Okay, so I know I've skipped a couple of Learning Journals but don't worry... I've still be working on my project. I've been reading a lot on nationalism (trying to get a sense of the theories behind it). Currently, I'm reading: Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson (I almost wrote Arnold... hehehe). It is a FABULOUS book thus far and this is what I've gathered... and then I'll tell you how it applies to my project!
1. In Western Europe, there is interesting timing in that the rise of nationalism comes right along side the fall of religion.
2. Nationalism is an eternal idea; one's nation has always existed and will always exist. (Completely independent of it's actual history of course)
3. Nationalism, or "nation-ness" as Anderson sometimes calls it, should be studied as a cultural system NOT as a political idea.
Okay, now how it applies to my project:
1. Ghana's idea of nationalism came out of colonialism, as did their conversion to Christianity. There might be a link between changing of religions and changing identities. This correlates with DANCE and its affects on ethnic identity not so much but it still fits under the whole "the rejection of ethnic practices for a more national (Western) approach to life".
2. Ghana hasn't always existed. Sure, there was Asante and Fante and Ga, etc all before the Colonial Period... but they weren't united like they are now. YET, Ghanaians will speak of Ghana as if it has always been the way that it is. This would have a TREMENDOUS affect on my project. If Ghanaians believe that their nation is eternal, they will be much more willing to conform to one idea- to one identity. For example, in this book, Anderson gives such an example: "Yes, it is quite accidental that I am born French; but after all, France is eternal" (12). It might be accidental that someone was born Ghanaian, but hey.... Ghana is eternal so it must be meant to be.
I hope you can see where I am going with this-- it's kind of hard to put into writing but basically, if one believes that their country is eternal (and that they are not).. that it is the country that shapes your identity, not the other way around.
3. This changes the way I must look at nationalism, and how I will study it. It truly is a cultural phenomenon (just look at the DANCE) and not some ideology that government is seeking to impose on the people. I'm grateful to be focusing on dance because it is one system in which nationalism can be incorporated into... hence why DANCE will be a great mode for observing nationalism (and why Anderson knew what he was talking about).
Well readers, I will continue to read out of this book... and many others to help me get a better idea of what nationalism truly is- and I think it will really help me know EXACTLY what to look for!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Learning Journal #15
FIRST OFF: I promise I did this on time, for some reason I'm having a hard time posting it. Some funky computer-languaged notice pops up everytime I hit "publish post".... Wish me luck this time about. Here it goes:
"I've spend every day reconfiguring my senses"..... This is a line from a musical The Last 5 Years and though it has nothing to do with Ghana or dance, or even anthropology.... it has been running through my mind whenever I think of my project. POR QUE??? Well, "porque" I think I finally have it figured out. If you have read my field development notes, the last entry would probably give you a little cause for worry because I was freaking out about my topic.
It's been the same cycle: I pick a topic; start doing research only to discover my topic has been fairly well covered (or it becomes quite obvious in the point I'm trying to make); I then decided to change the angle of my project and the cycle starts over again. I thought I had broken the cycle with this idea of national leaders using dance as a means of promoting nationalism. However, that is obvious, and rather easy to study (because it's more of a fact than a theory).
The theory comes into play when I look at how this idea is changing the culture and society of Ghana. THAT is what I need to be studying.... not the fact that dance was used but rather what this is doing to the very culture of Ghana. It seems to me that what made Ghana so beautiful (or any African country for that matter) was the diversity that existed; but with this new mentality, that diversity is fading among youngsters.... and they are blending more and more into a national, united culture.
