Invitations to love: literacy, love letters, and social change in Nepal

Laura M. Ahearn

University of Michigan Press, 2001 - Social Science - 295 pages

Invitations to Love provides a close examination of the dramatic shift away from arranged marriage and capture marriage toward elopement in the village of Junigau, Nepal. Laura M. Ahearn shows that young Nepalese people are applying their newly acquired literacy skills to love-letter writing, fostering a transition that involves not only a shift in marriage rituals, but also a change in how villagers conceive of their own ability to act and attribute responsibility for events. These developments have potential ramifications that extend far beyond the realm of marriage and well past the Himalayas.
The love-letter correspondences examined by Ahearn also provide a deeper understanding of the social effects of literacy. While the acquisition of literary skills may open up new opportunities for some individuals, such skills can also impose new constraints, expectations, and disappointments. The increase in female literacy rates in Junigau in the 1990s made possible the emergence of new courtship practices and facilitated self-initiated marriages, but it also reinforced certain gender ideologies and undercut some avenues to social power, especially for women. 
Scholars, and students in such fields as anthropology, women's studies, linguistics, development studies, and South Asian studies will find this book ethnographically rich and theoretically insightful.  Laura M. Ahearn is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University.

What people are saying

Review: Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and Social Change in Nepal

User Review  - kayla** - Goodreads

While interesting in certain parts, I found this book to be quite dry. I understand that it is an ethnography, I just feel that more could have been done to make it a smoother read.

Review: Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and Social Change in Nepal

User Review  - Robert - Goodreads

Laura Ahern's “Invitations to Love” is an excellent read, particularly for those new to cultural or linguistic anthropology. She addresses he key terms, arguments, and history over the first three ...

Contents

• VI: 3
• VII: 27
• VIII: 45
• IX: 67
• X: 88
• XI: 119
• XII: 149
• XIII: 191
• XIV: 212
• XV: 245
• XVI: 261
• XVII: 275
• XVIII: 287

About the author

Laura M. Ahearn is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Invitations to love: literacy, love letters, and social change in Nepal
• Author: Laura M. Ahearn
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0472067842, 9780472067848
• Length: 295 pages
• Subjects: Family & Relationships / Marriage; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General; Social Science / General