Notes on Love in a Tamil Family
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Book Overview
Love, as a force in human affairs, is still not given much attention or credency by social scientists. With Notes on Love in a Tamil Family, Margaret Trawick places the notion of love prominently in social scientific discourse. Her unforgettable and profusely illustrated study is a significant contribution to anthropology and to South Asian studies.
Trawick lived for a time in the midst of one large South Indian family and sought to understand the multiple and mutually shared expressions of anpu--what in English we call love. Often enveloping the author herself, changing her as she inevitably changed her hosts, this family performed before the young anthropologist's eyes the meaning of anpu: through poetry and conversation, through the not always gentle raising of children, through the weaving of kinship tapestries, through erotic exchanges among women, among men, and across the great sexual boundary. She communicates with grace and insight what she learned from this Tamil family, and we discover that love is no less universal than selfishness and individualism.
Trawick lived for a time in the midst of one large South Indian family and sought to understand the multiple and mutually shared expressions of anpu--what in English we call love. Often enveloping the author herself, changing her as she inevitably changed her hosts, this family performed before the young anthropologist's eyes the meaning of anpu: through poetry and conversation, through the not always gentle raising of children, through the weaving of kinship tapestries, through erotic exchanges among women, among men, and across the great sexual boundary. She communicates with grace and insight what she learned from this Tamil family, and we discover that love is no less universal than selfishness and individualism.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0520078942
ISBN13:9780520078949
Release Date:March 1992
Publisher:University of California Press
Length:320 Pages
Weight:1.25 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 7.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Very interesting book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This is a readable, interesting, thought-provoking and emotionally involving book with much valuable and accurate information about Tamil culture. I was particularly intrigued by the author's ideas about the emotional signicance of various family relationships. However, the members of the particular family that the author studied closely seemed very damaged psychologically. It was painful to read about the sadistic and masochistic games they played with each other, and especially with the children. Their life histories suggest that they were affected by poverty, parental loss and abuse, all of which may be common in Tamil Nadu but are not intrinsic to the culture. The author acknowledges the "eccentricity" of the family, but "pathology" might be a more accurate term. My own experience with a Tamil family has been very different.
stimulating and memorable
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
I read this book for the first time over 3 years ago, and have come again for a second read. The book had enlightened me for my trip to Tamil Nadu and how to relate to people in Tamil Nadu. What I liked most about the book was Margaret's open and accepting attitude that I felt throughout the book in her experiencing various and very radically different things than we are used to in USA. The moment which stuck out most for me was when she described how an elder was caring for a baby and had in some way touched the baby in a way that in US we would find odd. The way she wrote it I could completely relate to her situation, and having seen such activities in India itself, I remembered Margaret's book. It is written in a very reader-friendly way and as a reader, I was able to visualize her stay and feel her emotions in a way many authors are not able to express, especially in an anthropological account. I highly recommend this book for any anthropology, cultural studies, Indian studies or anyone interested in reading an interesting account of India.
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