Rent 9780321164018 | One World, Many Cultures | Hirschberg, Stuart; Hirschberg, Terry @knetbooks.com

Summary Table of Contents

This truly global multicultural reader features 63 contemporary selections by internationally acclaimed authors from 32 countries. The compelling readings explore cultural differences in relation to race, class, gender, and nationality, challenging students to compare their experiences with those of others in radically different cultural circumstances. Eight thematic chapters explore cultural perspectives on human experiences around the globe: family life, adolescent relationships, gender roles, work and identity, race and class conflict, the s... MORE

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Preface

Introduction

(1)

Critical Reading for Ideas and Organization

(1)

Finding a Thesis

(2)

Responding to What You Read

(1)

Marking as You Read

(1)

Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion

(6)

A Sample Essay for Student Annotation Edward T. Hall, ``Hidden Culture''

(5)

Keeping a Reading Journal

(6)

Family and Cultural Ties

(68)

``The Little Emperors''

(11)

Daniela Deane

A generation of overfed, spoiled boys who will be unable to find wives is one of the unanticipated results of China's mandatory one-child policy

``A Princess Remembers''

(13)

Gayatri Devi

Raised in a sumptuous palace staffed with 500 servants, the Maharani of Jaipur presents an intimate look at her extraordinary childhood

``Moonlit Nights of Laughter''

(6)

Fatima Mernissi

In the author's experiences, one of the major inconveniences of communal life in a harem in Morocco was the lack of privacy during family meals

``Remembering Lobo''

(4)

Pat Mora

The unconventional behavior of the author's aunt is the subject of this thoughtful reminiscence of Hispanic life

``Antidisestablishmentarianism''

(8)

Gayle Pemberton

In her irreverent autobiographical account, the African-American author tells how her savvy maternal grandmother taught her to think for herself

``The Mbuti Pygmies''

(6)

Colin Turnbull

The importance of rituals in shaping the behavior of children in Mbuti society can clearly be seen in the games they play

``A Family Supper'' [Short Story]

(10)

Kazuo Ishiguro

``Fugu poisoning is hideously painful and almost always fatal.'' A son's return to Tokyo to have dinner with his family carries ominous undertones

``A Handful of Dates'' [Short Story]

(6)

Tayeb Salih

``While most of the children of my age grumbled at having to go to the mosque to learn the Koran, I used to love it.'' The yearly harvest of date palms in the Sudan provides the setting for this story of a turning point in the relationship between a boy and his grandfather

Connecting Cultures

(2)

Coming of Age

(76)

``The Letter `A'''

(7)

Christy Brown

The Dublin-born author recaptures the moment when he first communicated signs of intelligence, despite having been diagnosed as mentally defective due to cerebral palsy

``You're Short, Besides!''

(8)

Sucheng Chan

The Chinese-American author's humor and courage in confronting and overcoming personal infirmities emerge from this account

``Circumcision of Girls''

102

(14)

Nawal El Saadawi

An Egyptian physician and leading feminist speaks out against the continuing practice of female circumcision in the Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt

``Initiated into an Iban Tribe of Headhunters''

116

(6)

Douchan Gersi

The producer of the National Geographic television series Discovery strips away any romanticized notions as to exactly what is involved when one is initiated into a tribe of headhunters in modern-day Borneo

``The Initiation of a Maasai Warrior''

122

(12)

Tepilit Ole Saitoti

A Maasai warrior describes the rituals that initiated him into manhood

``Memories of a !Kung Girlhood''

134

(12)

Marjorie Shostak

Nisa, a !Kung woman in Botswana, remembers important milestones of her childhood and marriage

``The Persian Carpet'' [Short Story]

146

(6)

Hanan al-Shaykh

``In confusion I looked at the Persian carpet spread on the floor, then gave my mother a long look.'' This story from Lebanon tells how the reappearance of a carpet thought to have been stolen permanently alters a young girl's relationship with her mother

``And the Soul Shall Dance'' [Short Story]

152

(7)

Wakako Yamauchi

``I had so looked forward to Kiyoko-san's arrival. She would be my soul mate.'' A young Japanese-American girl befriends an immigrant family and learns much about herself and the world

Connecting Cultures

159

(2)

How Culture Shapes Gender Roles

161

(80)

``The Stealth Virus: AIDS and Latinos''

163

(5)

Ann Louise Bardach

Deep-seated sexual anxiety is revealed in the Latino attitude toward gays

``Never Just Pictures''

168

(6)

Susan Bordo

The writer indicts the cultural pressures in the West that tyrannize women into starving to be thin

