The most exciting detail seemed to be beliefs about angels, which children turn into when they die. Such ideas appear to turn women into warriors whose tears are seen as weakness. Instead of mourning the angels, these warriors should protect them and trample them, possibly, on the way to heaven, so they fly up (Scheper-Hughes, 1989). Mentioning this helps readers understand that the Brazilians believed that children die for a reason and that these terrible events have a meaning, so it was impossible for women to mourn them.
Local life is closely intertwined with broad systems of generic concepts and rules in the situation under consideration. One can see that the anthropologist works in a patriarchal society, where there is a cult of ancestors, death, and respect for the elders as the continuation of the cult of ancestors. Political power in this situation acts in parallel and does not interfere in the community’s affairs. At least it is clear from the Scheper-Hughes notes that political power in Brazil does not influence essential decisions in the small society of Alto do Cruzeiro.
While doing fieldwork on a battlefield, I would be most interested in the problem of cruelty and tolerance for violence in such societies. It can be seen that all people, including women, children, and the elderly, are very tolerant of violence in Alto do Cruzeiro. My question would therefore be, “What are the religious or animalistic origins of tolerance for violence?” I am not sure if this fits the anthropological perspective, but I would also ask, “How do community members see each other in decades with the same level of violence?” This question would be perfect for interviewing both the community’s elders and youth.
In the work of a journalist, it is always helpful to know several points of view to convey information to readers from the most objective side possible. It does not matter what a journalist specializes in if he writes about the problems of families, cities, and countries that do not live like him and the leading group of readers. I think that reading ethnography for a journalist can be a good warm-up before business trips or preparing materials with the participation of people who are carriers of entirely different values.
Reference
Scheper-Hughes, N. (1989). Death without weeping: Has poverty ravaged mother love in the shantytowns of Brazil? Natural History, 98(10), 8-16.