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Anthropology

<OpenstaxParagraph>
	How are you feeling today? Are you feeling <OpenstaxEm>up</OpenstaxEm> or feeling <OpenstaxEm>down</OpenstaxEm>? If you’re feeling <OpenstaxEm>low</OpenstaxEm>, try doing something fun to <OpenstaxEm>lift your spirits</OpenstaxEm>. Take care of yourself so you don’t <OpenstaxEm>fall into a depression</OpenstaxEm>.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	An old theory suggested that languages are primarily referential; that is, each language contains a set of vocabulary terms that correspond to elements in the natural world. According to this theory, language functions as a mirror of reality. We have seen in the last section, however, that different languages divide up the natural world in different ways, from the natural domains of color and plants to the human domains of life and death. Moreover, humans use language to talk about abstract issues like mood, social relationships, and communication itself. It is fairly easy to use our terms for spatial organization to talk about the location of concrete objects like arugula on somebody’s face. But what about more abstract issues? How do we talk about becoming friends with someone? How do we discuss an argument we’re making in a term paper? How do we talk about how we’re feeling today?
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Mood is like color insofar as the human physiology of mood structures a set of near-universal basic categories including happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. And yet, because mood occurs on a spectrum, it is divided up in different ways by different cultures. Consider “schadenfreude,” a German word combining the roots for “damage” and “joy.” Schadenfreude refers to taking pleasure in another’s misfortune. There is no equivalent word in English.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	We don’t just use language to identify the emotions we’re feeling. We also talk about the process of developing an emotion, how one mood leads to another, and how we can prevent ourselves from feeling a certain way. These are mysterious and abstract processes. How do we do this? We use metaphor. A <OpenstaxTerm>metaphor</OpenstaxTerm> is a linguistic idiom where we use what we know about something <OpenstaxEm>concrete</OpenstaxEm> to think and talk about something <OpenstaxEm>abstract</OpenstaxEm>. Cognitive linguists George <OpenstaxTerm>Lakoff</OpenstaxTerm> and Mark <OpenstaxTerm>Johnson</OpenstaxTerm> argue that metaphor is the primary way we create complex meaning in language (1980). In terms of mood, we use our <OpenstaxEm>concrete</OpenstaxEm> language of direction to talk about our <OpenstaxEm>abstract</OpenstaxEm> experience of mood. A positive mood is understood as <OpenstaxEm>up</OpenstaxEm>, while a negative mood is considered <OpenstaxEm>down.</OpenstaxEm> If you’re feeling really happy, you might say you’re <OpenstaxEm>on top of the world</OpenstaxEm>. If you’re really sad, you might say you’re <OpenstaxEm>down in the dumps</OpenstaxEm>. In fact, the word for prolonged sadness, <OpenstaxEm>depression</OpenstaxEm>, literally refers to a sunken place or the act of lowering something.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Metaphor is one of those things that you don’t notice until you start paying attention to it. And then you realize that it’s everywhere: in the way you think about time, number, life, love, physical fitness, work, leisure, sleep, and thought itself, just to name a few highly metaphorical topics. Just about any abstract area of experience is structured by metaphorical thinking. Here are three common metaphors in English, with examples.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	LIFE IS A JOURNEY
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxBlockquote>
	 
	<OpenstaxParagraph>
		He took the wrong <OpenstaxEm>path</OpenstaxEm> in life.<OpenstaxBr />As you <OpenstaxEm>move ahead</OpenstaxEm>, you should <OpenstaxEm>follow</OpenstaxEm> your dreams.<OpenstaxBr />When I left home, I came to a <OpenstaxEm>crossroads</OpenstaxEm> in life.<OpenstaxBr />If you work hard, you’ll <OpenstaxEm>arrive</OpenstaxEm> at a sense of accomplishment later in life.
	</OpenstaxParagraph> 
</OpenstaxBlockquote>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	LOVE IS SWEET
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxBlockquote>
	 
