The Ethnographic Perspective - Assignment Example

?Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE The Ethnographic The Ethnographic Perspective: Guests of the Sheik The ethnographic perspective: Guests of the Sheik Elizabeth Warnock Fernea spent two years, the first two of her marriage in the time period of the 1950s, in a village in Southern Iraq with her accommodations being that of a mud hut. She did not speak the language and knew little about the culture, which made her experience that of an alien in a foreign land through which she was able to observe with little bias in relationship to previous expectations placed upon her academically. She created her observations through her reactions to the environment, her beliefs in how they lived stemming from the experiences that she had with the community. The following discussion will focus on religion and kinship systems as they relate to the family. Although cultures often have an ideal, it is the everyday that truly determines the nature of a society. Through examining the observations made by Fornea in relationship to her experiences in this small community, a exploration of religion, family, and kinship systems will reveal the differences between the ideal and the very day. Ethnography is the practice of creating a narrative of a culture and society through meaningful and symbolic systems that are translated by an observer. Ethnography is approached through the filter of personal experience. One of the purposes of ethnography is to “broaden our interpretive lens by understanding others’ points of view” (Lassiter, 2006, p. 91). In creating a narrative about her experiences in the small village of Iraq, Fornea has developed the story of her experiences in relationship to her response to those events. She defined her world through how she has experienced the world she originated from in contrast to those events that occurred during her time with the people of the small community. In creating this story through her own experiences, she was able to define what she saw through a sense of observational objectivity, but was subject to the influences of her past that helped her to interpret what she was observing. Through this type of experience, the anthropological experience becomes one in which the world of a culture can be pried open, gently and with the intent of revealing its nature without changing its balance. The type of research that Fornea was engaging in is called participant observation and is a part of cultural anthropology. The ideal of participant observation is that the researcher “involves total immersion in the alien culture and a suspension of one’s own cultural judgments about appropriate behavior” (Bodley, 2011, p. 8). Bodley (2011) discusses the role of the cultural anthropologist in participant observation as being one in which the observer cannot become a part of the community, but participates through outside allowances within the community. In a sense, he or she is a guest observing how the community works. Fornea was both this and a part of the community as this is where she settled her life during these two years. As the community had tightly defined roles that could really only be played by those who had been born and raised as a member, Fornea had the opportunity to live and observe, but keep that distance between herself and the community in order to assess what she was observing. Elizabeth’s husband had been working as an anthropologist in the village of El Nahra for three months before he brought his new bride to the region. As indicated by the title of the book, they were allowed to live there under the protection of Sheik Hamid Abdul el Hussein in a mud house that was to serve as their home. Her initial experiences was with the women of the village with an immediate barrier existing between them through the dress that they wore in comparison to what she was used to for herself. She and her husband decided before she moved there that she would have to wear the abaya, which was the long black robes and covering that is traditionally worn by the Arabic women of the village. Through creating a commonality in her dress, she had hoped she would be more readily accepted as a participating member of the community. This was not to be the case Her introduction into the community was difficult and she was treated as an outside without any real welcome within the community of women. Several cultural belief systems that for which the women had respect were not being respected by the situation that Elizabeth had in the village. The first is that she had been brought a long distance, separated from her family and without the skills to make food that women in the village were taught to do from a very early age. She could not make bread or rice in Arabic fashion, thus she was pitied by the women as having no skills with which to survive. In addition, because she wore no gold, it was assumed that her husband was poor. Because she had been taken so far from home by her husband and without the skills to serve as a good wife, in addition to providing her with no gold, the women in the tribe believed her husband to be a cruel man. The feelings that the women developed for her ‘situation’ gave her the opportunity to begin to get to know them to understand their lives. Family and the tribe were everything to the women of the village. Understanding this core set of values and beliefs was the first step in coming to an understanding of the culture that dictated the roles of the lives of the women in the village. Because she had elicited their sympathy, they had determined to teach her the things they believed she should know to be a good wife, which gave her an opening to be a part of their daily lives. One of the examples of how the women were tied to their tribe was that they married their cousins. They would only choose to marry their cousins, with a preference to their father’s side of the family. If a cousin was not available, they would not marry because the idea of marrying outside of the tribe not a consideration. The unmarried girls of the village found roles in academics, devoting themselves to studies in order to become Mullahs, which are teachers of the religious beliefs of the community (Lotus Reader, 2005). The honor of women was closely guarded by the men and the laws through which their culture defined the roles of women were intended to keep them cloistered from dishonor. Social communication between men and women was not allowed, with the behaviors of the women restrictive and oppressive. Elisabeth also learned, however, that the women did not feel oppressed by these measures and that how they believed in these rules was through the protections that they afforded the female population. Not following the rules, though, could end badly for a woman. As an example, Fornea (1969) relates the event of a marriage in which the bride was assessed for her virginity. If she had been found to not be a virgin, she would have been killed by one of her family members. The richness of living in a community that is focused on similar traditions and rituals is described through the experiences that she had on a daily basis. The sounds of praying, the visible symbols of worship, and even experiences of her own with the Mullah provide the reader with a sense of this very different world in which religious life was so deeply embedded into the experience of the everyday. Contrasting to this was the way in which she interacted with the women in the community. To read the story of her life during that time is to read a story that could have