Anthropological Perspective Research Articles

Benba in Literary Anthropological Perspective - The Boundary between Dream and Reality

Benba in Literary Anthropological Perspective - The Boundary between Dream and Reality

(Im)Piety

Much has been written about Islamic piety from anthropological and sociological perspectives. However, Islamic impiety has yet to be theorised, which is interesting given how widespread it is in Muslim-majority countries. This article argues that it is essential to examine and theorise impiety because the lives of believers constitute pious and impious experiences. However, the central argument of this paper is not that theorising impiety alongside piety is essential for understanding Muslim communities. Instead, pious and impious experiences are only sometimes easily distinguishable. This is to say, piety and impiety do not exist on separate planes of social experience and behaviour. In other words, it is not necessarily the case that certain practices and behaviours are demonstrably pure forms of impiety, even when they contradict Islamic orthodoxy and mainstream standards of pious behaviour. Instead, the article suggests that pious nuances may exist in the most impious practices and behaviours, which I call (im)piety.

MAPPILAPPAATTU AND OPPANA: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTE ON MAPPILA SONGS AND PERFORMING ART

The Muslim population of Kerala state is known as the Mappilas. The community is formed due to commerce between the Arabians and the Malabarians. Indigenous culture had a significant effect on Mappila's arts and ceremonies. The Mappilas created a distinctive cultural pattern that encompassed a variety of artistic aspects, including their traditional song, Mappilappaattus, and one of the most exquisite performing arts, Oppana. Most scholarly research on Mappilas is historical and ignores anthropological elements like arts and rituals. Thus, this essay aims to offer an anthropological perspective on Mappila songs, known as Mappilappaattu and the performing art of Mappila women, known as Oppana. While examining the nature of Mappilappaattus and its many genres, this research highlights that the secularised Mappilappaattus, which was primarily romantic in substance, drew people from beyond the Mappila community. Oppana also had a secular and romantic tone, which appealed to the public. The popularity of Mappilappaattus and Oppana can be explained, for example, by looking at the history of Malayalam films. Mappilappaattu and Oppana were staples of Malayalam film from the beginning of the 1950s.

Valorization of Violence in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

This paper excavates the valorization of violence in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart through the anthropological perspective of violence. Things Fall Apart explores the pre-colonial Igbo land of Umuofia, Nigeria. The Umuofian culture glorifies the violence very highly and people of Umuofia even legitimize the homicide in the name of masculinity. Their cultural practices encourage not only inter-cultural clash and conflict but intra-cultural violence between and among its members. The protagonist of the novel, Okonkwo, is a respected warrior and clan leader of Umuofia. He frequently exhibits violent acts: he kills a fifteen-year-old boy Ikemefuna to prove his masculinity; at Ezeudu's funeral, Okonkwo's gun explodes and kills Ezeudu's son; he then slaughters a court messenger and finally commits suicide. Furthermore, Okonkwo kills several people in inter-racial wars. He severely beats his wives and children; he often quarrels with neighbors and engages himself in fierce wrestling matches. Umuofians' associate violence with manliness and if a man fails to perform it, he is considered a woman. The present reading thus, attempts to unveil violence and its glorification in the name of culture, masculinity, ritual sacrifice, and other kinds of communally sanctioned violence.

Decoding Polygamy Permits: Unraveling Sociological and Legal Anthropological Perspectives on Marriage Motives and Conditions

Polygamy never runs out to be a subject of study for academics and the general public. One of the derivative issues is the issue of polygamy permits issued by the court. The problem is no longer on whether or not polygamy is allowed, but rather with permission from the court based on the conditions that have been set for those who want to be polygamous. Where these conditions often emphasize the condition of the wife, while the condition of the husband, the polygamous actor has not been given much attention in granting permits. Departing from this background, this paper tries to understand the polygamy permit regulated by stakeholders with a sociological and legal anthropological approach. This approach is used to trace the importance of polygamy permits issued by courts based on the conditions stipulated for polygamy in the realm of sociology and anthropology of Indonesian society itself. As a result, in sociology and legal anthropology, the practice of polygamy in society is based on different motives. Likewise, the granting of polygamy permits the conditions that must be met. The tendency that occurs in the community is that the law is not used as a benchmark in carrying out polygamy. People tend to use their respective customary laws and customs. Thus, the existence of a polygamy permit regulation is one of the preventive efforts to regulate the motives of the marriage by taking into account the conditions that have been agreed upon.

