Myth, Ritual and the Oral

by Jack Goody

In Myth, Ritual and the Oral Jack Goody, one of the world's most distinguished anthropologists, returns to the related themes of myth, orality and literacy, subjects that have long been a touchstone in anthropological thinking. Combining classic papers with recent unpublished work, this volume brings together some of the most important essays written on these themes in the past half century, representative of a lifetime of critical engagement and research. In characteristically clear and accessible style, Jack Goody addresses fundamental conceptual schemes underpinning modern anthropology, providing potent critiques of current theoretical trends. Drawing upon his highly influential work on the LoDagaa myth of the Bagre, Goody challenges structuralist and functionalist interpretations of oral ‘literature', stressing the issues of variation, imagination and creativity, and the problems of methodology and analysis. These insightful, and at times provocative, essays will stimulate fresh debate and prove invaluable to students and teachers of social anthropology.

Genres: Anthropology

186 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2006

About the author

Sir John (Jack) Rankine Goody (born 27 July 1919) is a British social anthropologist. He has been a prominent teacher at Cambridge University, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1976,[1] and he is an associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. Among his main publications are Death, property and the ancestors (1962), The myth of the Bagre (1972) and The domestication of the savage mind.

Jack Goody explained social structure and social change primarily in terms of three major factors. The first was the development of intensive forms of agriculture that allowed for the accumulation of surplus – surplus explained many aspects of cultural practice from marriage to funerals as well as the great divide between African and Eurasian societies. Second, he explained social change in terms of urbanization and growth of bureaucratic institutions that modified or overrode traditional forms of social organization, such as family or tribe, identifying civilization as “the culture of cities”. And third, he attached great weight to the technologies of communication as instruments of psychological and social change. He associated the beginnings of writing with the task of managing surplus and, in an important paper with Ian Watt (Goody and Watt, 1963), he advanced the argument that the rise of science and philosophy in classical Greece depended importantly on their invention of an efficient writing system, the alphabet. Because these factors could be applied to either to any contemporary social system or to systematic changes over time, his work is equally relevant to many disciplines.

Reviews

[Thalassapolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yaklaşık bir yıldır galiba kütüphanemde sırası gelememişti çok hızlı okudum ve kesinlikle kafa açan yeniden okumak isteyeceğim kitaptı antropoloji Halkbilimi çalışanlara tavsiye ederim

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenho me interessado bastante pela oralidade, não só pela forma como ela difere da forma escrita quando transmite a ficção, mas também na forma como o gênero masculino ou feminino pode ser transmitido através de uma comunicação não-escrita, não-letrada. Jack Goody traz alguns bons insights sobre os temas do título, mito, ritual e oral, embora outros autores tenham feito isso, em seus determinados campos, com mais precisão. Não concordo com Goody quando diz que os contos de fadas, os contos fantásticos, as lendas e alguns mitos são voltados apenas para as crianças, porque é evidente a influencia dessas histórias na idade adulta, como continuam influenciando os adultos na sua visão de mundo e como praticam determinadas ações, incluindo aí as expectativas de gênero. São pequenas frases que podem ser pinçadas deste livro, mas ainda assim elas me ajudarão a cerzir algumas ligações necessárias para a tese que venho traçando.