Background
Douglas, Mary Tew was born on March 25, 1921 in San Remo, Italy. Came to the United States, 1977.
(Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as L...)
Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as Literature, this is the revised paperback edition of Mary Douglas's classical account of the Book of Numbers. Up to now Bible scholars have tended to dismiss Numbers as a chaotic mix of narrative and laws. Mary Douglas argues that, like Leviticus, Numbers is actually a highly complex book arranged in a regular ring structure which plots the narratives and laws into 12 parts. She argues that it is only through an understanding of the ring formation of these parts that one can fully appreciate the meanings behind this complex work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019924541X/?tag=2022091-20
(First published in 1984, This work is a cross-cultural st...)
First published in 1984, This work is a cross-cultural study of the moral and social meaning of food. It is a collection of articles by Douglas and her colleagues covering the food system of the Oglala Sioux, the food habits of families in rural North Carolina, meal formats in an Italian-American community near Philadelphia. It also includes a grid/group analysis of food consumption.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871542102/?tag=2022091-20
( Many famous antique texts are misunderstood and many ot...)
Many famous antique texts are misunderstood and many others have been completely dismissed, all because the literary style in which they were written is unfamiliar today. So argues Mary Douglas in this controversial study of ring composition, a technique which places the meaning of a text in the middle, framed by a beginning and ending in parallel. To read a ring composition in the modern linear fashion is to misinterpret it, Douglas contends, and todayâs scholars must reevaluate important antique texts from around the world. Found in the Bible and in writings from as far afield as Egypt, China, Indonesia, Greece, and Russia, ring composition is too widespread to have come from a single source. Does it perhaps derive from the way the brain works? What is its function in social contexts? The author examines ring composition, its principles and functions, in a cross-cultural way. She focuses on ring composition in Homerâs Iliad, the Bibleâs book of Numbers, and, for a challenging modern example, Laurence Sterneâs Tristram Shandy, developing a persuasive argument for reconstruing famous books and rereading neglected ones. (20070326)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300167857/?tag=2022091-20
(Who is Israel? Who were the priestly authors of the Penta...)
Who is Israel? Who were the priestly authors of the Pentateuch? This anthropological reading of the Bible, by a world-renowned scholar, starts by asking why the Book of Numbers lists the twelve tribes of Israel seven times. Mary Douglas argues that the editors, far from being a separate elite unconcerned with their congregation's troubles, cherished a political agenda, a religious protest against the government of Judah's exclusionary policies. The priestly theology depends on God's Covenant with all the descendants of Jacob, including the sons of Joseph. It would have been unpatriotic, even subversive, to speak against the wars with Samaria. This book suggest an explanation of the editors' disappearance from the history of Israel.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199210640/?tag=2022091-20
anthropology and humanities educator
Douglas, Mary Tew was born on March 25, 1921 in San Remo, Italy. Came to the United States, 1977.
Bachelor, U. Oxford, England, 1943; Master of Arts, U. Oxford, England, 1947; Bachelor of Science, U. Oxford, England, 1948; Doctor of Philosophy, U. Oxford, England, 1951; honorary doctorate, U. Uppsala honorary doctorate, U. Notre Dame honorary doctorate, Jewish Theological Seminary honorary doctorate, U. East Anglia honorary doctorate, University of Essex honorary doctorate, U. Warwick.
Research fellow, International African Institute for Fieldwork, Belgian Congo, 1949-1950, 53, 87; lecturer anthropology, University College, London, 1951-1962; professor social anthropology, University College, London, 1971-1978; reader, U. London, 1963-1970; director research on culture, Russell Sage Foundation, New York City, 1977-1981; Avalon Foundation professor in humanities, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1981-1985; visiting professor departments religion and anthropology, Princeton University, 1985-1988.
( First published in 1986 Mary Douglas theory of institu...)
(Who is Israel? Who were the priestly authors of the Penta...)
( Many famous antique texts are misunderstood and many ot...)
(Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as L...)
(This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world ren...)
(First published in 1984, This work is a cross-cultural st...)
( Can we know the risks we face, now or in the future? No...)
(One of the most important works of modern anthropology. W...)
(Risk and danger are culturally conditioned ideas. They ar...)
Member American Association for the Advancement of Science, Academia Europaea, British Academy.
M. James Douglas, 1951. Children: Janet, James, Philip.