Papers in Honor of Melville J. Herskovits: Gossip and Scandal Author(s): Max Gluckman Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 4, No.

3 (Jun., 1963), pp. 307-316 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2739613 . Accessed: 28/07/2011 12:56
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Papersin Honor of MelvilleJ.Herskovits

Gossipand Scandal
by Max qluckman
IT HAS TAKEN the development of anthropological individual... the same rightto indulgein slander, and break-up smallgroups gossip, of interest the growth in outbursts conceit, of jealously, etc.,thathe has perspective, to givevent themore proper to to putgossip and scandalintotheir respectable emotions." Radin's was societaland cultural theory thusmuchlessacutethanhisobservations as amongthe most important we Perceptive of gossip.He may have confused maintenance phenomena are called upon to analyse. the of of from the a surface goodrelations anthropologists withthesephenomena dealt between leaders with actual Paul Radin, in his good relations, he clearly early days of field observation. but detected how theycomdescribed peted through (1927:177-8), Primitive as a Philosopher Man gossip,withoutbeing able to weave thisinto a theory. theway in which This is partlyunderstandable in of of and the persistent terms the background analyticalideas at the are among most primitive people indeed for same Contestants the honours, pos- timehe wrote, of though yearearlier, a inveterategossips. Malinowski had the nar- presented theory mythas a social charter rites thetribe, authorized of of sessors thesacred his of for as doubt to the existing all rators legends, leaveyou in little of social arrangements the basis of a man's on of "Ignoramus,"boaststhathe had theprivilege tella certain and colleagues. character proficiencytheir to myth bandied (Mythin Primitive "liar" "braggart," not and infrequently areliberally Psychology, 1926). about. "some observers In his study of a Trinidad Village (1947:185), that therefore Radin commented probedmuchmoredeeplyinto gossipas that not love, kindness, Herskovits have drawn the conclusion a cultural phenomenon. discusses prosecutions He how and forbearance, envy,slanderand hate are the but and jailingof a sectcalled the Shouters "give riseto He of dominant community." atmosphere a primitive becausethe "unkind gossip about the eventsthat led to the suppressed arguedthat thiswas incorrect, tales witha mixture bandiedabout meetings, thatare toldand retold and slanderous remarks frequently so He to the principals of relishand sympathy." proceeds show how do not engender feudsand thatoften and pointsof view influence this Radin dismissed popular attitudes are concerned on verygood terms." gossip, that"fantasy so supplements evensupplants or was the idea thatthiscontradiction to be explained into but or by "suppression sublimation"; he fellback on factin orderto weave morecloselya new motif of againstdiscrimination." has that a meagre thesis, tribalsociety a the old pattern grievance psychological blamedthelocal minister gossip for of whichgives"every Thus oft-repeated of theory freedom expression a first series arrests Shouters, it was alleged of of for thathe was piqued becausethe Shouters had drawn MAX GLUCKMAN is Professor of Social Anthropologyat the away his own congregation. Prominent laymenof a Victoria Universityof Manchester,England. Born in 1911, he recognized church were accusedin gossipof leading was educated in Johannesburgand as a Rhodes Scholar at the police to a Shouters' Oxford (D.Phil., 1936). He carried out lengthyfield research Herskovits relates meeting. among the Zulu and the Barotse and shortersurveysin other this gossip to allegations those of lower socioby Rhodesian tribes. He was Director of the Rhodes-Livingstone economic positionthat the discrimination larger of Institute'of Social Studies in British Central Africa (1939and wealthier denominations achieved passing had the at Lecturer Oxford (19471947), beforebecominga University of theordinance the in forbidding Shouters order"to 9), whence he established the Department of Social Anthropology and Sociology at Manchester.He has been editor of the a suppress dangerous rivalin thequestforsouls." Institutepublications. Rhodes-Livingstone In another connects studyHerskovits gossipwith Gluckman's main publications are on politics and law, inthe maintenance morals.In his Life in a Haitian of cluding a series of books and essays on the Barotse and a Valley (1937:74f) he analyses songs sung at the number of essays on the Zulu, as well as collaborativework on the Rhodesian Tonga and Lamba. Also, he has published combites: working-bees-the general theoretical work, including Custom and Conflict in Atthe combiteman only a Africa and Rule, Law and Ritual in Tribal Society (in press), not learns the all gossip the of with contributions Essays on the Ritual of Social Relations to day,butenjoys learning singing songs and the which causand Closed Systemsand Open Minds: The Limits of Naivete comment the on shortcomings tically ofneighbours, orevalin Social Anthropology press), both of which last he edited. (in uatethehospitality those of whohavecalledcombites, or A collection of his essays has just been published under the detail scandal, phrased with sufficient directness allow to title Order and Rebellion in Tribal Africa. thereference thesong remain of to but so ctear, warily, as Max Gluckman's paper is the third in a series, edited by notto givetheindividual grounds direct for recrimination. Francis L. K. Hsu and Alan P. Merriam specially prepared to As we shallsee,all thelessons successful of scandalhonorMelville J. Herskovits.The entireseries,when completed, will constitute new type of Festschrift a (CA 4:92). are in mongering compressed Herskovits' fewwords.

