Mary Douglas (1) (1921–2007)
Author of Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo
Mary Douglas (1) has been aliased into Mary Douglas.
Works by Mary Douglas
Works have been aliased into Mary Douglas.
Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (1966) 1,124 copies, 9 reviews
Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technological and Environmental Dangers (1982) 81 copies
In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament) (1993) 46 copies
Associated Works
Works have been aliased into Mary Douglas.
Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law and Literature in Honor of… (1995) — Contributor — 39 copies
The Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum) (2002) — Contributor — 21 copies
Catholicism and Catholicity: Eucharistic Communities in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (1999) — Contributor — 12 copies
Literary imagination, ancient and modern : essays in honor of David Grene (1999) — Contributor — 7 copies
Pindar's Poetry, Patrons, and Festivals: From Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire (2007) — Contributor — 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Douglas, Mary
- Legal name
- Tew, Margaret Mary (birth)
- Birthdate
- 1921-03-25
- Date of death
- 2007-05-16
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- England
UK - Birthplace
- San Remo, Italy
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Cause of death
- cancer
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Education
- University of Oxford (BA | 1943 | 1947 - St Anne's College)
Oxford University (D.Phil | 1952)
Sacred Heart Convent School - Occupations
- anthropologist
professor - Relationships
- Douglas, James Alexandre Thomas (husband)
- Organizations
- University of London
Russell Sage Institute
Northwestern University
Princeton University - Awards and honors
- Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire (2006)
Fellow, British Academy (1989)
Commander, Order of the British Empire (1992)
Academia Europaea (1988)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974)
Marianist Award (2001)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 30
- Also by
- 10
- Members
- 2,586
- Popularity
- #9,934
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 14
- ISBNs
- 242
- Languages
- 15
- Favorited
- 2
On Concentration
The undergraduate who appears to be in possession of a supernormal power may merely be someone who is capable of a sustained effort beyond that which is strictly necessary for his courses. Meanwhile, the rest of the class appears to be caught in a quiet despair; between a desire for phantastic self advancement and the intense aversion to "doing work." The Bard is speaking to such a state when he has King Richard remark, "Beshrew thee, cousin, which didst lead me forth Of that sweet way I was in to despair! (Richard II) (Kierkegaard is fond enough of this phrase to quote it directly in The Sickness Unto Death (63).) (Not the only way in which the student and the monarch are alike.) Adorno speaks more directly to this subject in DoE, "The [undergraduates], whose lives are split between school and private life, their private life between ostentation and intimacy, their intimacy between the sullen community of relationship and the bitter solace of being entirely alone, at odds with themselves and with everyone, are virtually already [graduates], who are at once enthusiastic and fed up." (Dialectic of Enlightenment, 125) This whole time, such an intensity is existing entirely as undercurrent, with little or nothing to do with the course material being pursued. It was under such circumstances that I found myself, in an interview, unable to describe the most "impactful" course I had ever taken (had anything been worthwhile?).
An apropos response came to mind, unfortunately, several hours later when I recalled the most boring course I had ever taken. Administered in 12-seat conference room — nowhere to hide (attendance dropped to four students by the second week), our lecturer would opine for 90 minutes on a subject of his choosing. Amicable as he was — and amicability being crucial as a less well-liked lecturer wouldn't command such attention — it was difficult to be believe a professor of folklore could be so boring. Speaking at length, uninterrupted, he would often recall that episode in his youth in which he had met Ben Gurion on the Sde Boker kibbutz. (In my internet search preparing this review, I found that our professor has unfortunately passed away in 2023, though, per the eulogy of the American Folklore Society, he upheld his vow never to retire.) Such material qualitatively exceeded prior categories of boredom. It was as if we were, "negotiating boredom as one would a terrain, its levels and forests and endless wastes," (DFW, Pale King) (Though I resist, by reason of horror vacui DFW's ontological implication that, "There may be more to [boredom]... as in vastly more, right here before us all, hidden by virtue of its size.") Such experiences recall Sebald's adaptable phrase from Austerlitz, "that [Boredom] will not pass away, has not passed away, that I can turn back and go behind it," That's to say, at the very least, it was a worthwhile experience as grist for a future assistance to concentration (as a supernormal power).
For several weeks this course was also audited by an interested community busybody (likely deriving a very similar experience), who would pose the occasional question. On the subject of Abrahamic dietary restrictions, in which he displayed sustained interest, I recall the our professor answered in much the same way as Douglas, by also cautioning "medical materialism" and instead proposing the dietary interdiction on the basis of the "liminal category." Our professor's advantage over Douglas, who is doing comparative anthropology with similar "facility" (pejorative sense) as Freud in his Totem and Taboo, is the concentration on minutiae which is the sign of actual engagement with the material before the "facile" intercession of the abstracting Theory — but also therefore painfully boring. (Douglas's advantage is the happy use of Mosaic, as in, "related to Moses.") There's something to be said for the fact that, when evenly applied, the professor's (juridical) concentration cannot be distinguished from "[the beating of] criminals [to take them confess]" (Visuddhimagga).… (more)