The title of my project really should be something along the lines of:
"Consequences on Local Ethnicity of Using Dance as Nationalist Propaganda: A Study in Asante Region, Ghana"
Or perhaps,
"Effects of Using Dance as Nationalism Tool on Rural Ghana"
Now that I have that figured out, it changes my methods only a little bit, I still plan on conducting a survey, and using participant observation... but its figuring out what questions to ask. So what is next on the agenda? A trip to go see Jacob Hickman (my 442 professor) because he'll be able to give me some great ideas.
ps. I finally have some ideas about a faculty mentor. Wish me luck! (I won't tell you who until I know if she says yes or not)
pps. My theories on nationalism are slowly taking shape so look for them in the next post!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
words of wisdom
So just now, I was updating my other blog and decided to check out my sister's blog-- see if anything new was up (which nothing was...in case you were wondering). BUT that is not the point of this post. A quote she put up, by MAYA ANGELOU, caught my eye:
"I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me"
Isn't that beautiful? I think it describes perfectly my attitude about life (hence the anthropology major) but at the same time, it should describe perfectly my attitude about going to Ghana. I will be traveling 5,000 miles to a place I have only seen pictures of.... to a place with limited electricity.... to a place where happiness is most assuredly not bought...... to a place that I can only hope to fit into.......
Maya gave me the assurance that I will fit in-- not because I have the same color skin, or because I eat the same food they do-- but rather, because I am a human being, just like them.
Isn't that beautiful? I think it describes perfectly my attitude about life (hence the anthropology major) but at the same time, it should describe perfectly my attitude about going to Ghana. I will be traveling 5,000 miles to a place I have only seen pictures of.... to a place with limited electricity.... to a place where happiness is most assuredly not bought...... to a place that I can only hope to fit into.......
Maya gave me the assurance that I will fit in-- not because I have the same color skin, or because I eat the same food they do-- but rather, because I am a human being, just like them.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Learning Journal #14
"the age of nations is past. it remains for us now if we don't wish to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudices and build the earth" -pierre teilhard.
This idea of nationalism is not new-- Pierre Telihard lived 1881-1955. He recognized the power that resides in national identity and went as far as to warn us against such power. Now, although this quote doesn't exactly correlate with my project, I thought it was a good example of how powerful nationalism can be... and how debilitating it can be for those forced to practice it.
I was able to find several books written on nationalism (that I will spend the next week devouring):
nations before nationalism ja armstrong (1982)
nationalism and the state john breuilly (1982)
social predictions of national revival in europe miroslav hroch (1985)
the ethnic origins of nations anthony smith (1986)
imagined communities benedict anderson (1983)
I'm hoping that these books will give me some more insight on the theories revolving nationalism, how leaders indocritnate it, and whether or not dance has been used in the past. (I know singing has). I'm really excited about the political turn that my project is taking and hopefully I'll be able to fully express my ideas. (Don't worry! I'll keep practicing!)
One way to better express my ideas will be to use the local lingo. We learned, last Friday, one GREAT way to do that..... FREE LISTING!! I got so excited about this method (thanks Margaret!) If you don't know what free listing is, I'll post a definition under the 'methods' tab. But all in all, it'll be a great way to paint a picture of what terms Ghanaians use to describe all things from the government to dancing traditions.
To conclude.....
Ghanaians have a lot of pride in their country, they are very proud to be from Ghana. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be debilitating in its affects on other aspects of their life. For example, the erroding of ethnic traditions. This is what I'll be studying: how government has blended ethnic cultural together in order to mold a national identity (I'll of course be focusing on dance specifically).
This idea of nationalism is not new-- Pierre Telihard lived 1881-1955. He recognized the power that resides in national identity and went as far as to warn us against such power. Now, although this quote doesn't exactly correlate with my project, I thought it was a good example of how powerful nationalism can be... and how debilitating it can be for those forced to practice it.
I was able to find several books written on nationalism (that I will spend the next week devouring):
nations before nationalism ja armstrong (1982)
nationalism and the state john breuilly (1982)
social predictions of national revival in europe miroslav hroch (1985)
the ethnic origins of nations anthony smith (1986)
imagined communities benedict anderson (1983)
I'm hoping that these books will give me some more insight on the theories revolving nationalism, how leaders indocritnate it, and whether or not dance has been used in the past. (I know singing has). I'm really excited about the political turn that my project is taking and hopefully I'll be able to fully express my ideas. (Don't worry! I'll keep practicing!)
One way to better express my ideas will be to use the local lingo. We learned, last Friday, one GREAT way to do that..... FREE LISTING!! I got so excited about this method (thanks Margaret!) If you don't know what free listing is, I'll post a definition under the 'methods' tab. But all in all, it'll be a great way to paint a picture of what terms Ghanaians use to describe all things from the government to dancing traditions.
