Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

by Marjorie Shostak

Overview

This book is the story of the life of Nisa, a member of the !Kung tribe of hunter-gatherers from southern Africa’s Kalahari desert. Told in her own words—earthy, emotional, vivid—to Marjorie Shostak, a Harvard anthropologist who succeeded, with Nisa’s collaboration, in breaking through the immense barriers of language and culture, the story is a fascinating view of a remarkable woman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674043596
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	11/14/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	466,059
File size:	583 KB

About the Author

Marjorie Shostak was a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Emory University and an award-winning photographer.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction 1 Earliest Memories 2 Family Life 3 Life in the Bush 4 Discovering Sex 5 Trial Marriages 6 Marriage 7 Wives and Co-Wives 8 First Birth 9 Motherhood and Loss 10 Change 11 Women and Men 12 Taking Lovers 13 A Healing Ritual 14 Further Losses 15 Growing Older Epilogue Notes Glossary Acknowledgments

What People are Saying About This

When I reread Nisa, as I have done regularly in teaching over the years, I experience its originality, poignancy, and excitement afresh each time. Few books that were so influential in changing the look and feel of ethnography for entire generations of anthropologists have held up so well. It is a classic, with currency and continuing possibility.

Editorial Reviews

[A] scrupulous, sad, exciting book.

New York Times

Both Nisa and Shostak are unusual people, and their collaboration has resulted in an unparalleled account of !Kung life from a personal rather than social or ecological perspective. Even more important, their work results in a revelation of the universality of women's experiences and feelings despite vast differences in culture and society. Nisa helps us know what it means to be !Kung, to be a woman, and finally, to be human.

Choice

Nisa is a humbling and inspiring book.

Wall Street Journal - Tim Jeal

When I reread Nisa, as I have done regularly in teaching over the years, I experience its originality, poignancy, and excitement afresh each time. Few books that were so influential in changing the look and feel of ethnography for entire generations of anthropologists have held up so well. It is a classic, with currency and continuing possibility.

George Marcus

We have a remarkable anthropologist to thank for an absorbing account.

New York Review of Books

Nisa is a humbling and inspiring book.
— Tim Jeal

Wall Street Journal