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He goes on to explainhow thismakesthe leaderof against the canons of the Church. Yet it is possible to it, for feared, as one Haitianexpressed "The show that among relatively small groups, gossip, in thesongs is all its very many varieties,is a culturallydetermined and [leader] is a journalist, everysimidor simidor on process, which has its own customaryrules, trespass here Herskovits-anticipating theanalysis a Judas!" of depend-givesexamples these beyond which is heavily sanctioned. I propose to whichI shallmainly "amonga people illustratethe social affiliationsof this process and to to songs showhow theyfindfavour to whosenaturallove of gossipis added a patterned suggestthat gossip,and even scandal, have important short- positive virtues. Clearly they maintain the unity, of for relish obliquepublicstatement individual inhospitality morals and values of social groups.Beyond this,they which scorn songs cites He comings." then cousins, enable these groups to control the competingcliques two first between a and meanness, love affair of wherea suspicion magic and aspiringindividualsof which all groupsare comquarrel and an impending and finallya song which was a posed. And finally,they make possible the selection entered, practices in boastedof his equality of leaders withoutembarrassment. challenge whichthe singer The one theme of my argumentwas clearly exwithanother. of of The connection gossipwiththe maintenance pressedin JaneAusten'snovel,Emma, that penetrating was takena analysis of the small village of Highbury in Surrey. the unityof groupsand theirmorality the of Westin hisstudy Plainsville, You may remember passage when the elite of the by stepfurther James U.S.A., (1945:99-107, 162), a Middle West town; village were to gather for Christmasdinner at Mr. of beginning an analysiswhich Weston's house. Among themwas Mr. JohnKnightly, and thisis the first the demonstrates pervasiverole of gossip in com- who had left Highbury to practise law in London. and As he was driven throughthe snow to Mr. Weston's, vividlythe"loafing life.' West describes munity to the and creates sugges- he grumbled his companions: gossip"groupsof Plainsville, of tive title"gossipcells."Thereare groups old men A man musthave a verygood opinionof himself when and old women,and men can only enterthe store he asks people to leave theirown fireside, encounter and in wherethe old womensit by indulging a joking- sucha day as this,forthe sake of coming see him.He to markedby sexual innuendo.He also mustthinkhimself mostagreeablefellow; I could not relationship, a women do sucha thing. is thegreatest one married It snowabsurdity-actually describes cliques, of young younger of not moment! folly people's staying home The at He married couples. says ingat this and oneof four"fast"young of thatin the groups old people thereis exchanging whentheycan! If we wereobligedto go out on suchan what a as of and garbling all news, thoughthe old men are evening this,by any call of dutyor business, hardship shoulddeemit;-and herewe are, probably we He too, thantheyoungwomenthink. states, kindlier than usual, setting thinner forward clothing progressive with ratherwithoutexcuse,in defianceof the voice of are thatthese groups on thewholeagainst voluntarily, that Finallyhe (p. 162) writes developments. nature whichtellsman,in everything givento his view or to and with his feelings, stay at homehimself, keep all under concern the seems religion topermeate air. . . as a vital that to forward spend set the which churches up. shelter he can;-here are we setting conduct on the negotiationsmoral to of through five dull hoursin anotherman's house,with nothing control morals mainly operates The religious and laugh say or to hearthatwas not said and heardyesterday, suspect, report, of People and gossip thefear gossip. Going in and of the at,andcondemn peccadilloes others, walkand may not be said and heard again tomorrow. dismalweather, return to in probably worse;fourhorses in to behavecarefully avoid beingcaught any trifling and four servants takenout fornothing to convey but five own.... of missteps their
have had at home. in withthebook pany thantheymight passages conjunction Takingthese of to as a whole, begins geta feeling a community Five idle creatureswere being taken that night to one its and heldtogether maintains values spend their time in idle gossip with other idle creawhichis partly cliquesand tures. bothwithin and by gossiping scandalizing That for in general. must We giveWestfullcredit hisgreat And on theday theyhad chattedthe same idle gossip. but perhapsbecausehe was same idle followingday, they would engage in the achievement; pioneering gossip. Now, the kind of he a pioneer was notable to graspthefullimportance societydescribedby Miss obviously, incountryupper Austen-the He of his own discoveries. did not bringout that circles of early nineteenthcentury England-gossip life, gossipdoes not have isolatedrolesin community was not idle, but is part of theveryblood and tissueof thatlife. more idle the though the creatureswere. In fact the creatures,the less idle was the gossip. this BeforeI examine studywhichdemonstrated a These were people living on land, rents and giltTheir at terms ourproblems. I fully, glancein general othersby by is importance indicated the factthateverysingle edged shares,markingthemselvesoff from talking about one another. And talking about one day,and fora largepartof each day,mostof us are anotherwas a groupI engagedin gossiping. imaginethat if we were to an elite-in what helped maintainthemasthey lived. the wider society in which gossiping of keepa record howwe useourwaking-time, John Knightly had would comeonly after"work"-for someof us-in Mr. in London; hence he left this society to practice law was intolerantof its gossip. aboutgossip His more comments thescore. popular Nevertheless, intelligent, very high-principled and brother, chanceand haphazard tendto treatit as something of. and oftenas something be disapproved It is joined in the gossip with interest,for he was still to
1 J draw attentionto Simmel's brief referenceto "gossip" as important the nuances of human interaction, in but he is led off from analysis by emphasisingthe betrayalof secrets,even though this is most importantin community gossip (The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 1950, p. 334).

