About the House L}}vi-Strauss and Beyond [Paperback]

Exploring interrelationships, this collection analyzes house systems in Southeast Asia and South America. It is inspired by Lévi-Strauss's suggestion that the multi-functional noble houses of Medieval Europe were the best-known examples of a widespread social institution.Exploring interrelationships, this collection analyzes house systems in Southeast Asia and South America. It is inspired by Lévi-Strauss's suggestion that the multi-functional noble houses of Medieval Europe were the best-known examples of a widespread social institution.The domestic unit is inseparable from its homestead, and the house, at once a physical place and a social unit, is often also a unit of production and consumption, a cult group, and even a political faction. Inspired by Lévi-Strauss' suggestion that the multi-functional noble houses of Medieval Europe were simply the best-known examples of a widespread social institution, the contributors to this collection analyze house systems in Southeast Asia and South America, exploring the interrelationships among buildings, people, and ideas. They reveal some of the ways in which houses can stand for social groups and serve as images of process and order.1. Introduction Janet Carsten and Stephen Hugh-Jones; 2. Houses and hierarchies in island Southeast Asia Roxana Waterson; 3. The resurrection of the house amongst the Zafimaniry of Madagascar Maurice Bloch; 4. The hearth-group, the conjugal couple and the symbolism of the rice meal among the Kelabit of Sarawak Monica Janowski; 5. Houses in Langkawi: stable structures or mobile homes? Janet Carsten; 6. Having your house and eating it: houses and siblings in Ara, South Sulawesi Thomas Gibson; 7. The Lio house: building, category, idea, value Signe Howell; 8. Houses and hierarchy: the view from a South Moluccan society Susan McKinnon; 9. Houses, places and people: community and continuity in Guiana Peter Riviere; 10. The houses of Mebengokre (Kayapo) of CentrlC5