Mini Blog #32: Emic & Etic Perspectives

Cultural anthropologists distinguish between emic (insider's) and etic (outsider's) perspectives. An example from pop culture would be Lynyrd Skynyrd's emic praise of their home state, which was written in response to Neil Young's etic songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama" about the lingering racism in the post-Civil Rights South. Perhaps more than any other concepts, these have hugely impacted my life the past few years. Being aware of my emic perspective has, I hope and pray, encouraged a dual commitment to intellectual humility and rigor by illuminating the existence of alternative views, facilitating an awareness of my limited perspective, helping identify my presuppositions, and challenging those notions in the pursuit of truth. It's tremendously impacted my life across the board, including my marriage, relationships with family and friends, interaction with co-workers, academic interests, political beliefs, personal faith, and so on. In fact, most of my metaphorical "light bulb" experiences now stem from this concept. The most recent occurrence came when I was reading a theologian who noted that Eastern Christendom has long focused (more) around Jesus' incarnational birth whereas Western Christendom has emphasized His death and resurrection. No doubt that's painfully obvious to anyone from a Protestant or Catholic background who's dabbled in Orthodox theology and practice, but it struck me like a ton of bricks. I was completely unaware that my whole perception of Christianity had been conditioned in that way. (In the interest of fairness, most Eastern Christians probably aren't aware of their own conditioning in the other direction.) Ever since I've been trying to figure out how I might glean and integrate elements of the Eastern view for a more well-rounded, incarnational faith. Anyway, my larger point in writing is to encourage others to explore these concepts, to say, "Thank you!" to Dr. Penland, and point out that it was probably the single most influential course I took in college. I'd encourage anyone back at TFC who might read this to take Cultural Anthropology.