Anthropology
The ethnography, "Under the Kapok Tree: Identity and Difference In Beng Thought", was in my opinion, a very excellent detailed description of the daily life, rituals, customs, and traditions, and religion of the Beng. The Beng are from a West African forest and have managed to construct a society and live out their daily lives in relation to an interconnected series of meditations on the notions of identity and difference. The ethnography is based on the identity and differences of the Beng. The Beng's morals and religious beliefs are a prime example of this. It will be a very tough task to elaborate most of the details from each chapter. There is so much information that is of great interest, so these topics to come are those ideas and thoughts that stood out the most to me; the reader.In summary, chapter one, which I personally found to be one of the most interesting of all, was basically placing the Beng world in wider perspective with many other ideas and theories of the world. This is why I am going into several different topics in this chapter, because they interested me so. The Kapok Tree is worshiped in the Beng village. Without this tree, there can be no sexual mating. Th
Another interesting chapter in the movie, was chapter four. This chapter goes through the traditions and customs of the marriage between cousins. The chapter is entitled The Marriages of Cousins. The marriage of cousins is in the United States is not to be legal. The marriages of them were not ever recorded, so most likely they were not legal. The women are not allowed to pick her own partner. She is only offered an arranged partner once in her life. If she is divorced or widowed from her first husband, then she is free to choose her next partner. It can be anyone from the village or of her choice. On the other hand, a man, can refuse a partner because of the fact that they are offered at least two or three chances of an arranged marriage wives. There are only a few reasons why a marriage will not be arranged. One of the reasons would be mental retardation or psychological problems. It is a fact that the first child is property of the father. The next child belongs to the mother. And the next child to the father again. The cycle is continued as long as there are children. The marriage proposal has to be made to the paternal grandfather. The emphasis on the single parent as actor is significant and so I myself adopt the same usage. The marriage of two sisters to two brothers would seem to violate the rule stated earlier in the chapter. - "Exemplary.... Gottlieb's observation on identity and difference are not confined to rituals or other special occasions; rather she shows that these principles emerge with equal force during social life."--Monni Adams, Journal of African Religion - "Richly detailed..... This book offers a nuanced descriptive analysis which commands authority."--Elizabeth Tonkin, Man These are some editorial reviews of the book: -In this companion volume to Parallel Worlds, Alma Gottlieb explores ideology and social practices among the Beng people of Cote d'Ivoire. Employing symbolic and post
Some common words found in the essay are:
Kapok Tree, Marriages Cousins, Africans Ancestor, Alma Gottlieb, Beng Beng's, M'Bahiakro Earths, West African, Exemplary Gottlieb's, Folklore Research, Difference Beng, kapok tree, identity difference, notions identity difference, marriage cousins, clan lineage, notions identity, partner offered, beng village, marriages cousins, customs traditions, tree planted,
Approximate Word count = 1299
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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