THE HUMAN FAMILY
PRIMITIVE HERITAGE, edited by Margaret Mead and Nicolas Calas; Victor Gollancz, En§lish price 21/-. HE worst part of this book is its sub- ‘" title, "An Anthropological Anthology." Once that horror has been passed, there are no barriers to enjoyment. The 16 parts begin with "Anthropology in Antiquity" and end with "Immortality." Between these terminal signposts the range of theme is wide and varied, and the editors have wisely looked for material outside their own discipline. In Part Four, "The Scene," are passages from Doughty, D. H. Lawrence and André Gide; authors drawn upon for the section on "Children" include Herman Melville as well as more scientific names; and F. E. Maning has found his way into "The Daily Round" with "Complimentary Robbery Among the Maori."
There are also, of course, many academic contributions, carefully: chosen. The general result is delightful. These pages. should help readers to discover the immense varieties and underlying unities of "behaviour patterns" in human societies. Anthropologists, who will already know most of the material, may find the book a useful way of recovering or keeping the wider view of a subject which has had many shifts of emphasis. But it is a pity that not a single page could be found for Frazer. If, as Margaret Mead says in her introductory chapter, The Golden Bough is now left to the humanists, "trained to allow for changes in period without loss of pleasure in the materials themselves," there should be ample reason for quoting it in a book so wide in scope that it
opens with Herodotus. Xv
H.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 787, 20 August 1954, Page 13
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265THE HUMAN FAMILY New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 787, 20 August 1954, Page 13
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