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Re: Is Levi-Strauss essential? was It still works? Avoid it anyway.
Dan Goodman (dsgood@visi.com)
21 Jan 1997 21:40:00 GMT
In article <5c32i8$e84@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>,
Julia E Smith <jesst2+@pitt.edu> wrote:
>In article <5blqbg$9n2@dismay.ucs.indiana.edu>,
>Chad Ryan Thomas <crthomas@indiana.edu> wrote:
>>In article <5bk1g5$srg@darla.visi.com>, dsgood@visi.com says...
>
>>>And -- what anthropological literature IS useful to science fiction and
>>>fantasy writers?
>>
>>Any literature on anthropology, and for fantasy especially, I'd recommend
>>some folklore theory. Joseph Campbell doesn't work very well anymore for
>>interpreting mythologies, but his ideas are just peachy for fantasy authors.
>
>My advice is not to pick on specific authors. Instead, pick up some good
>broad treatments: like intro textbooks. I recommend the books by Marvin
>Harris (_Culture, People, Nature_), by William Haviland (_Cultural
>Anthropology_), and by Serena Nanda (_Cultural Anthropology_). However,
>older books will do. Read them. Then, when you want to use some idea, go
>to that section, look at who they talk about, and then go read further in
>that part of the literature. The more general sources you have, the more
>points of view you have on what's interesting. Anthropologists have
>studied a lot of ideas from a lot of points of view, and no single book or
>even author can possibly give you a good overview of the field.
>
>For example, if you were thinking about the ways in which some society
>might be economically organized that would be totally different from our
>current market system, I'd want you to read economic anthropology. If you
>wanted to think about gender, I'd want you to read the feminist
>anthropology and the work on sexuality. There is no single answer.
>
>Sorry that I'm not much help.
>
Quite the contrary. Your message is among those I'm saving because they
contain useful information.
--
Dan Goodman
dsgood@visi.com
http://www.visi.com/~dsgood/index.html
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.
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