نشریه پژوهش های انسان شناسی ایران
سال دوازدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 24، پاییز و زمستان 1401)

The studies related to women who are heads of the household, economic (income) and help to improve their livelihood and their social aspects are neglected. The purpose of this research is to look closely and introspectively at the angles of life (inside the family/interaction with children) of female heads of households in the conditions of home quarantine by knowing their special situations. This research was conducted with thematic analysis method and the study population consisted of female heads of households with children, 15 of whom were selected by purpose sampling until theoretical saturation. The data collection method was a semi-structured interview. The findings of this research show that the possibility of adaptability or resilience of women heads of households becomes less and less in these conditions and with any choice or behavior such as remarriage, prostitution, working in other people's homes, violence towards children, depression, living with the family.The wife (father or mother of the wife), the survivors of the children, due to the lack of ability in the educational facilities of the virtual space, etc., are drowning more and more in critical conditions, and the possibility of maintaining and improving their living conditions and stability has been shaken.

In semantic theories it is stated that a symbol is a combination of three elements: Signifier, Signified and Signification. Commonly the word of symbol “is used for any object, act, event, quality, or relation which serves as a vehicle for a conception – the conception is the symbol's "meaning"“. Most of thinkers did not discuss aspects of Signifier for the people and how they perceive it. This issue can be stated as "the problem of signifier".In this paper I explain that in my fieldwork among Shias in Lucknow, how this presupposition of symbol theory does not work. Ta'ziyeh or Zarih are central and important sacred symbols in this community. Not only they do not have fixed, shared or neutral idea for signifiers in these symbols, but also they have multiple forms (signifiers) in the devotees` perspectives that are commonly changeable and unfixed.Accordingly, it should be considered in anthropological and semantic theory about symbol that signifier in its pluralistic and variable forms is a positive and active factor in producing of meaning and the way in which people perceive and interpret a sacred symbol firstly depends on their physical and sensual perception of the form or signifier.

Indigenous knowledge is based on the experience of the natives and is compatible with its own ecosystem, and its correct application solves part of human needs. Recording this knowledge is often on the shoulders of ethnographers. One of the important fields in ethnographic research is recording the knowledge of natives in the field of how to cook food using rangeland edible plants in their place of residence. This research has been done with the aim of collecting local knowledge of the people of Goghar Baft region in the field of cooking a variety of local foods using rangeland plants. the main method in this research was to find information in a direct way and collect raw data. In this regard, from the summer of 2018 to the end of the spring of 2019, the study area was visited several times and the traditional knowledge of the people was collected. The data collection methods in this research included free interview, semi-structured interview and participatory observation. Interviews were conducted with local experts of the region, whose identification was done by snowball method. In this research, 15 plants that were used in cooking traditional and local foods were identified...........

In the historical neighborhoods of Isfahan City, there are houses where special religious ceremonies held during Muharram from the Qajar era until now. People attend long queues before morning prayer. During the ceremony held in this place, a person who recites religious prayers, called Rozeh-Khan next to an old wise man and a painting work are displayed to the public at the end of the ceremonies, for a brief moment. This study answer the following question: what is the relationship between the motifs in the house on the one hand and the religious ceremony performed and the presentation of painting work on the other hand? The research aims to investigate the meaning of the religious ceremony held in the historical Bonakdar house and its connection with the existing decorations and paintings of the building. This research has adopted a descriptive-analytical method in which research data has been gathered by doing a field study based on the library method. The research findings showed the existing motifs and the specific actions of the mourner in the ceremony and during the display of painting work manifest a divine message, which is not achievable without passing through the spiritual stages and understanding these patterns.

The search for the representation of a thing or concept (human being) in a work of art is a way to explore the artist's thought or culture. This study examines and analyzes the representation of modern man in the paintings of Kioumars Kiyasat, Kourosh Shishegaran, and Aydin Aghdashloo. The collection method is the library and reviewing works and viewing images. The analysis method is qualitative. This study indicates that Kiyasat shows the worries and downfall of man by deforming his limbs and using metaphorical language. Man is the work of Kiyasat, a disturbed and sad being of everyday events, and seeks peace and release of his chained mind and soul. Shishegaran also depicts the complexity and confusion of modern man with crooked and chaotic lines and the power of color. Aghdashloo also tries to show the astonishment, enchantment, regret, and worry of the future, disrespect of the time, and domination of ignorance by revealing the eclecticism between modern art and oriental traditions, by showing crumpled and half-burnt works. Three artists have portrayed human beings without identity. Man has a fragmented identity in these works. In the works of any of these three artists, man is not in a desirable position.

For thousands of years, humans have experienced various biological and cultural changes to satisfy their food needs in order to ensure their survival on the planet. Food is a permanent and meaning-making field for human interactions, that is, something more than a means of survival. In the anthropological literature, production and processing, distribution and consumption of food are considered to be the main elements of the culture of any community.Food binds the personality of individuals and the identity of groups and becomes an important tool for social communication and understanding. Food has a place in culture that connects human communities to each other and connects deep human beings to each other and plays an essential role in all meaningful andidentity-giving actions of humans.Food culture is the source of identity and cultural and natural heritage of each region.Due to the age and vast geographic-cultural diversity in Iran, a great treasure of knowledge related to local food systems in different climatic and cultural habitats has been create.In this article, an attempt has been made to depict the local food culture in one of the important cities of Mazandaran province, namely Babol, using ethnographic field research.

