Social Life of Trees

Anthropological Perspectives on Tree Symbolism

Häftad, Engelska, 1998

739 kr

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The passionate response of the British public to the Newbury Bypass is a revealing measure of how strongly people feel about trees and the environment. Similarly, in the United States, the giant sequoia of California is an enduring national symbol that inspires intense feelings. As rainforests are sacrificed to the interests of multi-national corporations and traditional ways of life disappear, the status of forests, the cultural significance of trees, and the impact of conservation policies are subjects that have inspired intense engagement. Why do people feel so strongly about trees? With this explosion of interest in environmental issues, a serious study of what trees mean to people has long been overdue. This interdisciplinary book responds to this need by providing the first cross-cultural analysis of tree symbolism. Drawing on rich case studies, contributors explore the processes through which trees are used as metaphors of identity and continuity. Political struggles over forest resources feature prominently, and the perceptions of trees in various cultures provide telling insights into the ways in which human societies conceptualize nature.As well as being a major contribution to the field of symbolic anthropology, this comprehensive study will be essential reading for students in a wide range of courses and for anyone with a keen interest in the politics of ecology, the occult and neo-paganism, and the history and sociology of environmentalism in its widest sense.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum1998-04-01
Mått156 x 234 x 18 mm
Vikt630 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieMaterializing Culture
Antal sidor332
FörlagTaylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN9781859739280

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List of Figures, List of Tables, Preface, 1. Trees, from Symbols of Life and Regeneration to Political Artefacts, Part I. Why Trees Are Good to Think, 2. Why Trees, Too, Are Good to Think With: Towards an Anthropology of the Meaning of Life, 3. Palms and the Prototypicality of Trees: Some Questions Concerning Assumptions in the Comparative Study of Categories and Labels, 4. Trees of Knowledge of Self and Other in Culture: On Models for the Moral Imagination, Part II: Trees, Human Life and the Continuity of Communities, 5. Trees and People: Some Vital Links. Tree Products and Other Agents in the Life Cycle of the Ankave-Anga of Papua New Guinea, 6. The Coconut, the Body and the Human Being. Metaphors of Life and Growth in Nusa Penida and Bali, 7. 'May Blessings Come, May Mischiefs Go!' Living Kinds as Agents of Transitions and Transformation in an Eastern Indonesian Setting, 8. 'The Grove is Our Temple'. Contested Representations of Kaavu in Kerala, South India, 9. The Second Life of Trees: Family Forestry in Upland Japan, Part III: Woods, Forests and Politics, 10. Grassroots Campaigning for the World's Forests, 11. Northwest Coast Trees: From Metaphors in Culture to Symbols for Culture, 12. Representatives of the Past: Trees in Historical Dispute and Socialised Ecology in the Forest Zone of the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, 13. Modern Forestry: Trees and Development Spaces in South-west Bengal, India, Postface, 14. Postface: The Life of Trees, Notes on Contributors, Index

'This is a challenging read for anyone who wants to view current Western preoccupations as the direct, unmediated voice of the trees. But it is also a good book for anyone who has seen the anger and passion of today's bypass campaigns - and who wants to see them in a social context as well as an ecological one.' 3rd Stone: Archaeology, Folklore and Myth'This is a valuable collection ... It deepens understanding of the processes by which humans imagine and respond to their worlds.'The Australian Journal of Anthropology'The text is ... persuasive and the ethnographic accounts are fascinating.'Oceania'This is a challenging book with some rich pickings, not least Rival's overview chapter, which adds considerable value.'ECOS'Offers fresh insights and perspectives on a topic that has evaded either global analysis or synthesis.'Ecumene'The scope and spirit is agreeably ecumenical; the methods and contents rampantl

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