The Chinese New Year Celebration Attended by Kanika

Customary celebratory events typically are prime examples of modern expression of various cultures of the world. This is due to the fact that these events are one of the ways in which a group attempts to explicitly illustrate its own culture through a variety of means. By doing this, a group, whether it is a major or small folk group, reveals its esoteric meanings and perceptions. Kanika’s experience of attending a Chinese New Year celebration is quite an interesting case study in that it was intended to express both traditional Chinese society as well as a more cosmopolitan modern culture. In essence, one of the intentions of the performances was to illustrate how Chinese culture relates to others of the world, and how this sort of interaction has caused a sort of broadening of what many Chinese people perceive to be part of their own culture. This means that both the cultural past and present are deemed of great importance by the group due to the fact that they allow them to feel a as though they have a unique past, but the modern composition exists due to how they are now intertwined with other peoples and cultures of the world.

http://kanikasblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/chinese-new-year.html

This was my second peer review assignment.

Material Culture (Object) Project

In order to discover a hand-made object that was somewhat unfamiliar to me, I had to look no farther than the second floor of the second floor of the IU Art Museum. One work in the museum that instantly caught my eye was the “Walking Buddha” from the fourteenth century. According to the label attached to the stand on which the statue stood, this work was donated to the IU Art Museum by Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The “Walking Buddha” is a bronze statue that stands at about three feet in height and about a foot and a half at its widest point. The entire statue is grayish-black in color with a few specks of a brown. These specks seem more to be the result of the decay of the material rather than an intended facet of the design. The Buddha stands upright and appears to have somewhat elongated proportions. The only clothing worn by the figure is a sort of flowing robe that is wrapped around his lower torso and extends over his left shoulder. This causes the figure to appear as though it has a cape behind him that is waving from movement. It is quite probable that this element was included in the work to help create the illusion of movement. Sitting atop the head of the figure is what appears to be an object shaped somewhat like a spike. Upon closer inspection it is a small tongue of flame. This seems to be directly attached to the head of Buddha. For this reason it is somewhat unclear whether the top of his head is merely decorated with stylized hair, which consists of patterned, tight, short curls, or if this stylized hair is actually the decoration on a helmet of some sort on which the small flame is attached. The figure also is adorned with what appeared to be a piece of jewelry in the form of a metallic band around his neck. There was not much detail in this body adornment, so it was hard to discern its exact function of meaning. The torso and limbs are rather elongated and stylized. The torso is rather muscular, but the limbs are elongated and do not seem very naturalistic. The right arm is shaped in an odd, curving shape as it hangs loosely by the figure’s side. The top half of the left arm is parallel to the torso, but it is bent at the elbow as the lower half reaches out. The hand on this arm is pointed upwards so that it is parallel to the upper half of the arm. The tips of the index finger and the thumb are touching as to create a gesture of some sort. The right leg is bent backwards at the knee as to make it appear as though Buddha is walking. The left leg is perfectly erect rather than extended forward in order to make it seem as though he is walking. His has rather rounded features other than the sharp, delicate nose. The eyes are slightly disproportionately large and are closed, which may be intended to indicate that he is in a meditative state. The mouth is small and almost appears to be slightly smiling. The ears are one of the most notable features of this statue due to the fact that they are extremely elongated and do not look at all naturalistic. There is no real detail of the ears other than that they are a thin, crescent shape. They extend nearly to his shoulders, but they do not show signs of movement in the form of wrinkles or folds. The combination of delicate, stylized facial features and the body posture seems to create an image of the Buddha as a placid figure in a deep meditative state.


This blog entry is my 2nd Encounter Project: Material Culture (Object).

Identity and Group Affiliation

According to Sims and Stephens, the key defining feature of a folk group is a form of esoteric knowledge shared by the members (Sims & Stephens, 30). In essence, communication of this knowledge between the persons involved is what separates the members from the nonmembers. This implies that this contact and sharing of informal knowledge is the basis for identity of the group and those involved (Sims & Stephens, 36). Based on this, one’s social identity, which is formed from the multiplicity of groups to which one perceives him or herself to belong, is founded upon their possession of esoteric knowledge. It is my perception that this is in fact quite true in that much of my perception of my identity is based on that which I associate. For example, one group which I perceive myself to be a member is the larger collective of Scandinavian music fans. There is quite a bit of esoteric knowledge transmitted between members of this group. Much of this knowledge relates to awareness of numerous musical groups and the particular style and ideology of the said musicians. This knowledge is often transmitted over the internet on various music forums and other sorts of web pages, but also in person between those in attendance at concerts. For example, I attended a concert in Chicago last September that featured a number of bands from Helsinki and Espoo, Finland. I observed many people in the crowds were engaging in discourse relating to Scandinavian music. In it seemed that many of those who were involved in these discussions had met at the concert and were attempting to prove to others there that they were in fact a member of this group. In essence, they were attempting to prove that they belonged there by voicing their esoteric knowledge. In addition to this, many others there also expressed their identity as part of the group by wearing concert t-shirts from other Scandinavian music performances that they had been to. For example, by wearing a shirt that depicted the logo of another band and the date of the show, members of the group could prove that they were versed in the music and taking part in the viewing of these performances.

This blog entry is my response to the Chapter Two Reflection Question.

First Peer Review: Ameliarate’s Dining Experience

Engaging in new experiences and leaving one’s comfort zone often leads to a great deal of realization of one’s own cultural norms and understandings of how culture and life experience can vary between individuals. Ameliarate’s critique of Anye Tsang’s Little Tibet presents a dynamic, enlightening view of a dining experience that illuminates cultural customs expressed within that given context. By conducting research on the reasons for certain foods being staples of Tibetan cuisine she was able to have more of an understanding of why certain foods and modes of preparation were authentic. This implies that the presence or lack of certain foods, such as rice for example, were indicative of conditions and the preferences of the populous of the nation being represented. This is greatly indicative of the fact that cultural norms can be greatly shaped by geographical environment and other such factors that result in a difference of life experience. This implies that food ways are greatly affected by environmental conditions and other such universal experiences shared by a cultural group, which results in a food type of tradition. Ultimately “ethnic foods” are characterized by the conditions of life of the people from whom they originate. Much of a culture’s past and present is therefore quite visible.

http://ameliarate.blogspot.com/

This was my first peer review assignment.