``The Myth of the Latin Woman''

174

(6)

Judith Ortiz Cofer

The author reveals how cross-cultural misunderstandings led her to be stereotyped as a ``hot-blooded'' Latina

``Visualizing the Disabled Body''

180

(9)

Lennard J. Davis

An incisive cultural observer explores the paradox of why the truncated Venus de Milo is perceived as beautiful, while a human counterpart might be shunned

``A Look behind the Veil''

189

(8)

Elizabeth W. Fernea

Robert A. Fernea

The veil and purdah, or seclusion, play an important---and complex---role in Middle Eastern societies

``Arranging a Marriage in India''

197

(10)

Serena Nanda

An anthropologist discusses the negotiations, and expectations, that govern arranged marriages in India

``Where Fat Is a Mark of Beauty''

207

(5)

Ann M. Simmons

In a rite of passage, Nigerian girls spend months gaining weight and learning domestic customs in a ``fattening room.''

``Desiree's Baby'' [Short Story]

212

(6)

Kate Chopin

``When the baby was about three months old, Desiree awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace.'' This classic story explores the tragic consequences of racism in turn-of-the-century Louisiana

``Giribala'' [Short Story]

218

(21)

Mahasweta Devi

```A daughter born, To husband or death, She's already gone.''' This shocking tale explores the tragic fate of a Bengali woman whose husband sells their daughters into prostitution

Connecting Cultures

239

(2)

How Work Creates Identity

241

(69)

``Nickel-and-Dimed''

243

(22)

Barbara Ehrenreich

A journalist enters the world of the unskilled worker and learns firsthand of the indignities and privations experienced by those who keep our society functioning

``Why I Quit the Company''

265

(4)

Tomoyuki Iwashita

Iwashita explains why he gave up his secure, prestigious job with a Japanese corporation

``Lessons''

269

(8)

Mark Salzman

An American martial arts student describes his unusual apprenticeship to one of China's greatest traditional boxers in exchange for English lessons

``Report from Ground Zero''

277

(10)

Dennis Smith

The author chronicles the heroic efforts of the New York City firefighters in the moments immediately following the catastrophe on September 11, 2001

``Rain of Gold''

287

(9)

Victor Villasenor

The author recounts his father's experience as a rock blaster and the gritty scramble to earn a day's wage

``A Canary's Ideas'' [Short Story]

296

(6)

Machado de Assis

``Astonished by these answers, I didn't know what to marvel at more---the language or the ideas.'' This delightful tale by the Brazilian master of the short story tells of the encounter between a self-proclaimed ornithologist and an egotistical talking canary

``The Stolen Party'' [Short Story]

302

(7)

Liliana Heker

```You know what you are to them? The maid's daughter, that's what.''' An Argentinian girl attends her friend's birthday party at the house where her mother is a maid

Connecting Cultures

309

(1)

Class and Caste

310

(62)

``Sex, Money, and Success''

312

(7)

Raymonde Carroll

An anthropologist discovers that bragging about sexual conquests plays the same role in French society that proclaiming one's business success does in America

``Civilize Them with a Stick''

319

(9)

Mary Crow Dog

An outspoken advocate for Native-American rights graphically depicts the racism she experienced as a young student at a government-run boarding school

``America Has a Class System. See `Frasier.'''

328

(5)

Anita Gates

The popularity of the television show ``Frasier'' is due in no small part to how it represents class differences in American society

``The Lords of Creation''

333

(17)

Alonso Salazar

The testimony of a teenage contract killer and an interview with his mother offer unparalleled insight into the world of Medellin, Colombia's drug capital

``A Pariah's Life''

350

(6)

Viramma

An ``untouchable'' in southeast India describes her experiences as a midwife

``The Button'' [Short Story]

356

(8)

Mahdokht Kashkuli

``I had cocked my ears to hear who that `one less mouth to feed' was.'' This poignant story describes the circumstances that lead a family to place one of its children in an orphange in contemporary Iran

``Paper'' [Short Story]

364

(7)

Catherine Lim

``Once the notion of a big beautiful house had lodged itself in his imagination, Taysoon nurtured it until it became the consuming passion of his life.'' The lure of easy money draws a middle-class couple into the frenzy of the Singapore Stock Exchange

Connecting Cultures

371

(1)

The Individual in Society

372

(67)

``The Prisoner's Dilemma''

374

(8)

Stephen Chapman

This essay challenges the assumption that Western methods of punishment are more humane and less barbaric than those used in Middle Eastern cultures

``Irony Square''

382

(13)

