01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Who this book is for
For students investigating how apparently ordinary moral relations connect with sacred power and social organisation. Pitt-Rivers moves between ethnographic settings and theoretical problems, with editors supplying a substantial introduction. The omnibus is a way into a particular anthropological project, not a comprehensive introduction to every theory of kinship or religion.
Prerequisites
Introductory social anthropology and familiarity with ethnographic comparison are recommended. Review reciprocity, kinship and ritual. Some chapters draw on historical, biblical or classical materials that may need contextual reading.
What it covers
Four parts gather twenty essays on honour and grace; uncertain relations between kin, friends, hosts and guests; transformative rites; and concepts, fieldwork and contextual analysis. Mediterranean and other materials connect hospitality, sacrifice, pain, sanctuary and social status. The collection makes relations between ideas and practices visible while preserving arguments written at different moments rather than presenting a single newly composed textbook.
How to use it
Read the editors’ introduction, then pair a chapter on hospitality or kinship with one on ritual transformation. Map the obligations created when someone becomes a guest, friend or ritual relative, including ambiguities about power and reciprocity. Identify what changes before and after a rite and what evidence supports the claimed transformation. Compare the explanatory role of honour and grace without treating them as timeless properties of a population. Record the chapter’s original context and formulate a case that would complicate its argument.
Edition and sources
HAU published the omnibus in 2017 with editing by Giovanni da Col and Andrew Shryock. The publisher-hosted complete PDF contains the full collection; the ISBN identifies the paperback. It retains rights notices and reproduced material permissions, so free reading does not imply a blanket CC licence. Use the actual PDF contents rather than shorter, inconsistent promotional page counts. Official complete reading route.
