| View Larger Image | The Domestication of the Savage Mind (Themes in the Social Sciences) | Paperbackby Jack Goody (Author)
| List Price: | $39.99 | | Price: | $33.99 | | You Save: | $6.00 (15%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | | Page Count: | 192 Pages | | Publication Date: | December 30, 1977 | | Sales Rank: | 828,820th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Current theories and views on the differences in the 'mind' of human societies depend very much on a dichotomy between 'advanced' and 'primitive', or between 'open' and 'closed', or between 'domesticated' and 'savage', that is to say, between one of a whole variety of 'we-they' distinctions. Professor Goody argues that such an approach prevents any serious discussion of the mechanisms leading to long-term changes in the cognitive processes of human cultures or any adequate explanation of the changes in 'traditional' societies that are taking place in the world around us. In this book he attempts to provide the framework for a more satisfactory explanation by relating certain broad differences in 'mentalities' to the changes in the means of communication, and specifically to the series of shifts involved in the development of writing. The argument is based upon theoretical considerations, as well as empirical evidence derived from recent fieldwork in West Africa and the study of a wide range of source material on the ancient societies of the Near East. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 1 review)
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A Mind Opening Book by Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States)  5 Stars
November 21, 2001
I ran across this title in the bibliography of Jean Bottero's book on Mesopotamia, and am I glad I did. It's short, readable and incisive. In pursuit of the main subject, how literacy alters culture and consciousness, Mr. Goody takes us through a sharp critique of anthropological theory and literature, particularly dualist reductions in classification. Then he examines modern transitions from oral to literate culture in West Africa, and most interesting to me, brings us back to the birth of writing and classification in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Some trip! This book is not just for social science grad students.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
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| The Interface between the Written and the Oral (Studies in Literacy, the Family, Culture and the State)
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Whilst the fundamental significance of the spoken language for human interaction is widely acknowledged, that of writing is less well known, and in this wide-ranging series of essays Jack Goody examines in depth the complex and often confused relationship between oral and literate modes of communication. He considers the interface between the written and the oral in three cultures or societies with and without writing, and that within the linguistic life of an individual. Specific analyses of...
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