Lawrence Metzger

An American psychologist discovers that students at the elite Beijing University reflect changes throughout China since Tiananmen Square

``Daisy''

395

(7)

Luis Sepulveda

The literary aspirations of his jailer, in a prison in Chile, puts the author in a no-win situation

``Decolonising the Mind''

402

(10)

Ngugi wa Thiong'o

The author discusses the damaging psychological and cultural effects of being forbidden to speak or write one's native language under British colonial domination of Kenya

``At the Center of the Storm''

412

(14)

Rae Yang

Given power as Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, the author and her fellow students turn the tables on their teachers

``Gregory'' [Short Story]

426

(6)

Panos Ioannides

```How the devil could you kill such a friend?''' A soldier faces the moral dilemma of whether to follow orders and shoot a prisoner who has become his friend

``The Wedgwood Tea Set''

432

(6)

Milorad Pavic

```Why did I spend all that time with her studying subjects that had nothing to do with my interests and the exams that I had to pass?''' A story whose meaning does not reveal itself immediately offers an unusual perspective on life in the Balkans

Connecting Cultures

438

(1)

Strangers in a Strange Land

439

(75)

``A Place for Your Stuff''

441

(5)

George Carlin

This monologue by a witty observer of the American scene in particular, and human nature in general, satirizes our dependence on our ``stuff.''

``Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamo''

446

(16)

Napoleon A. Chagnon

An anthropologist describes the ``culture shock'' he experienced during the years he lived among a warlike tribe of Indians settled along the Amazon River in Brazil

``Too Many Bananas''

462

(8)

David R. Counts

An anthropologist doing fieldwork in New Guinea has to rethink many of his cultural assumptions regarding reciprocal exchanges of food and goods

``Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk''

470

(5)

Palden Gyatso

Life in the community of Tibetan exiles, in India, offers poignant memories of a culture left behind

``Confucius and the VCR''

475

(6)

Jesse W. Nash

Nash describes how immigrants from Vietnam feel less estranged when they are able to watch films from home

``Individualism as an American Cultural Value''

481

(8)

Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel

A scholar raised in Thailand takes a critical look at differences between Thai and American cultural values

``What's in a Name?''

489

(7)

Itabari Njeri

The decision to renounce her given name and to adopt one of African origin has humorous results

``Cervicide'' [Short Story]

496

(3)

Gloria Anzaldua

``In the shed behind the corral, where they'd hidden the fawn, Prieta found the hammer.'' A Chicana poet tells the poignant story of a Mexican-American family on the Texas border that is forced to kill its pet deer

``The Guest'' [Short Story]

499

(13)

Albert Camus

``That man's stupid crime revolted him, but to hand him over was contrary to honor.'' A Frenchman living in Algeria must choose between loyalty to the European community and compassion toward an Arab prisoner he must deliver for execution

Connecting Cultures

512

(2)

Customs, Rituals, and Entertainment

514

(61)

``Kimono''

516

(7)

Liza Dalby

The first non-Japanese woman to become a geisha explains the significance of the kimono in Japanese culture

``On Bad Teeth''

523

(8)

Slavenka Drakulic

Capitalism, advertising, and one's personal appearance intersect in the author's cross-cultural analysis of dental care

``The Secrets of Haiti's Living Dead''

531

(9)

Gino Del Guercio

Voodoo, according to the author, performs a very different function in Haiti, from that depicted by the media

``Fiesta''

540

(6)

Octavio Paz

How Mexican fiestas introduce a sense of the extraordinary into everyday life is described with stylistic flair by the Nobel Prize-winning author

``Santa Selena''

546

(6)

Ilan Stavans

Since her death in 1995 the popular Latina singer has been transformed into a cult icon

``China Chic: East Meets West''

552

(8)

Valerie Steele

John S. Major

The authors discover that foot binding, a practice that lasted for a thousand years in China, has striking parallels to the wearing of corsets in the West

``Cairo Is a Small City'' [Short Story]

560

(7)

Nabil Gorgy

``So it was that the Engineer Adil Salim fell in love with the beautiful Bedouin girl Salma.'' This story relates how a successful engineer who prides himself on his shrewdness is manipulated through his desire for a Bedouin girl into paying an ``eye for an eye.''

``Looking for a Rain God'' [Short Story]

567

(5)

Bessie Head

``There was, he said, a certain rain god who accepted only the sacrifice of the bodies of children.'' A Botswanian writer tells the story of a local incident in which a family reverts to an outlawed ritual in the face of a seven-year drought

Connecting Cultures

572

(3)

Pronunciation Key

575

(2)

Credits

577

(6)

Rhetorical Index

583

(4)