Description
The late anthropologist Valerio Valeri (1944-98) was best known for his substantial writings on societies of Polynesia and eastern Indonesia. This volume, however, presents a lesser known side of Valeri's genius through a dazzlingly erudite set of comparative essays on core topics in the history of anthropological theory. Offering masterly discussions of anthropological thought about ritual, fetishism, cosmogonic myth, belief, caste, kingship, mourning, play, feasting, ceremony, and cultural relativism, Classic Concepts in Anthropology, presented here with a critical foreword by Rupert Stasch and Giovanni da Col, will be an eye-opening, essential resource for students and researchers not only in anthropology but throughout the humanities.
About the Author
Valerio Valeri (1944-98) was an Italian anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and Society in Ancient Hawaii, published by the University of Chicago Press. Rupert Stasch is a lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge and the author of Society of Others: Kinship and Mourning in a West Papuan Place. Giovanni da Col is a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oslo and the founder of HAU Books and HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory.
Reviews
"A great and unique master.... Valeri had an ability for amazement and wonder that came from a practice of ethnography which, rather than being a nominalist search for historical details, looked to life itself as a source of percepts as well as a producer of concepts." (Marcos P. D. Lanna, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos) "Any superlative diminishes Valeri and his scholarship, which is characterized by rich, subtle, and complex ethnographic and historical information, underscored by theoretical rigor based on extensive fieldwork." (Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Book Information
ISBN 9780990505082
Author Valerio Valeri
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint HAU
Publisher HAU
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 158mm * 21mm
About the Author
Valerio Valeri (1944-98) was an Italian anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and Society in Ancient Hawaii, published by the University of Chicago Press. Rupert Stasch is a lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge and the author of Society of Others: Kinship and Mourning in a West Papuan Place. Giovanni da Col is a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oslo and the founder of HAU Books and HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory.
Reviews
"A great and unique master.... Valeri had an ability for amazement and wonder that came from a practice of ethnography which, rather than being a nominalist search for historical details, looked to life itself as a source of percepts as well as a producer of concepts." (Marcos P. D. Lanna, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos) "Any superlative diminishes Valeri and his scholarship, which is characterized by rich, subtle, and complex ethnographic and historical information, underscored by theoretical rigor based on extensive fieldwork." (Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Book Information
ISBN 9780990505082
Author Valerio Valeri
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint HAU
Publisher HAU
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 158mm * 21mm
