After reading professor comments, feedback and my answers, please correct or add my answer.
the answer to the question must be found in the book.
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My prof feedback and comment
So you focussed on the interactions with the butcher to talk about ethnocentrism and cultural relativism An ex of how you would handle this would be to write down her actual words - For ex - I went to the butcher shop and the meat was cut in a style that doesn't make any sense ! then change these words to something that shows she is respecting their cooking style even though she may not understand it - So she could have said - I went to the butcher and noticed that the cuts of meat are very different from the style I was used to back home. I asked neighbors to show me how to prepare this cut of meat in the Danish style, they make many wonderful dishes that they enjoy. So just to correct a word choice - you were invited by your friend to a feast not a fist ;) A fist is how you make your hand to punch someone! I couldn't understand your explanation of how being culturally relativistic would help someone to get over culture shock. So to clarify Culturally relativistic means you would not judge that eating with your hand is wrong - you would notice that the custom is different at this feast and learn what are the thoughts behind having this custom in this culture. Hands are washed many times of the day repeatedly and has a religious role and therefore hands are clean only one hand can be used for eating and the other hand is used for personal hygiene also . sharing from a round where each person has a portion in front of them that others do not touch is also part of the custom. So if you were achieving cultural relativism you would have learned this about the culture and it would have helped you feel less shocked by it.
My homework answer
1. a) Where is Anderson doing her ethnographic work, and why? Explain and give details.
Anderson was doing her ethnographic work in Taarnby, which was a small island in Denmark. Anderson had initially submitted her proposal to have her carry out her ethnographic work in Ghana, two weeks after submitting her proposal she discovered that she was pregnant, and her husband was almost finishing on his doctorate on anthropology. She had to shelf her ambitions of going to Ghana and settle for the present location where she was going to be with her husband and her fiver year old daughter. She had to settle for her present location because her condition would not have allowed her to move to Ghana due to the weather and distance that she would have to consider.
b) This book is not an ethnography it is a kind of memoir or a narrative, how do you know this?
This book is a memoir because the author is detailing her accounts of carrying out her research. This therefore means that every important event that occurred while she was performing the research was documented. The details of the book are everything that occurred while the research was in the filed performing her research. It is not a narrative because the author is not telling a story but rather detailing her accounts while she was in the field performing her ethnography. The purpose of memoir is to have a detailed account on how things happened, this involves telling things in the first person to show that one was present when the things being accounted for were able to take place.
2. a) Give an example of Anderson's ethnocentrism, and an example of her subject’s ethnocentrism.
The Ethnocentrism of Anderson come into place where she was not able to instruct the butcher on what kind of meat she wanted. It is also important to note that the butcher was unable to understand what was a meat and how the meat could be prepared. Before moving to Denmark she was told that it was only a bunch of Danish people that did not speak English, to her dismay it was only three people that she found that were able to speak English. Although they were not proficient they were able to communicate and interact for the purpose of achieving communication. The best subject of her ethnocentrism is hers with the butcher, where she was offered strangely dissected meat.
b) restate Anderson's words in a culturally relativistic way.
She was not able to adapt to the kind of life style that was going on in the country and it is for this reason she had to take up cooking class to be able to get herself acquitted with this kind cooking culture that were being practiced in the country. This is because from where she came the form of meat that she was being offered was totally different with what she was being offered while in Danish. To ensure that culturally relativistic way had been achieved she was able to ensure that she can blend her culture with the Danish culture once she has learnt about the Danish culture.
3. a) What is culture shock?
Culture shock is when one comes into contact with a new culture that he or she is not used to, it is in this moment when one will be wondering on how and what to do during this moment of culture shock. The subjection to an unfamiliar culture will lead the subject that is the one being subjected to the culture confused since he or she will be unable to familiarize with the culture easily, this therefore implies that one will have to take time so as to be able to get acquainted with the new culture. It is then that the culture shock will be defeated.
b) Have you ever experienced culture shock - explain and describe your situation.
Yes, I was not aware of the Muslim culture of eating with their fingers rather than using a spoon. It happened that one day I was invited by my close friend to attend one of their events and it had a fist. Their culture is that one big plate will be used to serve young guys who wills share a meal. To me it came as a surprise since I was not used to this that is eating without a spoon and furthermore sharing a plate with close to ten individuals, it was as a result of this culture shock that I was unable to eat and I stared the others while they were eating.
c) do you think you would still experience culture shock if you are culturally relativistic? Explain your response.
NO, this is because as culturally relativistic is taught that belief, practice and values of a culture is taken from the view point of the culture itself. When one is able to understand his or her own culture then he or she will be able to appreciate other culture. This is to mean that one should not use his or her culture as a way of analyzing or rather understanding his or her own culture. This therefore suggests that ethics and morality should be looked at using different lenses this will be able to provide a clear understanding on how the cultures work and how they affect the people. Once this is understood it will be very difficult to experience culture shock.