Public Faces, Private Voices: Community and Individuality in South India
Mattison Mines
Abstract
Individuality is often viewed as an exclusively Western value. In non-Western societies, collective identities seem to eclipse those of individuals. These generalities, however, have overlooked the importance of personal uniqueness, volition, and achievement in these cultures. As an anthropologist in Tamil Nadu, South India, the author of this book found private and public expressions of self in all sectors of society. Based on twenty-five years of field research, the book weaves together personal life stories, historical description, and theoretical analysis to define individuality in South A ... More
Individuality is often viewed as an exclusively Western value. In non-Western societies, collective identities seem to eclipse those of individuals. These generalities, however, have overlooked the importance of personal uniqueness, volition, and achievement in these cultures. As an anthropologist in Tamil Nadu, South India, the author of this book found private and public expressions of self in all sectors of society. Based on twenty-five years of field research, the book weaves together personal life stories, historical description, and theoretical analysis to define individuality in South Asia, and to distinguish it from its Western counterpart.
Keywords:
individuality,
Western values,
collective identities,
personal uniqueness,
Tamil Nadu,
South India
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 1994 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520084780 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: May 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520084780.001.0001 |