idle shivering creatures colderroomsand worsecominto

fully absorbed in the social life of the village. But the right to gossip idly was severely restricted even within the Bristol, was pert and impertinent bride from circle; so that Mrs. Elton, the Rector's when she novelist Frank Swinnerton pointed quickly. The joined in that gossip too freelyand tooout that
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Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL Jane Austen uses gossip as a means of interrelating so her characters a commonsocial intercourse skillin fully, that Mr. Perry, the apothecary, never once position. Gossip here is a two-edged weapon; for it appears in person during the course of the book, yet also means that you have no ancestorsin the group in the gossip of otherswe see him as an individual, to be attacked through-in short that you have no theirdealings with one another(1939:16). influencing ancestors. And each time that someone in your Gossip of this kind is one of the chief weapons presencerefersto a scandal about another'sancestor, higherin status or even his own ancestor,he is gentlyrubbingin the which those who considerthemselves use to put those whom they consider lower in their fact that you have no ancestors and do not belong proper place. Huntin', fishin' and shootin',in them- properlyto the group, and are a parvenu. The third type of exclusive group is that which selves, as expensive recreationalactivities,may have thrustupon it-either by being in a by been-and may be-among thechiefsymbols which has exclusiveness by certain sets in England mark themselvesoff from minority, isolation of locality,or by other distinothers.But with the activitiesgoes a large measureof guishing criterionwhich the memberscannot overgossip which makes huntin', fishin', and shootin' a come. I shall illustrate the function of gossip and constantand endurin'bond between those who prac- scandal in this type of group in detail, since here (as phenomenawere most tice them-against thosewho do not. The Sphere,the far as I know) theseimportant Tattler, and othermagazines bear witness.The gossip fully subjected to an illuminating anthropological This was in Elizabeth Colson's studyof which accompaniesthese activitiesis interwovenwith investigation. taking up the Makah Indians (1953). I have selected her study a separate technicalJanguage.I remember of the sportsof ridingand sailing,and having to struggle for its detailed presentation my centraltheme,and to acquire these new technical languages which help of some of the complicatingpeculiaritiesthat enter make one a member of the fellowship. But when into the gossip of each type of group, because she it came to riding, I was never able to acquire the made manifestto me that gossip and scandal have gossip among thosewho rode-even in thesmall circles theirvirtues. of Johannesburg-and I always feltlost in the group. The Makah Indians were a small group of Red I was glad when the time came for me to slink away Indians residentin the Puget Sound area at the tip with my horse to carry out my field research in of Cape Flattery,opposite Vancouver Island. It was Zululand, until there again I found myselfexcluded estimated that -in 1780 they numbered some 2,000 from groups because I did not know enough gossip. people. A century later,smallpoxand othervicissitudes Gradually I learnt the gossip; but I never acquired had reduced them in number to under 700 and in enough certaintyin knowing when and, more im- 1942, when Dr. Colson studied them,therewere 400when not to use it, ever to become a mem- odd on the tribal roll. The Makah belonged to the portantly, ber of Zulu society. NorthwestCoast group of American Indians, famous of for theirperformance The more exclusive the group, the greaterwill be in anthropologicalliterature the amount of gossip in it. There are three formsof the potlatch. A potlatch was a ceremonial feast to The one is the which one group or individual invited social rivals in social group which testthis hypothesis. professional group, like lawyers or anthropologists, order to demonstratefamily prerogatives.The host so whose gossipis built into technicaldiscussion tightly aggressivelyasserted his and his family's ownership that the outsidercannot always detect the slightper- of particular propertyin resources,titles, songs and sonal knockdown which is concealed in a technical ceremonial privileges while feasting and making recital,or the technicalsneerwhich is contained in a presentsto the visitors.The visitorsthen had to give the most irritating a returnfeast on a biggerscale or lose face. personal gibe. This is, therefore, kind of group to crash into, because one has no clue Beforethe Makah came under Americanprotection no to the undercurrents, apparatus for taking sound- and care by treatythey lived in five villages, divided of ings. And this is why old practitioners a subject into longhouses in which dwelt extended families. and can so easily put a comparative newcomer into his The people were divided into chiefs,commoners, place, can make him feel a neophyte.They have only slaves. ago to hint in a technicalargumentat some personal fact The AmericanIndian Servicesetout a century to about the person who advanced the theorydiscussed, turntheMakah 'intoAmericancitizens-agriculturalists and hunting to make the eager young studentfeel how callow he in an environment suitableonly forfishing, is. Again, the more highly organized the profession, collecting;Sunday School addicts, aware of the value is theirown property, the more effective the role of gossip here. of moneyand averse to destroying I have glanced already at the second type of highly living in houses by small families,wearing clothes, exclusive group-that feels it has high social status eating off tables and the like. Childrenwere taken by from which it wishes to exclude parvenus. But compulsionfromtheirparents and sent to boardingwe mnust notice that these groups tend to become school to cut themoff fromtheirparentsand Indian hereditary; and once they are, it means that each tradition. All things Indian were prohibitedby the of group comprisesnot only the presentmembers the local agent of the Indian Service. This process of And here lies indoctrinationwas kept up until 1932, when the group,but also the past dead members. great scope for gossip as a social weapon. To be able policy of the Indian Service changed,and it began to to gossip properly,a memberhas to know not only encourage the development of Red Indian cultural but also about their individualitywithinthe generalAmericanpattern. about the present membership, can hit at one anotherthrough forbears.For members Colson tried, in her study, to assess how far this their ancestors, and if you cannot use this attack processof Americanizationhad succeeded. She found because you are ignorant,then you are in a weak that the Makah in practice had made a satisfactory
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adjustmentto the modernAmericanworld. From the beginning,they had paid their way economically, unlike the Plains Indians, who had been put on of Governmentrations after the destruction the buffalo. The Makah were protected in a part of their ancient territoryby their treaty with the United States Government;and from their Reservation they had been able to earn a living firstat sealing, and then at fishingfor halibut, and also by working for the lumber company exploiting the forests on the Reservation. By thistimethe tribehad ceased to be pure-blooded. in Not only were theremany half-breeds it, but many membersof the tribe had considerablymore white blood than Indian blood. Most of the younger and middle-agedpeople spoke Englishand few had a good knowledge of Makah. The overt practice of Makah customand ceremonialhad died out. More than this, most Makah were subjectto the intensivepropaganda of what are technically called, "mass media communication," i.e. cinemas, radio, newspapers, magacontactwith Amerizines. They were also in intensive cans. Some of theseAmericanslived in the Neah Bay settlement into which all Makah had moved. Many if Makah cQntinuously, periodically, moved out of the Reservationand scatteredin the cities and farmlands of the West Coast wheretheyearned theirliving in the same ways as any other Americansof parallel skill. In 1942, Neah Bay was filled by additional Whites,come to the wartimenaval base and associated constructionalactivities. Again, the Makah were on good terms with