	<OpenstaxParagraph>
		She’s my <OpenstaxEm>sweetheart</OpenstaxEm>.<OpenstaxBr />The newlyweds went on a <OpenstaxEm>honeymoon</OpenstaxEm>.<OpenstaxBr /><OpenstaxEm>Sugar</OpenstaxEm>, would you pass the salt?<OpenstaxBr />Our love was <OpenstaxEm>sweet</OpenstaxEm>, but then it went <OpenstaxEm>sour</OpenstaxEm>.
	</OpenstaxParagraph> 
</OpenstaxBlockquote>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	ARGUMENT IS COMBAT
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxBlockquote>
	 
	<OpenstaxParagraph>
		The candidate launched a personal <OpenstaxEm>attack</OpenstaxEm> against her opponent.<OpenstaxBr />His position on taxes is <OpenstaxEm>indefensible.</OpenstaxEm><OpenstaxBr /><OpenstaxEm>Armed</OpenstaxEm> with facts, she won the argument.<OpenstaxBr />His criticism really <OpenstaxEm>hit the mark</OpenstaxEm>.
	</OpenstaxParagraph> 
</OpenstaxBlockquote>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	There are thousands and thousands of metaphors in English. Many abstract domains rely on a combination of various metaphors used to describe different aspects of the experience. You can think of love as sweet (as above) but also as a journey (as in “Will the couple <OpenstaxEm>go forward</OpenstaxEm> together, or will they go their <OpenstaxEm>separate ways</OpenstaxEm>?”) or as combat (as in “He <OpenstaxEm>slew me</OpenstaxEm> with his come-hither glance”).
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Metaphor is found in all human languages. Some specific metaphors, like the directional metaphors used to describe mood, are found in many, many cultures. A study by Esther <OpenstaxTerm>Afreh</OpenstaxTerm> (2018) found that the king of Asante (in Ghana) frequently uses metaphorical language in his public speeches, including such familiar ones as “life is a journey,” “life is a battle,” “ideas are food,” “knowing is seeing,” and “death is sleep.” Though the speeches were delivered in English, Afreh notes that these metaphors also exist in Akan, the local language of the Asante people. Alongside her analysis of the English-language speeches, she notes many proverbs and phrases in Akan that use the same metaphors.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	As with our discussion of categorization in the last section, metaphor is both relative and universal. Lakoff and Johnson argue that our common human biology structures our experiences of things like emotion and life. When you’re feeling really sad, you might literally feel like lying down, and when you’re really happy, you might jump with joy. We may use the notion of a journey to structure our understanding of life, social relationships, and time in general because in our everyday life, we move forward in space to pursue objects and activities.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Sometimes the reasons for cross-cultural similarities are not so directly linked to human biology. English and Chinese have similar metaphorical systems for talking about moral issues. In both languages, the adjective meaning “high” is associated with things that are lofty, noble, or good, while the adjective “low” is used to describe things that are mean, contemptible, or evil (Yu 2016). Alternatively, it is also possible in both languages to describe moral behavior as “straight,” while immoral behavior can be termed “crooked.”
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	On the other hand (to deploy a useful metaphor), different cultures do rely on different metaphors to talk about some domains of experience, metaphors that emphasize certain aspects of those abstract topics. Consider the English notion that “time is money.” This is a metaphor, pure and simple, but many English speakers believe it to be absolutely true. You can <OpenstaxEm>spend</OpenstaxEm> time, <OpenstaxEm>waste</OpenstaxEm> time, <OpenstaxEm>save</OpenstaxEm> time, and <OpenstaxEm>invest</OpenstaxEm> time. So time does seem like money in capitalist cultures. But time is <OpenstaxEm>not literally</OpenstaxEm> money. Nor is time a journey or a horizontal line in space, though these are common ways of thinking about time in the English language. Time is just time, an abstract idea. Certainly Whorf did not find the Hopi talking about time as money. English speakers think of time in terms of money because they live in a society in which time is <OpenstaxEm>treated as</OpenstaxEm> money, a society that tends to monetize nearly everything, from land and labor to advice, attention, and even body parts like human sperm.
</OpenstaxParagraph>

