By Sherry B. Ortner Life And Death On Mt. Everest Summary
Sherry B. Ortner wrote “ Life and Death on Mt. Everest” and it was published by Princeton University Press in 1999. Ortner, is a Postmodernist Anthropologist and she wrote this ethnography from this point of view. This book tries to go into depth about the Sherpas of Nepal and their life struggles on and off of Mount Everest. It also tries to describe the Sahibs, also known as mountaineers, and what motivates them to take on such a demanding sport. This book is mostly trying to get the reader to understand the history, relationships, heartaches, and struggles of the Sherpas. I believe that Orner wanted to tell this story the best she could, however, her writing style limited the facts she was trying to convey. (Ortner,1999)
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I agree that all Anthropologists at some point take into account the writing and research of their peers, however, I find it unethical to base most of their work off of the work of others. Ortner, never spent anytime on the mountain but she did spend time in Solu Valley which had a limited amount of Sherpas that climbed the mountain. She also lived in Khumba that was located at a higher elevation and had more men that worked as Sherpas and climbed the mountain with various Sahibs. She did write this book using her limited amount of research work, that mostly consisted of the life of the Sherpas in the villages, the history, relationships, economic progress or lack thereof. Most of her work was based on interviews and accounts from the Sherpas that actually spent time climbing Mount Everest. She gathered information on all aspects of spending time climbing the mountain. They described to her in great detail what their jobs consisted of and the dangers that went with it. They also explained the complex relationships they would develop with the mountaineers, and where their boundaries were in that relationship, did they believe they gained respect of the Sahibs or if they were nothing more than a pack animal on two feet? She also gathered an extensive amount of information from other Anthropologists work and used that information to add and to complete her
I agree that all Anthropologists at some point take into account the writing and research of their peers, however, I find it unethical to base most of their work off of the work of others. Ortner, never spent anytime on the mountain but she did spend time in Solu Valley which had a limited amount of Sherpas that climbed the mountain. She also lived in Khumba that was located at a higher elevation and had more men that worked as Sherpas and climbed the mountain with various Sahibs. She did write this book using her limited amount of research work, that mostly consisted of the life of the Sherpas in the villages, the history, relationships, economic progress or lack thereof. Most of her work was based on interviews and accounts from the Sherpas that actually spent time climbing Mount Everest. She gathered information on all aspects of spending time climbing the mountain. They described to her in great detail what their jobs consisted of and the dangers that went with it. They also explained the complex relationships they would develop with the mountaineers, and where their boundaries were in that relationship, did they believe they gained respect of the Sahibs or if they were nothing more than a pack animal on two feet? She also gathered an extensive amount of information from other Anthropologists work and used that information to add and to complete her