Purity and danger : an analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo

Purity and Danger is acknowledged as a modern masterpiece of anthropology. It is widely cited in non-anthropological works and gave rise to a body of application, rebuttal and development within anthropology.

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LibraryThing member Crowyhead

A highly influential, and also highly readable, classic of anthropology. I really, really love this book -- it brings out my geekiness to a high degree. I expect some of the ideas may be dated at this point, but I know that many of her theories are still highly regarded, nearly 40 years later.

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LibraryThing member hrissliss

Written by a social anthropologist, this work studies the way in which religions structure 'pollution' and sacred influences. She analyzes how religions not only create laws, but how those laws have an inner consistency related to social/economic/environmental influences.
I think of this book as a

sort of addendum to Eliade's "Sacred and Profane". It works with many of the same concepts, and often works off of Eliade's conclusions. Again, it's rather important if you're curious about the study of religion. My only problem with it is that Douglas hasn't gotten past that superior mentality the British suffer from. Well, it's more of a shared malady among white christians living in capitalist societies, really...but periodically having a supposedly balanced book devote pages and paragraphs to exactly why the Christian capitalist system is oh so much better than these poor 'primitives' is distracting and distasteful. Most of the ideas were good, but the fact that she's approaching the cross cultural studies with the assumption that her culture is the shiznit makes me distrust her. 6/10

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LibraryThing member thcson

Lots of stories in this book, but there's no coherent analysis. I don't understand why so many people consider it a small classic. In my opinion, this is not what anthropology should be. If the title claims an analysis, the author should analyze.

LibraryThing member Hebephrene

This book consists of a lot of squabbling with other anthropologists and one needs to be familiar with the work of those whom Douglas disagrees with to follow much of the early part. Suffice it to say Fraser is particularly singled out for some rough treatment over his proclivity to apply personal

psychology to groups. She likes , as much as she likes anyone, Durkheim for his belief that the primary role of religion is to enforce social cohesion and form. I would have greatly preferred to have begun with some definitions rather than to jump in with controversy, a kind of in media res opening. It does not help that she isn't a very graceful writer. That said towards the end she talks about how a society structures a theology that must incorporate what stands outside of it, i.e. how to account for evil. Discord is a theme as she represents the notion that dirt and pollution represent disorder and chaos. She investigated the Lele tribe which was obsessed with form and food with extensive prohibitions. She uses their pangolin cult to illustrate the outlier aspect of the Lele embracing that which defies their extensive categorizing.

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