Daughter From Dang
In the film Daughter from Danang, Heidi, an American woman travels to Vietnam to meet many Vietnamese people. Which brings us to the question would her trip qualify as “fieldwork” according to Malinowski’s definition. In my opinion, Heidi’s trip to Vietnam would not qualify as fieldwork .
Malinowski states, that it is important to learn the language of the culture an anthropologist is studying when doing fieldwork. Heidi did not know the language of the people she was visiting. There was a big communication barrier between her and the Vietnamese people. This made it difficult for Heidi to express herself and how she felt in certain situations . Most of the time she seemed frustrated because she could not understand the language of the Vietnamese. If Heidi would have known the language, she could have expressed her self with out being frustrated. She could have communicated easier with the people of Vietnam and they could communicate with her. Communication is important when meeting someone for the first time or experiencing a new culture. If two individuals can not communicate with each other, how are they supposed to learn from each other. Malinowski also suggest that spending enough time to know what constitutes “normal life” is another method of fieldwork. Heidi only spent a week in Vietnam. A week is not enough time to learn about a culture. Most of her time was spent in poor areas of Vietnam. Heidi was only exposed to the negative side of Vietnam. This was discouraging for Heidi because she was not use to this type of lifestyle. Because of the poor conditions, she was ready to go home as soon as possible. Anthropologist must spend enough time in the field to meet different people of all social classes of the culture. If Heidi would have stayed longer, she would have enough time to meet different people and experience more of the culture. Also, Heidi had no background about the culture she was visiting. Most anthropologist do...
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