Religion in the ancient world was based on three principles: magic and its relationship with religion and science; Totemism and the social aspect of the first religion; Fertility and herbal rituals. Magic is a force that arises from the influence of words that are read aloud or in the form of a song, and man can act on spiritual beings through words and Special movements affect nature and establish this basic influence, which is called magic. Sometimes magic includes negative orders, i.e. prohibitions; Negative magic is taboo and anything that causes fear and anxiety in the heart is called taboo. The name taboo is based on fear. Just as one can do malicious magic with a person, his body parts or his shadow, if they have a person's real name, they can also do it with his name. It has a wide cultural and geographical spread, and it still remains intact. Even if it is not completely like the past, but its traces can still be seen in the modern world. The considerations that still exist among today's societies regarding names, are they not the remnants of the name taboo and prohibitions that existed regarding names?

Diaspora migrant communities have become an important part of the urban life. Their life experience and multicultural feature have become a part of the contemporary situation of culture. This has affected anthropology and the concepts that are the basis of this discipline, such as culture, tradition, identity and place, and has also been the generator of some theories and methodologies. In this article, with the help of an ethnographic writing driven from the field work in Dowlatabad neighborhood of Tehran, we seek to understand what and how being multicultural is by exploring the collective life of Mo'aveddin (Iranian-Iraqis who were expelled from Iraq). What is the relation between the life of Mo'aveddin and some concepts such as culture and identity. Those whose lives are formed beyond political borders, how do they position themselves within cultural and identity borders. Furthermore, as these communities have become a ubiquitous reality in today's world, how can anthropology reposition itself to better understand this new situation of culture? In this article, we have tried to examine these questions through the voice of Mo'aveddin, anthropological theories and ethnographic experience.

Body management in the modern era has gained significance due to the global expansion of modernity. Women’s concerns with regards to physical fitness, social relations with others, and their self judgement has escalated. Following media and technological models, which have resulted in the emergence of new culture of consumerism, has led to a new wave of tendency among women to take action to regulate and manage their bodies. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of cosmetic surgery in body management among women seeking stomach bypass surgery. A qualitative and analytical descriptive method and direct observations as well as in-depth interviews were used to collect data. This research draws on the culture and personality school, theories proposed by Margaret Mead, and Goffman also functionalism school with emphasis on Malinowski's need theory has been used. The findings show that body management indicates an individual’s internal beliefs, mental images, gender and cultural identity. Some people have failed to manage their bodies via dieting, changing lifestyle, medication, and psychotherapy. In the culture of body management, access to communication networks, normative pressures and socio-economic sites have proved to be viable and hence modern technologies and formalistity among women to reach their desirable fitness are associated with feelings of satisfaction and self-confidence. The micro-cultures created in the process of weight loss surgical procedures as well as self-make-up, which result from the modern lifestyle changes, have had a significant effect on women’s social values. Stomach bypass surgery is a method for treating obesity, preventing its related diseases, grandstanding and improving the quality of life.

Humans have devised a diversity of ways in order to adapt with different environments found in different eras. Accordingly in the cutural environmnetal , and ecological events and interactions anthropologist's duty is to focus on the parts of the culture that have more powerful communication with the environment.The purpose of the study is an anthropological research on interactions of Hawraman's people and their environment as well as the way they cope with it.The methodology is field research and the way information gathered was anthropological(ethnography).The study reports that the inhabitants of Hawraman have devised a special type of lifestyle called Hawar Neshini according to their environment and ecology.The lifestyle is defined as migration of Howraman's people between two different areas with different heights.The migration takes place due to environmental limitations and pressures in providing water supply, rescuing from the heat and going to the cooler weather of the heights, and most importantly because of the subsistence needs of the people in this area. In accordance with the study three different types of Hawar Neshini lifestyle can be found in Hawraman: 1.Hawar Neshini based on animal husbandry(western area),2.Hawar Neshini based on gardening(Eastern area) 3.Compound Hawar Neshini based on both animal husbandry and gardening(central area).

In this paper, equestrian competitions among the Turkmen of the Turkmen-Sahara region, which are considered a cultural-sports phenomenon for them, and the hidden meanings that these competitions and betting around these competitions have for the people of this tribe have been studied. Clifford Geertz's hermeneutic interpretation method has been used to study this cultural phenomenon. Geertz mentions two methods of surface description and deep description in ethnography. Accordingly, the work of the ethnographer is not only to provide a report on cultural phenomena, and this part is only a superficial interpretation, but the main work of the ethnographer is that in addition to this ethnographic report, he should provide a deeper description of these phenomena and their meanings for that people, which is a personal interpretation. He is an ethnographer who mentions it under the title of hermeneutic interpretation. In this article, after explaining the concept of hermeneutics, Geertz's interpretive approach is discussed. In the following, relying on Geertz's interpretive approach, first an ethnographic report of this competition and its margins is presented, and then in the second stage, a deeper description of this phenomenon is given from the authors' point of view. The observations and interpretations of the authors indicate that keeping a horse for Turkmens today does not only mean their relationship with horses and riding, but also indicates financial wealth and social status for them. In addition, betting does not only have a material dimension for people, but also shows their expertise and skill in knowing horses and their power of prediction, which can bring them a social position among horse and horse lovers. In addition, these people learn honesty and integrity by keeping their promises in betting without documents and receipts.