The Red Book of Appin: Medicine as Magic and Magic as Medicine

Folk Traditions and Folk Medicine in Scotland: The Writings of David Rorie. Edited by David Buchan. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic, 1994. 317pp. Hdbk. ISBN 1 898410 01 1. £20. Reviewed by Gillian Bennett.

Counsel from the Ancients: A Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses. By Paul Hockings. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1988. 796pp. ISBN 3 11 011374 0. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

Welshness Performed: Welsh Concepts of Person and Society. By Carol Trosset. Tucson and London: University of Arizona Press, 1993. 183pp. ISBN 0 8165 1378 3. Reviewed by Tecwyn Vaughan Jones.

The Arabian Nights: A Companion. By Robert Irwin. Allen Lane: Penguin Press, 1994. 344pp. ISBN 0 713 99105 4. £20.00. Reviewed by Gwendolyn Leick.

The Stonemans: An Appalachian Family and the Music that Shaped their Lives. By Ivan M. Tribe. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. 361pp. Illus. ISBN 0 252 01978 4 (hdbk) / 0 252 06308 2 (pbk). Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music. By John Wright. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. 273pp. Illus. ISBN 0 252 02024 3. Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Captain Jack Crawford: Buckskin Poet, Scout and Showman. By Darlis A. Miller. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993. 363pp. Illus. ISBN 0 98263 1449 X. Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Victorian Village Life. By Neil Philip. Oxfordshire: Albion Press, 1993. 160pp. Illus. ISBN 1 871927 05 6. £9.99. Reviewed by George Monger.

The English Rural Community: Image and Analysis. Edited by Brian Short. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 239pp. B/W illus. ISBN 0 521 40537 9 (hdbk) / 0 521 40567 X (pbk). Reviewed by George Monger.

Countrywomen on the Land: Memories of Rural Life in the 1920s and 30s. By G.K. Nelson. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1992. 182pp. B/W illus. ISBN 0 7509 0181 0. £14.99. Reviewed by George Monger.

Chronicles of Alston. By Joan Rockwell. London: Janus Publishing, 1993. 189pp. ISBN 1 8576 024 8. £11.95. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

The Yorkshire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore. By Arnold Kellett Smith. Settle: Otley, 1994. ISBN 1 85825 016 1 (pbk) / 1 85625 017 X (hdbk). Reviewed by G.M. Awbery.

Maya Textiles of Guatemala. By Margot Blum Schevill. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993. 295pp. Colour and b/w illus. ISBN 0 292 75143 5. Reviewed by C. Stevens.

Superstitions: Folk Magic in Hull's Fishing Community. By Alec Gill. Beverley: Hutton Press, 1993. 174pp. Illus. Pbk. ISBN 1 872167 56 x. £7.50. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Burmese Puppets. By Noel F. Singer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.126pp. 16 colour illus, 42 b/w illus. ISBN 0 19588589 9. Reviewed by George Monger.

The Maiden Who Rose from the Sea and other Finnish Folktales. Edited and translated by Helena Henderson. Enfield: Hisarlik Press, 1992. 192pp. ISBN 1 87431201 X. £14.95. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Folklore of Somerset. By Alan Holt. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1992. 180pp. Illus. ISBN 0 7059 0221 3. £7.99. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Hausa Folktales from the Niger. Translated and edited by Robert S. Glew and Chaibou Babalé. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1993. 136pp. ISBN 0 89680 176 4. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Arthur: Y Casgliad Arthuraidd—Catalog/The Arthurian Collection—A Catalogue. Gwasanaeth Llyfrgell a Gwybodaeth/Library and Information Service. Cyngor Sir Clwyd/Clwyd County Council, 1994. 190pp. ISBN 1859910025. £15.95. Reviewed by Juliette Wood.

Medieval Balladry and the Courtly Tradition: Literature of Revolt and Assimilation. By Gwendolyn A. Morgan. American University Studies Series 4, Vol. 160. New York: Peter Lang, 1993. 148pp. Reviewed by Kaye McAlpine.

Treasures of the National Library of Ireland. Edited by Noel Kissane. Published by the Boyne Valley Honey Company, 1994. 242pp. ISBN 0 951782 34 7 (pbk)/ 0 951782 35 5 (hdbk). £9.95 (pbk), £25.00 (hdbk). Irish edition Seoda i Leabharlann Náisiúnta nah Éireann. Pbk £9.95. Reviewed by John Hutchings.

Legends Told in Canada. Edited by Edith Fowke. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1994. 96pp. Illus. Hdbk. ISBN 0 88854 410 3. C$19.95. Reviewed by Jill Clayton.