To conclude.....
Ghanaians have a lot of pride in their country, they are very proud to be from Ghana. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be debilitating in its affects on other aspects of their life. For example, the erroding of ethnic traditions. This is what I'll be studying: how government has blended ethnic cultural together in order to mold a national identity (I'll of course be focusing on dance specifically).
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Learning Journal #13
GAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! If someone had told me that it would be this HARD to find a mentor, I would've opted out. For example, the one anthropology professor that would've been perfect no longer teaches here.....tthe one dance professor who has done a lot of research on African dance teaches at UVU. Needless to say, I'm struggling to find someone who has some experience /knowledge in ONE aspect of my project.
:(
Anyways, besides that, the one thing I have to comment on is TWI. So, making the flashcards really, really helped! I've been able to practice on my walks to and from school, so now I have most of the market terms down, and the body parts. (all really useful no?) But as I've been talking with Doug, Michelle and Deidre, we all kind of feel that the cultural things are learning in the Twi class are the most useful! Having the opportunity to actually be around Ghanaians, picking up their sense of humor, their sweet spirits, is what has really been valuable.
I've been trying to think of more ways to learn the language for example... listening to Tom and Jerry in Twi on youtube. I have no idea what they are saying but ya know what? It's helping me getting used to the way it sounds. (Hopefully soon it'll stop sounding like gibberish!)
:(
Anyways, besides that, the one thing I have to comment on is TWI. So, making the flashcards really, really helped! I've been able to practice on my walks to and from school, so now I have most of the market terms down, and the body parts. (all really useful no?) But as I've been talking with Doug, Michelle and Deidre, we all kind of feel that the cultural things are learning in the Twi class are the most useful! Having the opportunity to actually be around Ghanaians, picking up their sense of humor, their sweet spirits, is what has really been valuable.
I've been trying to think of more ways to learn the language for example... listening to Tom and Jerry in Twi on youtube. I have no idea what they are saying but ya know what? It's helping me getting used to the way it sounds. (Hopefully soon it'll stop sounding like gibberish!)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
LEARNING JOURNAL #12
So, this past week has been very interesting. I got a chance to interview a Ghanaian for a methods practice, and tomorrow, I will be practicing participant observation (in case you were wondering, I'm going to the gym... so I can work out, and observe the people there). I thought that would be a fun place to go observe people.
From my interview, I realized that practicing will be sooooo important. But also, I realized how important it is to know exactly what you want to know. Because I had a general idea of what answers I wanted from.... we'll call her 'G'..... I was able to ask the right questions. This is such an important part of interviewing. After the interview was over however, I realized there were still so many things I wanted to know and ask her about. This is why I'm grateful that I'll be able to establish relationships with people in Wiamoase in order to ask them anytime, any question that I have.
The second most important thing I learned from the interview was that I need to get more narratives.... I should've had G simply talk more about dancing, give me examples, etc. Why would this be important? Well, number one, by her giving me examples I will have a better understanding of what kind of dances they do, in what settings do they do them in.... and by having her talk about dancing-- that is when her ideology will come out. By listening, some of the things she said stuck out to me and I remember thinking "oh! that is very interesting!" or "oh! did you hear that? she said ____ which means ______". I need to learn to listen more, and ask questions less.
Now to shift gears, above I posted a video of traditional Asante dancing. This dance I guess is called the ADOWA. I thought it would be good to get a sampling of what the dances look like that I'll be watching. Watching this dance, however, made me realize that I don't know any of the dances in Ghana, nor any of the traditional Asante dances. So, my next step in developing my project??? LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ACTUAL DANCES!!!!!!! (I'll let you know how it goes).
From my interview, I realized that practicing will be sooooo important. But also, I realized how important it is to know exactly what you want to know. Because I had a general idea of what answers I wanted from.... we'll call her 'G'..... I was able to ask the right questions. This is such an important part of interviewing. After the interview was over however, I realized there were still so many things I wanted to know and ask her about. This is why I'm grateful that I'll be able to establish relationships with people in Wiamoase in order to ask them anytime, any question that I have.
