When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous world. Far from being a tabula rasa, a Beng infant is thought to begin its life filled with spiritual knowledge. How do these beliefs affect the way the Beng rear their children? In this unique and engaging ethnography of babies, Alma Gottlieb explores how religious ideology affects every aspect of Beng childrearing practices from bathing infants to protecting them from disease to teaching them how to crawl and walk and how widespread...
When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous...
When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous world. Far from being a tabula rasa, a Beng infant is thought to begin its life filled with spiritual knowledge. How do these beliefs affect the way the Beng rear their children? In this unique and engaging ethnography of babies, Alma Gottlieb explores how religious ideology affects every aspect of Beng childrearing practices from bathing infants to protecting them from disease to teaching them how to crawl and walk and how widespread...
When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous...
This suspenseful and moving memoir of Africa recounts the experiences of Alma Gottlieb, an anthropologist, and Philip Graham, a fiction writer, as they lived in two remote villages in the rain forest of Cote d'Ivoire. With an unusual coupling of first-person narratives, their alternate voices tell a story imbued with sweeping narrative power, humility, and gentle humor. "Parallel Worlds" is a unique look at Africa, anthropological fieldwork, and the artistic process. "A remarkable look at a remote society and] an engaging memoir that testifies to a loving partnership . . ....
This suspenseful and moving memoir of Africa recounts the experiences of Alma Gottlieb, an anthropologist, and Philip Graham, a fiction writer, as the...
In this companion volume to "Parallel Worlds, " Alma Gottlieb explores ideology and social practices among the Beng people of Cote d'Ivoire. Employing symbolic and postmodern perspectives, she highlights the dynamically paired notions of identity and difference, symbolized by the kapok tree planted at the center of every Beng village. "This book merits a number of readings. . . . An experiment in ethnography that future projects might well emulate." Clarke K. Speed, "American Anthropologist" " An] evocative, rich ethnography. . . . Gottlieb does anthropology...
In this companion volume to "Parallel Worlds, " Alma Gottlieb explores ideology and social practices among the Beng people of Cote d'Ivoire. Emp...
Examining cultures as diverse as long-house dwellers in North Borneo, African farmers, Welsh housewives, and postindustrial American workers, this volume dramatically redefines the anthropological study of menstrual customs. It challenges the widespread image of a universal "menstrual taboo" as well as the common assumption of universal female subordination which underlies it. Contributing important new material and perspectives to our understanding of comparative gender politics and symbolism, it is of particular importance to those interested in anthropology, women's studies, religion, and...
Examining cultures as diverse as long-house dwellers in North Borneo, African farmers, Welsh housewives, and postindustrial American workers, this vol...
What does a move from a village in the West African rain forest to a West African community in a European city entail? What about a shift from a Greek sheep-herding community to working with evictees and housing activists in Rome and Bangkok? In"The Restless Anthropologist," Alma Gottlieb brings together eight eminent scholars to recount the riveting personal and intellectual dynamics of uprooting one s life and decades of work to embrace a new fieldsite.Addressing questions of life-course, research methods, institutional support, professional networks, ethnographic models, and disciplinary...
What does a move from a village in the West African rain forest to a West African community in a European city entail? What about a shift from a Greek...
In a compelling mix of literary narrative and ethnography, anthropologist Alma Gottlieb and writer Philip Graham continue the long journey of cultural engagement with the Beng people of Cote d'Ivoire that they first recounted in their award-winning memoir "Parallel Worlds." Their commitment over the span of several decades has lent them a rare insight. Braiding their own stories with those of the villagers of Asagbe and Kosangbe, Gottlieb and Graham take turns recounting a host of unexpected dramas with these West African villages, prompting serious questions about the fraught nature of...
In a compelling mix of literary narrative and ethnography, anthropologist Alma Gottlieb and writer Philip Graham continue the long journey of cultural...
