropriate meaning in relation to the aspect of making explanations regarding theorigin of the symbolism primarily (Knauft 2013). Now, the exact reason as to why individualsshould be reacting towards the anguish by shaving their hair off as well as doing their mutilation
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