Social-Cultural Anthropology: Communication with the African Society

Social-Cultural Anthropology

Communication with the African Society

George Allan Phiri

Social-Cultural Anthropology

Communication with the African Society

Copyright © 2009 George Allan Phiri. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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All Scripture references are from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society, unless otherwise stated. These scripture references are also within that which does not require special written permission.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Perspectives and Theories of Social-Cultural Anthropology

Chapter 2: Anthropology, Social Development and Missions

Chapter 3: Incarnation and Interpersonal Relationships in Africa

Chapter 4: Ethnographic Aspects of the African Society

Chapter 5: Social Interaction and Reality in Africa

Chapter 6: Communication and the African Social Structure

Chapter 7: Missiological Application of Social-Cultural Anthropology in Africa

Chapter 8: The Missionary and African Culture Change

Chapter 9: The Church

Chapter 10: Christian Leadership Development:An African Culture in Perspective

Chapter 11: Effective Pastoral Counseling Models for the African Community

Chapter 12: Cohabitation Marriages:Biblical and Social Contemporary Perspectives

Chapter 13: Divorce: Spiritual and Socio-Economic Impact

Chapter 14: Humanitarian Ministry and Missions in Africa

Glossary

Bibliography

This work is dedicated to my beloved wife and companion in ministry, Hilda Phiri whose patience, observations and comments have invariably been significant.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ADC Area Development Committee

AIDS Acquired Immunodefficiency Syndrome

DDC District Development Committee

EAM Evangelical Association of Malawi

GNB Good News Bible

HIV Human Immunodefficiency Virus

NKJV New King James Version

STDs Sexually Transmitted Diseases

STIs Sexually Transmitted Infections

VDC Village Development Committee

WLSA Women and Law in Southern Africa

Introduction

Understanding factors that affect effective communication with people of different cultural orientation is basic for successful ministry and social development work in any society. The challenges of Social development work, Missions and Church planting today, are more than ever before. They require studying people’s thinking patterns, social structures and their integration with the culture of the society. History teaches that early missionaries did not take lessons on languages and social or cultural anthropology to study about cultures or worldviews of the respondent community in order to effectively facilitate communication of the gospel and social development work. Yet, it may be critically necessary to study these society’s factors in order to facilitate communication of the gospel and social development services effectively.

The missionaries were just griped with the mission of God and they went everywhere without prior orientation to the peoples’ cultures, social structures, thinking patterns, religions and languages. Some of these missionaries did not really go as missionaries but explorers and they identified the need of the gospel and other social amenities in the people they found at the spot when they interfaced with the people. And so, they ministered to them even without adequate preparation and knowledge of effective evangelistic methods of the gospel and orientation to the peoples’ cultures, languages and worldviews. As a result, communication became the major challenge in their ministry. However, people’s languages, cultures and value systems were in some places considered evil; resulting into Christianization of societies and misinterpretation of peoples’ cultures and practices. Kenneth Scott Latourette records that Emperor Constantine in fear of losing political powers to Christians he Christianized the Roman Empire¹. Christianization of Roman Empire had big impact on the spread of Christianity among the Roman territories during his time of reign. Nevertheless, this does not mean we should neglect the need for studying courses like Cultural or Social-Cultural Anthropology, Cross-Cultural communication, and Evangelism for missions and social work.

In reality, the early missionaries did not meet political, social and economic problems just as we do today. Almost all missionaries did not require a passport or a visa to enter into a country of their choice in the early centuries. But we learn from the same history that they had problems in communicating effectively with the indigenous people. Some problems that were prevalent were linguistic, culture, food and the recognition of the indigenous as people just as any other. These and other problems led some missionaries into attrition and a study of culture of people in some societies was critical.

Church planting, social and missions’ work do not take place in a vacuum. They take place in an environment of diverse cultural, spiritual, economical, political and social integrations and challenges. Reality is therefore, considered relative because of diverse cultural, social, economic, political and religious worldviews. Scholars in different fields approach these issues differently depending on the emphasis of their studies.