The second most important thing I learned from the interview was that I need to get more narratives.... I should've had G simply talk more about dancing, give me examples, etc. Why would this be important? Well, number one, by her giving me examples I will have a better understanding of what kind of dances they do, in what settings do they do them in.... and by having her talk about dancing-- that is when her ideology will come out. By listening, some of the things she said stuck out to me and I remember thinking "oh! that is very interesting!" or "oh! did you hear that? she said ____ which means ______". I need to learn to listen more, and ask questions less.
Now to shift gears, above I posted a video of traditional Asante dancing. This dance I guess is called the ADOWA. I thought it would be good to get a sampling of what the dances look like that I'll be watching. Watching this dance, however, made me realize that I don't know any of the dances in Ghana, nor any of the traditional Asante dances. So, my next step in developing my project??? LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ACTUAL DANCES!!!!!!! (I'll let you know how it goes).
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Learning Journal #11
There are two major things I want to talk about in this blog: my topic and my methods. I'll do the latter first.
Recently in my Anthro 442 class we've been talking about sampling. We've discussed things such as 'what is the appropriate sampling size', 'how to achieve a purely random sample'; we've even delved into standard deviation and probability. This has been such a wonderful thing to talk about. It's gotten me seriously considering a questionnaire of sort for other communities around Wiamose. After all, I can only generalize my data to pertain to all of rural Ghana if I have reason to believe that it does indeed pertain to all of rural Ghana. The only way I'll be able to know is to test my ideas on other communities.
Along those same lines, I was able to talk with my professor, Jacob Hickman, to figure out the best sampling size, etc for my project. We looked on GoogleEarth and decided that because of the satellite imagery, I might be able to pre-select houses to go to-- get a good random sampling of houses as well as villages. This has been a new addition to my project that makes me VERY EXCITED!!!!! I feel like my methods are starting to take shape, and that my project is becoming real.
Now for the first thing I wanted to talk about: my topic. I've had this secret panic growing inside of me that my project was too general; but then I couldn't narrow it down because what if I missed the mark and my project is way too specific. So, as mentioned earlier, I went to speak with Jacob about this very thing. After speaking with him, my fears were calmed. He thought my topic was great: (just in case I haven't updated it yet... my new topic is.....) How does the political push toward a national identity affect dance in rural Ghana? He said it was general enough to allow some leeway for shifting from either more political ideology to dance ideology. He also seemed pleased with the political implications it would bring for other disciplines besides dance. In other words, this project will not only answer the question to the changes in dance since Independence, but it will also address the political changes as well.
So there you have it.... new updates on my project, and on my methods. Its now 12:42am..... and if I keep writing about Ghana (and my project), I think I'll get too excited and it will take me forever to calm down! So goodbye for now..... I'm pretty positive I'll be writing again soon.
:)
Recently in my Anthro 442 class we've been talking about sampling. We've discussed things such as 'what is the appropriate sampling size', 'how to achieve a purely random sample'; we've even delved into standard deviation and probability. This has been such a wonderful thing to talk about. It's gotten me seriously considering a questionnaire of sort for other communities around Wiamose. After all, I can only generalize my data to pertain to all of rural Ghana if I have reason to believe that it does indeed pertain to all of rural Ghana. The only way I'll be able to know is to test my ideas on other communities.
Along those same lines, I was able to talk with my professor, Jacob Hickman, to figure out the best sampling size, etc for my project. We looked on GoogleEarth and decided that because of the satellite imagery, I might be able to pre-select houses to go to-- get a good random sampling of houses as well as villages. This has been a new addition to my project that makes me VERY EXCITED!!!!! I feel like my methods are starting to take shape, and that my project is becoming real.
