Tradition as Truth & Communication: A Cognitive Description of Traditional Discourse (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)

Boyer

ISBN 10: 0521024668 / ISBN 13: 9780521024662

Published by Cambridge University Press 2008-01-12, 2008

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9780521024662

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Tradition as Truth & Communication: A Cognitive Description of Traditional Discourse (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press 2008-01-12
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521024668
• ISBN 13: 9780521024662
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Tradition is a central concept in the social sciences, but it is commonly treated as unproblematic. Dr. Boyer insists that social anthropology requires a theory of tradition, its constitution and transmission. He treats tradition "as a type of interaction which results in the repetition of certain communicative events," and therefore as a form of social action. Tradition as Truth and Communication deals particularly with oral communication and focuses on the privileged role of licensed speakers and the ritual contexts in which certain aspects of tradition are characteristically transmitted. Drawing on cognitive psychology, Dr. Boyer proposes a set of general hypotheses to be tested by ethnographic field research. He has opened up an important new field for investigation within social anthropology.

Book Description

Tradition as Truth and Communication deals particularly with oral communication and focuses on the privileged role of licensed speakers and the ritual contexts in which certain aspects of tradition are characteristically transmitted. Drawing on cognitive psychology, Dr Boyer proposes a set of general hypotheses to be tested by ethnographic field research.