Well it feels like it has been a century since I last updated my blog.
Let me tell you doing assignment on some dude who contributed in your field of studies is not as simple as it seems. In the beginning it seems all you need to do is just his/her biography then you realised you have to read his/her books. And the worst is to connect it to your field since most of communication scholars originated from other fields. To make matter worst, the books have such deep and complicated terms that you need to understand or how else can you do your assignment? *sigh* Then the need to do it in academic writing style is so damn frustrating!!!! Citation, quotation, abstract, etc have been driving me crazy the past fewdays. To add to all of that, I have to write in Malay!!!! This might seem like a minor problem but do you know how f**king hard is it to translate the scholar's theories which is written in English to Malay so that the original meaning still exist??? I have to resort to google translate, online dictionary and lots of googling. Insane!!!! I am so damn glad I finally completed this particular assignment before drowning myself in other assignments. I fear the world's end is sooner than ever >.<
Well, anyway in my previous post I posted a link to an article on Nacirema who seems like a community who practices weird practices even now in the modern era. Well they are seen as someone who really care how they look. They always tries to improve their looks.
Next is this part: "The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest, which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he or she could live. " Imagine having a shrine where you worship and practice your believes every single day in this era >.<
Third is :"The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose help must be rewarded with large gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm."
Fourth: "The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple never recover. Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing, but eager to undergo
the long and drawn-out ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he or she cannot offer a rich gift."
Fifth: "The daily body ritual includes a mouth-rite. This rite involves a practice which strikes the unfamiliar stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical pastes, and then moving the in a highly formalized series of gestures."
And lastly: "In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of tools, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these items in removing the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client."
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| Seriously??? |
And what will you do once you have set that they have such weird beliefs and strongly respect the "medicine men" while only the "herbalist" can understand the secret remedy provided as well as how their shrine only provide treatment if they are offered rich gift that they are actually....
First look at the word Nacirema, N-A-C-I-R-E-M-A and then invert them
Then, they would be A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N aka American!!!!
Hence this tribe is actually Americans which are described in term of a new entity. So allow me to do some explanation:
First: Americans as well as all normal beings are so damn obsessed with their looks with all the plastic surgery etc. Well not everybody but you get the drift...
Second: The shrine refers to the medicine box in the bathroom which can be seen in American lifestyle. We are being more health concious that we cannot live without medicine anymore.
Third: The medicine men are actually doctors in the modern era and since doctors are known for their ugly handwriting which somehow could be understood by the pharmacists, the herbalists. In America, doctor prescribe medicine but the pharmacist are the one who supply the medicine.
Fourth: The latipso ceremony is actually operation which is performed on those in serious condition. And in this modern era, nothing is free hence it is said no matter how ill or how grave the patient, the guardians of many temples (hospitals) will not admit a client if he or she cannot pay for it.
Fifth: This refers to a toothbrush!!!! Hahahaha...which is what we always do every morning: brush our teeth.
Lastly: The holy-mouth-man is the dentist. The tools stated are the tools needed to check on our teeth and do the necessary treatment which can be painful.
Isn't this interesting on how our perception of the Nacirema are A for example but once we found out that the truth our perception becomes B with a better understanding of our doubts in A. And this is what I learn in communication. In the communication process, perception affects the communication as well as the communicator and receiver.
That's all for now.
Cannot wait to go back >.<