Ethnographic Observations of the Wartime Everyday Life of the Population of Southern Ukraine: Post-Expedition Reflections

Based on field materials, an attempt has been made to analyze the state of self-awareness among modern residents of the former centre of freedoms of the Zaporizhzhian Army, which included parts of the present-day Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions. The transformations taking place in this socio-cultural space and their influence on self-identification processes are traced from an anthropological perspective. Examples of russian imperial attitude towards the cultural landscape of the southern Naddniprianshchyna in different historical periods are provided. Parallels are drawn with the testimonies of the renowned traveller and ethnographer, Alexander Afanasyev-Chuzhbinsky, who, in the mid‑19th century, exploring the region and noted negative trends regarding the economic practices of the new owners of Zaporizhzhia lands. It is argued that a similar destructive impact on nature and culture was the practice of constructing large dams on the Dnipro River during the Soviet period, which generated a distinct conflict between russian imperial and Ukrainian worldviews. Through the prism of the author’s collected testimonies during expeditions to the places of the Cossack Great Meadow visited by A. Afanasyev-Chuzhbinsky, contemporary events during the russian-Ukrainian war are comprehended. The focus is on the issue of the new genocide and ecocide brought by the occupiers to the south of Ukraine as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station. The study reveals family strategies for preserving cultural memory concerning the former landscape and the role of the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks in modern processes of self-identification, through which not only the indigenous inhabitants but also participants of new waves of migration mentally assimilated the Zaporizhzhia heritage. Consequently, the military component of the cultural landscape of the Southern Naddniprianshchyna under the new conditions of the russian-Ukrainian war is capable of indirectly influencing the Ukrainian society. All of this calls for active protective measures regarding the cultural heritage and further comprehensive organization of scientific research in various fields of natural and socio-humanitarian sciences in order to preserve the values of the region and the development of Ukraine as a whole.

Christmas Nativity Scenes of the Diocese of Subotica in the Light of Traditional Piety of Catholic Believers

The paper questions the attitude of believers towards the nativity scene in the church in the light of the piety of believers, presenting four unusual compositions of the nativity scene in the churches of the Diocese of Subotica, through an ethnological approach and from the perspective of cultural anthropology. Based on an analysis of personal stories of people in charge of setting up the nativity scene in churches, we are striving to find out what the nativity scene means to them personally and what role the nativity scene plays in society in general. That is, whether it is only a part of the church inventory and décor at Christmas time or the Christmas nativity scene in Subotica can be consideredas a form of traditional piety of Catholic believers. The paper also uses theological insights in connection with the interpretation of certain aspects of religion, as well as the social practices that were studied.

Examining Regional Economic Expansion Through the Reduction and Absurdum Methodologies: A View of the Variations of Rural Construction in China and Internal Causes of Cultural Confidence

The correlation between regional economic development and the urbanization process has been the cause of the emergence of “village-in-the-city” or “urbanization villages.” To accurately detail the changes in “village-in-the-city”, the urbanization scheme persists in transforming the “village-in-the-city” into a threadiness of “urban-rural fringe” in this decade. This document uses these two terms. After the suggestions about the “Liang and Chen Plan” failed to be accepted, “village-in-city,” the geographical term has lasted for 70 years. Nowadays, China’s policy of collective ownership of rural residential land (which is not allowed to be listed for trading) but commercial development has led villagers to increase the floor area based on their own homes without authorization to increase rental income. The Government must demolish the illegal building to comply with land planning rules, sustain the city’s appearance and protection, and manage the transient population. The cycle caused cultural resources to be destroyed and traditional villages to disappear. From an anthropological perspective, this paper uses rural ecosystem services, involving artists, appreciating rural assets, and stimulating rural job opportunities through social responsibility, equity, and public welfare design. Advocating the Chinese Government encourage private investments in rural construction, raising villagers’ awareness of resources, providing multiple choices, empowering rural businesses, and increasing villagers’ income from their talent as part of rural progress to explore a path of innovation with Cultural Confidence for rural construction in contemporary China.

Human Rights: is the concept truly coherent with the Christian moral teaching?

The text explores the evolution of anthropological perspectives within Christianity, specifically focusing on the concept of rights. It traces the historical shift from a pre-modern emphasis on the social nature of humans to the emergence of individualistic anthropology in the 17th century. The tension between freedom and justice becomes a central theme, with human rights seen as a means of protecting individual autonomy from social coercion. The text explores the concept of personhood in Christianity, emphasising its central role in understanding the Trinitarian identity of God and its significance in Christology. It examines the classical definition of a person as an individual substance of reasonable nature, highlighting its limitations when applied to social aspects of human life. The author expresses scepticism about reconciling the concept of human rights with Christian anthropology, asserting that the rights-focused ethics is rooted in a non-Christian philosophical framework. The conclusion acknowledges the contemporary dominance of the rights-focused ethics but warns against the temptation to create a new "Christianity" compatible with this framework, urging a recognition of the anti-Christian nature of the ethical foundations of the modern Western society.

