Colonialism and apartheid stimulated varying responses among Xhosa speakers in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Among some, a rural homestead, agricultural practices, and an agrarian lifestyle became a primary means of resisting social injustices and incorporation into the wider political and economic system. In this respect, maize beer rituals became crucial for developing and maintaining rural social and economic relations, inculcating the values that supported these, and providing a viable view of the world that afforded an alternative to the disillusionment associated with black urban areas. This book demonstrates the way beer drinking rituals worked toward these aims, the various types of rituals that developed, and how they sought to instill a rural Xhosa habitus in the face of almost overwhelming odds. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, University of Pittsburgh.
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Editorial Reviews
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...this vivid, comprehensive study of patterns and variations within a single society makes the subject come alive as few other studies have done. --CHOICE Magazine
McAllister's focus on the community-building role of beer drinking rituals in Xhosa society greatly contributes to the growing body of anthropological literature on alcohol. This book is a must read for serious scholars of African anthropology, colonial and postcolonial studies. --Journal of Anthropological Research
This is a respectful book about beer drinking and this respect is inherent in the author's attitude toward research. Patrick McAllister discovered while researching labour migration and ritual that he should be led by what Xhosa considered as ritual and not what the researcher defines as ritual. From this new perspective, the importance of beer drinking became obvious and this gives the book the hallmark of good anthropological work: we get to know the logic of a society that is very different from our own. --Development and Change
McAllister's focus on the community-building role of beer drinking rituals in Xhosa society greatly contributes to the growing body of anthropological literature on alcohol. This book is a must read for serious scholars of African anthropology, colonial and postcolonial studies. --Journal of Anthropological Research
This is a respectful book about beer drinking and this respect is inherent in the author's attitude toward research. Patrick McAllister discovered while researching labour migration and ritual that he should be led by what Xhosa considered as ritual and not what the researcher defines as ritual. From this new perspective, the importance of beer drinking became obvious and this gives the book the hallmark of good anthropological work: we get to know the logic of a society that is very different from our own. --Development and Change
About the Author
Patrick A. McAllister is a professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
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