I will not call the older style of Pygmy culture “isolated”, because no group of people is really cut off completely from surrounding groups.īecause of his immersing style of writing, Turnbull captures the spirit and heart of the Mbuti Pygmies with just the basic knowledge of how changes from the outside world affect the cultural activities of the group. But even in the understanding of this concept, Turnbull still argues for the non-changing Pygmy way of life, which is really not possible. Turnbull sees the using of a length of pipe as the Molimo trumpet, a man-made material replacing the traditional bamboo, and in this at least he understands that is not so much the ritual that is important, but the idea behind the ritual. However, this is a false view, because change is inevitable in any culture, and even though not always accepted, changes will occur. From the Mbuti (and therefore Turnbull’s) point of view, it is there in the middle of the forest that everything is right with the world, and no polluting influence of the villagers or of change can approach them. Here, the ritual of the molimo is seen in its pure state, as are other rituals such as marriage and the elima. Forces moving culture are much clearer and completely defined when Turnbull follows the pygmies into the forest and away from the influence of surrounding villages. Since Negro customs obviously affect pygmy behavior, it seems curious that Turnbull should come so close to completely ignoring cultural reasons driving it. His treatment of their beliefs is similar, and gives only the vaguest reasons for their behavior, citing belief in spirits and fear of the forest. However, the way that Turnbull portrays this relationship is extremely one-sided, often times not even giving the “Negroes” the dignity of a tribal name. It is clear from their behavior that the Pygmies hold little stock in the cultural beliefs of the villagers, and play along simply to not upset the good food source they can use the Negroes as.
Not only does Turnbull lack respect non-Pygmy culture, but he also doesn’t much account for the possibility of change as he idealizes the Mbuti belief and living system in the state it currently exists.Īs illustrated quite early in the book when Cephu’s daughter dies of dysentery, the Mbuti people copy some of the patterns of ritual grief used by their villager Negro neighbors. When reading the book, I did truly feel a part of the Mbuti world, but I also noticed a lack of anthropological accuracy when it came to portraying effect had on Pygmies by the lives and cultures of surrounding natives. In his book, The Forest People, Colin Turnbull achieves the taste and feel of life inside a Mbuti community, but in doing so offers a skewed anthropological look at the peoples of the African Congo. A Skewed Anthropological Look At The Peoples of The African Congo
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