Re: The Golden Bough by Frazer - a question
Daniel Rosenblatt (danr@iconz.co.nz)
17 Jan 1995 03:03:00 GMT
: My question is, does anyone work on totemism anymore? Is there a
: definitive work on totemism completed in the last twenty years or so?
To the best of my knowledge, nothing definitive that recently, but there
is Levi-Strauss' _Totemism_ (1950's or 60's) which is probably the
definitive modern statement about totemism. To an extent, it explodes
the category, at least as a *type of society*, hence the lack of more
recent synthetic treatments is a sign of its influence. For more recent
treatments I would look for particular writings about societies thought
to be examples of totemic social systems. I can't help you with
particulars, but I believe aboriginal Australia and some Native American
societies are the basis for the catagory. Any the Levi-Strauss book is
short & sweet.
--
Daniel Rosenblatt <danr@iconz.co.nz>
Department of Anthropology
University of Chicago
2/8 Ponsonby Tce
Ponsonby
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND Ph: 011-649-376-5072
: --
: John Kieschnick
: Dept of Asian Languages
: KIESCH@leland.stanford.edu
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