Original Text

Preface by Julianna Kim:

Dearest Reader,

Imagine if you will a scientific journal, filled with carefully curated articles written about various different subjects within anthropology. As an established reader of such articles, you’d be accustomed to various ethnographies and analyses of other, “less civilized” cultures. Upon initial view of the piece, one might be tempted to believe it’s just another one of these, a field report on a lesser-known civilization of apparent savages. And after reading the article, you might still be inclined to agree with the initial hypothesis: that the Nacirema are just another tribe of people with bizarre rituals. And depending on how far into the future you read this, it’s easy to understand why. However, this is precisely what the original authors intended you to believe! This piece is actually a perfectly disguised satire of its neighbors; poking fun at the way most anthropological studies are written. The following text has been annotated to make some of the references a bit easier to pick up on. While more discerning readers may be able to understand them without any help, there is no shame in relying on these annotations to properly absorb all the nuance of the text. And for those of you still wondering what is going on, I invite you to read the name “Nacirema” backwards.

This page is mainly for archiving the images of the original text. Please do not strain your eyes trying to read it. An easier to read copy has been provided, available on the page titled BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA.