Scribd
Upload
46 views9 pages

UTS Chapter 4

This document discusses anthropological concepts of self and how it is embedded within culture from multiple perspectives. It describes how culture, social settings, and rites of passage shape one's identity and sense of self. The self is seen both as autonomous but also contingent on social and cultural contexts. It explores how identities can clash with inherited collective identities during times of cultural change, and how people navigate and reconcile multiple, even conflicting, identities that comprise the self.

Uploaded by

Vincent Natividad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
46 views9 pages

UTS Chapter 4

This document discusses anthropological concepts of self and how it is embedded within culture from multiple perspectives. It describes how culture, social settings, and rites of passage shape one's identity and sense of self. The self is seen both as autonomous but also contingent on social and cultural contexts. It explores how identities can clash with inherited collective identities during times of cultural change, and how people navigate and reconcile multiple, even conflicting, identities that comprise the self.

Uploaded by

Vincent Natividad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 9

Understanding The Self

Anthropological
Perspective of the Self
Chapter 4
Chapter 4:Anthropological Conceptualization of
Self Embedded in Culture
Anthropology-encroaches on the territory of the
sciences as well as the humanities and transcends the
conventional boundaries of both while addressing
questions from the distant past and pressing present-
perhaps with implications for future (Peacock)

Human Experience =Nature (genetic inheritance) +


Nurture (sociocultural environment)

Cultural variations may affect one’s mental health,


language and behavior
Cultural Construction
Culture-complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member
of society (Tylor)

Shared understanding expressed in guided behavior


Self+ cultural identity= Way of Life (Van Meijl)
Ethnic Identity-sameness of self with others sharing
certain characteristics within the group
Concept of Self in Societies
Egocentric-the self as seen as an autonomous and
distinct individual; replica of all humanity but capable
of acting independently

Sociocentric-the self is contingent on a situation or


social setting that is context-dependent which
emphasizes that there is no intrinsic self that can
possess enduring qualities (Robbins)
The Identity Toolbox
Features of a person’s identity that he/she chooses to
emphasize in constructing a social self
Ethnicity, personal appearance and socioeconomic
Family membership, language and religious affiliation
Child’s birthright, cultural rights and symbolic
representation of identity
(Aymara Indians-2 yrs.old and ready to speak Aymara
language before giving him/her a name)
(Iceland-boys name added with suffix sen and girls
name with dottir while in Sumatra inherit mother’s
family name)
Status and Identity according to Arnold van Gennep
Three-Phased Rite of Passage:
1. SEPARATION-detach from former identity to
another; for example: wedding ceremony
2. LIMINALITY-transitions from one identity to
another ; from single to married
3. INCORPORATION-change in ones’ status is
officially incorporated; when society recognized the
union of the husband and wife
Identity Struggles
(Anthony Wallace/Raymond Fogelson)
Interaction in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a
person claims to possess and the identity attributed to that person
by others

Clash between self-identification and inherited collective


identification emerging from the cultural changes and conflicting
norms and values

Internalized divergent cultural models, may reject suppress


identifications that may conflict with other self-presentations
Creating “new self” in response to internal/external stimuli
Self-determination to work on yourself (Golubovic)
The Self as Embedded in Culture
Clifford Geertz defines culture as a system of inherited
conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of
which people communicate, perpetuate and develop their
knowledge and attitudes toward life

1. Culture as governing behavior including plans, rules and


instructions to set control mechanisms
2. Man desperately dependent upon such extra genetic,
outside the skin control mechanisms such as cultural
programs for ordering behavior leading to actual
accomplishments
The close look at persons embracing a Plurality of
Identities
indicates that it is indispensable to distinguish
between (shared) identity/identities and self. This
ability to manage different identities— to manage
difference—is an important aspect of the self.

Put the other way round, to conceive of a plurality of


identities that can simultaneously and/or
subsequently be embraced and enacted by the ‘‘same’’
person we need something that somehow remains the
‘‘same’’—in spite of the various differences entailed by
different identities (Sökefeld, 2002) .

You might also like