Analysis Of The Poem Return Of Laughter By Elenore Bowen...

I decided to read Return to Laughter by Elenore Bowen. It was a very insightful read on how Bowen included herself in uncontacted tribe. She had entered her journey without knowing any back ground of their language. One of her fellow anthropologist friends had told her that it would be easier for her to learn the language without an interpreter (Pg. 2 Bowen). She learned names of the people and the plants first as the tribe believed the plants to be one of the most important aspects of their culture to learn first. She had two cooks guiding her through her experience for support and anything that Bowen might have needed during her time with the tribe. Bowen had learned a lot through her study and personal experience through the tribe. Food was a sign of welcome and a way to speed a guest and that rejecting food was insulting especially if it were meat (Pg. 41-42 Bowen). Bowen became accustomed to her environment and she started to refer to â€Å"Kako’s as her home in the diary she kept to journal her time with the tribe (Pg. 70 Bowen). She had also realized that her â€Å"relationship to the community also underwent a noticeable change. She was no longer the ‘white women’. She was known as ‘Kako’s European’† (Pg. 74 Bowen). Bowen became friends with people from the tribe and visited them daily. Bowen became enthusiastic about being accepted by the elders of the community as well (Pg. 84 Bowen). Bowen lived among the tribe to truly understand how their world works. She learned about