Schism and Continuity in an African Society: A Study of Ndembu Village Life

by Victor Turner

Overview

With a new foreword by Bruce Kapferer, Professor of Anthropology, James Cook University- A reprint of the seminal anthropological work of the 1960s. Originally published by Manchester University Press.Victor Turner will be remembered as the anthropologist who developed the concept of the ‘social drama', a method used extensively by anthropologists to describe and analyse the social life of a community. In essence, this technique involves analysing social crises within a community over a period of time in order to gain a better understanding of the key principles that govern the social life of the community.This book -- Turner's first ‘social drama' study -- focuses on the village life of the Ndembu of Zambia who were then under British rule. The social constraints, such as the matrilineally-inherited headmanship system, and the various releases from these constraints, provoked periodic crises which caused great disruption and pain. These crises made visible the contradictions between the principles governing social life and the conflicts experienced between individuals and groups when enforcing these principles. Seven social dramas are discussed - all from one family over a period of twenty years -- each substantiated by sociological and demographic research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000323023
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/20/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Victor Turner formerly of University of Virginia

Table of Contents

I HISTORICAL AND ECOI.OOICAL BACKGROUND, II THE VILLAGE : TOPOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY, III THE SOCIAL COMPOSITION OF THE VILLAGE, IV MATRILINEAL DESCENT : THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF VILLAGE ORGANIZATION, V MATRILINEAL SUCCESSION AND THE DYNAMICS OF VILLAGE INTRIGUE, VI VILLAGE FISSION, SLAVERY AND SOCIAL CHANGE, VII VARIETIES OF VILLAGE FISSION, Vlll THE STRUCTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF VIRILOCAL MARRIAGE WITHIN THE VILLAGE, IX POLITICAL ASPECTS OF KINSHIP AND AFFINITY, X THE POLITICALLY INTEGRATIVE FUNCTION OF RITUAL, XI THE CHIEFTAINSHIP