many of these Whites. Indeed, in many cases Dr. Colson found it impossibleto detect whethera man was Makah or White by his surface relations with others. Many Makah were Christians and associated with Whites in worship. Colson saw that the Makah were able to adapt themselvesto the new conditions and that this was possible because theywere able to earn a good living fromthe sea and fromwork on theirReservation as well as outside it. Yet they still cling togetheras a group, partly because they have economic interests in being Indians. As wards of the United States Government, they cannot be taxed by State or local either directlyor throughpurchase sales authorities, tax, petrol tax, etc. They are not tax, entertainment subject,while on the Reservation,to certainprocesses of law, such as garnisheeorders on their wages or attachmentof goods acquired by hire purchase and taken on the Reservation. They are entitled to free and their children to dental and medical treatment, free lunches at school as Whites are not. There are many advantages in being an Indian and also in being a Makah. This entitles a man to free rightsin the Makah Reservation and ultimatelyto a share in the proceeds when the Reservationor parts of it are sold as provided in the Treaty. Therefore the Makah collectively and theoretically strive to keep their numberslow in total, in order that shares shall be greater, though in practice individuals will try to insurethat the descendantsof theirown relativesare on the tribal roll, whatever their parentage, while they try to keep the descendantsof othersoff. argument a presented I have su~mmarized beautifully and analysis to give a backgroundto Colson's perception of the virtuesof gossip and scandal among the
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Makah. Here we have a verysmall group (400 people) set against the mightymass of the American population. They are hostile in many ways to the Whites with whom they associate. They feel that the Whites have robbed themof a cultureand a way of life that was theirs,that the Whites have despoiled them and their Indian brothersof land, and so forth. One would expect that they would array themselvesin unity in order to maintain their independence and their identityas Makah. Far from it. They are torn by internal dissension and strugglesfor status and use the tongueof scandal to keep one they constantly anotherin proper place. Colson, knowing that the Makah had previously been divided into chiefs, commoners, and slaves, sought to establishthe nature of this rankingin the past. She found great certaintyabout the rules as some expressedby various people. But, unfortunately, rules contradicted others,and the application of each was always uncertain. Someone would tell her that was determined chieftainship absolutelyby birth,both on father's and mother's sides; and add, of course, that he was thusdescended.Others would corroborate these rules, but would point out that the first informant was descendedfroma Nootka slave woman, and therefore was low class. Then otherswould say that birth was of some account, but it was more important that a man, to be high-class, should achieve himself, being a doctor or whale-hunter, by something or the like, and of coursehis father was a greatwhalehunteror doctor or the like. Yet others would then run down thesepretensions. Again, under the potlatch system,a man had had to give feasts to show his greatness;so today a man ought to be generousif he is to be esteemed. But now that anyone can earn money,if a man gives feastshis rivals can say that he is a nouveau riche tryingto cover his low-class and that the real high-classpeople do not need to do this since their status is well known. Others will then accuse themof meanness,inappropriateto high-class, until they become prodigal, when they are nouveau riche. Finally, you can always down another by allegingthat his familyis addicted to sorcery(poisoning). And to use sorcery means that one is of low class-for the man or woman who is secure in social positiondoes not need to use sorcery securehis ends. to Everyone is likely to accuse othersof being sorcerers and to be accused in turn. Thus Colson says (pp. 204-5) that hardly had she been in the village a week, when she heard that there was a class system 'We ... and it was highly important. Indiansare justlike We Whites. classup. Therearehigh-class peopleand middleclass people and thenreal low-classpeople. Most people herecomefrom lowerclassthough the theydon'tlikeit to be said. You can tell thedifference whenyou meet though people. Only the high-class people know how to act. The don't know anything othersnaturally about how things Just should done.Theyhad no old peopleto teachthem. be know.' Each personsayingthisthensaid, certain families was thathisfamily of upper-class status and had of course, been so fromas far back as Makah tradition went,and to families whichhe calledlow proceeded warnme against class. These in turn warned her against the others. Dr. Colson sumsit up:
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So it went frompersonto personuntil I foundthat in everyone the village accusedothersof beinglow-class to and notentitled speakfortheMakahor to holdup their of headsin front thereallygood people. theoThe result thatin Neah Bay todaya classsystem is to for but retically exists, it is impossible theobserver place any singlepersonin his properclass becausethereare no as a standards to whatconstitutes valid generally accepted claim to class status.Nor is thereany generally accepted in placingof individuals variousclassesrecognized all by of Makah themselves. theyare conscious class and it Yet, to into theirthinking withreferences otherMakah enters to Each thatis incomprehensiblea newcomer. to an extent status for himselfand his individualclaims high-class each usually deridesthe claims of immediate ancestors; other Makah unless theyhappento be closerelatives-and even a close relativeis not safe sincehis claimsto status can always be deridedon the groundthat through some linenotshared withyouhe descends from low-class people, or it may be claimedthathe has not achievedenoughto justify equal position his withyourown. Makah also attach great value to the theory that kinsmenshould help one another,and for pride's sake to maintaintheirsocial standing;they go out of their way to assistdistantkin. So that the poor Makah who runs a store or restaurantis compelled to give credit to his kin, and they do not feel it necessaryto pay their debts. He cannot, on the other hand, make a living out of people who are not related to him; for unrelated people will not buy from him because if he becomes rich he will rise in status.They preferto buy from Whites and make Whites rich. Similarly, when the Makah try to run any political activity, those who take the lead are sniped at by vicious, scandal, to underminetheir rise in status,until they abandon the activity.This has happened to the Presidentand otherofficers the Makah Tribal Council of instituted the United States Government.Scandal by also attacked and drove frompublic life a numberof Makah who tried to run an Annual Makah Day, duringwhich so-called traditionalMakah dances and ceremonies were staged.2 Historically, it is easy to see how this situation arose. In the old days the chiefs'statuswas validated by their control over economic resources and over This statuswas periodicallydemontheirsubordinates. strated throughceremonialprerogativesexhibited in potlatch feasts. Today anyone can pay his way by earningmoney and can give feasts.Lines of ancestry and connectionsoutside are blurredby intermarriage of marriagewith Whites and other Indians and ultimately, all Makah are probably interconnected by blood with each other. At the moment, there are certain groupingsof closely related kindred but new marriagesand new birthsmay change the alignment. statusby referHence it is impossibleto demonstrate ence to the past. That the Makah should still put so much energyinto this factiousstruggle class status for may largelybe a relicof theformer rankedpotlatching It competition. may also be the intrusion among them of American class-ideas. But I ventureto go beyond Colson's analysis and suggestsomething more. Colson concludes her discussion(p. 228):
2 Colson contrasts the situationof the Makah with the situation and Personality among describedby V. Barnouw in "Acculturation the Wisconsin Chippewa," Memoirs American Anthropological Association,No. 72 (1950).

