SEMES

STER Fall 22017

Cultural Antthropology ((SOC401)

Solution
n assignmentt 1

Part I

Your taskk is to choosse any one country fromm each continnent Asian annd Europe. A After selectiion of
countriess you are sup
pposed to creeate a collecction of Pictuures/images of 4 matreiaal objects off each
country and
a paste in a word docu ument with one/two
o line description..

1. Denmark
D

Located ini the contin

nent of Europ
pe, whose cu
ultural unity is mitigatedd by regionall traditions oof
rural, urb nd communitties with distinctions bassed on local language, foood and histtory.
ban and islan

Materiall objects of Danish cultture:

Food cullture

Danes haave smørrebrrød for breakkfast, lunch and dinner. The typical Danish snack is basicallly an
open san ndwich. This is the mo ost classic and
a popular dish in Deenmark. Thhe word liteerally
translatess to “butter and
a bread” in
n English.

Culturall dress
Folk costtume traditio onal dress ex
xpresses an identity
i throuugh costumee, which is uusually assocciated
with a geographic
g area
a or a peeriod of timme in historyy. They havve preservedd wearing oof the
traditionaal dress. It ch
hanged afterr the changinng fashion bbut always inncluded oftenn in occasionns, or
in traditio
onal festivalls and for forrmal wear.

Musical instrumentt

Tradition
nal Danish music
m has maany similaritiies with the Scandinaviaan music. Thhe most popuular
Danish in
nstruments are
a the fiddlee and accord
dion, the sounnds of whichh prevail in tthe majority of
Danish fo
olklore.

Architeccture

Danish architecture
a has undergoone the influ
uences of G
Gothic, Baroqque, Renaisssance styles, like
any otherr European country.
c Now
w Neo-Modernism, repllace the typiccal Danish aarchitectural style
with com mbination off steel and glass
g with minimal
m effoort and maxximum visuaal impressionn has
started.

Referencces:
https://wwww.dezeen.ccom/2017/08
8/23/copenh
hagen-internaational-schoool-c-f-molleer-architects--
12000-so olar-panels-d
denmark/

https://ww
ww.pinteresst.com/malaffarinawalla/ffolk-costumee-denmark/

http://ww
ww.mydenmark.net/denm
mark-guide/d
danish-cultuure/

https://bllog.tripcreato
or.com/10-trraditional-daanish-foods/

2. Nepal
N

Nepal is located in th
he continent of South Assia, non-coasstal central H
Himalayan country. It is
home to different kinnds of religio
ous, ethnic groups
g and cllimates.

Food cullture

Popular dish m the Indian subcontinennt,

d of Nepaal, Dal Bhatt. Dal bhat iss a traditionaal meal from
popular in
i many areaas of Nepal. It consists of steamed ricce and a coooked lentil sooup called dal. It
is a staple food in theese countriess.

Culturall dress
Nepal is home to diffferent kinds of ethnic grooups. This hhas led to siggnificant variiations in
Nepalesee clothing, bo
oth historicaally and in modern
m timess. The dress oof Nepal hass also been
influenceed by nearby
y countries, including
i Ind
dia, Pakistann, Bangladessh and Sri Laanka. Dauraa
suruwal is national clothing
c of Nepal.
N

Musical instrumentt

Madal is one of the famous

f folk musical
m instruments assoociated withh their culturre and lifestyyle. It
was first introduced by
b the Magaar community y, it is equallly famous aand used by aalmost all off the
Nepalesee society.

Architeccture

Nepali arrchitecture iss a unique sttrain of art. The

T pagoda aarchitecturall tradition ass well, alongg with
the Tibettan tradition of Buddhistt architecturee and the stuupa in contraast is widely used amongg
Buddhist temples throughout the country. Mugal style, summit style, dome style also have great
scope in Nepal.

References:

http://www.weallnepali.com/art-and-culture/popular-nepali-original-musical-instruments 
https://www.welcomenepal.com/things-to-do/culture.html 
https://trekroute.com/nepalese-food/ 
https://trekroute.com/festivals-in-nepal/ 

Part II

How material objects are representative of a culture of any country. Explain briefly in context of
Pakistani Culture. (5)

Material objects refers to the physical items that people use to define their culture. These include
clothing, housing, jewelry, technology, food etc. All these physical objects of a culture help to
define its members' behaviors and perceptions. The regional dresses, food and other materail
objects of Pakistan represents local as well as natioanl traditions and living patterns of pakistani
people. Leather works, wood work,carpet making and metal crafts are the essential parts of our
culture. Pakistani craftsmen are considered as the best in their craftsmanship.They are known for
the high quality works which is very popular in foreign countries. Hence these materail objects
truly represent Pakistani culture.

Question 2: How do you see the connection of “community” in ethnographic research or

writings? Explain with reasoning. (5)

Ethnography is a detailed description of a given community or society attempts to get a

comprehensive understanding of the surroundings of the people being studied. Ethnographers
look at and record people’s way of life as seen by both the people and the anthropologist. They
take an emic and etic approach to describe communities and cultures as community analysis
needs ethnography. Therefore ethnographic research deals with diversity of human cultures in
their particular cultural settings. It is field-based method and conducted in the settings in which
real people actually live, therefore it has a strong relation with community. To explore
communities’ diverse cultures, their beliefs, norms and practices ethnographers spend many
months or even years in the communities to conduct their research and study the lives of people.
Therefore ethnographers rely on communities to understand the cultural frame that people
shared.