Horace Miner's 'Body Ritual Among The Nacirema'
Nacirema and Its Sociological Effects
Rachael L. Smith
SOCI 111
In Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” the reader is introduced to an interesting group called the Nacirema, whose culture is then described and dissected in very tribal and primitive terms. At first, it is unclear as to where or how this culture exists under the guidelines and practices and beliefs its society maintains; but, the reader soon discovers, with contextual clues and a bit of pondering, that Nacirema is actually American culture. Miner uses creative contextual clues and diction to confuse the reader, letting the discovery and satire push his purpose, as well as allow reflection on how certain societies tend to inaccurately …show more content…
Had the audience not caught on from the backwards “American” to form Nacirema and tried to solve each practice as it was discussed, they were in for quite a confusing, yet intriguing story (being essentially the entire objective!). His amplified examples of simple American practices, from hospital visits to shaving, all seems extremely bizarre and unusual due to the tribal diction and exaggeration. For example, Miner describes the act of brushing one’s teeth as “a ritual consisting of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures” (p. 504). Miner also confuses the reader by twisting the statements and behaviors of the Nacirema culture; for example, he writes “They [Nacirema] also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber” (p. 504). How could the reader possibly guess that Miner was talking about washing out a child’s mouth to prevent them from saying bad words, with no prior …show more content…
He writes “This witch-doctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched… The counter-magic of the witch-doctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember… It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth” (p. 506). How could this not cause the reader to reevaluate a common practice as some sort of irrelevant, tribal nonsense? And finally, to create Nacirema’s sense of mystery and a story-like tone, Miner tells of the backstory in discovering and analyzing Nacirema using Professor Linton as a character and giving a vague location of the Nacirema culture through a qualitative research
Rachael L. Smith
SOCI 111
In Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” the reader is introduced to an interesting group called the Nacirema, whose culture is then described and dissected in very tribal and primitive terms. At first, it is unclear as to where or how this culture exists under the guidelines and practices and beliefs its society maintains; but, the reader soon discovers, with contextual clues and a bit of pondering, that Nacirema is actually American culture. Miner uses creative contextual clues and diction to confuse the reader, letting the discovery and satire push his purpose, as well as allow reflection on how certain societies tend to inaccurately …show more content…
Had the audience not caught on from the backwards “American” to form Nacirema and tried to solve each practice as it was discussed, they were in for quite a confusing, yet intriguing story (being essentially the entire objective!). His amplified examples of simple American practices, from hospital visits to shaving, all seems extremely bizarre and unusual due to the tribal diction and exaggeration. For example, Miner describes the act of brushing one’s teeth as “a ritual consisting of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures” (p. 504). Miner also confuses the reader by twisting the statements and behaviors of the Nacirema culture; for example, he writes “They [Nacirema] also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber” (p. 504). How could the reader possibly guess that Miner was talking about washing out a child’s mouth to prevent them from saying bad words, with no prior …show more content…
He writes “This witch-doctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched… The counter-magic of the witch-doctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember… It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth” (p. 506). How could this not cause the reader to reevaluate a common practice as some sort of irrelevant, tribal nonsense? And finally, to create Nacirema’s sense of mystery and a story-like tone, Miner tells of the backstory in discovering and analyzing Nacirema using Professor Linton as a character and giving a vague location of the Nacirema culture through a qualitative research