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0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in GE1: Understanding the Self Module No. 3

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. _3_

CHAPTER I: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

C. ANTHROPOLOGY
MODULE OVERVIEW

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, human behavior and societies in the past and present.
It focuses on understanding the human condition in its cultural aspect. In general sense, anthropology
is concerned with understanding how human evolved and how they differ from one another.
Anthropology is a very dynamic field and anthropological literature offers several different definitions
about the “self”. This module will tackle about how anthropology relates with the concept of self.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain how culture affects and shapes one’s identity

2. Understand how culture and self are complementary concepts
3. Appreciate the self embedded in culture
4. Develop insights on how to achieve a sense of self, situated in multicultural and dynamic
situations

LEARNING CONTENTS

In most dictionaries, the term “Filipino” is defined as belonging or relating to the Philippines, or to its
people and culture. In the context of citizenship, “ Filipino” simply means membership in a state nation.
In the constitution, a citizen is someone who legally resides in the country. Anthropologically,
however, it is different. To belong to a people is not necessarily implying a legal association to a
country but it entails a responsibility to live and protect the country’s cherished values. To belong and
relate to culture means to adopt, accept, and treasure its entire way of life. Therefore, in order to be
called Filipino, you have to belong to the Filipino people and adopt their culture. In this perspective,
the self must be embedded in the culture.

THE SELF AND THE PERSON IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of all aspects of the human condition. This includes human history, the
present human condition and even future possibilities. Anthropology is also considered as
“the science of humanity,” which studies human beings in aspects ranging from the biology and
evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish
humans from other animal species.

Anthropology' is less a subject matter than a bond between subject matters. It is part history, part
literature; in part natural science, part social science; it strives to study men both from within and
without; it represents both a manner of looking at man and a vision of man—the most scientific of the
humanities, the most humanist of sciences (Hirst, 2019)

Employing an anthropological perspective, that is perceiving holistically, what could be the answer to
the question, “Who am I?” Anthropology considers human experience as an interplay of “nature’
referring to the genetic inheritance which sets the individual’s potentials, and “nurture” referring to the

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sociocultural environment ( Haviland, Prins, Walrath &McBride, 2013). Therefore it could be

understood that both biological and cultural factors have significant influence on the development of
self-awareness among individuals within society. In addition, the field of anthropology has contributed
indirectly to the understanding of nature of self through ethnographic investigations such as sampling
method, sentence completion, interviews etc. which discuss that cultural variations may affect one’s
mental state, language and behaviors. The most important contribution of anthropology is providing
insights into the nature of self based on continuous understanding of the basic elements of culture.

The Cultural Construction of Self and Identity

Culture is derived from the Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” meaning care or cultivation. Culture is
analogous to caring for an infant. Because an infant has a prolonged dependency, he or she has to
be taken care of by the people around him or her. The infant has to learn from them so he or she can
better adjust while growing up in his or her immediate cultural environment .

Throughout one’s life he or she functions according to the cultural context where he or she is situated.
As one grows old, he or she learns many things about the environment and realizes what makes him
or her different from other people. As an individual interacts with people and makes sense of how he
or she functions in the context of his or her social and cultural background, he or she learns that he
or she has both personal identity (the way he or she sees himself/herself as an individual) and
collective identity (the way he/she sees himself/herself as member of a certain group).

Identity refers to “who the person is,” or the qualities and traits of an individual that make him/her
different from others. There are many ways to distinguish people. An example Is identifying them in
a geographical context or based on where they come from. People from the West are different from
the people of the East because they are located in opposite sides of the world. Identity also refers to
how a person sees and expresses oneself.

Cultural Identity is self-identification, a sense of belonging to a group that reaffirms itself. It is the
extent to which one is a representative of a given culture behaviorally, communicatively,
psychologically and sociologically. It consists of values, meanings, customs and beliefs used to relate
to the world. It reflects the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes which give us
as one entity a stable, unchanging, continuing frame of reference and meaning.
Cultural identity is dynamic and constantly evolving. It covers the entire life span of a human being
and changes every moment based on social context. It is the constantly shifting understanding of
one’s identity in relation to others. A person might identity himself/herself as Filipino because he/she
embodies Filipino cultural ways and traditions o which he/she has been exposed to while growing up.

