SLFK 212, February 10, 2004
An anomaly is something that does not fit into a category, whatever that category might be
All cultures form categories; all cultures have funny feelings about anomalous things
But what the categories are differs from culture to culture
And so what is anomalous will differ from culture to culture
What is anomalous is culturally determined
But biology can play a role
Categories CAN sometimes disregard biology
But they won't necessarily do so
For us, garbage can under the sink is fine
Other cultures might say: garbage so close to where you clean food - how disgusting!
For us, pissing in toilet is fine, in shower is ambiguous
For some people, excretion in the house - how disgusting; need to do outside in separate facility
So - go back and review
Body is a powerful symbol
Various body liquids, while they are inside the body, are just fine
Once they come out, they are boundary crossers and considered anomalous
Excretion products are esp. prone to this perception
Piss again - like horse piss
Inside horse - fine; outside dirty
But it is an excellent humectant
So, process, call it extract of urea (nice and scientific)
Put in nice bottle
And you can spray on face to keep skin soft
Americans feel funny about organ meats
And so they eliminate
Grind up, use in pet food
Ship to other countries
Continuing with body:
Elephant Man as an example of anomaly and people's reaction to it
Misbirth again
People cannot accept fact of chance and seek AGENT
In this case, explanation that mom saw elephant when she was pregnant
Very wide spread pregnancy belief of affect of mom's behavior on baby
Movie actually does it very well - he does not look like _ man and _ animal
He does not look like much of anything; he is truly anomalous
But ambiguity is better than anomaly
Better to be between 2 categories than tied to no category at all
So, he is seen as _ man and _ elephant and pictured as such on the posters advertising him as a circus freak show exhibit
He is kept in a cage, as in physically controlled
And people are afraid of him and avoid
Gawk from a distance
One of the most interesting features is his accepting definition of self
He sits in cage as is filthy and smells bad and grunts and does not speak
It turns out later that he is quite intelligent and even literate
But he still accepts definition (or label) of self as part animal
Used in a ritual-like way by the rich
Temporary exposure to danger
Something from the wrong time can be anomalous
Jurassic Park as good example
What is dangerous may not be immediately apparent as such and that, in a way, makes it more dangerous
But, of course, since the animals ARE from the wrong time, all hell breaks loose and things are very dangerous indeed
You are trying to confine anomalous things (as in dinosaurs out of time)
And you label dangerous, but some idiot always gets in there
In film: Various large and truly scary things
Perhaps scarier are the smaller ones that are category-crossers in that they have human traits: can think and can cooperate like human society
What about the REALLY little ones, almost poochy-like
They don't seem threatening because they are small
But have horrible viscous SPIT
Which sticks to you and disables you, either blinds or anesthetizes
These are a great deal like Russian devils which are little and sneak up on you and are very scary in their insidiousness
Very scary Twilight Zone episode with SMALL and sneaky space invaders
Ultimate fear of my childhood was the Blob which, of course, is ultimately anomalous
Slimy and viscous
No shape
Goes in WRONG direction, defies gravity
Eats the wrong things
Comes out of the wrong place
Movie Alien and its various successors are good
How the little thing gets inside
How it comes out
What it does
Recall that it disguises self as machine at one point
Starship Troopers - insects, which Americans don't like under the best of circumstances
But of the wrong size
In wrong numbers
And they think - brain bug
While I am emphasizing the horrible, don't forget that anomaly can be most attractive for its creative potential
The potential of Jurassic Park
A human can get rid of the magic ring in Lord of the Rings - must be Hobbit
X-Men are good and helpful, but also scary to lots of people
And kids LOVE Gak
Dr. Dread Food Lab
Russian witches - are very scary, yet they are the ones that can cure you when a doctor can't
Chapter on Magic and Miracle deals with tendency toward magical behavior
As things that are dirty or clean, edible or inedible, do not necessarily have anything to do with biology, though they may well
But you will adhere to the cleanliness guidelines of your own culture anyway, as much as you can
So certain actions don't necessarily make sense, except to the culture that does them
Russian
Crossing dough before you start kneading it
(discuss anomalous qualities of yeast dough)
New mom does not go outside the farmstead for 40 days, and baby too
No hang out diapers after dark
Dumping of water in which the deceased has been washed
Strings used to tie the hands and feet of the deceased
Cutting the bio-pole of the infant
No wean infant and let suckle again
Safety pin over heart.
A few more words on magic
Belief in agency
Things that you do will be effective and almost cosmically so
All of the world responds to you and affects you
Rain at the wedding in Krut'ky
When you get married, if you consummate marriage in barn (fairly far north
Russia) this will have an effect on the farm animals and you will get lots of calves, lambs, etc.
In Ukraine, all of the vegetation - the flowers on bride and groom
The green garlands all over everywhere
The parents dressed up in leaves
Need not be motivated
Things like blowing out candles on a birthday cake to make a wish come true is motivated; you know WHY you are doing something
Same for bouquet and garter at American wedding
Please note cosmic implications: knowing future of your social group
Some people will tell you why consummate marriage in barn and some will not; just the way it is done
Similarly New Years' resolutions
Easter bunny, Easter eggs and fertility
Powers and Dangers chapter
Power in position is official power
It is the power of a president
Or movie star
Or sports figure
Or business figure
Which is why you want to shake hands with famous people
And have your babies kissed by them
And wear Cal Ripken's or Andre Agassi's dirty jersey
Or wear the same cologne as your favorite person - one based on Agassi
You would not necessarily want your baby kissed by just any old person
Or wear any old jersey, esp. a dirty one; we went through that
Desire for souvenirs, "relics"
And real relics
Of course these people are dangerous
If you make a sudden move toward a presidential candidate, you are much more likely to get beaten up by the Secret Service than if you make a sudden move toward just any old person
Same with sports or music industry figures
This is external, official, recognized power
Often, these persons are assumed to have moral power
Debate about athletes setting examples of noble behavior
President Bush on this topic in State of the Union address
Same for political figures
Janet Jackson's tit versus the various streakers at football and other professional athletic events
In Russia, not a whole lot of official power
There is the tsar, but he is far removed
And he is assumed to be good and morally just
So many things about "if we could only let the tsar know"
There is the priest, who does not have a whole lot of external power
Can threaten you with pollution: you have sinned
The edict against vechornytsi, which is a perfect example of pollution beliefs
Sins lead to bad crops and bad weather and various diseases and sores
Mostly internal power
Power of the anomalous person, person in a low position
Internal power a whole lot harder to control
Internal power of three types:
1. That of a person who is permanently anomalous, on the fringes of society
Beggar who comes to your house and asks for something
You refuse, perhaps because, in subsistence economy, you have nothing to give
But you feel bad
Then child gets sick
Must have been evil-eyed by the beggar
Mom and the gypsy
Veresai and the man with the funny eyes
Power of a witch would go here
Issue of witchcraft complicated
Don't call selves that and don't consider selves bad
In their opinion, what they do is heal and what they say is prayers
Closest thing US might be fear of beggar
Or of the people who accost you at a traffic light to wash windshield
What can these people do to you?
Yet they are scary