Folk Law: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Lex non Scripta . Edited by Alison Dundes Renteln and Alan Dundes. New York: Garland, 1994. 1037pp. 2 vols. Hdbk. ISBN 0 8153 1314 4. US$150. Reviewed by Jill Clayton.

The Horsieman: Memories of a Traveller 1928–58. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1994. 276pp. ISBN 0 86241 444 X. £13.99. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Fireside Tales of the Traveller Children. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 4 57 1. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Broonie, Silkies and Fairies. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 456 3. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Well at the World's End: Folk Tales of Scotland. By Norah and William Montgomerie. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 462 8. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Rebirth of Witchcraft. By Doreen Valiente. London: Robert Hale, 1989. 236pp. Illus. ISBN 0790-3715-5. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present. By Doreen Valiente. London: Robert Hale, 1994. 377pp. Illus. Pbk. ISBN 0790 5350 9. £7.99. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

The Rise and Fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400–1700. By Ronald Hutton. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 366pp. Appendix. Notes. Index. Hdbk. ISBN 0 19 820363 2. £17.95. Reviewed by Gillian Bennett.

The Things That Were Said Of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikigaq People. By Tom Lowenstein. Told by Asatchaq. Translated by Tukummiq and Tom Lowenstein. The University of California Press, 1992. 262pp. 5 photographs and 2 maps. ISBN 0-520-06569-7. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Dragons, Devils and Demons (Traditional Sussex Tales II). Edited by Tony Wales. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Cassettes obtainable from Elixis Enterprises, Glistar Studios, PO Box 110, Horsham, W. Sussex RH12 1ZS. £5.95 ea/£10.95 pair (plus 95p postage). Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.     

Folklore from Ireland

THE NATIVE TRIBES OF SOUTH-EAST AUSTRALIA By A. W. HOWITT, D.Sc Macmillan &; Co. 1904. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

WEST AFRICAN BELIEFS. Reviewed by A. Lang.

ZWEI JAHRE UNTER DEN KANNIBALEN DER SALOMO-INSELN : Reiseerlebnisse und Schilderunge von Land und Leuten. By CARL RIBBE. 352 pp. 86 figures in the text. 14 plates. 10 diagrams and 3 maps. Dresden-Blasewitz, Elbgau-Buchdruckerei, H. Beyer, 1903. Reviewed by A. C. Haddon.

TRADITIONS OF THE SKIDI PAWNEE. BY GEORGE A. DORSEY (Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, vol. viii.). Boston, 1904, pp. xxvi, 366, with 15 Plates. Reviewed by N. W. Thomas.

A PHONETICAL STUDY OF THE ESKIMO LANGUAGE, BASED ON OBSERVATIONS MADE ON A JOURNEY IN NORTH GREENLAND, 1900–1901. By WILLIAM THALBITZER. Reprint from Meddelelser om Gronland, vol. xxxi. Copenhagen, 1904. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

SOCIOLOGICAL PAPERS: 1904. With an INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS by JAMES BRYCE. Published for the Sociological Society. Macmillan. 1905. Reviewed by Charlotte S. Burne.

STUDIES IN ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE. By H. M. CHADWICK. Cambridge University Press. Reviewed by F. M. Stenton.

JOURNAL OF THE FOLK-SONG SOCIETY, Vol. I., Pt. 5. Spottiswoode &; Co., 1904. Reviewed by L. M. Eyre.     

Linking Essentialist and Constructivist Ethnicity

Abstract

This article argues that the essentialist and the constructivist positions within theories of ethnicity are in fact compatible if one introduces a concept here called “internalized fluid capacities”, connoting that which is inherently (genetically) dispositional – and in that sense biologically “anticipated” – but which remains to be developed into observable social characteristics through sociocultural impact. This perspective is based on the genetic capacity to mold or “instruct” the development of an organism from its embryonic state and onwards by using prior stages as points of departure for further instructions. In this way, certain fluid capacities become imprinted in individuals and collectivities through reinforcing interaction with the ambient society. These capacities may then harden and develop into apparent “essentials”, forming a group's collective self-image. The article concludes with the suggestion that this explanatory model can be usefully applied to the debate around Swedish governmental definitions of Saamihood.     

