Tikopia Ritual and Belief (Routledge Revivals)

No people have ever been studied from this point of view in such minute detail and with such scholarly documentation. The picture of life in this island is presented in the most readable form, for Dr Firth is a master of English prose. ListenerThe value of this book lies in just this careful observation of intimate human relationships, and in the wealth of material on which its conclusions. . . The book is thus a valuable experiment in the new technique of direct sociological research originally inspired by Professor Malinowski. New StatesmanTo anthropologists, the publication of this book is an important event. Psychologists, sociologists and all who take a less professional interest in the expression of the basic human emotions in an unfamiliar setting will study it with profit and those who ask no more than thc romance of distant skies may read it with pleasure. Spectator

• 1. Outline of Tikopia Culture 2. Ceremonies for Children 3. Privilege Ceremonies 4. Bond Friendship 5. Suicide and Risk-Taking 6. Rumour in a Primitive Society with a Note on the Theory of ‘Cargo’ Cults 7. The Meaning of Dreams 8. The Analysis of Mana: An Empirical Approach 9. The Sociology of ‘Magic’ 10. Ritual Adzes in Tikopia 11. Totemism in Polynesia 12. Economics and Ritual in Sago Extraction 13. The Plasticity of Myth 14. Individual Fantasy and Social Norms: Seances with Spirit Mediums 15. The Fate of the Soul 16. A Commentary