Hunger and Work in a Savage Tribe examines the cultural aspects of food and eating among the Southern Bantu, taking as its starting point the bold statement 'nutrition as a biological process is more fundamental than sex'. When it was first published in 1932, with a preface by Malinowski, it laid the groundwork for sociological theory of nutrition. Richards was also among the first anthropologists to establish women's lives and the social sphere as legitimate subjects for anthropological study.

Hunger and Work in a Savage Tribe examines the cultural aspects of food and eating among the Southern Bantu, taking as its starting point the bold statement 'nutrition as a biological process is more fundamental than sex'. When it was first published in 1932, with a preface by Malinowski, it laid the groundwork for sociological theory of nutrition. Richards was also among the first anthropologists to establish women's lives and the social sphere as legitimate subjects for anthropological study.

Audrey Richards (1899-1984) was a leading British anthropologist of the twentieth century and the first woman president of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Based on fieldwork conducted at a time when the discipline was dominated by male anthropologists, Chisungu: A Girl's Initiation Ceremony Among the Bemba of Zambia is widely hailed as a classic of anthropology and African and gender studies. Underpinned by painstaking research carried out by Richards among the Bemba people in northern Zambia in the 1930s, Chisungu focuses on the initiation ceremonies for young Bemba girls. Pioneering the study of women's rituals and challenging the prevailing theory that rites of passage served merely to transfer individuals from one status to another, Richards writes about the incredibly rich and diverse aspects of ritual that characterised Chisungu: its concern with matriliny; deference to elders; sex and reproduction; the birth of children; ideas about the continuity between past, present and future; and the centrality of emotional conflict. On a deeper level, Chisungu is a crucial work for the role it accords to the meaning of symbolism in explaining the structure of society, paving the way for much subsequent understanding of the role of symbolic meaning and kinship. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Jessica Johnson and an introduction by Jean La Fontaine.

A collection of seven papers by social anthropologists on the processes of decision-making in councils. Types of council described are one community-in-council, two arena councils, an elite council, two modern local government councils and a non-council, a temporary negotiating group which nevertheless displays certain features of the council proper. Most of the examples come from Africa (including Madagascar), but there is also an account of politics and decision-making in an English town council. The editors discuss the papers in a comparative framework, considering also other accounts of conciliar structure and decision-making. They review the ways in which decisions are reached and implemented in societies with very different structures and activities and discuss the impact of written records, colonial overrule and political independence. They attempt to outline some general principles of conciliar structure and process.

In the village of Elmdon in north-west Essex, members of certain families are distinguished from other residents as being real Elmdon'. Through a detailed ethnography of the structure of the village, and the interrelationships between its various families, work patterns and community activities, Marilyn Strathern provides an understanding of the characteristics of those who most vehemently claim to be 'real' village people. Yet this account goes far beyond ethnographic description. Its inspiration lies with Dr Audrey Richards, a distinguished anthropologist whose most substantial contribution has been in Africa, while Dr Strathern herself has had many years' field experience in Papua New Guinea. As 'outsiders' they bring a fresh approach to English village studies. The book takes the idea of 'village' not for granted, but as a dogma to be accounted for. Dr Strathern argues that in order to appreciate why the village should be so salient a reference point in people's self-classifications, it is necessary to understand what the village stands for in their ideas of the world.

Audrey Richards (1899-1984) was a leading British anthropologist of the twentieth century and the first woman president of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Based on fieldwork conducted at a time when the discipline was dominated by male anthropologists, Chisungu: A Girl’s Initiation Ceremony Among the Bemba of Zambia is widely hailed as a classic of anthropology and African and gender studies.

Underpinned by painstaking research carried out by Richards among the Bemba people in northern Zambia in the 1930s, Chisungu focuses on the initiation ceremonies for young Bemba girls. Pioneering the study of women’s rituals and challenging the prevailing theory that rites of passage served merely to transfer individuals from one status to another, Richards writes about the incredibly rich and diverse aspects of ritual that characterised Chisungu: its concern with matriliny; deference to elders; sex and reproduction; the birth of children; ideas about the continuity between past, present and future; and the centrality of emotional conflict.

On a deeper level,Chisungu is a crucial work for the role it accords to the meaning of symbolism in explaining the structure of society, paving the way for much subsequent understanding of the role of symbolic meaning and kinship.

This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Jessica Johnson and an introduction by Jean La Fontaine.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition Jessica Johnson

Introduction Jean La Fontaine

Part 1: The Cultural Setting

1. Environment and Activities

2. Ideology and Dogma

3. Social Structure

4. The Marriage Contract

5. Accepted Sex Roles

Part 2: The Ceremony

6. The Ritual Type

7. The Actors in the Ceremony

8. The Character of the Rite

9. The Ceremony

10. Calendar of Events at Chisungu Performed at Chinsali

Part 3: The Interpretation of the Ceremony

11. Methods of Interpretation

12. Expressed Purposes of the Chisungu

13. Deduced Attitudes

14. The Chisingu in Relation to Tribal Dogma and Values

15. Unconscious Tensions and Conflicts

16. Pragmatic Effects.

Appendix A: The Distribution of Chisungu Ceremonies in Central Africa

Appendix B: Songs Sung During the Ceremony

Bibliography

Index

One of ten children born to a coal-mining family in Harlan County, Kentucky ("Bloody Harlan") in the turbulent 'Twenties, Audrey Richards Lowery was a prime example of the old saying, "Saturday's child must work for a living." From the time she was 11 years old, she worked to help feed her brothers and sisters, then to support herself and her twin sons---and often her husband as well. She experienced unbelievable hardships, even violence, but met life's vicissitudes with hard work, honesty, and love. She describes an era in Kentucky's history and a way of life that few people today can even imagine. She witnessed some of the frightening troubles that attended the founding of the miners' union. She gives details of a notorious sex murder committed by her brother-in-law, who continued to live with the family after spending only two years in prison. She goes on to tell about her life in Indiana, Tennessee, and Ohio and specifies names and places in those areas that will evoke memories for many readers.. Now an 86-year-old widow, legally blind and confined to a wheelchair, Audrey lives near her sons in Celina, Ohio, but still maintains her indomitable spirit and her sense of humor. Her story is surprising...sometimes SHOCKING...yet ultimately inspiring, and will entertain you to the end. The book is written in her own words; you'll be amazed and amused by the way she tells it

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