Some of you might have noticed, that I haven’t been on MAP as much lately. That is because I have been away. I have been living with and researching with a large tribe of people, who call themselves the Nacirema. I have really enjoyed my time with the Nacirema people, and I have learnt a great deal about their culture. It takes a while to adjust to new ways of doing things and I admit at first its hard not to be a little ethnocentric but once in context things become more acceptable. As an example here is a sample of my writings on the Nacirema and their unique and elaborate body rituals, rituals that have strange and exotic characteristics; …the fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the Nacirema people view the human body to be ugly, with a natural tendency to disease and debilitate. Incarcerated in such a body, mans only hope to advert these characteristics is through the use of powerful influences in ritual ceremony. Every household of the Nacirema has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest, which is built into the wall. In this chest is kept all kinds of magic charms and potions, which no native believes he or she can survive without. These magic charms and potions are secured from a variety of places, of what the natives call in simple translation “the medicine men”. The natives view the medicine men to be all powerful, and exchange substantial gifts in order to obtain the magic potions and charms. Only the medicine men can understand the ancient and secretive language that is the ingredients of the potions, also the people known an “the herbalists” exchange gifts with the medicine men to provide the required charm… The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that all their teeth will fall out, their mouths become decrepit and all others in their society will reject them, lovers, friends and all. A daily ritual performed by all the natives includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this ritual involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hair into the mouth, along with certain magical potions and moving the bundle on a highly formalized series of gestures…. Who are the Nacirema? I hear you ask. Where do they live? You can answer these questions by yourself, as well as identify the nature of the body rituals described, simply by spelling “Nacirema” backwords.
Cheap plagiarism of Horace Miner's "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema", published in 1956 in American Anthropologist. You've got a lot of work to do, kiddo.
sounds like it was a lot of fun. quick question were the "medicine men" part of the tribe? i cant help thinking it just some people taking advantage
It satirizes anthropological papers on the Northern American Culture and other cultures. It is the term of body ritual among the nacirema.
Try walking up to someone outside Glasgow Central station and asking for directions to the nearest "chemist". They most likely will point you toward some guy wearing a hoodie. Sly bugger that I am ..I spotted the nacirema before reading the post. Good one though. regards koyo
Oi Hiroji your not supposed to give the game away at the end of the post! That kinda spoils it! Did you just come across this paper?
