Inuit morality play : the emotional education of a three-year-old
Jean L. Briggs takes us through six months of dramatic interactions in the life of Chubby Maata, a three-year-old girl growing up in a Baffin Island hunting camp. The book examines the issues that engaged the child - belonging, possession, love - and shows the process of her growing. Briggs questions the nature of "sharedness" in culture and assumptions about how culture is transmitted. She suggests that both cultural meanings and strong personal commitment to one's world can be (and perhaps must be) acquired not by straightforwardly learning attitudes, rules, and habits in a dependent mode but by experiencing oneself as an agent engaged in productive conflict in emotionally problematic situations. Briggs finds that dramatic play is an essential force in Inuit social life. It creates and supports values; engenders and manages attachments and conflicts; and teaches and maintains an alert, experimental, constantly testing approach to social relationships.
Record details
- ISBN: 0300072376
- ISBN: 9780300072372
- ISBN: 0300080646
- ISBN: 9780300080643
- Physical Description: xix, 275 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, ©1998.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-275). |
Formatted Contents Note: | People -- Place -- Homes -- Introduction: Individuals in culture -- Chubby Maata's world -- "Because you're a baby" -- "Are you a baby?" -- "Want to come live with me?" -- "Who do you like?" -- "I like you, I don't like you": Anthropologist in the oyster shell -- Conclusion: Mazes of meaning. |
Action Note: | Self-Renewing 2017 |
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Homer Public Library | 971.95 BRI (Text) | 000150345 | Nonfiction | Available | - |