The reinvention of primitive society : transformations of a myth
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The reinvention of primitive society : transformations of a myth
(Routledge classic texts in anthropology)
Routledge, 2017
Reissue of 2nd ed
- : hbk
- Other Title
-
The invention of primitive society : transformations of an illusion
The invention of the primitive society
Available at / 1 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
"First edition published by Routledge 1988 (as The invention of the primitive society : transformations of an illusion). Second edition published by Routledge 2005"--T.p. verso
Includes bibliographical references (p. [204]-219) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Adam Kuper's iconoclastic intellectual history argues that the idea of "primitive society" is a western myth. The "primitive" is imagined as the opposite of the "civilised". But this is a protean myth. As ideas about civilisation change, so the image of primitive society must be adjusted.
By way of fascinating account of classic texts in anthropology, ancient history and law, Kuper reveals how this myth underpinned academic research and inspired political programmes. Its ancestry is traced back to classical western beliefs about barbarians and savages, and Kuper also tackles the latest version of the myth, the idea of a global identity of "indigenous peoples".
The Reinvention of Primitive Society is a key text in the history of anthropology, and will interest anyone who has puzzled about the very idea of "primitive society" - and so, by implication, about "civilisation".
Table of Contents
PART ONE: THE IDEA OF PRIMITIVE SOCIETY
1. The Myth of Primitive Society
2. Barbarian, Savage, Primitive
PART TWO: ANCIENT LAW, ANCIENT SOCIETY AND TOTEMISM
3. Henry Maine's Patriarchal Theory
4. Lewis Henry Morgan and Ancient Society
5. The Question of Totemism
PART THREE: EVOLUTION AND DIFFUSION - BOAS, RIVERS AND RADCLIFFE-BROWN
6. The Boasians and the Critique of Evolutionism
7. From Rivers to Radcliffe-Brown
PART FOUR: DESCENT AND ALLIANCE
8. Descent Theory: a Phoenix From the Ashes
9. Towards the Intellect: Alliance Theory and Totemism
PART FIVE: BACK TO THE BEGINNING
10. The return of the native
11. Conclusion
by "Nielsen BookData"