The Olympics occur every four years, every time in a
different city and in varying countries. Lately my friends and I have been
watching or commentating on the Olympics regularly. We will even turn it on and
mute it while we are doing homework. The Olympics draw in viewers of all ages,
nationalities and genders. People will watch different countries compete in
different sports for a few weeks. Viewers can chose the sport that they will
watch, along with the country they would like to pull for. Many people see the
Olympics as a way for countries to come together in a peaceful manner and bring
people together, but what would Benedict and Malinowski think? I have seen many
people adopt views on the Olympics that are similar to that of Benedict or to
that of Malinowski.
Benedict’s main theory surrounds that of culture and
personality; she believes that “cultures are personality writ large”. Benedict
wanted to describe entire societies with the use of psychological attributes.
Furthering her work she also completed many National Character studies. The
National Character Studies were eventually ended because they led to the
stereotyping of entire Nations.
While watching the Olympics many people will comment,
based on the sport, what country they will believe to win. Many people hold
true the unfailing idea, that unless there is a fluke: The Canadians will take
hockey and the Russians will take figure skating (I am not saying that is true,
just examples I have heard). When
listening to this opinion I immediately though of Benedict. Benedict’s work
focuses mainly on applying attributes and ideas to cultures as a whole, and by
placing the assumption that certain countries will perform better than others
in certain sports one can be applying an attribute to an entire population.
Benedict’s National Character Studies are considering the salient
characteristics of complex societies. When people assume that a certain country
will dominate an area of sport, then they too are using a characteristic of the
nation and placing it on all of their Olympic contenders. By using Benedict’s
theory, knowingly or unknowingly, people are pigeon-holing Olympic athletes’
and Olympic countries into excelling at one specific sport. When the US lost
the Snowboard half pipe competition, people were shocked, but they were even
more shocked by the actual gold medalist being Swiss. So instead of placing a
psychological attribute across an entire nation, they are placing a physical
attribute across an entire nation.
Malinowski is a psychological functionalist. Malinowski suggested that individuals have
physiological needs (reproduction, food, shelter) and that social institutions
exist to meet these needs. There are also culturally derived needs. He believes that all institutions have function,
and no institution would exist if it did not, in some way, meet the necessary
needs of the people. Culture is used in order to help meet the needs of the
individual by transforming them in to cultural needs.
Malinowski, hands down, would believe that the Olympics have
a function as do all institutions. He would believe that the Olympics function
to meet the basic needs of humans. The Olympics prepare the athletes for
reproduction, growth, and bodily movement. The Olympics help to further each
athlete in life, by giving them a higher chance of survival by meeting their
basic needs. The Olympics also meet secondary cultural needs like prestige in
honor within a society. Other viewers of the Olympics who take a view similar
to Malinowski see that the Olympics aren’t simply about the competition between
countries, but the furthering of individuals who compete in them. People who
take a psychological functionalist view see the Olympics about the individual
and individual success, and how that success not only provides for the basic
needs of the athlete, but also the secondary cultural needs of furthering that
person in society.
Mary Helen, I really enjoyed your connection between the Olympics and the National Character Studies of Ruth Benedict as well as the functionalist view of the Olympics through the lens of Malinowski. However, regarding the National Character Studies of Benedict and its application to a nation winning the gold medal, I want to offer a few pondering questions that should be examined. To start, Benedict attempted to label cultures by means of psychological attributes. Does this mean we can extrapolate Benedict’s hypothesis to label cultures by physical attributes, such as the Canadians winning the gold medal in hockey?
ReplyDeleteAlong these lines, and in slight disagreement with such a projection, I would like to make a distinction, especially regarding more individualized sports in the Olympics. Simply because the United States may have one dominate snowboarder (Shawn White), does that mean we can projectile the entire American culture as fixated on snowboarding? Simply because one person may be talented at something does not mean it is characteristic of our society. For example, I nor anyone I know, is a snowboarding fan, and yet the United States is a strong competitor in the sport.
Also take, for example, the infamous Jamaican bobsled team. In the movie “Cool Runnings,” despite turning some heads and nearly winning a medal, it was clear that Jamaica’s national identity was not connected with the sport of bobsledding as evidenced by the shock the Jamaicans received among their own countrymen and foreigners (people were laughing at them). This shows a climatic determinism connected with Levi-Strauss, which in turn, shows the relationship between ideology and the natural environment (in Jamaica there is no ice, and hence there is not a focus on bobsledding). Thus, the mere presence, let alone achievement of the Jamaican bobsled team lies in contradiction with a number of Anthropological hypotheses. However, I firmly conclude that the results of one, or even a few individuals at the Olympics, cannot always be tied to an entire nation and its culture.
Thanks for applying theory to the Olympics! Clearly a great idea! :-) Ty, I don't really think anything in the Olympics could be said to disprove a particular theory--it's just a question of how the theory is interpreted and applied.
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