StraightTalkJanuary2014
Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
JAN
Warning This newsletter contains subjects or issues which may seem offending to some of you.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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JAN
Taboos In everyday life we think of taboos as subjects we avoid talking about. But it really concerns ritually sanctioned prohibition against a certain thing, person or activity. When we choose not to talk about these subjects it is just a part of the way we act towards a taboo. The word taboo originates from Polynesia where it played an important cultural role. Some of the early observers who visited Polynesia found that taboos was just a symptom of primitive irrationality, which was caused by imagining supernatural danger. Later on functionalists saw that there where more reason to it. E.g. the french sociologist EmilÊ Durkheim saw it as a way to maintain the distinction between the sacred and the profane. But what is sacred or profane in a certain society or organization depends upon the cultural codes and therefore specific taboos are not universal but the concept of taboo is. Whenever a person violates a taboo he or she will soon know that something isn’t right because of the way people react towards it. Breaking taboos can be considered as a crime others as a way to bring general misfortune or as morally wrong in a certain group (Barfield, 2006 [1997]). In DK the young poet with Palestinian roots, Yahya Hassan, is a current example of how breaking a taboo can cause serious consequences. His childhood was marked by violence, neglect of care and crime. In his debut poetry collection he expresses his anger towards his parents and their generation. He also criticizes parts of his cultural background and claims that a part of his parents generation cling to the Koran while they commit fraud, beat their children and prevent the children from being integrated in the Danish society. In one of his poems he writes about Allah in a way that are characterized as blasphemeous by some Muslims. You might say that using his freedom of speech he has broken a taboo in certain societies because he writes critically about his parents and his background and so far the consequences have resulted in death threats and one violent assault of Hassan. This example has lead to a discussion of when and how we should make use of our freedom of speech and it is also shows that breaking a taboo takes a whole lot of courage considering the consequences.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Would you recognize the taste of a horse? Think about how people reacted in Denmark when they found out, that they had been eating horsemeat in their lasagne and other ready-prepared dishes without knowing it. In this case there had been committed an economic crime by the producers who used horsemeat instead of beef but that was at the Danish customers smallest concern. The reason why it became such a scandal was that in Denmark the horse is categorized as a pet and we don’t eat our pets that’s for sure. In contrast to that, in France for ex. horsemeat is categorized as a delicate meal. To mention that you have tried to eat horsemeat, even on purpose, towards someone who holds a horse as a pet is really to break a taboo. With Durkheims theory in mind you can say that in Denmark the horse is sacred and therefore we don’t eat it. In extension to Durkheim later on the British anthropologist Mary Douglas, who among others is known for her writings on symbolism, took a symbolic approach. She suggested that objects and people become taboo when they fail to fit into standard symbolic classifications of their own culture (Douglas, 1997). “A man may thus be in a state of good or bad health; a society in a state of war or peace or a state of famine or of plenty” (Turner, 1967). When objects, persons or groups are in a transition between states like those mentioned above, or between other physical, mental or emotional conditions they are at once no longer classified and not yet classified and therefore, according to Douglas, they do not fit into standard classifications and thus become a taboo. This transition between states is also called the liminal period.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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The story of a brave girl A couple of month ago we visited a school to teach the students about dignity. A young girl took the opportunity to stand up in front of the whole school. She wanted to tell the other students that she had cancer and how she had experienced that many of the other students had been avoiding her since they had found out that she was ill. She just wanted to tell them how she was feeling and that they did not have to be afraid to talk to her about her illness. This girl had simply become a taboo to the other students because she was in the transition between good and bad health – even between life and death. They avoided her so she simply became ‘invisible’. “As members of society, most of us see only what we expect to see, and what we expect to see is what we are conditioned to see when we have learned the definitions and classifications of our culture” (Turner, 1967) In other terms, the subject in the liminal period becomes, if not physically, structurally “invisible” to the surroundings. You may say that this girl did not fit in to classifications of our culture. Just think about five things you would associate with a sixteen-year-old girl. Surely a life-threatening disease is not on your list. Maybe it is time to stop and reflect upon how you react towards people in similar situations like this. Because now we will throw the attention at...
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Taboos in your organization In a former newsletter we have presented how we work with cultural analysis and reveal the artifacts, values and assumptions in companies. However we want to give the basic assumptions of your employees some extra attention. The artifacts and the action of the employees are physical and relatively easy to identify. So are the values of the organization which usually have been written down. But the underlying assumptions of the employees refers to the unwritten rules which often are taboos. First a possible explanation to why these unwritten rules become taboos. With Douglas in mind you can say that even if we categorize these ‘rules’ as unwritten rules, they cannot really be categorized as rules. They are in the liminal period between categorizations and sometimes even compromise the down-written values of the company. Breaking some of these taboos may be the way to optimize your company, others may have a function and therefore we have to leave them be. Identifying these subjects and ‘bringing them to live’ are some of the competences we provide. By visiting your company to make observations we as outsiders see some of the subjects which have become ‘invisible’ to you and your employees. As external consultant we have the possibility to mention some of the identified taboos and bring the subjects into discussion because we do not have anything at stake. If you want to transform the culture of your organization have Douglas’ theory in mind. That taboos arise when a group are in transitions between states. Innovative organizations are continuously developing in other words they are constantly between states where taboos arise.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Nice to know - Outlook
As I travel a lot, I always try to understand what are the major taboos in the specific country that I am going to. Because if you want to be successful on other cultures you have to understand and respect a culture, and not to judge it. In some societies, eating horse beef is a taboo; in others, eating pork is a taboo; while in many other societies eating dog meat is a taboo. Numerous taboos relate to sexual activity, with many taboos common to most societies. In Denmark as well. Yet, the list of taboos is not necessarily stable. Some taboos may weaken over time or even disappear, while others may become stronger and more dominant. Taboos can be repugnant and appalling actions or behavior. Other types of taboos involve ”taboo tradeoffs” that can entail putting a monetary value on ”sacred” values like life, friendship, religion, etc. The Benefits of taboos Taboos have an important aspect of social interaction. The benefits from a taboo – like the severity of the social punishment enforcing it – depend on the behavior of members of the society.
1. Chaim Fershtman, Uri Gneezy and Moshe Hoffman
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Think the unthinkable Talking about taboos is talking about the unthinkable. Using rational terminology to discuss the possibility of thinking about eating human or even horse meet is not a simple task and may be repel some of the readers. In our society one does not need to justify or explain the taboo of not eating dog meat. We simply do not think about such a possibility. The term “taboo” comes from the Tongan word tabu, and it was introduced to English by Captain Cook, who took note of Polynesian traditions surrounding taboos, along with the word, during his expeditions in the area. Many cultures have a history of some form of taboo, even if this word was not specifically used. People may also jokingly reference a “taboo subject,” referring to something which is not considered polite or appropriate conversation. In a group of people of mixed political beliefs, politics may be a forbidden subject, and subjects like bodily functions are considered inappropriate at the dinner table in many societies. It is your responsibility to understand taboos, if you want to have an international career.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen & Soulaima Gourani
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Literature Barfield, T. (. (2006 [1997]). The Dictionary of anthropology. Blackwell Publishing.
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Douglas, M. (1997). Rent og urent en analyse av forestillinger omkring urenhet og tabu. Oslo: Pax Forlag A/S.
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Turner, V. (1967). A Forest of Symbols. I V. Turner, Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passages (s. 93-111). New York.
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Marianne B. Kjeldsen
Soulaima Gourani
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