The Todas (Cambridge Library Collection - Anthropology) - Softcover

Rivers, William Halse Rivers

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108079121 ISBN 13: 9781108079129

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2018

Synopsis

A qualified physician with interests including neurology and psychotherapy, W. H. R. Rivers (1864–1922) was influential in the rise of experimental psychology as an academic discipline. He also pioneered the 'talking cure' for shell shock during the First World War. In 1897 Rivers was appointed a University Lecturer at Cambridge, and the following year he joined a Cambridge expedition to the Torres Strait to study the indigenous people's powers of perception. Rivers' experiences in the Torres Strait kindled his interest in anthropology and kinship systems, and in 1901–2 he obtained a grant to study the genealogies and customs of the Todas, inhabitants of a high plateau in south-west India. This illustrated book, published in 1906 and regarded as a standard ethnography for half a century, was the result. It focuses on the Todas' elaborate dairy rituals, and the prayers associated with them, before describing many other beliefs, customs and ceremonies.

About this title

Book Description

A physician and psychotherapist, W. H. R. Rivers (1864–1922) was also interested in anthropology. In 1901–2 he studied the genealogies and customs of the Todas, inhabitants of a high plateau in south-west India. This illustrated book, published in 1906, was regarded as a standard ethnography for half a century.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108079121
• ISBN 13: 9781108079129
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 784