Arizona Anthropologist: Issue #17 (2006)
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
The Arizona Anthropologist is a competitive high-quality annual journal designed, reviewed and published by an editorial board of graduate students in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. The open access archives are made available as a collaboration between the Arizona Anthropologist and the University of Arizona Libraries.
QUESTIONS?
Visit https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro for more information about this journal, or contact the editors at arizonaanthropologist@gmail.com.
Recent Submissions
-
Arizona Anthropologist Number 17, Winter 2006University of Arizona, Department of Anthropology, 2006
-
Language as Practice and Self-Dialogization: Examination of Language and Self in Ta'arofThe relationship between language and self has interested anthropologists for a long time. They have raised, for example, such questions as follows: Is language (i.e., a corpus of vocabulary words) the representation of one's worldview? Or is it language that affects one's worldview? In this study I attempt to examine the relationship between language and self from a different angle; a self dialogized in the process of language interactions. Although comprehension of language structure (such as grammatical rules) among interlocutors is crucial for communication, there are other elements that influence the ways the individuals communicate. My examination of the Iran language practice of ta'arof, hopefully contributes to an understanding of such elements. In ta'arof, Iranians communicate with one another by conveying what they do not mean to say. Examination of ta'arof allowed me to explore a dynamic mechanism in which a self is dialogized through language interaction. I studied this aspect by using research findings that gathered in Iran and the U.S.
-
Agent-based models as behavioral laboratories for evolutionary anthropological researchAgent-based models can provide paleoanthropologists with a view of behavioral dynamics and site formation processes as they unfold in digital caricatures of past societies and paleoenvironments. This paper argues that the agent-based methodology has the most to offer when used to conduct controlled, repeatable experiments within the context of behavioral laboratories. To illustrate the potential of this decidedly heuristic approach, I provide a case study of a simple agent-based model currently being used to investigate the evolution of Plio-Pleistocene hominin food sharing in East Africa. The results of this null model demonstrate that certain levels of ecological patchiness can facilitate the evolution of even simple food sharing strategies among equally simple hominin foragers. More generally, they demonstrate the potential that agent-based models possess for helping historical scientists act as their own informants as to what could have happened in the past.
-
Lessons from New New JournalismWriting is critical to two main anthropological goals: to communicate useful knowledge about humanity and society; and to stimulate interest, discussion, and action on issues that are of societal import. To achieve these goals anthropologists must write in accessible styles for diverse audiences. In this paper, we review the work of five popular nonfiction writers to determine the extent to which their approachable writing styles are compatible with anthropological rigor and nuance. While none of these authors meets all of our hopes for anthropological analysis, each does manage to blend some elements of scholarship with a readable style. We therefore highlight some of their stylistic approaches in the hope that these might help anthropologists engage more effectively in public debate.
-
Negotiating the Moral Politics of Transnational Motherhood: Conducting Ethnographic Research in Central AmericaIn this narrative, the author reflects on the personal and ethical dilemmas she faces currently in the beginning stages of conducting dissertation research fieldwork, an aspect often glossed over by retrospective accounts. She is conducting ethnography of Nicaraguan labor migrant women working in Costa Rica's coffee agro-industry, with an emphasis on reproductive health and motherhood. In addition to her social position as a Western, advanced graduate student-researcher, Goldade is also a wife and mother, arriving in the field with her baby daughter just under 4 months of age. She grapples with the challenges of negotiating the moral politics of motherhood and ethnography, seeking collaboration among host country nationals and recruiting study participants, as well as the balancing act of working motherhood.
-
¡Me Gusta Hip-Hop!: Evidence of Popular U.S. Culture Among Mexican Border YouthThis paper examines a fragment of the evident cultural exthange occurring along the U.S. — Mexico border in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Many Nogales youth are absorbing American popular culture through purchasing American popular culture commodities, such as music. The paper raises questions of how and why the Nogales youth purchase their pop culture commodities, and of the interpretations the Nogales youth make of said commodities' symbolic significance. After methodologies and context of the study are discussed, the paper defines popular culture and its relationship to commodity production. It then focuses on how the youth access their pop culture products and the factors that influence their buying decisions. At its end, the paper compares the interpretations of the Nogales youth with those of American youth in terms of pop culture goods.
-
Trans-Cultural Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition: Understanding the Sociolinguistic Effects of International Tourism on Host CommunitiesThis paper analyzes the nature of linguistic interactions between host communities and international tourists. The tourism-based context provides an excellent platform from which to describe the sociolinguistic influences that American tourists have had on Mexican communities. Specifically, the language use of local vendors in Puerto Peñasco/Rocky Point, Mexico, is described in terms of the various linguistic characteristics that constitute their particular dialect of English. Not only does this work emphasize the sociocultural foundation of language acquisition, it also illustrates the type of language that is learned in economically motivated situations. The results also emphasize how the growing ubiquity of (American) English in tourism contexts establishes distinct attitudes towards the United States and those who live there.