Death as a thread of Cultural and Religious Identity

This article approaches death from an anthropological perspective, exploring its historical evolution and its influence on diverse cultures and societies. It begins by examining how anthropology has contributed to our understanding of death, from its roots in the supernatural to contemporary approaches. Three pivotal periods in anthropological death research are identified: the twentieth-century evolutionary, the heyday of symbolic anthropology, and the current interdisciplinary era. The analysis focuses on the impact of European colonization in the New World and how anthropology emerged as a tool for documenting and understanding cultural and religious changes among indigenous populations who encountered the colonizers. In addition, it explores funerary beliefs and practices in diverse cultures, from the Incas in Argentina to contemporary native cultures in the same country. It highlights rituals and conceptions of death in different religions, including Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam and others. The article underscores the importance of appreciating the cultural diversity surrounding death in a globalized world. Despite superficial differences, death remains a universal theme that raises fundamental questions about life and transcendence. Understanding how different cultures confront and give meaning to death is essential to promote cross-cultural empathy and respect in today's society.

UNRAVELLING THE EVOLUTIONARY TRAJECTORY OF EPIC HEROES: A THEORETICAL EXPLORATION

The scholarly investigation of epic heroes encompasses a complex and multifaceted realm, engaging researchers in grappling with the intricate task of defining and categorising these figures, while also endeavouring to comprehend their evolutionary trajectory. Academic discourse on epic heroes has yielded two distinctive approaches. The first group, denoted as the “ubiquitous fallacy group” within this article, employs anthropological, psychoanalytical, historical, and literary perspectives to argue for the temporal and spatial ubiquity of epic heroes at their core, accentuating shared patterns and recurring themes. This article provides a thorough critique of the first group, highlighting the inherent methodological and contextual problems in their analytical frameworks, and revealing their limitations, particularly in terms of selective data and potential oversimplification of complex phenomena. The second group, while acknowledging some generic influences over time, emphasises the impossibility of ascribing a single, stable, or universal form to the concept of epic hero. Although leaning towards favouring the latter approach, this article aims to identify the problems inherent in this group as well. This approach’s categorisation of epic heroes, creating heroic models or types to differentiate heroes, is also problematic, given the fluid boundaries between these categories and the potential inadequacy of models in capturing the full complexity and diversity of epic heroism they represent. This article further delves into two distinct analytical frameworks in this group, Doris Cecilia Werner’s socio-political reading and John Steadman’s “image and ideal” hypothesis, offering potential solutions to address gaps in their theoretical approaches. Accordingly, this article, while presenting fresh criticism on the theories of the evolution of epic heroes, argues that the ever-changing nature of epic heroes defies a uniform ubiquitous definition or categorizations, and offers solutions to fill the gaps in the latest scholarly analytical frameworks.

The progression of human posture concept and advances in postural assessment techniques

This narrative review delves into the historical and evolutionary aspects of human bipedal upright posture, tracing its development from anthropological perspectives to modern postural analysis methods. It examines the multifaceted factors influencing the evolution of upright posture in human ancestors, challenging the notion of a singular cause. The review highlights various environmental and social hypotheses, such as the need for gathering food, self-defense, or tool use, which may have contributed to this significant evolutionary shift. The concept of posture has been interpreted differently across historical periods, reflecting the prevailing cultural and scientific understanding. From Aristotle’s view of upright posture as a divine gift to Johann Gottfried Herder’s perspective of it as a distinguishing human characteristic from animals, and to the more contemporary views of Henry and Florence Kendall, the evolution of the concept mirrors the changing paradigms in human thought. The development of methods for evaluating posture is also a key focus. The review traces the journey from the introduction of the plumb line in the 1850s, a simple yet effective tool for assessing spinal asymmetries, to the advent of the Adams test and the scoliometer, which revolutionized scoliosis diagnosis. Today, advanced techniques like rasterstereography and AI-based methods offer sophisticated, non-invasive means for detailed posture analysis, minimizing errors and maximizing efficiency. The review emphasizes the ongoing importance of posture in the context of overall health, underscoring the adage of a healthy mind in a healthy body. It illustrates how the study of posture, from its evolutionary roots to modern analytical tools, remains a vital aspect of understanding human health and well-being.

