In The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Victor Turner examines rituals of the Ndembu in Zambia and develops his now-famous concept of "Communitas." He characterizes it as an absolute inter-human relation beyond any form of structure.
The Ritual Process has acquired the status of a small classic since these lectures were first published in 1969. Turner demonstrates how the analysis of ritual behavior and symbolism may be used as a key to understanding social structure and processes. He extends Van Gennep's notion of the "liminal phase" of rites of passage to a more...
In The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Victor Turner examines rituals of the Ndembu in Zambia and develops his now-famous concept of ...
The Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures are intended to commemorate both the man and his work, the latter being viewed as having provided an admirably broad and substantial base for anthropologists of later generations to build upon, as they have done, and continue to do, in diverse ways.
The Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures are intended to commemorate both the man and his work, the latter being viewed as having provided an admirably broad a...
""The Work of Culture" is the product of two decades of field research by Sri Lanka's most distinguished anthropological interpreter, and its combination of textual analysis, ethnographic sensitivity, and methodological catholicity makes it something of a blockbuster." Arjun Appadurai, "Journal of Asian Studies""
""The Work of Culture" is the product of two decades of field research by Sri Lanka's most distinguished anthropological interpreter, and its combinat...
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesizes a radical theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of many...
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesizes a radical theory of religio...
Central as kinship has been to the development of British social anthropology, this is the first attempt by an anthropologist to situate ideas about English kinship in a cultural context. Marilyn Strathern challenges the traditional separation of Western kinship studies from the study of the wider society. If contemporary society appears diverse, changing and fragmented, these same features also apply to people's ideas about kinship. She views ideas of relatedness, nature and the biological constitution of persons in their cultural context, and offers new insights into the late...
Central as kinship has been to the development of British social anthropology, this is the first attempt by an anthropologist to situate ideas about E...
