Brian Street's volume investigates the meanings and uses of literacy in different cultures and societies. These largely ethnographic essays bring together anthropological and linguistic work written over the past ten years by anthropologists and sociolinguists. Accounts of literacy practices vary from one context to another, and challenge the view that literacy is a single, uniform skill, essential to functioning in a modern society. The conclusions reached will be crucial for future researchers, and of interest to educators, developers and practitioners in the field.

The legend of a dog which is unjustly killed by its master in error, after it has defended his child from attack by a snake or wolf, appears in several popular cultures of Indo-European origin. This book concentrates on one local manifestation of the legend: a cult among the peasants of the Dombes, north of Lyons, who brought their sick child to the grave of 'Saint Guinefort', the martyred greyhound, for preservation from disease. Providing a rare access to the underlying cultural traditions of Europe, all too often submerged in the survivals of literate culture, this book will be welcomed by...