Book reviews

Aldeghi, I., et al., Vécu et devenir des chômeurs de longue durée (La Documentation Française, 1992), 123pp., 100F., ISBN 2 11 002644 8

Baker, K.M., Inventing the French Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 1990), 372pp., £32.50 hbk., £11.95 pbk., ISBN 0 521 34618 5 and 0 521 38578 4

Blancquart, M.‐C., and Cahne, P., Littérature française du XX^e (PUF, 1992), 564pp., ISBN 2 130 44810 0

Brunet, P., ed., France et Grande‐Bretagne rurales. Rural France and Great Britain (Centre de Recherches sur l'Evolution de la Vie Rurale, Université de Caen, 1991), 510pp., 180F., ISBN 2 905 46162 4

Caune, J., La Culture en action. De Vilar à Lang: le sens perdu (Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, 1992), 368pp., 130F.

Coleman, J., and Parker, G., French and the Enterprise Path (AFLS‐CILT, 1992), 200pp., £8.95

Collot, S., Les Lieux de désir: topologie amoureuse de Zola (Hachette Université, 1992), 192pp., 150F., ‘Recherches Littéraires’ Collection, ISBN 2 010 18816 0

Coutel, C., ed., La République et l'école; une anthologie (Presses‐Pocket, 1992), 288pp., ISBN 2 266 04474 5

Crosland, M., Science under control: the French Academy of Sciences, 1795–1914 (Cambridge University Press, 1992), 454pp., £60.00, ISBN 0 521 41373 7

David, M., Le Printemps de la Fraternité: genèse et vicissitudes, 1830–1851 (Aubier, 1992), 396pp., 180F., ISBN 2 700 72237 X

Debray, R., Vie et mort de l'image (Gallimard, 1992), 140F., 412pp., ISBN 2 070 72816 1

Drieu la Rochelle, P., Journal 1939–1945 (Gallimard, 1992), 521pp., 140F., ISBN 2 070 72307 0

Durand, J.‐D. et al., Cent ans de catholicisme social à Lyon et en Rhône‐Alpes. Actes du Colloque de Lyon, 18–19 janvier 1991 (Les Editions Ouvrières, 1992), 566pp., 170F., ISBN 2 708 22954 0

Estienne, P., Les régions françaises (Masson, 1991), 2 vols, 264pp., 272pp., 180F., 190F., ISBN 2 225 82509 2, 2 225 82590 4 respectively

Fougeyrollas, P., L'Attraction du futur: un essai sur la signification du présent (Méridiens Klincksieck), 274pp., 140F., ISBN 2 865 63299 7

Gaillac, H., Les Maisons de correction 1830–1945 (Editions Cujas, 1991), 464pp., 120F., ISBN 2 254 92404 X

Genet‐Delacroix, M.‐C., Art et Etat sous la III^e République. Le Système des Beaux‐Arts 1870 (Publications de la Sorbonne, 1992), lviii+433pp., 190F., ISBN 2 859 44219 7

Hagège, C., Le Souffle de la Langue (Odile Jacob, 1992), 286pp.+9pp. of maps, 130F., ISBN 2 738 10182 8

Hancock, M.D. et al., Politics in Western Europe (Macmillan, 1993), 526pp., £14.99, ISBN 0 000 00000 0

Hardman, J., Louis XVI (Yale University Press, 1993), 264pp., £25.00, ISBN 0 300 05719 9

Hargreaves, A.G., Voices from the North African immigrant community in France. Immigration and identity in Bear fiction (Berg, 1991), 175pp., £29.50, ISBN 0 854 96649 8

Harpaz, E., Benjamin Constant et Madame Récamier (lettres 1807–1830) (Honoré Champion, 1992), 362pp., 140F., ISBN 2 852 03706 8

Hudson, J., and Tosser, N., Business French (Made Simple, 1992), 426pp., £8.95, ISBN 0 730 60299 6

Jones, H.S., The French State in Question. Public Law and Political Argument in the Third Republic (CUP, 1993), 231pp., £30., ISBN 2 521 43149 2

Kolebka, G., Dépressions sur une partie de la France (Seghers, 1991), 164pp., 100F., ISBN 2 232 10341 2

Lagrée, M., and Roche, J., Tombes de mémoire: le dévotion populaire aux victimes de la Révolution dans l'Ouest (Rennes Apogée, 1993), 148pp., 125F., ISBN 2 909 27512 4

Lefebvre, D., Guy Mollet: Le mal aimé (Plon, 1992), 545pp., 149F., ISBN Z 259 02465 3

Lemalet, M., Lettres d'Algérie, 1954–1962: La guerre des appelés, la mémoire d'une génération (Jean‐Claude Lattès, 1992), 360pp., 139F., ISBN 2 709 61145 7