Gluckman: GOSSIP

AND SCANDAL

givesthe imfor of The whole picture rivalry position of that pression theclassconcepts theMakahare completely functhe and unconstructive workonlyto disrupt smooth true.The desire of tioning the group.That is not entirely something and for social positioncontributes forprestige gossipand back-biting to triballife.Indeed,the incessant holding feature as goeson canbe viewed an important which whichis distinctive Makah in a set of social relationship society. widerAmerican within and the to It wouldbe too simple characterize bickering the doesamong [as aggression' Barnouw as sniping 'in-group others Chippewa]and let it go at that.The Makah criticize the within groupto of in terms a setofvalueswhichoperate The constant of of the govern behaviour members thegroup. of is gossipand backbiting a reassertion these criticism, in values,whichtodaycan be expressed no otherway. If the the theyrepressed gossipand back-biting, valuesthemmuchof thefeeling and selveswould disappear, withthem people. thattheMakahare a distinct has itself becomean end the To someextent back-biting intowhichtheMakah have of a in itself, system behaviour which witha zest and a determination, themselves thrown to the have brought art of verbaldenigration a highpeak. giverise of fellows statements their the Certainly malicious public from and and to unhappiness to a retreat to hatred view, but fromthe zest with which they recounttheir thatthey it in experiences thefieldof slander, is apparent intoa gamewithits this have developed typeof behaviour "Makahwereexperts [She and interest. footnotes: ownrules recognithisart obtainedgeneral before in 'Lifemanship'3 in the or tion."]Like all artists, sportsmen) Makah delight of skill.And onlyothers their technical withtheir playing to knowledge compete have the technical own community the or in thegame, to appreciate skillwithwhicha pointis scored. In this analysis Colson clearly establishesthe imgossipwithin portantpoint that specificand restricted a group marks it off from other groups, both like and unlike. The gossip and scandal which are so bitingin Makah life unite them into a group outside of general American society.And, as she points out, and since this gossip and scandal involve the criticism of assessment people against the traditionalvalues of Makah society, they maintain the tribe as Indians against Whites, and as Makah against other Indians. These Makah values and traditionslargely persistin the gossip and in no otherway. To be a Makah, you must be able to join in the gossip, and to be fully a This Makah you mustbe able to scandalize skillfully. entails that you know the individual familyhistories of your fellows; for the knowledgeablecan hit at you and you mustbe able to retort your ancestry, through in kind. You have also have got to have some knowledge of the old ways of the Makah tribe. In the specificsituationof the Makah, it seemsalso that theirbitingscandal is used to maintain the prinWhat thegroup ciple of equalitybetweenall members. seems to be unable to do is to admit that one person is superiorin any respect.The Makah foughta Washington State law to protect the breedingof fish, by claiming the rightto fish out of season in a certain river on the groundsthat they fishedtherewhen the Treaty of the Reservation was signed. To win their case, theyhad to admit thatone familyhad hereditary
3 Stephen Potter, Lifemanship (1950) (1952). and One-Upmanship

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of status within itself, and none of them in their dealings with other Americans would admit that a fellow is his superior. What they are clinging to is the status of Indians, as wards of the United States Government with the privilegesof wardship,and the status of Makah, with its rightsin the Reservation. To maintain this status, they have all to be equal, lest anyone who acquires superiority gets more than his share of privilege.Old traditionsand presentamand their bitionsdrive individualsto assertthemselves status; Makahship, through the weapon of scandal, keeps themin practice equal. The desire to remain Makah, with its attendant advantages, explains why people do not try to break away fromthe group. Otherwise,it seemsthat at least the lighter-coloured Makah could disappear into the American population: probably many have in fact done so. But this desire is felt by the individuals and extended families which make up the Makah tribe. in And the interests the Reservation are competitive between them,because if it is sold it will bring in a limited amount of money. Hence, I suggest,Makah gossip does not show merelythat general interestin the doings,and the virtuesand vices, of others,which characterizes any group.The gossippasses beyond this stage and becomes vicious scandal, aimed at demonstratingthat the other parties are not worthy to be Makah. The different groups and individuals in the tribe fight an unceasing battle to demonstratetheir own true Makahship, as against the failuresof others to attain Makahship. But this involves them in a continual process of remaining Makah, which (as Colson says) gives highimportanceto the scandalizing itself,as a mechanismfor maintainingthe Makah as a group encystedin the Americannation,whose other membersare excluded fromthis war of scandal. And the practiceof this scandal is developed to a high art, culturallydefined.Scandalizing is one of the principal means by which the group's separateness expressed, is even thoughit is also the principal mannerin which internal strugglesare fought. This combination of functions scandal makes the hostility of itselfa mode throughwhich the triberemainsunited. This analysis of gossip passing into scandal brings out some of the general characteristics gossip, as a of culturally controlled game with important social functions.It also shows that in differentkinds of groups the role and functionof gossip will vary with theirspecifichistories and theirsituations the larger in society. Colson's penetrating study has lessons for us all as observersof life around us. We learn from it that gossip is not idle: it has social functionsand it has rules which are rigidly controlled. Ronald has applied Colson's analysis to a Welsh Frankenberg to village (1957) which was struggling remaina community,thoughmost of its men now go to work in a town some miles away.4 The villagers ran a seriesof
4 "Gossip" is mentionedin studies such as those of Williams The Sociology of an English Village: Gosforth(1956), and Stacey,

rights the river.They preferred lose theircase. communal in to activities whichsymbolized this desireto of that be a community: It appearsto be in thenature theirsituation, dramatic village choir,brass-band, they refuseto admit to Americans any inequality society, footballclub,carnival.These activities were amongthemselves-nor dare theyclaimit publicly as run in succession,not at the same time. For it seems individuals. They are a smallgroup, whosemembers that each activity in time became so bedevilled by so- the internal group and personal feuds in the village move withequal freedom the largeAmerican in ciety.The groupis too smallto sustain any division that it could no longerbe pursuedsuccessfully without
leading to irremediable breachof relationships between villagers.Thereforeas the brass-bandfailed, the choir was started; as the choir failed, a football club was founded; when that failed, an annual carnival was instituted. And as each failed, the villagers felt they could make a freshstart,with old animosities purged with the failingactivity.But the animosities continued into the new activity. This is a fascinatingstory in itself. But what I want to emphasize here is that the struggles between villagers are not foughtopenly in committee meetinguntil crisesare reached. Instead, of differences opinion are foughtout in behind-theback tattle,gossip,and scandal, so thatmanyvillagers, who are actually at loggerheads, can outwardlymaintain the show of harmonyand friendship (cf. Radin above). They remaina community, despite the verbal cut-and-thrust the dark, where theytryto advance in their separatecauses againsttheirostensible friends who are theirenemies. Some accommodation thusreached. is In thisgossip theyevaluate people as leaders,as good villagers, and the like, so that gossip also serves to bring, conformity with village values and objectives. Eventually, when a crisis is reached, a stranger5 to the village is thrustinto the position of appearing to take the decision which forcesone party out of the currentactivity; and gossip can blame this stranger for destroying village unity: "We would be happy if foreignersdid not make trouble!" After one such crisis,when a stranger had proposed the critical,and Ccobjectively" sensible, motion in open committee,a woman said: ccAllstrangers should be shot!" Here, too, the outsider cannot join in gossip. The poor anthropologist, before he understood this, got into trouble. His landlady and some friends,after a whist drive were criticisingthe play of a certain woman. The anthropologist aftera while joined in with an example.His landlady turnedon himand reminded him that he was referring her prospectiveson-into law's grandmother. was oftenrebukedfor criticisHe ing distant cousins. Thus, though the villagers were kind and friendly,he was reminded often that he was a foreigner. sumsup by sayingthat ccvillagers He did not hesitate to make accusations against and ridiculetheirfriendsand relatives,but outsiderswere not allowed this privilege." Frankenbergfound, as Colson had among the Makah, that the constant crit-cism those who tried to run village affairs -of punished anyone who appeared to get too much prestigeas a leader. The members the village were of equal against the overwhelming onslaught of the modern industrial world. The brass-band could not

