rivera cultural anthropology q-notes

1. What is language in anthropology?

 Language is a symbolic communication system used to express cultural norms and values. It shapes how we think, interact, and perceive the world around us.

How is language connected to power and identity?

 Language can mark belonging or exclusion in debates over immigration, race, and nationalism. For example, English-only laws in Arizona show how language becomes tied to power and politics.

3. How does human language differ from animal communication?

Animal communication uses call systems tied to immediate stimuli. Human language uses symbols, displacement (talking about past/future), and productivity (creating new expressions).

4. What is displacement in language?

the ability to communicate about things not physically present, as well as past and future events. This is a unique property of human language.

5. What is productivity in language?

the ability to combine sounds and symbols into new, novel forms. It lets humans adapt language for new ideas and technologies.

6. What do ape language studies reveal about language origins?

 Apes like Koko (gorilla) and Washoe (chimpanzee) learned hundreds of ASL signs and showed limited productivity and displacement. However, they did not create entirely new language or teach others spontaneously.

7. How do fossils and genetics help explain the origins of language?

Neanderthal brain structures and vocal tracts suggest speech abilities. The FOXP2 gene, found in both humans and Neanderthals, plays a key role in speech and language development.

8. What is the FOXP2 gene and why is it important?

a transcription factor gene involved in brain development and speech. Mutations in this gene about 150,000 years ago may have been crucial to human language evolution.

9. What is linguistic relativity?

the idea that all languages develop categories necessary to describe their speakers’ realities. This makes every language equally capable of expressing complex thought.

10. What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

 It suggests that language influences thought, creating different worldviews. For example, Hopi language structures time differently than English, blending past and present.

11. Does language limit thought?

 No—while language shapes perception, all languages are capable of expressing ideas. Languages adapt to describe new technologies, concepts, and realities.

12. What is a prestige language?

a way of speaking associated with power, wealth, and success. It often grants access to jobs, education, and opportunities.

13. How does Bourdieu’s idea of cultural capital apply to language?

Language skills can be converted into economic benefits, like employment or higher wages. Speaking a national or prestige language is often rewarded.

14. Why are dialects sometimes devalued?

Standardized national languages are privileged in schools, jobs, and politics. Dialects are often dismissed as less prestigious, even though they are equally valid forms of communication.

15. How does language intersect with race?

 Language can become racialized, where accents or non-standard speech mark people as outsiders. For instance, Rosa found Latinx students used “Inverted Spanglish” to resist marginalization.

16. What is Inverted Spanglish?

 It is a playful use of Spanish with an exaggerated “White” accent. Latinx students used it to challenge discrimination and assert a shared identity.

17. What is the difference model of gendered speech?

 Deborah Tannen argues that men and women grow up in different linguistic worlds, leading to different communication styles.

18. What is the dominance model of gendered speech?

 It suggests men use speech strategies like interruptions and commands to assert dominance, while women more often use supportive and accommodating language.

19. How does the word “no” reveal gendered power dynamics?

 Kulick’s research shows some men misinterpret women’s refusals in sexual contexts, reflecting problematic cultural expectations about gender and sexuality.

20. How is language shifting with gender inclusivity?

 Gender-neutral terms like Latinx, they/them pronouns, and non-gendered nouns in languages like Spanish and Argentine Spanish reflect evolving norms.

21. How many languages exist today, and what is happening to them?

About 7,000 languages are spoken, but many are endangered due to globalization and dominance of prestige languages like English and Mandarin.

22. What is language loss and why is it significant?

 Language loss is when languages die out, usually every 10 days. It erases unique cultural knowledge and worldviews.

23. What areas face the most rapid language loss?

 Northern Australia, central South America, the Pacific Northwest, and Siberia, along with many Native American languages in the U.S.

24. What is language revitalization?

 It involves efforts to revive endangered languages, often using digital tools like the Lakota LiveAndTell platform, which allows speakers to share and teach language online.

25. Why is language a political issue in the U.S.?

 Language is tied to identity, belonging, and immigration debates. English-only laws reflect cultural anxieties about diversity and American identity.

26. How does language connect to class in the U.S.?

Standardized English is linked to education and success, while accents or bilingualism are sometimes stigmatized, despite being assets in global contexts.

What makes ethnographic fieldwork unique?

It involves long-term, immersive living and interaction with a community to understand lives from their perspective.

Why do anthropologists conduct fieldwork?

 To understand meanings people construct, relationships of power, and everyday life beyond statistics.

How does fieldwork shape anthropologists?

 It produces culture shock, challenges ethnocentrism, and helps anthropologists see their own culture as “strange.”

 4. How is fieldwork scientific?

 It uses hypothesis testing and theory building.

How is fieldwork artistic?

 It relies on intuition, building trust, interpretation, and storytelling.

 Who were early “armchair anthropologists”?

 Scholars like Tylor and Morgan who analyzed others’ reports instead of doing fieldwork.

What did Franz Boas contribute?

Founded the four-field approach, pioneered salvage ethnography, and promoted cultural relativism.

What did Bronislaw Malinowski contribute?

Established participant observation as the foundation of anthropology (Argonauts of the Western Pacific).

What did E. E. Evans-Pritchard study?

The Nuer in Sudan using a synchronic approach, focusing on systems (political, kinship, economic).

What did Margaret Mead’s work show?

 In Samoa, adolescence was not biologically difficult—proved gender roles are culturally constructed.

Why is Zora Neale Hurston important?

 Studied Black communities in Florida, proved they were dynamic; wrote for popular audiences.

What did Julian Steward, Eric Wolf, and Sydney Mintz show?

 Fieldwork in Puerto Rico revealed cultures are interconnected with global capitalism and colonialism.

What did Annette Weiner add?

 Emphasized women’s economic roles in the Trobriands → introduced reflexivity (identity shapes research).

What did Barbara Myerhoff study?

 Jewish immigrant elders in California; shifted anthropology toward studying “home” and reflexivity.

What is engaged anthropology?

 Applying research to address real-world issues, often activist and politically committed.

What tools are in the anthropologist’s toolkit?

 Literature review, learning local language, grants, permissions, ethical protocols, equipment.

What is rapport

 trust-based relationship.

What is key informant?

 insider who advises and provides cultural insight

What kinds of data do anthropologists collect?

Quantitative and Qualitative

What is quantitative data?

measurable (population, transactions).

What is qualitative data?

descriptive (life histories, stories, interviews).

What are life histories?

one person’s biography to show wider cultural change.

What is kinship analysis?

mapping family ties

What is social network analysis?

charting interactions and power relations.

What is mapping?

Recording built environment and cultural spaces (who uses them, power dynamics).

What is built environment

the environment that human beings construct around them: everything from their homes to their fields or hunting grounds.

What are “zeros”?

 what is not said, revealing hidden issues.

What is mutual transformation?

fieldwork changes both the anthropologist and the community.

What is emic perspective?

insider/local view.

What is etic perspective?

outsider/analytical view.

What is polyvocality?

 Including multiple voices (researcher + informants) in ethnography.

What is reflexivity?

Self-examination of how identity influences fieldwork.

What is ethnographic authority?

 Establishing credibility through experience, evidence, and transparency.

What are the main ethical principles?

Do no harm

Informed consent

Anonymity

How has globalization changed fieldwork methods?

Ongoing digital contact (Zoom, social media).

Multi-sited fieldwork across countries.

Research on global flows (Scheper-Hughes & organ trade).