Vera Da Silva Sinha - "Time in culture" | SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 09/02/2018

This seminar titled "Time in culture" was given by Vera Da Silva Sinha (UEA) on 6 February 2018 at the Department of Linguistics, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, SOAS University of London.
Find out more about this event: https://goo.gl/U8vTGG

Time in Culture is a short documentary that shows how ideas of time are expressed in different cultures and languages. In Western cultures time is measured by clocks and calendars using numbers. Calendars and clocks enable us to measure time intervals: years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. The past is thought of as located behind our backs, while the future is in front or ahead. Is this the way that everyone, in every culture, thinks and talks about time? This documentary tells the story of how three indigenous cultures of Brazil, think about, talk about and experience time.  

The Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý people talk about time very differently from us. These cultures do not use clocks and calendars. So individuals do not count their birthdays. Instead, they think about their lives in terms of life stages and the process of learning and acquiring skills throughout the life span.

For these cultures, time is thought about in terms of events and happenings, in nature and in the social world. The sounds of the crickets, the sun and the sunlight, the stars, the water level in the rivers, the rain, the breeze and the stars indicate time. The relationship between people and the environment is crucial for understanding time. Time, they say, is not behind or in front of me, but it is in my heart, in my eyes or in my mind.