Now for the first thing I wanted to talk about: my topic. I've had this secret panic growing inside of me that my project was too general; but then I couldn't narrow it down because what if I missed the mark and my project is way too specific. So, as mentioned earlier, I went to speak with Jacob about this very thing. After speaking with him, my fears were calmed. He thought my topic was great: (just in case I haven't updated it yet... my new topic is.....) How does the political push toward a national identity affect dance in rural Ghana? He said it was general enough to allow some leeway for shifting from either more political ideology to dance ideology. He also seemed pleased with the political implications it would bring for other disciplines besides dance. In other words, this project will not only answer the question to the changes in dance since Independence, but it will also address the political changes as well.
So there you have it.... new updates on my project, and on my methods. Its now 12:42am..... and if I keep writing about Ghana (and my project), I think I'll get too excited and it will take me forever to calm down! So goodbye for now..... I'm pretty positive I'll be writing again soon.
:)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Learning Journal #10
As I walk to school every morning, I pull out a set of white flashcards and begin...
"Akwaaba.... oh oh I know this one!..... 'hello'..... yes!"
I've been trying to study Twi so that I can really learn it, not just learn the words but know them well enough that I can form sentences and communicate with the people of Wiamose. Even before Cultural Inquiry last night, I knew the importance of truly seeking to learn about another culture-- I'm going to Ghana to do that very thing: to study something about their culture that is VERY important to them. As I was walking yesterday, I realized I should be learning all the Twi words that have to do with dance- whether it's actual names of dances, or words such as funeral, celebration, dance, change, independence, movement, music, etc... Don't worry, I'll be asking Millie about them today!
As far as project development goes, I've been thinking of more questions that I'll be adding to the "field notes" page. I do want to discuss one aspect of dance that I've been thinking about lately. It comes in the form of a quote, from the article :
I mean, I had considered the possibility that social changes will affect dance; it may even change it all together.... but those new dances now represent a community's new world view. WHOA! So that affects my project how? I will be able to find clues not only through interviewing people, but through watching them too.
(I'll be honest: observation was one of my methods but I really had no idea how to incorporate i, nor did I know what valuable insights it could give me)
But now, I can watch the way they dance, and in it, there will be clues. For instance, perhaps men and women will interact more, thus indicating the shift in social values towards the acceptability of such acts. Previously, men and women didn't dance together because it was socially unacceptable AND they had such different roles in the society itself. Now, with the blurring of gender roles, perhaps those blurs will transfer over to dance as well.
Does this make sense? I hope it does for you, because it does for me. This also means one important thing:: I'm going to need to read more about the anthropology of dance; examples of how to interpret it, the best ways to observe, etc.
So I'm still staying in the direction of national unity versus ethnic diversity, but now I have another method to use! YAY!
oh ps. I'll be meeting with my Anthro 442 professor on Thursday to discuss details about a survey that I could use for the surrounding towns! Wish me luck!
"Akwaaba.... oh oh I know this one!..... 'hello'..... yes!"
I've been trying to study Twi so that I can really learn it, not just learn the words but know them well enough that I can form sentences and communicate with the people of Wiamose. Even before Cultural Inquiry last night, I knew the importance of truly seeking to learn about another culture-- I'm going to Ghana to do that very thing: to study something about their culture that is VERY important to them. As I was walking yesterday, I realized I should be learning all the Twi words that have to do with dance- whether it's actual names of dances, or words such as funeral, celebration, dance, change, independence, movement, music, etc... Don't worry, I'll be asking Millie about them today!
As far as project development goes, I've been thinking of more questions that I'll be adding to the "field notes" page. I do want to discuss one aspect of dance that I've been thinking about lately. It comes in the form of a quote, from the article :
“in Africa, musical values and social values are interconnected, and in a sense, music and dance provide a microcosm of the world view” (page 54)
I mean, I had considered the possibility that social changes will affect dance; it may even change it all together.... but those new dances now represent a community's new world view. WHOA! So that affects my project how? I will be able to find clues not only through interviewing people, but through watching them too.
(I'll be honest: observation was one of my methods but I really had no idea how to incorporate i, nor did I know what valuable insights it could give me)
But now, I can watch the way they dance, and in it, there will be clues. For instance, perhaps men and women will interact more, thus indicating the shift in social values towards the acceptability of such acts. Previously, men and women didn't dance together because it was socially unacceptable AND they had such different roles in the society itself. Now, with the blurring of gender roles, perhaps those blurs will transfer over to dance as well.
