The Last Cannibals: A South American Oral History

An especially comprehensive study of Brazilian Amazonian Indian history, The Last Cannibals is the first attempt to understand, through indigenous discourse, the emergence of Upper Xingú society. Drawing on oral documents recorded directly from the native language, Ellen Basso transcribes and analyzes nine traditional Kalapalo stories to offer important insights into Kalapalo historical knowledge and the performance of historical narratives within their nonliterate society.

This engaging book challenges the familiar view of biography as a strictly Western literary form. Of special interest are biographies of powerful warriors whose actions led to the emergence of a more recent social order based on restrained behaviors from an earlier time when people were said to be fierce and violent.

From these stories, Basso explores how the Kalapalo remember and understand their past and what specific linguistic, psychological, and ideological materials they employ to construct their historical consciousness. Her book will be important reading in anthropology, folklore, linguistics, and South American studies.

Author: Ellen B. Basso
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 05/01/1995
Pages: 335
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.23h x 6.16w x 0.87d
ISBN: 9780292708198

About the Author
Basso, Ellen B.: - Ellen B. Basso is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, Tucson.