Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo

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Psychology Press, 2002 - 244 páginas

Is cleanliness next to godliness? What does such a concept really mean? Why does it recur as a universal theme across all societies? And what are the implications for the unclean?

In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. This book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate - from religion to social theory. With a specially commissioned preface by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge, question and inspire for many years to come.

 

Contenido

Introduction
1
Ritual Uncleanness
8
Secular Defilement
36
The Abominations of Leviticus
51
Magic and Miracle
72
Primitive and Dangers
91
Powers and Dangers
117
External Boundaries
141
Internal Lines
160
The System at War with Itself
173
The System Shattered and Renewed
196
BIBLIOGRAPHY
221
INDEX
227
Derechos de autor

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Acerca del autor (2002)

Born in Italy, Mary Douglas was educated at Oxford University and began her career as a civil servant in 1943. Her first field research was carried out in what was then the Belgian Congo and she taught at Oxford and the University of London before moving to the United States in 1977. Purity and Danger (1966) is an essay about the logic of pollution beliefs, suggesting that ideas about dirt and disorder outline and reinforce particular social orders. Her other essays exploring the implicit meanings of cultural symbols follow a similar Durkheimian format. Her recent interests have turned to analysis of risk behavior and cross-cultural attitudes about food and alcohol.

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