The Domestication of the Savage Mind

Jack Goody

Cambridge University Press, Nov 24, 1977 - Social Science - 179 pages

Current theories and views on the differences in the 'mind' of human societies depend very much on a dichotomy between 'advanced' and 'primitive', or between 'open' and 'closed', or between 'domesticated' and 'savage', that is to say, between one of a whole variety of 'we-they' distinctions. Professor Goody argues that such an approach prevents any serious discussion of the mechanisms leading to long-term changes in the cognitive processes of human cultures or any adequate explanation of the changes in 'traditional' societies that are taking place in the world around us. In this book he attempts to provide the framework for a more satisfactory explanation by relating certain broad differences in 'mentalities' to the changes in the means of communication, and specifically to the series of shifts involved in the development of writing. The argument is based upon theoretical considerations, as well as empirical evidence derived from recent fieldwork in West Africa and the study of a wide range of source material on the ancient societies of the Near East.

Contents

• Evolution and communication: 1
• Intellectuals in preliterate societies?: 19
• Literacy criticism and the growth of knowledge: 36
• Literacy and classification on turning the tables: 52
• Whats in a list?: 74
• Following a formula: 112
• The recipe the prescription and the experiment: 129
• The Grand Dichotomy reconsidered: 146
• Notes to the text: 163
• References: 168
• Abbreviations: 174
• Index: 175

About the author

Jack Goody is Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John's College. Recently knighted by Her Majesty The Queen for services to anthropology, Professor Goody has researched and taught all over the world, is a Fellow of the British Academy and in 1980 was made a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2004 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and he was elected Commandeur des Arts et Lettres in 2006.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Domestication of the Savage Mind; Themes in the Social Sciences
• Author: Jack Goody
• Contributor: Jack Goody
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1977
• ISBN: 0521292425, 9780521292429
• Length: 179 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; Social Science / Anthropology / General; Social Science / Sociology / General