Exploring Jiarong Tibetan's Diverse Religious Culture through the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Buzha Drama

The Buzha drama of the Garzê Tibetan people is a unique “ritual dance” performed periodically in various religious settings. This form of performance, which falls between theater and dance, reflects the diverse cultural and belief systems of the local people and has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage for protection in recent years. Tribal organizations integrate various religious and cultural forms, including folk beliefs, Bon, Tibetan Buddhism, local customs, and regional knowledge into folk song and dance, transforming them into psychological customs and ethnic emotions, penetrating cultural elements. This article takes an anthropological perspective and examines the relationship between the artistic representation of the Buzha drama and the region's life, spiritual beliefs, and ethnic identity through prop making, ritual procedures, and dance content. The article also explores the characteristics and values of the diverse religious culture of the Garzê Tibetan people.

Special Issue: Digital Truth-Making: Anthropological Perspectives on Right-wing Politics and Social Media in "Post-truth" Societies

How do users of social media platforms produce, shape and share truths online? In this introduction, we outline our understanding of digital truth-making as a process that builds on the affordances of digital infrastructures to entangle information with social, cultural and emotional dynamics in a way that co-constitutes beliefs and convictions about the world. The contributions to the special issue illuminate how different variations of this process can be illuminated with the help of digital ethnography and additional empirical methods. In doing so, they exemplify how digital anthropology can contribute to ongoing debates about populism and right-wing politics in “post-truth” digital societies.

Religion, morality, science – And the (?) story of Homo sapiens

From the most recent and directive dimensions of the (?) story of Homo sapiens (Hs), presented as a very limited overview and in broad outlines from an anthropological perspective, the focus will ultimately fall on three key concepts: ecosystems, niche construction and wisdom. These concepts in my academic opinion represent for our pursuit and further exploration on morality and religion from evolutionary perspectives the most important anthropological clues and directives. Against the background of two remarks: firstly, on the contextual state of the present science-religion discourses in South Africa and secondly, on the fluid and messy nature of the relationship between science-religion in contemporary discourses, the (no, a) messy story of Homo sapiens is told, incorporating the most recent post-Darwinian developments within evolutionary theories, highlighting the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) and the all-important four dimensions of inheritance that are embodied in these very three concepts.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Reflection on the stories of Homo sapiens within cultural anthropological, theological and philosophical contexts in order to highlight directives and implications for the relationship between morality and religion within contemporary science-religion discourses.

Think with the virus

This essay proposes that analyses of the pandemic caused by Covid-19 can be clarified by reflections from the field of anthropology over recent decades regarding the plural effects of the interaction between human and non-human animals. These human–nonhuman relationships are intimate and unpredictable; between entities whose agency and modes of existence are not always precisely identifiable. Our contention is that ‘more than human’ perspective, as a relational marker, expresses a counterpoint defined by interspecific alterities that we humans establish with certain animal species. Furthermore, these relationships are configured as a ‘category-metaphor’ enabling us to perceive the multiple and complex ways in which we compose our lives in relation to the ‘nature’ of everything around us. We argue that events such as the appearance of SARS-CoV-2 have a reflective potential that can draw the attention of those who do Animal Studies to these relations. We highlight the limiting effects of a narrowly defined (‘absolutely animal’) disciplinary rhetoric, when instead we need to formulate meaningful responses to the consequences of our relationships with other beings. We address the valorization of relations between humans and non-humans in their vital contexts; that is, what is necessary and available to survive. They consider the access and utilization of available resources, and how they are unequal around the world. Our anthropological perspective asks what it means to simultaneously address issues of power and marginality in the face of capitalism and globalization, to consider humans and non-humans as companion species, and to take the benefits offered by anthropology learned from the lived world, without separating it from politics and history.

Industrial Partnership and Local Wisdom in the Rattan Furniture Industry: An Anthropological Perspective in Maintaining Cultural Heritage and Innovation