The political worldviews, social structures, economic developments and religious systems the world has developed make missions and social work in some places more challenging today than ever before; yet in some places success is seen. These factors set the limits of social development, missions, church planting and church growth. For example, in the modern days, a missionary cannot be allowed to enter in any country without a passport. In other countries visa requirement is additional document the immigration office may ask from the person presenting a passport at the border post.

In some places, people of higher statuses usually do not associate with people of lower statuses. Social structures that have been developed in some societies today have actually grouped people in classes that make communication in some societies difficult between people of different classes; thus, creating a communication gap. For instance, the caste system is divided into higher and lower castes. Politics has categorized people into the elite and ordinary people usually called political cadres.

Further, the concepts of globalization and global village and culture need also to be defined in the context of missions, politics and social work. The study of Social-Cultural Anthropology is therefore significant for Social developers, Church planters and Missionaries of the twenty-first century in order to understand these concepts and apply them contextually. Missions is global in its perspective because it is an activity to be participated in by all believers from all nations to people of all nations in the whole world regardless of professional background, culture and economic status.

Social-Cultural Anthropology also lays a foundation for Cross-cultural communicators to identify inroads into any community or society for missions and social development work. Social-Cultural Anthropology covers theories and definitions of cultures, worldviews, social structures of the societies, religious beliefs and value systems and application of anthropological insights in communication to social development activities and missions on church planting and growth for both the church and the nation.

Since this is an introduction to Social-Cultural Anthropology, each chapter introduces and discusses anthropological theories and concepts for effective communication in the missionary work, and brings about an understanding of the society they occupy for social development work, missions and church planting. The chapters are divided further to develop the theories and concepts. At the end of each chapter there are questions to assess understanding before moving on to the next chapter. This will inherently help the reader to move with confidence and an understanding of the concepts to the next chapter.

The readers’ understanding of the theories and concepts are evaluated through discussion questions at the end of each chapter. It is also advisable for the reader to approach the subject with sober mind. If the book is used as a text for the study of Social-Cultural Anthropology in a classroom situation, the most plausible approach is that a lecturer should resume a responsibility of a facilitator rather than of a lecturer so that students’ participation in the lessons is potentially maximized and appreciate their contribution in the lesson. Peter Ngatia and Alfred Mutema observes that the current trend in teaching and learning is to promote active interaction between teachers and students so that students take responsibility for their own learning²

1. Latourette, A History of Christianity, 91–93.

2. Ngatia and Mutema, Principles and Practices of Problem-Based Learning, 4.

1

The Perspectives and Theories of Social-Cultural Anthropology

• Introduction

• Definitions: Anthropology, Culture and Worldview

• Elements of Culture: Theoretical Base of Social-Cultural Anthropology

• Cultural Influences

• Cultural Dynamics

• Culture and Worldview

• Discussion Questions

Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to introduce readers to anthropological theories, terminologies, reasons for studying Social-Cultural Anthropology and the concept of Incarnation as research approach in ministry and social work. It is also important to realize that the terms defined in this chapter do not provide the exhaustive list of terminologies in Social-Cultural Anthropology and other anthropological studies. However, what this chapter provides is the starter pack to the reader to develop the anthropological concepts and vocabulary. It is based on the assumption that the reader is taking this course of study for the first time. Therefore, it is imperative for the reader to grasp the meaning of the concepts quickly and conceptualize them in one’s own vocabulary. For this reason, the concepts are defined succinctly.

Further, this chapter introduces the reader to missiological and sociological concepts of anthropology and its relationship to social development, missions and church planting. Therefore, the reader is urged to understand the concepts and know how to apply them in his/her daily ministry and social work cross-culturally.

Definitions: Anthropology, Culture and Worldview

Anthropology

Anthropology is one of the social and human behavioral sciences. The word anthropology comes from two Greek words anthrop and logos. Anthrop simply means man and logos mean study of. Hence, anthropology means the study of man; how he thinks, communicates, and behaves in his social-cultural environment.