Lyotard, J.‐F., The inhuman (Polity Press, 1991), 216pp., £35, ISBN 0 745 69772 1

Michel, P., and Nivet, J.‐F., Octave Mirbeau; l'imprécateur au c?ur fidèle (Librarie Séguier, 1990), 1019pp., ISBN 2 877 36162 4

Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle, Le Tourisme Social et Familial (La Documentation Française, 1992), 333pp., 180F., ISBN 9 782 11002757 3

Oriol, P., Les immigrés devant les urnes: le droit de vote des étrangers (CIEMI/L'Harmattan, 1992), 223pp., 120F., ISBN 2 738 41246 7

Remond, R., et al., Paul Touvier et l'Eglise. Rapport de la Commission historique instituée par le cardinal Decourtray (Fayard, 1992), 418pp., 130F., ISBN 2 213 02880 X

Richardot, J.‐P., Le peuple protestant français aujourd'hui (Laffont, 1992), 388pp., ISBN 2 221 07364 9

Sainteny, G., Les Verts (PUF, 1991), 127pp., ISBN 2 130 44491 1

Sainte‐Beuve, C.‐A., La Vie des lettres (Hermann, 1992), 4 vols. I: Moyen‐#afAge et Renaissance, 184pp., ISBN 2 705 66176 X; II: Le Siècle de Versailles, 240pp., ISBN 2 705 66177 8; III: Les Lumières et les salons, 192pp., ISBN 2 705 66178 6; IV: Le Siècle du progrès, 212pp., ISBN 2 705 66179 4, 60F. each.

Scientrier, P., Tester et enrichir ses connaissances en littérature (Marabout, 1992), 287pp., ISBN 2 501 01757 9

Scriven, M., and Wagstaff, P., eds., War and society in twentieth‐century France (Berg, 1991), xii+304pp., ISBN 0 854 96292 1

Servent, P., Le Mythe Pétain. Verdun ou les tranchées de la mémoire (Editions Payot, 1992), 283pp., 120F., ISBN 2 228 88500 2

Sowerwine, C., and Magnien, C., Madeleine Pelletier, une féministe dans l'arène politique (Editions Ouvrières, 1992), 250pp., 125F., ISBN 2 708 22960 5

Stanley, J.L., ed., From Georges Sorel, vol. 2: Hermeneutics and the Sciences, translated by John and Charlotte Stanley. (New Brunswick and London, Transaction Books, 1990), 219pp., ISBN 0 887 38304 1     

Politics without democracy 1815–1914: Perception and preoccupation in British government

Nietzsche's embrace of the idea of eternal recurrence has long puzzled readers, both because the idea is inherently implausible and because it seems inconsistent with other aspects of his philosophy. This paper offers a novel account of Nietzsche's motives for that embrace—namely that Nietzsche found in eternal recurrence the only possible way to reconcile three potent and apparently conflicting convictions: (1) there are no Hinterwelten (“worlds-beyond”), (2) the great love (take joy in) all things just as they are (amor fati), and (3) all joy wills eternity. The case for this account has two parts. I show first that Nietzsche was deeply committed to each of these principles at or before the time the idea of eternal recurrence “came to” him in 1881 and second that these principles, though in apparent conflict, can, as Nietzsche understood them, be reconciled by, and only by, the idea of eternal recurrence. It follows, I argue, that the idea of eternal recurrence was originally independent of Nietzsche's conceptions of the will to power and the Übermensch.     

Planting Peace: The Greater London Council and the Community Gardens of Central London

‘Peace’ has not lent itself easily to emblematic or mnemonic forms of representation. In Europe’s furnished urban landscapes of the 19th century peace was often personified in female allegorical form. She can be seen in many of the sculpted memorials that commemorate distant battles fought on the edges of Empire. Invariably, however, the figure of ‘Peace’ had a more modest role in the allegory of commemoration than that of ‘Victory’ or ‘Triumph’. As an ideal, peace and pacifism is more often regarded as a process, a long‐term goal that cannot be captured in single static form. To this end, the promotion of peace has most often been realised through intervention, occupation, and fluid, temporal forms such as campaigns, marches, songs, dances and other extended programmes. Peace has also been promoted through slow, evolutionary forms such as designed landscapes, parks and gardens. Drawing on international parallels, this paper examines in detail two community gardens in central London. Each owes its origins to radical local agendas set within the political climate of the Cold War of the 1980s, but both were born out of grand visions for world peace, multilateral disarmament, and global accord. Twenty years after their creation, the author explores their current condition and examines their value as sites of political value and heritage.