The Role of Taboo in Intercultural Relations - Essay Example

Assess the role of taboo in intercultural relations. Introduction:- Taboo: The word Taboo is in use from centuries in English language but this word has been derived from Tongan tabu and is associated with a more common Polynesian word tapu. This word became famous in Europe after its mention in Captain James Cook’s journal describing his third voyage of the world. Cook was introduced to the expression in the Tonga islands, a detailed mention of Cooks writing has been made in the examples. The absolute or literal meaning of the term Taboo is off limits, this term was interpreted as a superstition or magic by early anthropologists such as William Robertson Smith and James Frazer but later scholars proved that taboos were present in the industrialised world as well. Far from being leftovers of a far-away time or place, something which is supposed to be a very “primitive” thought, taboos are a vital part of our society, which determines how people should and should not behave. Role of taboo in intercultural relationships: - Taboos can include various restrictions on the diet of that particular region (Halal, Kosher etc.), their relationships and sex (Sex outside marriage, adulteries, animal sex etc.), restriction on exposure of some body parts (ankles in the Victorian British Empire, women's hair in parts of the Middle East, nudity in the US) these taboos play an important role in the relationships between different cultures . None of the taboos are universal but some of the taboos such as cannibalism, exposing of intimate parts, intentional homicide, and incest taboos are found in majority of societies, These taboos generally remain in the society long after the cause behind has expired and hence many scholars argue that taboos reveal the history of societies when other records are lacking. Some of the other societal taboos to certain people are the polarizing issues of sex, death, racism, genderism, ethnicity, nationality, religion, politics, money, socio-economic class, sexual orientation, and disability. Individuals follow this recommendation of not arguing or joking about things that can lead to bigotry, discrimination, and stigmatization of people with those social group differences. In fact some of the purely factual information, such as data related to IQ and race, can be taboo because of the inherently unpleasant implications of biopolitics. A few examples of taboos (as discussed above) in different countries are:- Although the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, was credited with the placing of food taboos on carcass-meat, eggs and oviparous animals (those that produce young by means of eggs), it was the Pythagorean injunction against the eating of beans, an injunction that has also been attributed to another philosopher who followed his teachings, Empedocles, that captured the imagination. In Greece, beans were proscribed not only by the Pythagoreans but also by followers of Orphism. Outside Greece, according to the Greek historian, Herodotus, Egyptian priests would neither eat nor look at beans and in Rome the Flamens Dialis (priests) refused to utter their name. Cicero tried to rationalise the taboo by pointing out that beans cause flatulence and that this would upset the tranquillity of mind necessary for prophetic dreams. While caution is always necessary when dealing with “rational” explanations for taboos, it is true that a primary aim of the Pythagoreans was to contact divinities, initially those of the underworld, and that the preferred method of contact involved “incubation”, awaiting a dream or vision while asleep. Iamblichus, in Pythagorean Life, claimed that Pythagoras “rejected all foods that produce flatulence or cause disorder … all foods which interfere with divination … anything that conflicted with ritual cleanliness and rendered turbid the various purities of the soul – especially the purity of the visions it sees during dreams” (Kingsley, p. 283–286). Certainly, beans and the world of the dead were linked in some way. Kingsley surmises that the connection between beans and the chthonic (underworld) realms led to interpretations of the taboo that tied it in with the doctrine of reincarnation and that the statement of Iamblichus was proof of a continuing link between the taboo and divination in later Pythagoreanism (Kingsley, p. 286). Beans played a role in the Eleusinian Mysteries held near Athens in honour of Demeter and her daughter, Kore or Persephone, who was abducted by Hades and carried off to the underworld. Captain Cook, the British naval captain, navigator, explorer and astronomer is responsible for introducing the word taboo into European languages, where it has been used as an adjective, noun or verb. As was discussed above in the introduction of the word taboo, it’s first mention is in Cook’s journal in 1777 which recorded his third voyage around the world as the captain of HMS Resolution. Cook noticed that the term taboo was quite common all over Polynesia and could be used for many different things, animate and inanimate, living and dead. It may well also mean something, or someone, that was set apart, or consecrated for a special use or purpose. The term taboo also used for restrictions placed upon a few members of the society, frequently women: in Tahiti the female gender were forbidden to eat in the company of male and the Polynesian Mories, places of worship and sacrifice, were forbidden for females. In Tonga the word tabu or tapu, point to all things that should not be touched. Captain also cited the “mysterious significance” of the idea of tabu and the “mixture of religion” in a ritual that had been chosen taboo. Unfortunately James Cook’s investigations into the subject came to an abrupt end when an argument with some Hawaiians (who employed the term kapu) over a cutter that had been stolen ended with him being killed on the beach at Kealakekua. Cook’s journal was continued by his successor, King, who continued his research into the meaning and application of taboos. Upon receiving Cook’s remains, King requested of the Hawaiians that the area surrounding the spot where the crew were to bury Captain Cook’s bones should be tabooed for that day, a request that was zealously adhered to, with no inhabitants venturing close. Moreover, the field of sweet potatoes which the Europeans wished to use as an observatory was consecrated, and thereby rendered taboo, by the priests. To do this, the priests fixed their wands around the wall that enclosed the field. After the consecration, the men of the island would only approach the site when specifically invited and the women refused absolutely, stating