This research aims to the partnership between the rattan furniture industry and local wisdom from an anthropological perspective has become an important part of the cultural heritage of certain communities, and illustrates the close relationship between humans and nature and traditions that continue to be preserved from generation to generation. With the development of technology and globalization, challenges arise in maintaining cultural authenticity while still innovating to meet changing market demands. The stage is to explore how a solid partnership between the rattan furniture industry and the local community can be the key to maintaining and appreciating local wisdom. Anthropology as a scientific approach will assist in understanding the important role of culture and traditional values in the production process and design of rattan furniture. This research is a relevant and meaningful forum for discussing how the rattan furniture industry can collaborate with anthropology-based local communities. By applying an anthropological perspective in an industrial context, a deeper understanding of the role of rattan furniture as part of cultural heritage and local identity will be obtained. Descriptions of creative and innovative ways to integrate traditional values and local wisdom in the rattan furniture production process will have an impact on sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships between industry and local communities will be discussed to maintain and appreciate knowledge and skills that have been passed down from generation to generation. The role of the rattan furniture industry is expected to be able to adapt to the challenges of globalization, while still maintaining the authenticity of their products and supporting cultural sustainability in the context of implementing local values, the design and marketing of rattan furniture products in the global market will be an important focus point. By analyzing the impact of globalization and technology on the rattan furniture industry, it is hoped that it will encourage active participation and collaboration from industry players, academics and local communities in maintaining cultural wealth and creativity in the rattan furniture sector

BUDUĆNOST RADA ILI BUDUĆNOST BEZ RADA: RAZMIŠLJANJA OD MARKSA DO DANAS

This text attempts to present and critically analyze two prevailing Neo-Marxist schools of thought on the future of work, that derive from Marx’s ambivalent attitude toward work and the role of technology in society. Contemporary thinking on the future of work is split between its humanization and overcoming alienation in a ca-pitalist society on one side, and anti-work and post-work theoretical perspectives that propose its abolition through automation and technological innovations introduced by capitalism on the other. A two-way evolution of the Marxist thought on the future of work will be presented in relation to the growing usage of digital technologies and the development of artificial intelligence, while the disagreement between the two schools of thought won’t be seen as a setback, but the focus will be shifted towards their joint contribution to reexamining the concept of work in social theory and political prac-tice. The question about the future of work will also be analyzed through the lens of gender, in order to draw attention to the position of the social reproduction work and the risk of it being perceived as a highly ethical and authentic form of work that does not require reorganization. An anthropological perspective that emphasizes the link between human communities and work, not in order to project the future society, but to examine the transformation of the concept of work in relation to social, economic, and political frames, that is, at the intersection of neoliberalism and the development of new technologies in the contemporary context, will also be taken into consideration. By analyzing the future of work through different paradigms, we are called to open a new chapter in social theory that will serve as inspiration for future political demands that would lead the society out of the capitalist system.

Development as Labour and Labour as Development: Korczak’s Philosophy of Labour Against the Background of Interwar Childhoods

In this article, I consider two Korczakian conceptions complementary to each other of children’s labour as a means of building their agency and autonomy. The first is the concept of labour as development. While the second is development as labour. I analyse testimonies from Korczak’s institutions, including notes gleaned from children’s accounts Wspomnienia z maleńkości dzieci Naszego Domu w Pruszkowie [Recollections from the Children of Our Home in Pruszków], children’s texts (Mały Przegląd [Little Review]) and programme and literary texts by Janusz Korczak/Henryk Goldszmit and Maria (Maryna) Falska, who collaborated with him. In the anthropological perspective of new childhood studies I ponder the radicalism of Korczak’s projects involving child labour in light of the time, their perspective on child labour, and childhood itself. In what sense did they have modern origins? And in what sense did they transcend modernity – along with its concepts of childhood and child development?

Pung Practices among the Gurung – An Anthropological Perspective

This article penetrates the Gurung pre-wedding ritual 'Pung' which is taken as the confirmation of marriage between the bride and grooms. The study of 'Pung' practices among the Gurung is one of the anthropological study which has not done any study yet through anthropological lens. Pung itself is one of the mandatory and strongest pre-wedding rituals of Gurung. This practice does not only tie the relationship among the two families but also consolidates the relationship among the Gurungs. After the Pung bride can make a choice of her stay and can move from parent's home even after having kids too. This study has been implemented through the ethnographic examination through participation, observation, and interview and questionnaire method with the Gurungs of Gorkha and Lamjung who have been living in Kathmandu. In this study, eleven respondents including five women, five men, one Klepri (the Gurung priest), one Jaisi (the Gurung fortune teller) and one politician (former village development committee chair person) were taken as a key informants by using convenient method and interview and observations were taken as a research design tool. Interviews show that 'Pung' rituals are one of the mandatory formalities to be done before wedding. According the key informants they do not remember exact date of the practices about 'Pung' rituals. They even do not know how and who created those divisions of caste hierarchy among the Gurungs but have been following this ritual since they know. This ritual is also taken as the marriage itself (informal) and also opens for sexual intercourse, staying together in the same house and flexibility for the procurement.