The paper, Body Ritual among the Nacirema, introduces the readers to a tribe of people living in North America who progress through their lives doing daily activities and rituals that may initially seem irregular to the reader. This paper is written by Professor Linton, an anthropologist – the anthropologist who studied the Nacirema. His work identifies key parts of their history and culture – Such as the fact that their founder was a man named Notgnihsaw – as well as their habitat and way of life…
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“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner is a story with a hidden meaning about the American culture. “Nacirema” spelled backwards spells “American.” The story touches on many habits that the American culture and society has and about the importance of religion in one’s culture. The people of the Nacirema may have odd rituals, but also have positive qualities about them. The practices followed in the Nacirema has many spiritual benefits and should be followed in today’s society. People of…
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Horace Miner’s satirical article, “Body Ritualism Among the Nacirema” is a very entertaining look piece about ethnocentrism and social commentary. Miner describes American cultural practices from the view of a primitive culture. By doing this the author is forcing us to change perspective. We realize that like every other culture, Americans have numerous habits and rituals that would appear ridiculous to another society. Miner is telling us to view other cultures with more understanding and objectivity…
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satirical article, “Body Ritualism Among the Nacirema” is a very entertaining look at a “tribe” located between the cree of Canada and yaqui of Mexico. The author describes the typical Western ideal for oral cleanliness, as well as providing an outside view on hospital care and on psychiatry. The Nacirema are described as having a highly developed market economy that has evolved within a rich natural habit. The dichotomy is that although there are no such people as the Nacirema, scholars and thought…
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The author’s purpose in writing this article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become, but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture, they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown…
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When I first read "The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema", my first reaction was offense. I had looked it up online prior to reading it and I knew that it was American spelled backwards. The more that I read, the more I realized there was plain truth in this article and the truth seemed laughable. In the United States we live in a material society. Most people are consumed by how much money they can make, how big their house is, and how nice their car is. This can of course, be expounded on ad…
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In the paper “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” Horace Miner is describing the society of citizens of the United States of America. This paper discusses most aspects of the American life, just in a slightly hidden way allowing the reader to look at his or her own culture more objectively. The rituals explained throughout the paper are referring to the sociological standpoint of what the culture does on a regular basis. When beginning to read the paper the first element that I noticed was that the word…
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Cultural Anthropology Estelle Kennelly Body Rituals of the Nacirema Analysis Horace Miners article Body Ritual among the Nacirema offers great insight into the relevance of Anthropology to modern society by way of satire. The article characterizes the Nacirema people of North America, “discovered” by Miner, and their perceived obsession with the human body. The author claimed to analyze rites and rituals among the Nacirema people. Upon realizing that the word Nacirema read backwards is American, it was easy to deduct…
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Analysis of Body Ritual among the Nacirema People around the world are different, that is why they follow different religions and different cultures. For Example: Praying to God may be meaningless to a non-believer but it is a source consolation for the one who practice it. The above example helps us to analyze the article of Horace Miner, in which he talks about the customs and rituals followed by Nacirema people. According to Horace the Nacirema people are originally from America. The economy…
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In Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema he describes what seems to be a little known uncivilized tribe in North America. He writes in detail about the unusual rituals and customs of the tribespeople. The strange practices of these people include shrines, charms, magical potions and powders, medicine men, holy-mouth-men, mouth rite, latipso’s, vestal maidens, and listener’s. Upon reading Miner’s analysis, I was startled that there were still societies that were so underdeveloped and acted…
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