been told in almost any culture through the way in which the women familiarly behaved when in groups together. It is clear that even in cultures of very different belief and behavioral systems that basic human behavior still exists. Furthermore, she discusses that the pride of the tribe was involved in the marriage of the women in the tribe. The example given of the woman who married outside of the tribe showed that this general rule could be broken, however, under the right circumstances. The social structure of marrying within the tribe was defined by the relationships within the family as the son had the first pick of the daughters of his father’s brother and in order for this to be changed; the son had to give up his claim. Khalil had fallen in love with Salima so he secretly approached her father to enter into negotiations for her hand in marriage. Khalil and Salima were not related, so this was highly unusual. The advantage to this marriage was socio-economic as Khalil’s family was above that of Salima’s in social class. The interesting thing about this is that it means that the same rules that run most of the Western world do apply to this world. Power and prestige are valued commodities that will change social rules when necessary. Whyte (1990) discusses the idea of how social classes, even in systems without rules that are formalized about marriage, are more likely to marry within their own class. The one exception is when someone of the upper classes chooses to marry someone from a lower class, elevating them to that status. Families will often overlook social conventions to see their daughters and vicariously their own families elevated through marriage. Because this type of dynamic also existed in the village, it was clear that some aspects of human life are universal and serve as the exceptions to the rule. The political aspects of life within the community were also a part of their religious convictions. Their experiences had created systems that were influenced by the politics of the region in ways that also provided proof that even though very different, the human experience can be very much the same. As an example, Fornea (1969) relates the story of the funeral for a religious leader in which a certain extreme ritual was performed. It was explained to them, however, that the ritual was one of the ways in which Shiites and Sunnis were different in their expression of faith. The reason the ritual was still performed, Jabbar states, is because the British encouraged the differences to keep the two communities of Islam in conflict. The manipulations of colonialism were evident in the way in which the communities were encouraged to stay insular from each other. The fear that the British held was that the communities would unite against them and take back their independence. The celebration of Ramadan was discussed at length in the book. The event of Ramadan is a month long tradition which occurs in the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. During the day, those participating are on a strict fast, taking in no food or water. The word is defined as referencing the intense scorching heat, and is said to be used to acknowledge the intense burning felt in the stomach when there is thirst. The religious version is that it is to suggest the heat of burning the sins from the soul just as the sun burns the ground (The Wayfarer, 2012). Fornea (1969) writes that the time of Ramadan occurs at different times each year, with the summer Ramadan seeing the deaths of older people as they went without food or water during the day, and the hardship of workers who cannot assuage their thirst. The daily fasting was then followed by religious readings called krayas that were held separately for men and women. Again politics were relevant to the religious rituals in that krayas were used to define the Shiites from the Turkish Ottoman Empire. While followed as religious ritual, the krayas were a form of protest through which identity that was specifically different from the Turks was created so that the oppression of that Empire could be expressed. The importance of holding a kraya in the home is a matter of pride for the woman who brings the mullah in and provides cigarettes to as a form of refreshment from the long day of fasting. Therefore, not only was the development of the kraya politically inspired, it continues as a social convention through which pride is served. As with all religious rituals throughout the world, there are often secularized purposes behind their use. Ideal behavior versus real behavior is exemplified by the motivations for ritual and tradition in religious contexts. While the use of the veil may provide a feeling of protection, it is likely that it is a controlling element that sequesters women so that they are less likely to behave contrary to their traditions demand. Where the beginnings of the krayas were done for secular reasons, the events are used to create social credit through hosting these rituals of religious reading. As in all societies, the combination of religion and society creates dynamics in which secular motivations are often a part of religious ritual. Because of the dynamics that provide for the difficulty of moving from the tribal areas, those who have left the region because of different political pressures find it difficult to maintain all of their belief systems. Richardson (2003) discusses the difficulty of operating in Western society with beliefs that make migrants so very different. Daily life in this context suggests that these groups will soon adapt in ways that diminishes the social traditions that otherwise were performed from their region of origins. Children are more likely to adapt to the culture in which they are raised than to all of the strict beliefs that were brought with their parents. This type of culture, unless left along by outside influences to thrive, is likely to diminish over time. The book Guests of the Sheik: An ethnography of an Iraqi village, provides a unique insight into the culture of Iraq as experienced by an American living among a tribe. The personal experiences of Elizabeth Warnock Fornea reveal that personal feelings cannot truly be divorced in this type of setting as she is involved in the events as much as she is observing the events. Contrary to how one might expect to act when observing a culture, she immerses herself in a deeply social manner and becomes a subject of the research as much as she is an observer. Her reactions to the events that she experiences are as interesting as are the events themselves. The religious and familial world she has entered is complex, beautiful, and familiar as it is decidedly human. References Bodley, J. H. (2011). Cultural anthropology: Tribes, states, and the global system. Lanham, Md: AltaMira Press. Fernea, E. W. (1969). Guests of the Sheik: An ethnography of an Iraqi village. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. Lassiter, L. E. (2006). Invitation to anthropology. Lanham (MD: Altamira Press. Lotus Reads. (1 October 2005). Book review: Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi village. Retrieved from http://lotusreads.blogspot.com/2005/10/book-review-guests-of- sheik.html Richardson, D. (2003). Secrets of the Koran. Ventura, Calif: Regal Books. The Wayfarer. (2012). Ramadan – What is it. Retrieved from http://www.the- wayfarer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88:ramadan-what-is- it&catid=8:articles&Itemid=8 Whyte, M. K. (1990). Dating, mating, and marriage. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Read More