that their chief, Terreeboo, would punish them with death for such a transgression. Another spatial taboo that King observed was, the consecration of the bay on the day preceding the arrival of Terreeboo. For Hindus, cows are a sacred species, protected by India’s federal constitution. Article 48 of the government’s Directive Principles of State Policy recommends a prohibition on the killing of cows and calves and several religious Hindus are agitating for a total ban on the killing of cattle. The champion of Indian independence, Mohandas Gandhi, was an ardent advocate of cow protection, a feature that endeared him to the Hindu masses, and the protection of cows has a marked political dimension, separating Hindus from the beef-eating Muslims. Gandhi’s treatise, “How to Serve the Cow”, articulates the general principle of ahimsa, or “non-injury,” a doctrine whose foundation lies in the practices of the sramanas “world-renouncers” of the 6th century bce and which was adopted by the composers of the Upanishads and by Buddhists and Jains. The sanctity of the cow is well attested in myth. In Vedic tradition, Tvastr, the architect and artisan of the gods, possesses a magic cow capable of yielding soma, the potent ambrosia of the gods (which is stolen by the god, Indra). Hymn 10.101 of the Rig Veda invokes the cow as a symbol of divine inspiration and a Vedic theory of the rain cycle interprets the sun’s rays as a cow, drinking up the waters of the earth and then returning them in the form of milk or rain (Rig Veda 1.164). Hindu festivals celebrate the merciful Krishna, protector of cows, while Shiva, the divine avenger, rides on a bull. All that the cow produces is holy, whether milk, urine or excrement and ghee, clarified cow’s butter, is burned in lamps in the temples. Yet the taboos on killing cattle have not always existed. Texts of the Vedic period (1200–900 bce) focus on the yajna, the fire sacrifice, an essential rite necessary for maintaining cosmic order. The Brahmins (the priestly caste) were responsible for the sacrifice and cattle, held in such high esteem, were considered an eminently suitable offering. Sacrificed animals were consumed and Brahmins viewed beef as the finest meat. The sacrifice of cattle was once widespread, practised in Babylonia, Greece, and among many pastoral peoples. In Iran, the sacrifice of a bull was an essential cult of Mithraism. What is puzzling in India is the reversal in ideology: in Vedic times a philosophy of himsa, the desire to inflict injury, prevailed, and the Brahmins, as sacrificers, relished beef; but in the Hindu period this was gradually replaced by an adherence to ahimsa and the purity and status of Brahmins was enhanced by their rejection of flesh. A fear of the corpse – considered to he a major source of danger and pollution – is almost- universal. Among Hindus, it was left to that despised group known as “untouchables” to carry out the cadavers of those dying without relatives; within Judaism the priestly caste is forbidden contact with a corpse; in the Titicaca region of Bolivia the corpse is strangled, in order – it is said – to prevent the stench from escaping; while among the Cantonese of rural Hong Kong menial labourers, employed to handle the body and dispose of its clothing, were considered so contaminated by their task that villagers would not even speak to them. The relatives of the deceased are also affected by the funerary contagion and are banned for a time from participation in normal social life: their diet and dress is restricted and clothes may be deliberately torn, their hair shorn or, conversely, it may he forbidden to trim the hair and beard, the movement of close kin may he curtailed and a widow or widower may he forbidden to remarry during the period of mourning. The manner of disposal of the pernicious corpse varies according to the society and often involves considerable effort and ingenuity: Bodies are buried or burned, sometimes with human or animal sacrifice; these are preserved by pickling or smoking; they are dismembered and treated in a variety of these ways (Metcalf and Huntington, p. 24). The cadaver is considered most dangerous during the period of putrefaction and the function of a mortuary ritual may he to deny the process of decay, either by embalming or burning the corpse, to hide it through a (often temporary) burial, to delay it through the use of formalin so that mourners have time to gather the food for a final feast, or to accelerate it by allowing scavenging birds to devour the flesh. The technique of embalming reached its apotheosis in Egypt in dynastic times but mummification of the body may occur naturally – a result of the desiccating qualities of the earth or air. However, smoking or embalming the corpse is a deliberate attempt to fight corruption. In the elaborate embalming practices of the Egyptians, the corpse became a god through identification with Osiris. A lengthy and meticulous religious ritual attended every movement of the embalmers and only when it was complete, and the body became imperishable, was it taken to the grave. A Muslim should partake of no meat that is not halal, the Muslim term for acceptable food. Certain animals, such as swine and scavengers, are not to be consumed and no meat is halal unless it has been ritually slaughtered. Cyril Glassé describes the procedure: A Moslem must consecrate the kill by saying the words Bismi-Llah; Allahu Akbar, and cut the throat (both windpipe and jugular vein) with one stroke. Game is halal if the words of consecration are spoken when it is shot, or when a trained dog is released to retrieve it. Fish are halal if caught when alive, but dead fish which have been gathered are not (Glassé, p. 133). Cutting the throat drains the animal’s blood; though an animal’s blood must not be drunk it is permissible to consume the blood that remains in meat after draining. Since Islam contains an injunction to be reasonable in all things, non-halal meat can be eaten in cases of necessity. References:- Ambedkar, B.R. 1948. The Untouchables. New Delhi: Amrit Book Company. Brown, W. N. 1957. “The Sanctity of the Cow in Hinduism”. Journal of the Madras University. Sect. A. Humanities. 28, p. 29–49. Barnes, Jonathan. [1988] 1997. Early Greek Philosophy. London: Penguin Burkert, Walter. [1972] 1983. Homo Necans, trans. Peter Bing, Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of Califomia Press. Glassé, Cyril 1989. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. London: Stacey Publications. Islamic Desk Reference: compiled from The Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1994. ed. E. Van Donzel. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Read More

