The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village (Princeton Legacy Library, 1226) - Softcover

Behar, Ruth

9780691028668: The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village (Princeton Legacy Library, 1226)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691028664 ISBN 13: 9780691028668

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1991

Alive with the voices of both historical and contemporary villagers, this study of a northern Spanish community shows how the residents of Santa Maria del Monte have acted together at critical times to ensure the survival of their traditional forms of social organization. The survival of these forms has allowed the villagers, in turn, to weather demographic, political, and economic crises over the centuries. Through case studies gathered in the course of fieldwork and textual analysis of local family and council documents, Ruth Behar brings a new level of historicity to ethnography. "That peasant communities struggle over many generations to defend and redefine their traditions is one of the many lessons to be found in Santa Maria del Monte, an impressive foray into historical ethnography." -James S. Amelang, The New York Times Book Review "One should read this book with leisure, to savor the emotive beauty of Ruth Behar's encounter with the enduring way of life of a village in northern Spain. ... [The work] promises to become a classic." -Richard Herr, Agricultural History .. anthropologists, historians, rural sociologists, and students of culture and power have much to draw from this finely textured book." --Gary W. McDonogh, Ethnohistory "This lucidly written and beautifully produced work, which includes stunning photographs taken by the author, deserves a wide circulation among students of European peasantries." -Peter Sahlins, Journal of Social History Ruth Behar is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan.

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About the Author:

Ruth Behar is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan and the author of "Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story" (1993). Deborah Gordon is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at Wichita State University.

From Library Journal:

Based on fieldwork from 1978 to 1981 in a small village in northern Spain, this is a well-written study of the role of the past in the lives of the people of Santa Maria del Monte. Both documents and case studies are used as source materials, resulting in a multifaceted historical ethnography that reconstructs aspects of the villagers' lives, including family and community, the rural landscape, the house (both architecturally and familial relationships), and social organization. Behar captures well the sense of the past and its presence in village life, and her attention to the role of the written word is uncommon in cultural anthropology studies of this kind. The epilogue, written after a three years' absence, records significant changes in village life. An engrossing study for cultural anthropology and Hispanic studies collections. Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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