In social anthropology, the concept of identity was used mostly in the context of “ethnic identity”
pointing out the sameness of the self with others, that is to a consciousness of sharing certain
characteristics (e.g. language, cuture etc.) within a group. Identity if understood in a disposition of
basic personality features acquired mostly during childhood and, once integrated, more or less fixed.
(Sokefeld, 1990). This identity therefore makes a human being a person and an acting individual.

There are two ways in which the concept of self is viewed in the different societies.
1. Egocentric View. The self is seen as an autonomous and distant individual Each person is
defined as replica of all humanity but capable of acting independently from others.
2. Sociocentric view. The self is contingent on a situation or social setting. This is a view of
the self that is context-dependent which emphasizes that there is no intrinsic self that can
possess enduring qualities.

Forming of Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is negotiated, co-created and reinforced in communication with others when we

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socially interact. They are manifestations of social reality – reflect on our unique personal life history
and experience. Forming a cultural identity involves making choices about the cultures one identifies
with and deciding to join the cultural community to which one belongs. Beliefs and practices of one
or more communities can also be adapted.

One’s identity is not inborn, it is something people continuously develop in life. For instance, rites of
passage usually involve ritual activities to prepare individuals for new roles from one stage of life to
another such as birth, puberty, marriage having children, and death. Arnold van Gennep believes that
changes in one’s status and identity are marked by three-phased rite of passage: separation, liminality
and incorporation.
1. Separation phase. People detach from their former identity to another. Examples is in a
wedding where the bride walking down the aisle to be “given away” by the parents to the
groom implies the separation from one’s family to become part of a new one.
2. Liminality phase. A person transitions from one identity to another. Example, the wedding
ceremony itself is the process of transition of the bride and groom from singlehood to
married life.
3. Incorporation phase. The change in one’s status is officially incorporated. Example, the
wedding reception and parties that celebrate the wedding serve as the marker that officially
recognize the bride and groom’s change towards being husband and wife.

Properties of Cultural Identity

Jane Collier and Milt Thomas combined the ethnography of communication and social construction
in order to frame the properties of cultural identity. These properties refer to the manner in which
members of a group communicates their identity.

1. Avowal and Ascription. These two concepts deal with what constructs or produces the cultural
identity and the ways in which these identities are communicated. Avowal is how one articulates or
expresses his/her views about group identity. It is how one presents oneself to another. Ascription is
how others perceive an individual. It is how one refers to others. This may include stereotypes.
Eg.How Asians are viewed by Europeans.

Our identity is constructed as a result of how others view us and how we view ourselves. Therefore
both avowal and ascription are important. Eg.Insiders describe their culture different from how it is
perceived by others. Avowed qualities versus ascribe qualities leads to conflict but resolutions
depends on the status position of group members.

2. Modes of Expression. The use of core symbols (expressions of a group’s cultural beliefs and
theories about the world around them), names, labels and norms (expected standard of behavior)
that a cultural community share and follow in order to show that they belong to a particular group,
demonstrates shared identity. Collier found out that there were some similarities in cultural norms
for members of each ethnic group and there are within group differences with regard to gender and
nature of relationship.

3. Individual, Relational and Communal Identity. There are three components to cultural identity.
Individual refers to how an individual interprets his cultural identity based on his experiences.
Relational refers to how individuals interact with one and another (what is the appropriate behavior)
and communal identity is the use of communication in the creation, affirmation and negotiation of
shared identity. The actions and interactions of the group, their communal practices reflect the
identity of the group. Researchers can identify or study cultural identity in a group by observing
everyday situations, communal activities, rituals, holiday celebrations.

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4. Enduring and Changing Aspects of Identity. The cultural identity changes due to several
factors which are social, political, economic and contextual.