6.2.3 Meaning and Metaphor

1 What Is Anthropology?

1.1 The Study of Humanity, or "Anthropology Is Vast"

1.1.1 The Heart of Anthropology: Central Narrative and Commitments

1.1.2 Central Commitment #1: Exploring Sociocultural Diversity

1.1.3 Central Commitment #2: Understanding How Societies Hold Together

1.1.4 Central Commitment #3: Examining the Interdependence of Humans and Nature

1.2 The Four-Field Approach: Four Approaches within the Guiding Narrative

1.2.1 Biological Anthropology

1.2.2 Archaeology

1.2.3 Cultural Anthropology

1.2.4 Linguistic Anthropology

1.2.5 How the Four Fields Work Together: The Example of Race

1.3 Overcoming Ethnocentrism

1.3.1 Enculturation and Ethnocentrism

1.3.2 Primitivism and Orientalism

1.4 Western Bias in Our Assumptions about Humanity

1.4.1 Primitivism and Orientalism in Popular Culture

1.4.2 The Bias of Backwardness

1.5 Holism, Anthropology’s Distinctive Approach

1.5.1 Society as an Integrated Whole

1.5.2 Sources of Contradiction, Conflict, and Change

1.6 Cross-Cultural Comparison and Cultural Relativism

1.6.1 Relativism Is Not “Anything Goes”

1.6.2 Morality, Activism, and Cultural Relativism

1.7 Reaching for an Insider’s Point of View

1.7.1 The Challenge of Representing Others

1.7.2 Collaborative Methods of Representation

1.7.3 Working across Cultures toward Common Goals

1.7.4 Suggested Readings

2 Methods: Cultural and Archaeological

2.1 Archaeological Research Methods

2.1.1 Archaeological Techniques

2.1.2 Archaeological Dating Methods

2.2 Conservation and Naturalism

2.2.1 Early Efforts

2.2.2 Salvage Anthropology

2.2.3 Museum Collections

2.2.4 Interpretation and Voice

2.3 Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.1 The Development of Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.2 Perspective and Interpretation in Ethnography

2.4 Participant Observation and Interviewing

2.4.1 Participant Observation

2.4.2 Interviewing Informants

2.4.3 Ethical Considerations

2.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

2.5.1 Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Information

2.5.2 Modeling

2.5.3 The Science of Anthropology

2.6 Collections

2.6.1 Archives

2.6.2 Three-Dimensional Collections

2.6.3 Ownership

2.6.4 Suggested Readings

3 Culture Concept Theory: Theories of Cultural Change

3.1 The Homeyness of Culture

3.2 The Winkiness of Culture

3.3 The Elements of Culture

3.3.1 Culture Is What We Make

3.3.2 Culture Is What We Do

3.3.3 Culture Is What We Think

3.4 The Aggregates of Culture

3.4.1 Symbols

3.4.2 Ritual

3.4.3 Social Structure

3.5 Modes of Cultural Analysis

3.5.1 Evolution, Adaptation, and Historical Particularism

3.5.2 Functionalism

3.5.3 Structuralism

3.5.4 Ontology

3.6 The Paradoxes of Culture

3.6.1 Paradox 1: Culture Is Continuous, but It Changes

3.6.2 Paradox 2: Culture Is Bounded but Mobile

3.6.3 Paradox 3: Culture Is Consensual but Contested

3.6.4 Paradox 4: Culture Is Shared, but It Varies

3.6.5 Suggested Readings

4 Biological Evolution and Early Human Evidence

4.1 What Is Biological Anthropology?

4.1.1 Looking to the Deep Past

4.1.2 Exploring What It Means to Be Human

4.2 What’s in a Name? The Science of Taxonomy

4.2.1 Defining the Science of Taxonomy

4.2.2 Defining a Species

4.3 It’s All in the Genes! The Foundation of Evolution

4.3.1 The Units of Life

4.3.2 Gregor Mendel and the Laws of Heredity

4.3.3 Mendelian Inheritance in Humans

4.4 Evolution in Action: Past and Present

4.4.1 Early Evolutionists and the Fixity of Species

4.4.2 Charles Darwin’s Role in Changing Views of the Natural World

4.4.3 Understanding Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

4.5 What Is a Primate?

4.5.1 What Is a Primate?

4.5.2 Primate Behavioral Variation

4.5.3 Explaining Primate Success

4.5.4 Primate Classification and Taxonomy

4.6 Origin of and Classification of Primates

4.6.1 Understanding Concepts of Time

4.6.2 Fossils and Dating Methods