Humanities Homework Help
TUTC Sense of The Ethnographic Question
1) In the film, who is Bee? Why is that person nicknamed “Bee”?
2) This film focuses on the nature of ethnographic fieldwork and highlights potential challenges of trying to study another culture. What are some of the challenges that Chagnon would have encountered while studying the Yanomamo? If you were in his shoes, how would you overcome these challenges?
3) Describe the relationship between Chagnon and the Yanomamo. Is it balanced? Friendly? Of mutual respect? Exploitative? Explain.
4) The film invokes the sense of the ethnographic present, namely that ethnographic films are meant to capture how a society exists at a specific moment (e.g., a snapshot of a culture). Why would it be important to document a culture this way?
5) Critics have raised issues with Chagnon’s fieldwork, as he tended to focus on some sections of a society and avoid others. Whose perspectives are missing in this film?