5. Affective, Cognitive and Behavioral Aspects of Identity. This refers to emotions fully attached
to cultural identity in particular situations.

6. Content and Relationship Levels . This refers to the interaction between two or more
individuals. The message exchange carries information/content. The participants of the
conversation interpret the choice and meanings of the words based on their experiences. The
interactions also show the relational level based on how a person delivers the message. This level
of a message implies a cultural interpretation of who is in control, their levels of closeness, what
they feel about each other, level of trust, etc.

7. Salience or Prominence. This is the degree to which an identity is demonstrated in a situation

and refers to how much a person’s cultural identity stands out and attracts attention. This is
influenced by the extent of similarity or difference between two individuals. The intensity differs
depending on context, situation topic and relationship. Prominence shows a strong
investment/involvement in an identity.

THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE

There are statements that people make, that constitute the self, such as attitude ( I like dancing),
beliefs (I think that we should recycle to help our nature), intentions ( I plan to review tonight), norms
( people should behave this way), and values ( I believe everyone should treat each other equally).
These statements can either be shared or universal and heavily influenced by culture, either group’s
subjective culture or culture specific. For instance, such aspects are shared by people who speak a
common language and who are able to interact because they live in adjacent locations during the
same historical period; we refer to this as cultural group’s subjective culture. On the other hand,
some aspects of the self may be universal such as “I am hungry”, which has the same worldwide
across time. Other elements are culture specific. For instance, the statement “ My soul will be
reincarnated” is culture specific; it means people depend on particular mythology-religion or
worldview.

The claim of the self as embedded in culture can only be embraced when the self recognizes its
relation to everything. The complexity of culture identities of people, things, and events shall be
recognized and respected by the self. The individual must remain reflective of the similarities and
unique differences of everything around it. This shows that the self should not maintain the
individualistic, independent and autonomous entity but that the self should be able to maintain his or
her solid culturally reflexive identity in relation to everything and everyone else.

Clifford Geertz (1973) an American Anthropologist, offers the reformulation of the concept of culture
which favors a symbolic interpretative model of culture. He defines culture as a system of inherited
conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which people communicate, perpetuate and
develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life. Further he proposes that humans give
meanings to their experiences so that order in the world can be established. The concept of culture
has its impact on the concept of man. In his attempt to illustrate this accurate image of man, Geertz
suggest two important ideas: (1.) Culture should not be perceived only as “complexes of concrete
behavior patterns – customs, usages, traditions, habit clusters- for the governing behaviour, and. (2.)
Man is precisely the animal most desperately dependent upon such extragenetic, outside-the-skin
control mechanisms, such cultural programs, for ordering his behavior.” Therefore, man is defined by
his genetic potentials shaped into actual accomplishments which is made possible by culture. Geertz
also emphasizes that human nature is interdependent with culture, “Without men, no culture certainly;
but equally, and more significantly, without culture, no men.”

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Research Work

Make a research on at least five regional cultures within the Philippines and compare these cultures
with the culture that is being practiced in your community.

SUMMARY

Anything that our past self has done, our present self can do better. Some cultures die and some live
forever; and these have greatly influenced our self-identity. As social beings, we constantly adjust to
the changes the society
Is undergoing. Understanding culture, the evolution of man, is significant in trying to answer the most
difficult question “Who am I?”. Contemporary anthropological perspectives would strongly claim that
without culture there would be no men. Culture molds much of human behavior , and individual
variations are permitted and tolerated only within limits set by society. Even when a person rejects
his society, he does so in culturally accepted ways.

REFERENCES

Corpuz, R., Estoque, R., Tabotabo, C., Understanding the Self. C & E. Publishing, 2019.
Degho, S., Degho, G., De Claro, LJ., Lejano, J., Understanding the Self. Mutya Publishing House, 2018.
Monilla, MA., Ramirez, N., Understanding the Self. C.& E Publishing, 2018.
Villafuerte, S. Quillope, A., Tunas, R., Borja, E. Understanding the Self. Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd.
2018.
https://www.communicationtheory.org/cultural-identity-theory/

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