Re: anyone heard of the Snacirema ?
Henry Polard (henry@netcom.com)
Wed, 22 Feb 1995 17:03:15 GMT
In article <1995Feb20.084938.4233@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il>,
Teeni Moddy <mody@marva.weizmann.ac.il> wrote:
>I'm looking for a funny sort of a paper I read many years ago, which
>I hope some of you might know about. It is about a tribe or nation
>called Snacirema who worship their body, believe that is infected and
>perform crazy things to protect it - such as putting hair inside the
>mouth and moving it with pre-determined moves.
<snip>
The article you are referring to is "Body Ritual Among the
Namcirema" by Horace Miner, first published in the June 1956 issue
of American Anthropologist. It is reprinted in Lessa and Vogt's
book on the anthropology of religion, McConnel's "The Worm
Re-Turns," "A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown," and
other anthologies of great anthropological and scientific
relevance.
My first anthropology teacher (Dr. Elizabeth Tooker - what is she
doing now?) read it to the class on the first day of the course.
I was hooked.
Henry Polard || My dictionary puts the cart before the horse.
|