Sanuma Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in Times of Crisis (New Directions in Anthro Writing) [Paperback]

Alcida Rita Ramos (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Directions in Anthro Writing | Publication Date: August 15, 1995

A masterpiece. This is a book both broad and deep, both historical and structural, vividly presenting individuals and placing them in the sweep of social and historical process. A major contribution is the new perspective it offers on the role of time in the organization of society. It could become an anthropological classic.Waud Kracke, author of Force and Persuasion: Leadership in an Amazonian Society The Yanomami people of Brazil first attracted anthropological and popular attention in the 1960s, when they were portrayed as essentially primitive and violent in the widely read book Yanomamo: The Fierce People. To this image of the Yanomami another has recently been added: that of victims of the economic rapacity devouring the Amazon. Sanum Memories moves beyond these images to provide the first anthropologically sophisticated account of the Yanomami and their social organization, kinship, and marriage, capturing both individual experiences and the broader sociological trends that engulf them. A poignant personal story as well, it draws on Alcida Ramos's extensive fieldwork among the Sanum (the northernmost Yanomami subgroup) from 1968 to 1992, as she reports on the brutal impact of many invasionsfrom road construction to the gold rush that brought the Yanomami social chaos, thousands of deaths, devastation of gardens and forest, and a disquietingly uncertain future. At the cutting edge of anthropological description and analysis, Sanum Memories ponders the importance of "otherness" to the Sanum; describes Sanum spaces, from the grandiosity of the rain forest to cozy family compartments; analyzes their notions of time, from the minute reckoning of routine village life to historical and metaphysical macro-time; shows how power and authority are generated and allocated in space and time; and examines the secrecy of personal names and the all-pervading consequences of disclosing them. "Ramos's study is anthropologically sophisticated and ethnographically fascinating. She has been able to construct a particularly refined and compelling account of important problems presented by one of the most interesting indigenous groups in South America, an account that reflects her years of careful and insightful thinking about Sanum."Donald Pollock, State University of New York at Buffalo

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A masterpiece. This is a book both broad and deep, both historical and structural, vividly presenting individuals and placing them in the sweep of social and historical process. A major contribution is the new perspective it offers on the role of time in the organization of society. It could become an anthropological classic.”—Waud Kracke, author of Force and Persuasion: Leadership in an Amazonian Society

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Portugese --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (August 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299146545
• ISBN-13: 978-0299146542
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,483,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ethnographic Masterpiece, December 11, 1997

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This review is from: Sanuma Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in Times of Crisis (New Directions in Anthro Writing) (Paperback)

For anyone interested in the ethnology of South America, this book is essential. Although Ramos spent less time among the Yanomami than anthropologists such as Lizot and (the now discredited) Chagnon, hers is the principal work on the Brazilian Yanomami, and is a beautifully written, very philosophical book which not only discusses the culture, but includes some very insightful remarks on the nature of anthropological research. The final chapter describes her exhausting and nearly fatal trip with a medical team to help the malaria-stricken Indians during the Brazilian gold rush. Also an impressive translation by the author.