Tradition and Change: A Study of Banbury (1960), with some attentionto the restricted circulationof gossip, but without full analysis. 5 The definition of "stranger," and the differencebetween "strangers"and "outsiders," is a very complex problem,discussed at lengthby Frankenberg. The criticalproposal may be put forward by a "stranger"to the set of social relationships involved.I have to simplifyin order to compress.
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Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL because neither run, thoughthey had the instruments, his fellows of the conductorsin the village dared tell behindhis back,if yourallegations are how to play. A local lad could not captain the village an opponent football team as he did not dare give orders to his at all open, to his face, you mustbe delicateand givehimground statethatyou have insulted to mates: they had to import a West Indian from a never of if nearby town to be captain. Again the anthropologist him.For insults thiskind, open,makeimpossible of misplaced has been able to show that dispitethesedisputes,quar- the pretence group amity. Similarly, to gossipmay forcethegroupeither of rels, gossip and scandal, and the restricting the behind-the-back slandered to turnon thegossiper. or privilege to talk thus,have the effectof maintaining expeltheperson the of a the village as a village and of preventingit from Morethanthis, process scandalenables group, becominga collectionof houses,like a housingestate. to evaluatepeople for theirwork,theirqualitiesof and theirmoral character, withoutever Town planners are very anxious to turn housing leadership, in themto theirfaceswithfailures any estatesinto communities: they should develop scandal confronting betweenindividualsand in them.Perhaps it is theirduty to providecause forit. sphere.Thus animosities Gossip and even scandal unite a group within a cliquesare builtinto the largersocial orderthrough of techniques gossipand scandal. larger society, or against another group, in several thecultural I beg of you, therefore, you are convinced if by ways. Firstly,all groups try to thrusttheirroots into not to feel thatit is easy to fulfilthe the past; scandal by creating a past historyfor the thisanalysis, obligation that lies on you to scandalize membersin relation to one another,into which new- important As comers have to be inducted if they are to be full about yourfellows. Colson says,it is an art and We do need cca schoolfor achieves this; Secondly,no groups are com- a skill and a technique. members, of All of them consist in the scandal"-as Her Majesty'sInspectors Education pletely undifferentiated. firstplace, of individuals,and, secondly,most consist have seen.I foundin the LondonTimes of October of smaller groupings of individuals, cliques. These 13th,1954,thefollowing: individuals and cliques may be competitively aligned in schools A recommendation children West that Riding against each other. They struggle for status and should encouraged gather small to in for be groups cgossip' prestige. These struggles have to be kept within sessions, an aid to learning is as English, made theEduby bounds, while the general values of the group are cation an Committee Inspectors, haveconcluded inwho asserted, if the group is to survive. The values of spection modern schools the of secondary throughout counon in a They make recommendation memorandum the the group are clearly assertedin gossip and scandal, try. in of schools.' teaching English secondary since a man or woman is always run down for cthe on The inspectors claimthatemphasis oral expression failing to live up to these values. But the struggles to about children talk by naturally to fulfil those values by individuals and cliques are canbeachieved allowing them.... things which interest because the methodsof achievingthem also restrained are defined by gossip and scandal: and the3e themof Thusearlybegins interest oursin ourfellows, this selves punish any excess. For they controldisputation and a markof thatinterest our willingness talk to is by allowing each individual or clique to fightfellow- about them.To Gamesmanship Lifemanship we and members of the larger group with an acceptabile,. must add Gossipship. The rules of Gossipshipare socially institutedcustomary weapon, which blows somewhat follows: as back on excessivelyexplosive users. For the battle of The important aboutgossipand scandalare things scandal has its own rules,and woe to him who breaks thatgenerally these enjoyed peopleaboutothers are by theserules.By the act of carrying scandalizingtoo with whom theyare in a close social relationship. his far, he himselfoverstepsthe values of the group and Hence when we try to understand why it is that his scandal will turn against him, will prove that he people in all places and at all timeshave been so or his small clique is unworthyof the larger group. interested gossipand scandalabouteach other, in we And the scandal will in fact redound to the creditof have also to look at thosewhomtheyexcludefrom the person attacked, since he will have been unfairly joiningin the gossiping scandalizing. or That is, the assailed. Colson tells (233-34) the storyof two Makah right gossip to aboutcertain which peopleis a privilege women who were on bad terms.On one occasion one is onlyextended a person to whenhe or sheis accepted woman in the streetshurled stringsof insults at the as a member a groupor set. It is a hallmark of of other, who kept walking along, singing,ccThe bear membership. to Hence rights gossipserveto markoff went over. the mountain." ccBothwomen knew that a particular group fromothergroups.There is no one was behaving like a clow-class'person,the other easierway of putting stranger his place thanby a in like a "high-class' person,and the advantage lay with beginning gossip:thisshowshimconclusively to that the one who ignored the insults." Thus the gross he doesnotbelong. On theother hand,if a mandoes scandalmongeroverreacheshimselfand is hoist with not join in the gossipand scandal,he showsthathe his own slander. (Similarly,gamesmanship the art doesnot acceptthathe is a partyto therelationship; is of winninggames withoutactually cheating.)6In this hencewe see thatgossiping a dutyof membership is withinthe group are fought of thegroup. way, the internalstruggles That is whyit is goodmanners gossip to with concealed malice, by subtle innuendo, and by and scandalizeaboutyourdearest friends withthose pointed ambiguities.Yet all of these have their own who belong, eventhough be their it dearest friendsmoral norms, which must not be overstepped. The butit is bad manners-which a moral is judgment and main moral norm is that you must scandalize about hence sanction-totellunpleasant a stories aboutyour
See StephenPotter,The Theoryand Practiceof Gamesmanship, or The Art of Winning Games withoutActually Cheating (1947).
6

