1. Introduction To Anthropology
1.1. What is Anthropology?
1.1.1. "Anthropology maintains a commitment to studying both the people and the larger structures of power around them.These include families, governments, economic systems, educational institutions,militaries, the media,and religions, as well as ideas of race,ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality." (Guest 81)
1.1.1.1. Anthropology is the commitment to comprehensively examine what makes us human; it analyzes the development of cultures and socieities all around the globe through extensive analytical concepts.
1.2. Different Approaches to Anthropology
1.2.1. "One of the unique characteristics of anthropology in the United States is that it has developed four “lenses” for examining humanity. Constituting the four- field approach, these interrelated fields are biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Taken together, these represent a holistic approach for examining the complexity of human origins and human culture, past and present." (Guest 86)
1.2.1.1. Utilizling the four method approach, anthropologists in the United States are able to analyze differing cultures around the globe and comprehend them using criterias that allow them to be studied in various different ways.
1.3. Globalization
1.3.1. "Globalization today is c haracterized by several key dynamics: time-space compression, flexible accumulation, increasing migration, and uneven development, all of which are happening at an accelerating pace. These dynamics are reshaping the ways humans adapt to the natural world, and the ways the natural world is adapting to us." (Guest 102)
1.3.1.1. Globalization is essentially the rapid growth in which different cultures and socieities have come into contact with one another; this can be seen through currency, immigrants, trade, and knowledge.
2. Culture
2.1. What Is Culture
2.1.1. "Culture is our guide for understanding and interacting with the people and the world around us. It includes shared norms, values, symbols, mental maps of reality, and material objects, as well as structures of power— including the media, education, religion, and politics—in which our understanding of the world is shaped and negotiated." (Guest 137)
2.1.1.1. It is essentially the accepted "norm" within a society. It is the music, language, religion,politics, etc. It establishes the standard that people live their lives the way they do.
2.2. Culture & Power
2.2.1. "One key to understanding the relationship between culture and power is to recognize that a culture is more than a set of ideas or patterns of behavior shared among a collection of individuals. A culture also includes the powerful institutions that these people create to promote and maintain their core values." (Guest 168)
2.2.1.1. The relationship between culture and power is quite intertwined in the sense that together, they promote hegemony for the dominant culture. When a specific culture dominates, it is easier to maintain control and influence what the "norm" is; therefore, it ostracizing outside influences.
2.3. Culture & Biology
2.3.1. "But current research in physical and cultural anthropology shows that no matter how strong our biological needs or our hormones, odors, and appetites might be, culture and the environment in which we live exert powerful influences on what we think, on how we behave, on the shape and functions of our individual bodies, and even on how humans have evolved over time." (Guest 182)
2.3.1.1. The dichotomy of culture and biology is evident through what the established norms are. This can be evident through diets, certain foods, behaviors, and differing cultural patterns.
2.4. Globalization & Culture
2.4.1. "Today’s flows of globalization are intensifying the exchange and diffusion of people, ideas, and goods, creating more interaction and engagement among cultures. Let’s consider three key interrelated effects of globalization on local cultures: homogenization, the global flows of culture through migration, and increased cosmopolitanism." (Guest 194)
2.4.1.1. With globalization comes the nearly effortless ability to be submerged and exposed to differing cultures all over the globe; this is evident through food, music, clothes, media, religion, and language. You don't have to travel to Vietnam to get Vietnamese food anymore. You simply just need to find a local Vietnamese restaurant nearby.
3. Language
3.1. What Is Human Language
3.1.1. "Human language is a system of communication that uses symbols—such as words, sounds, and gestures—organized according to certain rules, to convey information. These symbols have deep historical and cultural meaning, and human language is remarkably flexible and creative, rapidly adapting to changes in human life and the environment." (Guest 305)
3.1.1.1. Although, species from different spectrums can communicate in their own ways, we as a species have developed a fundamental system that, in order to communicate properly, we have to adhere to such as grammar, phonemes, and morphemes.
3.2. Language & Power
3.2.1. "Human languages vary widely in spoken and written form and in accent, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Yet, from the perspective of linguistic anthropology, all languages serve as effective communication tools for the people who speak them." (Guest 334)
3.2.1.1. The relationship between language and power is tied directly with the notion that a certain way of speaking is more superior. This can be seen in "prestige language," in which a variation of the language is perceived with the notions of superiority and wealth.
3.3. Language & Globalization
3.3.1. "As people move, elements of vocabulary and grammar are loaned to and imposed on populations that come into contact. Languages are full of loanwords that have been adopted from others. The encounter of linguistic communities occurs with increasing rapidity in the contemporary era of globalization." (Guest 349)
3.3.1.1. With globalization comes the melting pot of different languages in regions where the standard language is conflicted with the foreign one. In other words, as people emigrate and immigrate, languages are exchanged and either flourish or become dormant as the one becomes the dominant one over the other.