Purity and Danger
An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo
by Mary Douglas

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Auteur(s)

Mary Douglas

Uitgever, jaar

London ; New York : Routledge, 2022

Omvang

272 p., 19,5 cm.

ISBN

9780415289955

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Purity and Danger is a 1966 book by the anthropologist and cultural theorist Mary Douglas. It is her best known work. The line of inquiry in Purity and Danger traces the words and meaning of dirt in different contexts. What is regarded as dirt in a given society is any matter considered out of place. (Douglas took that lead from William James.) She attempted to clarify the differences between the sacred, the clean and the unclean in different societies and times, but that did not entail judging religions as pessimistic or optimistic in their understanding of purity or dirt, such as dirt-affirming or otherwise. Through a complex and sophisticated reading of ritual, religion and lifestyle, Douglas challenged Western ideas of pollution and clarified how context and social history are essential.

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Trefwoorden

(on)gelijkheid / (in)equity , body culture , anthropology

Locatie in de bibliotheek

Kast 31 - 2: Lichaam en omgeving / Body and Space

Extra thema's

Expanded Space ; Global Art ; Algemeen

Opmerkingen

First published 1966. With new preface by the author to the Routledge Classic edition, 2002