What did Bronislaw Malinowski mean when he referred to everyday cultural patterns as "the imponderabilia of native life and of typical behavior?"
A) Features of culture such as distinctive smells, noises people make, how they cover their mouths when they eat, and how they gaze at each other are so fundamental that natives take them for granted but are there for the ethnographer to describe and make sense of.
B) Everyday cultural patterns are full of senseless cultural "noise," and it is the anthropologist's job to get at the truly valuable behaviors that distinguish one culture from another.
C) Everyday cultural patterns of native life can best be studied by asking key informants to explain them.
D) Features of everyday culture are, at first, imponderable, but as the ethnographer builds rapport, their logic and functional value in society become clear.
E) Everyday cultural patterns are important but so numerous that their detailed description should not be included in the main body of an ethnographic study.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Malinowski meant that features of culture such as distinctive smells, noises people make, how they cover their mouths when they eat, and how they gaze at each other are so fundamental that natives take them for granted but are there for the ethnographer to describe and make sense of. These imponderabilia provide insight into the everyday cultural patterns of a society, and an anthropologist needs to pay attention to them in order to understand the culture being studied.

What Did Bronislaw Malinowski Mean When He Referred to Everyday