In this work Peter Metcalf gives an account of his fieldwork in Borneo, telling the story of his tortuous relationship with Kasi, a formidable old lady who, for 20 years tried to strictly control what he learned about her community. By comparing his experiences with those of Victor and Edith Turner and the most celebrated of informants, Muchona, the author examines the puzzles and contradictions of life in the field drawing out what such personal predicaments have to say about anthropology in a post-colonial world. Engaging with negative critiques of anthropology, the author sorts the issues...
In this work Peter Metcalf gives an account of his fieldwork in Borneo, telling the story of his tortuous relationship with Kasi, a formidable old lad...
They Lie, We Lie is an attempt by an experienced fieldworker to engage recent critiques in ethnography, that is the writing of culture, made both from within anthropology and from such disciplines as cultural studies and post-colonial theory. This is necessary because there has been a polarization within anthropology between those who react dismissively to what Marshall Sahlins calls 'afterology' and those who find the critiques so crippling as to make it hard to get on with anthropology at all. Metcalf bridges this divide by analyzing the contradictions of fieldwork in connection...
They Lie, We Lie is an attempt by an experienced fieldworker to engage recent critiques in ethnography, that is the writing of culture, made ...
The ultimate guide for the student encountering anthropology for the first time, Anthropology: The Basics explains and explores key anthropological concepts including:
what is anthropology?
how can we distinguish cultural differences from physical ones?
what is culture, anyway?
how do anthropologists study culture?
what are the key theories and approaches used today?
How has the discipline changed over time?
This student-friendly text provides an overview of the fundamental principles of anthropology and is an...
The ultimate guide for the student encountering anthropology for the first time, Anthropology: The Basics explains and explores key anthro...
This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology, and religion. Part of its fascination and success is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are able to gain a better understanding of our own. Peter Metcalf and Richard Huntington refer to a wide variety of examples from different continents and epochs. They compare the great tombs of the Berawan of Borneo and the pyramids of Egypt, or the dramas of medieval French royal funerals and the burial alive of the Dinka "masters of the spear" in the...
This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology, and religion. Part ...
For two centuries, travellers were amazed at the massive buildings found along the rivers that flow from the mountainous interior of Borneo. They concentrated hundreds of people under one roof, in the middle of empty rainforests. There was no practical necessity for this arrangement, and it remains a mystery. Peter Metcalf provides an answer by showing the historical context, using both oral histories and colonial records. The key factor was a pre-modern trading system that funneled rare and exotic jungle products to China via the ancient coastal city of Brunei. Meanwhile the elite...
For two centuries, travellers were amazed at the massive buildings found along the rivers that flow from the mountainous interior of Borneo. They conc...
For two centuries, travellers were amazed at the massive buildings found along the rivers that flow from the mountainous interior of Borneo. They concentrated hundreds of people under one roof, in the middle of empty rainforests. There was no practical necessity for this arrangement, and it remains a mystery. Peter Metcalf provides an answer by showing the historical context, using both oral histories and colonial records. The key factor was a pre-modern trading system that funneled rare and exotic jungle products to China via the ancient coastal city of Brunei. Meanwhile the elite...
For two centuries, travellers were amazed at the massive buildings found along the rivers that flow from the mountainous interior of Borneo. They conc...
