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Purity And Danger by Mary Douglas
Contributed by: Miah
  • 1. In Mary Douglas's influential work 'Purity and Danger', published in 1966, she explores the concepts of purity, pollution, and the cultural categorizations that societies create to delineate between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, objects, and ideas. Utilizing a structuralist framework, Douglas examines how different cultures construct their notions of what is deemed 'pure' or 'impure', often reflecting deeper social structures, values, and beliefs. Through incisive analysis, she highlights that the fears surrounding 'dirt' are not merely about the physical state of cleanliness but rather about the breakdown of social order and the challenges posed to established norms. Douglas's compelling argument posits that rituals and taboos surrounding purity serve to reinforce social cohesion by clearly demarcating boundaries that protect communal identity. This examination invites readers to reconsider the ways in which various forms of classification impact our understanding of morality and social organization, ultimately suggesting that the anxieties we associate with impurity often speak to broader existential concerns within a given culture.

    What is the central argument of Mary Douglas's 'Purity and Danger'?
A) Modern societies have completely abandoned concepts of ritual purity.
B) Dirt is inherently sinful and must be avoided for spiritual salvation.
C) Purity is a biological instinct to avoid disease and contamination.
D) Dirt is matter out of place, and purity rituals are about maintaining social order.
  • 2. What does Douglas mean by 'matter out of place'?
A) Something that violates a cultural system of classification.
B) Chemically impure substances.
C) Objects that are physically dirty or stained.
D) Literally misplaced physical objects.
  • 3. How does Douglas interpret the Levitical dietary laws?
A) As a symbolic system based on the classification of animals.
B) As arbitrary tests of faith with no symbolic meaning.
C) As laws designed to promote animal welfare.
D) As primitive health codes with practical benefits.
  • 4. How does Douglas challenge the idea that 'primitive' rituals are irrational?
A) She agrees they are irrational but emotionally necessary.
B) She claims they are based on lost scientific knowledge.
C) She argues they are rational within their own symbolic and social context.
D) She argues that modern science is equally irrational.
  • 5. How does Douglas relate the human body to the social body?
A) The body is a symbol of society, and its boundaries represent social boundaries.
B) The health of the social body determines the health of individual bodies.
C) The social body is a metaphor that has no connection to the physical body.
D) The body is completely separate from social concerns.
  • 6. What is a key criticism Douglas makes of earlier anthropologists' interpretations of ritual?
A) They often dismissed rituals as irrational superstition without understanding their social logic.
B) They correctly interpreted all rituals as health measures.
C) They were too sympathetic and failed to be scientifically objective.
D) They focused too much on the symbolic meaning and ignored practical functions.
  • 7. In what way are pollution beliefs analogous to law, according to Douglas?
A) Both serve to uphold and define the social order.
B) Law is based on reason, while pollution beliefs are based on emotion.
C) Pollution beliefs are a primitive form of law that modern societies have outgrown.
D) They are not analogous; one is legal and the other is spiritual.
  • 8. What does Douglas say about the role of women in pollution beliefs?
A) Women create pollution beliefs to control male behavior.
B) Women are universally considered purer than men.
C) Women are often symbolically associated with pollution due to their perceived ambiguity.
D) Pollution beliefs are never gendered; they apply equally to all.
  • 9. What is the 'grid/group' analysis that Douglas introduces?
A) A method for organizing data in anthropological fieldwork.
B) A type of symbolic diagram used in divination rituals.
C) A mathematical model for predicting ritual behavior.
D) A framework for analyzing social structures based on classification (grid) and social pressure (group).
  • 10. What is the significance of the phrase 'dirt is relative' in the book?
A) The amount of dirt is relative to how clean a space is.
B) Dirt has no objective existence and is an illusion.
C) What is considered dirt depends on the cultural context and system of order.
D) Some cultures are more relative in their thinking than others.
  • 11. How does the concept of sacrifice fit into Douglas's theory?
A) It can be a way of dealing with anomalies and restoring order.
B) It is primarily about giving gifts to gods to gain favor.
C) It is a wasteful practice that all societies eventually abandon.
D) It is unrelated to ideas of purity and pollution.
  • 12. What is the main contribution of 'Purity and Danger' to anthropology?
A) It focused exclusively on economic explanations for ritual.
B) It dismissed the study of religion as unimportant.
C) It proved that all rituals are based on hygiene.
D) It provided a new, symbolic interpretation of ritual purity and pollution.
  • 13. Douglas's analysis draws heavily on the biblical book of:
A) Revelation
B) Psalms
C) Genesis
D) Leviticus
  • 14. What anthropological approach does Douglas primarily use?
A) Functionalist
B) Evolutionary
C) Psychological
D) Structuralist
  • 15. The pig is prohibited in Leviticus because it:
A) Does not fit clean categories
B) Carries diseases
C) Competes for human food
D) Is inherently dirty
  • 16. The book 'Purity and Danger' was first published in:
A) 1966
B) 1976
C) 1956
D) 1986
  • 17. What methodological approach does Douglas use to study purity rules?
A) Experimental research
B) Historical chronology
C) Statistical analysis
D) Comparative analysis
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