Bücher der Reihe Studies in Literacy, the Family, Culture and the State

In this series of essays Jack Goody examines the complex relationship between oral and literate modes of communication. A substantial corpus of anthropological, historical and linguistic evidence is produced in support of his findings, which complement his recently published study The Logic of Writings and the Organization of Society.

An examination of kinship practice in Asia which continues the comparative survey of pre-industrial family formation undertaken in "The Development of Family and Marriage in Europe". The author suggests that kinship practice in Asia has much in common with parts of pre-industrial Europe.

This work assesses the impact of writing on human societies, both in the Ancient Near East and in contemporary Africa, and highlights some general features of social systems that have been influenced by this major change in the mode of communication.