In Social-Cultural Anthropology, the interest is in the study of the society’s thinking patterns, communication loop, and man’s behavior in his cultural setting and how culture affects the preaching of the gospel and communication in social development of the community. Charles Kraft says, You cannot put people into the test tubes or into books.¹ It is very true that people are not studied in a laboratory setting in anthropology. Social-Cultural Anthropology as a discipline of study studies people through participatory action research by observing their behaviors, rituals, beliefs, value systems, and attitudes in their cultural setting. It also studies people through incarnation in their daily religious, cultural, and social rituals and work. The behaviors and attitudes are influenced by the assumptions of reality conceptualized in the worldview of the society or an individual’s cultural principles of life.

Social-Cultural Anthropologists just as any other social scientists conduct research. In most cases, social-cultural anthropological research is qualitative rather than quantitative. However, it is important to recognized that social anthropologists also conduct quantitative research and their findings are reported as it is the case in any social science academic pursuit. Now if a man cannot be put in the test tube or in books, how can social anthropologist study man objectively? Usually, the social-cultural anthropological research because of its nature it is subjective; yet reliable. This is because it is done in practice setting. Anthropologists study people through incarnation in the respondent society, through personal participation and observing the changes in behaviors, rituals, beliefs, values, and attitudes of people in the society where they live and how the beliefs, rituals and values help develop and affect the behaviors of people in the society toward human and social development. Social-Cultural Anthropology studies are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. Hence, it is important to realize that their conclusions are as objective, subjective and reliable as any other social science studies.

People everywhere think and behave according to how they perceive things to be like and defined in the context of their cultural, social, economic and religious orientation. Therefore, studying them anthropologically enhances the understanding of their spiritual, political and social behavior and needs.

Culture

The English word culture embraces several meanings depending on who defines it. Politicians, economists, anthropologists, theologians and sociologists define culture in the context of the emphasis of their studies. Hence, the meaning of the word culture is subjective. Clyde Kluckholn defines culture as a way of thinking, feeling, and believing. It is the group’s knowledge stored up for future use."² Louis Luzbetak defines culture as a set of norms, standards, notions, and beliefs.³ Paul Hiebert says that culture is more or less integrated systems of ideas, feelings, and values and their associated patterns of behavior and products shared by a group of people who organize and regulate what they think, feel and do.⁴ There is one thing that is common to all of the preceding definitions. Culture is the expression of the society’s reality and attitudes through feelings, beliefs, values and behavioral patterns.

Culture may also be defined as integrated belief and value systems of a society and how that society perceives and interprets reality, behaviors, and communication symbols and articulate their philosophy of life in a practical way. Culture serves as an identity of a society. It also sets the value and belief systems of a society in order of their perception of reality. People can easily be known by their culture and language rather than their skin color and other identities. However, it is imperative to realize that culture is not the only identity of people in any society. There are also other unique features that identify the society; such as, clothes, food, and eating habits and so forth. These are critical factors in describing the society’s cultural identity.

Worldview

Worldview is the framework of human-centered assumptions about good and evil, right or wrong as perceived by the reality of an individual or a society. Reality is assumed in the worldview of the individual and the society.

Larry Niemeyer observes that worldview is the basis of religion.⁵ In fact, worldview is how a person or a society perceives the world and assumes its reality; religiously or secularly and interpret it in practical way that determines the universal behavior of the society or an individual. In most cases reality defines the Supreme Being revered in that particular religion and a society. The Supreme Being revered in the society always has an influence on the perception of things and an interpretation of events and issues in the society. Worldview influences the thinking patterns of the adherents of a particular culture and how they perceive themselves and others in a real and imaginary world. King David said that he was a worm (Psalm 22:6). This was his perception about himself in relation to God and other people who surrounded him. Nevertheless, this perception does not imply that he lost his self-esteem. It was an expression of humility before God, his creator and the world around him.

