Myths of the Dog-Man [Paperback]

David Gordon White (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226895092 | ISBN-13: 978-0226895093 | Publication Date: May 7, 1991 | Edition: 1

"An impressive and important cross-cultural study that has vast implications for history, religion, anthropology, folklore, and other fields. . . . Remarkably wide-ranging and extremely well-documented, it covers (among much else) the following: medieval Christian legends such as the 14th-century Ethiopian Gadla Hawaryat (Contendings of the Apostles) that had their roots in Parthian Gnosticism and Manichaeism; dog-stars (especially Sirius), dog-days, and canine psychopomps in the ancient and Hellenistic world; the cynocephalic hordes of the ancient geographers; the legend of Prester John; Visvamitra and the Svapacas ("Dog-Cookers"); the Dog Rong ("warlike barbarians") during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods; the nochoy ghajar (Mongolian for "Dog Country") of the Khitans; the Panju myth of the Southern Man and Yao "barbarians" from chapter 116 of the History of the Latter Han and variants in a series of later texts; and the importance of dogs in ancient Chinese burial rites. . . . Extremely well-researched and highly significant."—Victor H. Mair, Asian Folklore Studies

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Gordon White is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He divides his time among the United States, Europe, and India.

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 7, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226895092
• ISBN-13: 978-0226895093
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #835,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cynocephaloi and David White's Work, December 10, 2000

By 

Anna Johnson-Betty "GuNBiTCH" (Cambridge MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Myths of the Dog-Man (Paperback)

David White's "Myths of the Dog Men" is a fascinating read. It is a non-fiction work about past Eurasian fictional notions, specifically about the way dogs and dog-headed men appear in myths in China, India, and Europe. Our oldest companion, dogs naturally play important roles in human culture and were/are a source of fertile imaginings, but White is interested in a specific myth-complex that he sees as having common origins and mutually influencing relationships.

White's collection of dog-man myths, motifs, and images are not collected in a scattered, Frazerian way; he translates his rather unusual topic into a fascinating, insightful, and satisfyingly comprehensive book that does not fall prey to "patchwork" problems so often encountered in works that analyse recurrent myths in different societies. White covers issues of Orientalism and other ethnocentric bigotries about liminal ethnic groups from the earliest times as well as covering religious and romantic/entertainment motivations for constructing and repeating these myths. He also suggests a possible origin of these myths in that cauldron of ethnic crossways, Central Asia (what is sometimes called Serindia or the Silk Road region).

All in all, Myths of the Dog Men is a valuable and interesting work. It is a valuable scholarly book that provides the reader with information, theory, AND entertainment, and for that reason I highly recommend it for both specialist and interested layperson. Talk about a great resource for the fiction writer ...

3 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not reliable, May 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Myths of the Dog-Man (Paperback)

I am so disappointed with White's scholarship, that I would not recommend this book.