that you all belong to one set which has the duty to
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he will not talk either about himself or another do kill theirown kin and here gossip and back-biting are additionallydangerous.In his analysisof Th;e Yao person." What applies to anthropologists, applies to all pro- Village (1956:1328) Mitchell writes that: fessions.Lawyers are supposed to talk shop and to be 7 The Life of a South Af rican Tribe (1927; reprinted1962).
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be interested one another's in vicesas well as virtues. very exclusive. I grew up among them, and woven Whenyou gossipaboutyourfriends strangers to you into their legal shop is a considerable amount of are eithershowingthe strangers that they do not scandal about other lawyers. Colleges at Oxford and or belong, you are admitting them a privilege to and Cambridge are similar.In some Oxford colleges there to membership a group withoutconsulting of the is a taboo on talkingat dinnerabout work or women otherpeople involved.So that if you want to run -the sanction at Exeter College is that the offender downa friend a stranger shouldfirst that must try to drink 5 pints of beer at one draught. If to ask you friend's permission. do notneedhispermission he fails, he pays for that beer and for a refillof the You to runhimdownto mutualfriends-provided they large sconce which is passed around the table. Talk of that are in the same set of relationships withyourself. women introducesan element into College life that I thinkit would be bad manners run two people is hostile to its united monasticism, to expressedin the talk of work dividesmembers down to one another, eventhough theyare mutually ritual of commensalism; in acquainted, you are notassociated if withthem the of the College according to their academic interests, sameway.So it wouldbe bad manners gossip about and the College as an associationis hostileto organizato of yourUniversity Uni- tion in termsof common scholarship. fellowto a member another I am, of course,aware that gossip and scandal will even if the two of themlived in the same versity, if village.For scandalis only virtuous its aim be to not contributeto the cohesion of a groupingof perdemonstrate kindof social unity. some Scandalwhen sons, unless these persons are united by a sense of directed members a groupagainst of another by group communitywhich is based on the fairly successful is unifying another, an obvious, in and way-it asserts pursuit of common objectives. In his study of a housing estate in Coventry (Living in Towns, 1953), thesuperiority thescandalizing of group. Leo Kuper and his colleagues noted that the new I am surethatif reflect yourown experience on -you you will realisehow sound Colson's analysisis. Its settlersin the estate were afraid of, and resented, the the gossip of their neighbours.This can be related significance mostclearlyif we consider emerges in whicha new member a groupis inducted largely to bad design of the houses: the two masterway of into the group.He may learnthe rulesof technique bedrooms in the semi-detachedslay back to back, whichkeep the groupin being,and he may be on without a soundproof wall between, so that each excellent terms withtheother of members thegroup, couple was bound to overhear practically everything a but he does not belongto the groupuntilit is im- done by theirneighbours, sourceof great embarrasspossiblefor him to be rude to one of its members ment. Moreover, each house looked into the other's That knowso muchabout livingroom.There was constanttrespasson the essenunintentionally. is,he must eachof themembers' and and histories likings dislikes, tial intimacies of family life. No group life could thathe will neversay something whichis hurtful to emergehere. I was told by the wife of a University anyoneunlesshe wantsto hurthim(or her).Corres- lecturerthat in a betterdesigned estate in Newcastle the pondingly, badge of membership thata person neighboursformedthemselvesinto gossip cells which is can quite allusively, apparently and cut naively, an- got along very happily-except for her. Foolishly she othermember the quick by a seemingly to innocent thoughtthat there were more importanttopics than statement. And of course,it is important that the personal gossip; and she was sent to Coventry-metapersonoffended knowsthatthe allusionis intended phorically,I mean. In a housingestatein Essex where but not be able to pin it down,and thatthe injurer I lived, gossip cells were again determinedby the shouldknow thatthe offended knows,and thatthe sociometricrules of neighbourliness-plus a complioffended should knowthattheinjurer knowsthatthe cated evaluation of social status-and togetherwe formeda happy and united scandalizing community, offended knows-and so on ad infinitum. Therefore mostimportant a part of gaining mem- with constantfightsgoing on betweenour secondary of bership anygroup to learnitsscandals: is whatyou modern schools to emphasize our overall unity. Here can say withapparent innocence whatyou may I observedgossip and scandal biuldingup community and say by indirect rudeallusion. Anthropology a very life. is knit tightly profession: is one of thefewprofessions When a group, even one with a united history, it whichstillhas an initiation ceremony. must You have begins to fail in its objective, gossip and scandal studiedsome exotic community. maintainour accelerate the process of disintegration.AnthropolWe bondsof friendship a vast storeof scandal ogists have analysed how if joint families and subtight by and gossipas well as by legends. mostimportant sistencevillages increasetheirnumberstheyare bound A or part of my dutyin training research workers to to disintegrate hive off segments.This process is is teach themthe scandals.I believe I am not alone often accompanied by chargesof sorceryand witchjudgmentsassertthat as this amongsenioranthropologists finding morein- craft.African customary in it to teresting teachstudents aboutanthropologists than occurs scandal and back-biting increase. Hence as about anthropology. is worthnoting It herethatthe Junod reportedmany years ago for the Tsonga, the Greek Lexicon defines"an anthropologist" as barrierof magic to keep out the witch is breachedby not "anthropos plus logos,"a "student man,"butonly internal gossiping and grumbling.7These processes of as "a scandalmonger;" in theNicomachean and Ethics, within the group make possible the entryof an outAristotle-whoanticipated all-says of the great- side witch, though in Tsonga society witches do not us souledman:"He is no scandalmonger (anthropologos): directlykill theirown kin. In Central Africa,witches

Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL of variation the dangerof sorcery the is An interesting thatsorcerers theopportunity squabbles take belief of within The rationale packet of tobacco may take me twentyminutes.But to a matrilineage kill one of its members. instruments unableto this field of gossip and scandal still awaits study of are behindthisis thatthe diviner's the cause. detect origin thesorcery of the beyond immediate A diviner will indicatethatthe cause of deathof, say, a the kind deployed by Colson upon the Makah. Meanbehindthe while, for small groups alone, my conclusion is that childis sorcery, thatthewitchis obscured but quarrelling wordsof some relative.Consequently, danger we mightformulatea law to say, the more exclusive whenoneof itsmembers to an a social group is, the more will its membersindulge to a matrilineage ensues goes outsider [note: to an outsider-bad manners indeed]and in gossip and scandal about one another. And the and quarrels. more persistently grumbles himabout the family to squabbles will they repeat the same gossip of thissquab- again and again and again withoutgetting takestheopportunity using The outsider then bored."We his into the lineage.The Yao are back in the carriages driving throughHighbury ble to introduce sorcery the translates Yao word, to Mr. Weston's house. greatly backbiting Mitchell fear [as dreadof sorcery nonedreadsit and becauseof their miseci] complain that anthropologists a more thana villageheadman, wardenof a sorority-group, Outsiders frequently are able to find that anything social has a useful to of or a person theposition having keepa matrilineage in and theymay therefore conclude that anthrothe function Thesepeopleare constantly or section together. adjuring who are believed pologists approve of everything.Thus it has been womenunderthem-forit is thewomen to to be themainculprits-not fight and argued that the criminal classes are as importantas amongthemselves; to but the police for the maintenanceof law in a society; if theydo, not to take their complaints an outsider to thesenior The member thematrilineage. Significance theyprovide people who commitcrimesbut who can of to of thisin relation lineageunityis plain enough. easily be caught by the police and publicly tried. Later (p. 170) Mitchell recountsduringthe history Their trials demonstrate the society at large, and to of a long dispute within a lineage, how a woman's particularlyto its growingyoungsters, not o-nlythat with another woman was frownedon be- crimeis wrong-which is true,but also thatcrimedoes friendship cause friendship leads to gossip and this mightopen not pay-which is not true. Amateur criminals,less the way to sorceryby the memberof the opposing easily caught,are not so useful.But thisdoes not mean group.8 we approve of crime. We argue only that the comI note finallythat I have discussedgossiponly with- mission of a crime, provided that the criminal is in small groups. Gossip about royalty,by the lower caught, tried, and punished, serves useful ends in classes about the upper, and the upper by the lower, maintainingthe law, and therefore society.My arguhas to be related to other areas of social relations. ment about gossip and scandal is similar: if I suggest I thinkwe can say that men and women do wish to that gossip and scandal are socially virtuous and talk about personal matters,for reasons on which I valuable, this does not mean that I always approve am not clear, and in the great conurbationsthe dis- of them. Indeed, in practice I find that when I am cussion of, for example, stars of film and sport, gossipingabout my friendsas well as my enemies I produces a basis on which people transitorily asso- am deeply consciousof performing social duty; but a ciated can find somethingpersonal to talk about. that when I hear they gossip viciously about me, I Frankenbergreportsthat when he was studyingthe am rightfully filled with righteousindignation. Welsh village, the firsttime he went to buy a loaf of bread he was back in five minutes. His land9 Richard P. Werbner has supplied me with the following lady said scornfully:"Back already? It takes me an hour to buy a loaf of bread." When Frankenberg had beautifullyillustrativepassage from Carl Carmer, Stars Fell on been in the village for some time,as soon as he went Alabama (1940, p. 12): "Aside from these the main diversions of into a shop, the tea-kettlewas put on the fire: after love-makingand gossip. The constant social the Alabamians are chatter dealing in all, as anthropologos,he was the scandalmongerpar personalitiesat firstannoysand bores the stranger. Gradually,howexcellence.And I myselfhave found throughmy in- ever,as he picks up the threadsof the relationships throughwhich terestin soccer and cricket,that I have steadily ex- it sometimesseems that the entiresLateis bound into one family, he becomes not only an eager participant. The proporpanded my commercialtransactions with shopkeepers tion of malice in thistolerantbutgreaterthan in othercommunities. talk is not into warm friendships, even into a kind of blood There are the usual Mrs. Grundysand meddlesomescandalmongers. brotherhood, which our ritualalliance movesjerkily But the majorityof Alabamian gentlefolktake a strong interest in from elation to despair with the fate of our city's in people thatis not unlike thatof a novelist.They are entertained like to teams, and our county eleven at cricket. To buy a and instructedby the antics of their fellow-beings-they speculate on
8 Contrastthis sophisticatedapproach with Kluckhohn's simple of treatment the relationbetweengossip and witchcraft Navaho in Witchcraft (1944). motivations.And talk about an individual takes on added zest when (as frequently happens) he is a cousin in whom flows the blood of a commonancestor. As for love-making, is the accepted basis of all social activity. it Even verylittle boys are trainedto be gallant and the ambitionof every daughter'smotheris that her girl shall be a belle."

References Cited
BARNOUW, V.

1950. 'Acculturation and Personality among the Wisconsin Chippewa,' Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association,No. 72.

London: Lovat Dickson and Thompson. COLSON, E. 1953. The Makah Indians, Manchester: Manchester University Press; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

CARMER, C. 1940. Stars Fell on Alabama,

1957. Village on the Border, London: Cohen and West. HERSKOVITS, M. 1937. Life in a Haitian Valley, New York: Knopf. --. 1947. Trinidad Village, New York: Knopf.
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African Tribe, London: MacMillan. Reprinted, 1962. New York: University Books. KLUCKHOHN, C. 1944. Navaho Witchcraft, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, xxii, No. 2. KUPER, L. et. al. 1953. Living in Towns, London: CressetPress. MITCHELL, J. C. 1956. The Yao Village, Manchester:ManchesterUniversity Press for the Rhodes-LivingstoneInstitute; New York: Humanities Press.

JUNOD, H. A. 1927. The Life of a South

Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating, London: Hart-Davies. --. 1950. Lifemanship,London: HartDavies. 1952. One-Upmanship, London: --. Hart-Davies. (The firsttwo, withSupermanship,republishedby Penguin Books of Harmondsworth, 1962). RADIN, P. 1927. Primitive Man as a Philosopher,New York: Appleton. Reprinted 1957. New York: Dover.

POTTER, S. 1947. Gamesmanship,or the

A Study of Banbury, London: Oxford University Press. SIMMEL, G. 1950. The Sociologyof Georg Simmel, translated,edited and with an Introduction K. H. Wolff, Glencoe, by Illinois: Free Press. WEST, J. 1945. Plainsville, U.S.A., New York: Columbia University Press. WILLIAMS, W. M. 1956. The Sociology of an EnglishVillage: Gosforth, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

STACEY, M. 1960. Tradition and Change:

Erratum: Vol. 3, No. 5, Dec. 1962, top of p. 479. The last sentencebeginning in column 2 and ending in column 3 should read, "I sometimes get the feelingthesedays thatwe have entereda stage of evolutionwhich can be identified moreor less directly with a revivalist cult whose practitioners claim to be able to transform theist a into a materialistby the very rapid turning thepages of AncientSociety of to the accompanimentof suitable incantations."

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