Problems of ethnographers in an alien society

From KstructIB

• Ethnocentrism
• Informants
• Language
• Gender
• Hypotheses
• Practicalities
• Culture shock
• Recording information
• Acceptance

[edit] Case Study- Chagnon entering the Yanomamo Society

At first, the Yanomamo did not readily accept Chagnon. He was greeted by a group of scary men looking hostile and ready to attack him, and had to endure these men ‘examining him’ with their hands full of mucus or tobacco juice. He was not accepted because he was an outsider who did not speak the language or know the people, and so it was difficult for them to immediately trust him, especially since he looked and behaved in a different way than them.

At first Chagnon did not like what he saw. He had imagined the Yanomamo to be a lot different, and many things about them annoyed Chagnon, like the fact that they always wanted his food, and he had to learn to ignore them. Fundamentally, he was not used to their behaviour and culture. He also found that many of them lied to him about certain information. This was probably due to Chagnon’s sudden interaction and involvement with the Yanomamo people causing many of them to feel that their power, status and privacy were being threatened, and many of the questions that he asked them may have caused some of them to feel uncomfortable. To the Trobrianders, lying to Chagnon probably seemed the easiest way to patronise him and gain a higher sense of power and position over this ‘intruder’.