Understanding fu

The sociohistoric approach by Saxe and Esmonde was very interesting, yet this is something we do not cognizant of when we think about functions and forms of words. I feel bad that I always use examples of Japan (and that's something I can think of at 6 am), so I apologize in advance.

This example is little different from the one from New Guinea, but it also reflects Japan's shift in social climate before and after the "isolation" era (1640 - 1853). Many of the Japanese words from the isolation era were borrowed from China and Netherlands because Japan believed the Chinese and the Dutch were not Christians (I don't know why they thought the Dutch were not Christians). It is important to note that Japanese people are good at borrowing concepts and words and modify them to suit their convenience. After the isolation, Japan started borrowing words from English (especially British English). Today, we use many words from the U.S. because we value American culture more than anything else (that's why I feel awkward every time I go back to Japan). For example, we started using an English word "celebrity" or "celebu" since 1990, but the meaning of the word is a little different from the one people here commonly understand. We originally used the term to represent actors/actresses or supermodels from other countries (it also implies the Caucasian actors and models), but the meaning changed to things that they wear or carry. Today, the meaning of "celebu" is the wealthy people. Not only the Japanese switched the countries to borrow words from, but also switched the meaning of them to suit their lifestyle.

I hope this example is interesting to you...

Here is the summary of Saxe and Esmonde article:

EDPSY 582

February 4, 2008

Fumi Suto

Studying Cognition in Flux: A Historical Treatment of Fu in the Shifting Structure of Oksapmin Mathematics by Saxe, G. & Esmonde, I. (2005)

Main Points

Saxe and Esmonde researched on mathematical cognition, a shifting function of fu which is related to changing collective practices of economic exchange, in Oksapmin communities in New Guinea. They argue that it is important to look at sociohistorical processes to understand humans’ cognitive development.

Research Questions

• How do new collective systems of representation and associated mathematical ideas arise in the social history of a social group?
• Was this fu a historical descendent of the earlier fu that I had learned long ago?
• Or was this a new word form, perhaps borrowed from a neighboring group?
• Did someone invent fu as a way to represent values greater than those permitted by the indigenous number system?
• If any of these processes fits the case, how did new uses of the word come to spread in the social history of Oksapmin communities?

History and Diachronic Analysis

Issues: There are few projects that incorporate social history into empirical analysis. Many of them do not focus on the dynamics of historical change itself and its relation to the conceptual activities.

Saxe and Esmonde’s approach

• Cross-sectional study of single community: It brings multiple aspects of engagement with newly emerging practices and assessing the cognitive tasks through the way historical shifts.
• Longitudinal study and individual activities: Social history is shaped by individual activities. Longitudinal study reveals the patterns that emerge over historical time and become collective representations.
• Genetic continuity of form: the progenitors of the forms and functions differ even though there are many similarities between them.
• Genetic continuity of function: seeking for how discontinuity emerges through continuous change.
• Genetic shifts in form-function relations: understanding the complex interplay between shifts in form and functions.

Sociohistorical Niches: Precontact and Postcontact era

Precontact: Trade was central to life in precontact era. The Oksapmin’s 27-body-part counting system is rooted in this era. Western arithmetic concept did not exist.

Period I (1938-1960): Westerners made first contact (the 19-month Hagen-Sepik patrol).

Period II (1960- 1980): shift from traditional trading system to a cash economy with Western currency (pounds and shillings). Heterogeneity in people’s experiences with qualification and economic exchange.

Period III (1980 – 2001): Copper and gold mine in Tabubil – men and women of Oksapmin found work there – language shift (English and Tok Pisin) – money was needed.

Genetic fu – Observations and Interviews

Challenge I: Continuity of form: Unconscious adaptation of shifting collective systems (e.g. traffic jam example by Keller).

Challenge II: Traditional functions of the form: Position of fu on the body (a way of using body parts in qualification)

Challenge III: The organization of collective practices that support shifting relations between form and function: Shift in economic practice and currencies – Schooling vs unschooling.

Analysis

Microgenesis: People turn cultural forms (body system) into means for accomplishing representational and strategic goals – different mathematical function of fu (29 stones vs 29 kina).

Sociogenesis: Shift in forms and function by synchronic distribution (communicative activities) in cultural forms.

Ontogenesis: Asking children about numerical values – younger children tend to incorrectly identify the numerical value on body parts.

Key Terms

• Fu: Okspamin’s 27-body-part counting system; pinky (27); elbow (20); other body parts; plenty; complete; denominations of currency (tan kir, 20 or 2o kina note); a marker for a complete group of 27 or 20.
• Longitudinal Study: a correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same items over long periods of time, often many decades. Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across the life span.
• Microgenesis: Changes that occurs as individuals transform cultural forms into cognitive means for representing and accomplishing colas in practice.
• Sociogenesis: Changes that occur in cultural forms as individuals representational and strategic accomplishments become valued by multiple members of the community.
• Ontogenesis: Shifting relations between individuals’ uses of particular forms and functions in their activities over development in practice.

My Response

The argument of implementing sociohistorical approach into research on cognition makes perfect sense because communities, cultures, and our lifestyle change over the time. It was hard for me to understand multiple functions and meanings of fu without someone demonstrating them in front of me, (the illustrations are not enough for me!), yet it is surprising that understanding of just one word form varies by generations.

This approach may not be useful for my research since I have limited amount of time, though it is interesting to see how self-identities of curators and museum educators have shifted since the role of museums as learning institutions have changed since the first appearance of the museum in 280 B.C.

Linkages to Other Readings

It is interesting to compare the research by Fortes (1938) with the Saxe and Esmonde article because Fortes sees the learning occurs within the unitary social sphere of adults and children while Saxe and Esmonde demonstrate the generational difference in understanding of fu.

To know more about the three approaches Saxe and Esmode used for the analysis, read

Saxe, G. B. (1999). Cognition, development, and cultural practices. In E. Turiel (Ed.), Culture and development. New Direction in Child Psychology. SF: Jossey-Bass.

This article came out a few years before the 2001 research by Saxe and Esmonde, but Saxe goes into the details of three approaches.

Questions

Do you think Saxe and Esmode knew or could speak the Oksapmin language? If not, what would be the disadvantages for them to understand cultural phenomena? As researchers, should we understand the “lingo” of the community that we research? If so, how much should we know?