Worldview is learnt consciously and or unconsciously. No one actually questions why s/he perceives things the way s/he does; until such a time when that reality is challenged due to illumination of the mind about the view or exposure to new information, knowledge and experiences that make sense more than the long time held view. Certainly, this affects how and what people think and believe in as true or false, good or evil. James W. Sire defines worldview as a set of presuppositions which we hold (consciously or unconsciously) about the basic make-up of our world.⁶ Marguerite Kraft defines worldview as the basic assumptions, values, and allegiances of a group of people.⁷

Any social development worker, missionary or church planter who overlooks the respondent society’s worldview may be in danger of misinterpreting and misunderstanding the society and then, fail to communicate the gospel and successfully implement social development work in more effective way. Basically, worldview forms the belief and value systems of the society and it bases its decisions on how the reality is understood in the context of their culture. Eventually, the society’s actions are motivated and directed by their perception of reality of their world and then, behave in certain ways. Worldview also influences the adherents of a particular view to think in certain way; and then, behave accordingly.

Elements of Culture: Theoretical Base of Social-Cultural Anthropology

1. Language

This is a basic cultural element of anthropology in communication. Every society has a language for communication. Language is part of the people’s culture, belief and value systems of the society because it expresses what and how people communicate with each other within or outside the society. The words used in any language express what and how people in a particular society perceive and interpret the reality. A word has no meaning on its own unless it represents the actual thing in a real life situation. Missionaries and social development workers learn the people’s languages in order to communicate the gospel and social development knowledge, information and concepts effectively in the peoples’ own languages to enhance understanding. Effective communication with the respondent society is basic to the success of any project; be it religious, social or economic.

In any society, people communicate in audible or silent language. Edward Hall observes that silent language of the culture is mysterious to missionaries.⁸ Usually, communication breakdown between the missionaries, social development experts, and the respondent society occurs because of the mystery of silent language. Silent language is either taken for granted or misunderstood and misinterpreted by missionaries and social development experts in a foreign culture. As a result, the intended projects fail to realize the goals anticipated at the beginning of the project. Being able to greet someone in their own language will help you enjoy your contact with local people even more while visiting Africa and the effort will certainly be appreciated.⁹

Communication in every society is either verbal or nonverbal; sometimes both are used. Effective communication of the gospel and social interventions in any society needs to consider audible, sign and silent languages in which the respondent community communicates. Silent language can only be learnt effectively if there is personal interaction with the respondent society through incarnation and participation in societal activities. Precisely, this helps the communicator to understand what the people say, do and how they express themselves through body language in their society and then, respond accordingly. Language also shows how people express their emotions. Certain words, when they are used can tell whether the person is emotionally happy or not. For example, in English, words like, stupid! Foolish! May express emotional annoyance or anger! It is necessary therefore, to learn and understand both audible and silent language of the respondent society for effective gospel and social development communication.

In Africa, oftentimes people communicate orally through storytelling. Basically, oral communication in Africa may yield tremendous results for gospel and social development work. It is therefore important to learn peoples’ language and systems of communication in Africa for effective communication.

2. Food

Different people have different food tastes and appreciate food differently. Anthropologically, food expresses the society’s worldview of their reality about what is edible, tasty and what is not. Generally, people learn eating different foods at home unconsciously except in certain circumstances where one encounters new food stuffs in a foreign cultural setting. For example, Africans have diverse food recipes; ranging from fried flying ants, larva to biltong.¹⁰ Often members of the society assume that all people everywhere have the same food tastes and preferences. In Africa, when a visitor visits your home you prepare food for him or her without asking whether that visitor eats the food you have prepared or not. The assumption is that for the visitor to feel welcomed must be provided with food and that s/he eats the same food tastes like yours. Africans eat certain foods that may exasperate or surprise a visitor from the Western society. For example, certain types of caterpillars and mice are edible in