While caution is always necessary when dealing with “rational” explanations for taboos, it is true that a primary aim of the Pythagoreans was to contact divinities, initially those of the underworld, and that the preferred method of contact involved “incubation”, awaiting a dream or vision while asleep. Iamblichus, in Pythagorean Life, claimed that Pythagoras “rejected all foods that produce flatulence or cause disorder … all foods which interfere with divination … anything that conflicted with ritual cleanliness and rendered turbid the various purities of the soul – especially the purity of the visions it sees during dreams” (Kingsley, p.

283–286). Certainly, beans and the world of the dead were linked in some way. Kingsley surmises that the connection between beans and the chthonic (underworld) realms led to interpretations of the taboo that tied it in with the doctrine of reincarnation and that the statement of Iamblichus was proof of a continuing link between the taboo and divination in later Pythagoreanism (Kingsley, p. 286). Beans played a role in the Eleusinian Mysteries held near Athens in honour of Demeter and her daughter, Kore or Persephone, who was abducted by Hades and carried off to the underworld.

Captain Cook, the British naval captain, navigator, explorer and astronomer is responsible for introducing the word taboo into European languages, where it has been used as an adjective, noun or verb. As was discussed above in the introduction of the word taboo, it’s first mention is in Cook’s journal in 1777 which recorded his third voyage around the world as the captain of HMS Resolution. Cook noticed that the term taboo was quite common all over Polynesia and could be used for many different things, animate and inanimate, living and dead.

It may well also mean something, or someone, that was set apart, or consecrated for a special use or purpose. The term taboo also used for restrictions placed upon a few members of the society, frequently women: in Tahiti the female gender were forbidden to eat in the company of male and the Polynesian Mories, places of worship and sacrifice, were forbidden for females. In Tonga the word tabu or tapu, point to all things that should not be touched. Captain also cited the “mysterious significance” of the idea of tabu and the “mixture of religion” in a ritual that had been chosen taboo.

Unfortunately James Cook’s investigations into the subject came to an abrupt end when an argument with some Hawaiians (who employed the term kapu) over a cutter that had been stolen ended with him being killed on the beach at Kealakekua. Cook’s journal was continued by his successor, King, who continued his research into the meaning and application of taboos. Upon receiving Cook’s remains, King requested of the Hawaiians that the area surrounding the spot where the crew were to bury Captain Cook’s bones should be tabooed for that day, a request that was zealously adhered to, with no inhabitants venturing close.

Moreover, the field of sweet potatoes which the Europeans wished to use as an observatory was consecrated, and thereby rendered taboo, by the priests. To do this, the priests fixed their wands around the wall that enclosed the field. After the consecration, the men of the island would only approach the site when specifically invited and the women refused absolutely, stating that their chief, Terreeboo, would punish them with death for such a transgression. Another spatial taboo that King observed was, the consecration of the bay on the day preceding the arrival of Terreeboo.

For Hindus, cows are a sacred species, protected by India’s federal constitution. Article 48 of the government’s Directive Principles of State Policy recommends a prohibition on the killing of cows and calves and several religious Hindus are agitating for a total ban on the killing of cattle. The champion of Indian independence, Mohandas Gandhi, was an ardent advocate of cow protection, a feature that endeared him to the Hindu masses, and the protection of cows has a marked political dimension, separating Hindus from the beef-eating Muslims.

Read More