Food, Community, and the Spirit World: An Indian Village Study

by Stanley Regelson, Suzanne L Hanchett (Editor)

Overview

This is a detailed ethnographic study of food beliefs and practices in a rural community of Hassan District, Karnataka State (formerly Mysore), India. The author is an anthropological linguist who resided in the locality for almost two years in 1966-67. He provides the reader with an unusually detailed view of the intersections of language, food, and social relationships. Food is viewed as an important structuring aspect of the Hindu world view, a way that people symbolically represent and reproduce their own identities, gender relationships, and the differences among local castes and sub-castes. The roles of foods and food exchange in weddings, ancestor ceremonies, and other family ceremonies is explored. The area visited no longer exists, having been submerged by a dam project; but the reader has an opportunity to probe deeply into the life of a community as it was fifty years ago. Includes Bibliography, Index, and numerous illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798986876900
Publisher:	Development Resources Press
Publication date:	02/20/2023
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Stanley Regelson is an anthropological linguist who did ethnographic fieldwork in Karnataka State, India, in 1966-67. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He taught at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Lehman College, City University of New York.

Suzanne Hanchett, Ph.D., editor of this book, is a social anthropologist who accompanied the author during the 1966-67 field visit in Karnataka, India.