Does this make sense? I hope it does for you, because it does for me. This also means one important thing:: I'm going to need to read more about the anthropology of dance; examples of how to interpret it, the best ways to observe, etc.
So I'm still staying in the direction of national unity versus ethnic diversity, but now I have another method to use! YAY!
oh ps. I'll be meeting with my Anthro 442 professor on Thursday to discuss details about a survey that I could use for the surrounding towns! Wish me luck!
Cultural Inquiry
So tonight I went to the Cultural Inquiry group on campus. (I love that club by the way!) We played a game called Rafa Rafa. Basically, the premise is that there are two 'cultures': Alpha and Beta. They are totally different people, performing different tasks (Alphas were playing a game whereas the Betas were trading livestock). Maggie had us divide up into groups and go observe the other culture-- we could simply observe and then try and participate if we wanted to. It was really a wonderful activity and it helps you think more realistically about what it will be like to go someplace where their culture is totally different than yours.
Some interesting points were brought up but I want to just focus on two of them:
1. Margret asked the question: 'what could you be doing now to prepare yourself for another culture, besides simply reading about it?'
hm..... I think I could prepare by working on not being as judgmental, even to those around me here. And to be honest with you, I think reading about it is extremely valuable. I have learned SO MUCH about Ghana simply by reading the stories. Having a cultural mediator is really helpful too-- someone who can tell me what is appropriate and what is not. (good think I have Akramah and the Twi class)
***** I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty well prepared. Now, another thing we noticed during the game was that no matter how much you think you know about a culture, you get there and it is nothing like anything else you've ever experienced. So I might think that I'm uber prepared and that I got this thing under control but it is important to not get cocky about it. I still need to be cautious!
2. When I went to observe the Betas, I felt uncomfortable.... well, more alien. I felt like I didn't belong there. It was someone else's culture that I was impeding on. I was watching them and trying to figure it out but I seriously had no clue. One girl tonight said: "I wish they just told me the rules". It would be nice if we knew all the rules before we got there but.....
3. It's really hard to not do things with your left hand! In Twi class, we were told that doing anything with your left hand is bad bad bad. The left hand is for the body, and nothing else. :) Seeing that I am left handed, I thought I would try eating right handed at the club tonight. Boy was it hard!! I'm going to need to a whole lot more practicing.
So thank you Maggie and Andrew for a wonderful night!!!!! I was able to reflect on how I would react in a similar experience and then being able to talk about it afterwards, it was special.
Some interesting points were brought up but I want to just focus on two of them:
1. Margret asked the question: 'what could you be doing now to prepare yourself for another culture, besides simply reading about it?'
hm..... I think I could prepare by working on not being as judgmental, even to those around me here. And to be honest with you, I think reading about it is extremely valuable. I have learned SO MUCH about Ghana simply by reading the stories. Having a cultural mediator is really helpful too-- someone who can tell me what is appropriate and what is not. (good think I have Akramah and the Twi class)
***** I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty well prepared. Now, another thing we noticed during the game was that no matter how much you think you know about a culture, you get there and it is nothing like anything else you've ever experienced. So I might think that I'm uber prepared and that I got this thing under control but it is important to not get cocky about it. I still need to be cautious!
2. When I went to observe the Betas, I felt uncomfortable.... well, more alien. I felt like I didn't belong there. It was someone else's culture that I was impeding on. I was watching them and trying to figure it out but I seriously had no clue. One girl tonight said: "I wish they just told me the rules". It would be nice if we knew all the rules before we got there but.....
3. It's really hard to not do things with your left hand! In Twi class, we were told that doing anything with your left hand is bad bad bad. The left hand is for the body, and nothing else. :) Seeing that I am left handed, I thought I would try eating right handed at the club tonight. Boy was it hard!! I'm going to need to a whole lot more practicing.
So thank you Maggie and Andrew for a wonderful night!!!!! I was able to reflect on how I would react in a similar experience and then being able to talk about it afterwards, it was special.
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