The Domestication of the Savage Mind

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Nov 24, 1977 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 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
Copyright

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