Human Types Book

HUMAN TYPES by RAYMOND FIRTH THOMAS NELSON AND SONS LTD LONDON EDINBURGH PARIS MELBOURNE TORONTO AND NEW YORK First published in this series 1938 Reprinted ip-M, 943 P 5 ip47 Raymond rth Av tmlian , ift, ii, i AVt SAVAGE CHILDHOOD A Polynesian boy of Tikopia CONTENTS I. RACIAL TRAITS AND MENTAL DIFFERENCES . 7 II. MAN AND NATURE 40 III. WORK AND WEALTH OF PRIMITIVE COM MUNITIES 71 IV. SOME PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE . 98 V. THE REGULATION OF CONDUCT . . . 126 VI. REASON AND UNREASON IN HUMAN BELIEF. 150 VII. ANTHROPOLOGY IN MODERN LIFE . . .184 LIST OF WORKS FOR FURTHER READING . 203 MAPS SHOWING POSITION OF PEOPLES MEN TIONED 206 INDEX 209 FOREWORD IN this small book I have tried to present the outlines of the main problems discussed and conclusions reached in modern social anthro pology. The treatment has of necessity been of a summary kind, and I nave been content to state a position rather than to discuss the arguments by which it has been attained. On the broad issues I imagine that most anthropologists and many other people will be in agreement, though some ot the conclusions are still a matter of debate. This is, if anything, an advantage. To adapt a recent remark of a character in one of Georges Dub-amds novels While great men oppose each other thought marches on just the same the monument of knowledge is built through conflict of opinions. Most of the examples I give arc drawn from recent field-work. They do not appear in the usual textbooks, and are often to be seen only in articles in periodicals. As far as space has permitted I have given the sources in the List of Works at the end, but I take this opportunity of acknowledging the assistance I have received from their authors, even where it has not been possible to give full reference. To Dr. G. M. Morant for Chapter L, to Mr. W. E. H. Stanncr, and to my wife I am particularly indebted for help in discussion and to Mr. Y. G. J. Sheddick for help in preparing some of the diagrams. For convenience I have used the terms primitive and primi tive society freely throughout the book. This does not mean to imply that there is a unitary character in native societies all over the world, but merely that they present certain broad differences from the type of society which we ordinarily think of as civilized. R. F. VI HUMAN TYPES CHAPTER I RACIAL TRAITS AND MENTAL DIFFERENCES IN greeting each other Englishmen shake hands Frenchmen in exalted moments embrace and kiss on both cheeks a polite Austrian salutes a ladys hand with his lips and Polynesians press noses. Each of these different codes of manners seems reasonable to those who practise it, but to the others who do not it is looked upon with amusement or ridicule. In most of India and the Mohammedan world women veil the face as well as the body in Europe they cover the body but expose the face in many parts of Africa and the South Seas they leave the breasts bare, and in some regions they go entirely naked. In each case no shame is felt by the people themselves, though we think veiling the face stupid, and baring the body improper. When Chinese and Eskimo women wear trousers we think it quaint, yet in Europe women wear them for sport because they are more practical. Differences in more fundamental sex relations arouse our deep emotions. In Western civilization monogamy is the ideal form of marriage, enforced by the Law and the Church. Elsewhere polygamy is often common, but we think it disgusting and immoral, though some 7 HUMAN TYPES countries allow it by their religion, and others justify it for economic reasons or for the preservation of the health of the growing child. In Europe again the moral code upholds chastity for both sexes before marriage, though in practice it is relaxed for men, and is now less strict than formerly for women. In many native com munities pre-marital sex relations of more or less intimacy are expected of young people...Read More