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themselves, that is, that their analytic method is of no significant utility. In brief: the situation is relatively unproblematic, the “solutions” are likewise, and the theoretical framework alleged t o be employed herein is a t best a hueristic device generating no useful hypotheses.

The method t o be employed in analyzing the data is called “game analysis.” The authors are quick to point ou t that this should not be confused with “game theory,” since the use of the term “game analysis” frees the authors from having t o make any claims whatever about explanation. What the term does d o is t o allow the authors to apply several dozen new labels t o actions: t o generate some new and useless words which elegantly describe what had hitherto been elegantly described.

Still, as stated earlier, the cases are interesting and often suggestive, the data will be of some value t o planners and theoret- icians, and the photos are pretty.

The Myth of the Bagre. JACK GOODY. Oxford Library of African Literature. New York & London: Oxford University Press, 1972. x + 381 pp., plates, table, index to the introduction $30.75 (cloth).

Reviewed b y BRUCE GRINDAL Florida State University

Jack Goody has produced a most notable contribution t o the study of mythology and religious thought in Africa. Employing the thoroughgoing methodology of British social anthropology, he presents the mythology of the Bagre secret society among the Lo Dagaa people of northern Ghana. The myths were recorded on several separate occasions, in- cluding their recitation in the specific ritual contexts of the secret society. According t o Goody in his introduction, ‘‘ . . . the Bagre t e x t . . . in length and complexity far sur- passes anything so far recorded from tradi- tional, oral cultures” (p. 12). To this the reviewer might add that Goody’s eth- nographic contextualization of the myths is equal in its impress.

The book is divided into two parts. In the second part, the myths are presented first in verse form translation and then are followed by a summary, annotated footnotes, and original texts. A numerical system of cross referencing is furnished which allows the reader t o work back and forth between the myth texts and the ethnographic descrip- tion. There are two myths: the White Bagre and the Black Bagre. The White Bagre is a

literal guide t o the ritual process furnishing a step by step sequence of the initiation events into the Bagre society. I t is in essence an explanation or cosmological framework for these ritual procedures. In addition, it contains instructions for the neophytes on subjects ranging from God’s role in creation to the problems of conjugal quarrels.

The Black Bagre is a myth in the “truer” or more conventional sense. I t tells of the primeval relationship of man, God, and the “beings of the wild.” I t tells of how man, deceived by the “beings of the wild,” lost the sense which God had given him and must now endure suffering and death. The style of the myth is involuted, repeating the same message and essential sequence of events in different settings and with different char- acters. At times the message is poetically philosophical not unlike the richly developed monologues of the Old Testament prophets.

The first part is ethnographic contextual- ization modestly presented as an introduc- tion. Following a brief ethnographic sketch, Goody examines the religious concepts of the Lo Dagaa and points out , among other things, that the basic concerns of the people’s practicing religious life-the venera- tion of the earth and the ancestors-are not focal t o the mythology. The Bagre associa- tion is then examined in depth, followed by a detailed description of the Bagre per- formances

Goody’s description and interpretation raise some far reaching questions for the analysis of myth. Briefly, he sees Lo Dagaa religion as a dynamic ongoing process whose authority is based not upon holy writ but upon the everyday rendering of experience in religious terms. Accordingly, “ . . . the Bagre myth is one, built into different shapes with the bricks of common usage” (p. 16). Most significant, however, is Goody’s statement that myth-as cosmological narra- tive-does not have a central role in human cultures but instead is merely a part of the total picture, a part which is “ . . . in many ways peripheral, changing, the sort of thing that mankind can take or leave” (p. 33).

In sum, The Myth of the Bagre is an ethnography of the highest caliber and deserves the serious consideration of all anthropologists.

Essays in Sudan Ethnography Presented to Si r E d w a r d Evans-Pri tchard. IAN CUNNISON and WENDY JAMES, eds. New York: Humanities Press, 1972. xvi + 256

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pp., figures, tables, references, index. $1 1.25 (cloth).

Reviewed by WILLIAM DALTON University of New Brunswick

This collection is dedicated t o the late Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard after his retirement from the Chair of Social Anthropology a t Oxford University. I t contains twelve articles along with a brief account, by the editors, of Sir Edward’s early career and his work in the Sudan. A single criterion appears t o have been used t o select the authors-all have been members of, or affiliated with, the Department of Social Anthropology, Khartoum University, Sudan. The book is not organized around a central set of problems, nor have the editors in their introduction provided a framework t o the articles. The volume reads like a collection of essays found in “Sudan notes and records.” The only links between them are time, place of publication, and location of the studies; their only rationale for being together is that they are bound in the same volume.

The book through its diversity does show some of the stimulating problems which Evans-Pritchard’s works have generated in both Sudan ethnography and in Social Anthropology. But let us hope that sub- sequent volumes dedicated t o the late grand old man of Social Anthropology come t o firmer grips with the existing theoretical controversies which his works have generated.

The Floating World of Castle Peak Bay. E. N. ANDERSON, JR. Anthropological Stud- ies, 4. Washington, DC: American Anthro- pological Association, 1970. 274 pp., bibli- ography, Chinese characters for words transcribed in text. n.p. (paper).

Reviewed by WILLIAM S. AYRES University of South Carolina

Anderson’s basic aim is t o delineate and t o study the implications of the rules and ways of management which these Cantonese boat people adopted in order t o deal with their environment. Now only two t o three thousand of the approximately six thousand boat-dwelling fishermen in densely popu- lated Castle Peak Bay are still actively pursuing inshore fishing. Changing subsis- tence patterns are reflected by increasing land-based employment.

Despite Anderson’s stated desire to

provide quantified data, he was unable t o d o so. The material is presented in familiar categories as well as in terms that the boat people themselves would use t o describe their world: daily activities, fishing and boats, family and kinship, internal com- munity structure, relationships t o govern- mental authority, religion, and medicine. Valuable insight and detail is added by a set of sixteen individual life histories of men and women of varying ages and social positions. Appendices deal with folk arts and some brief notes on the neighboring, but culturally and linguistically distinct, Hoklou.

The overall perspective, developed from ethnoscientific methods and supplemented with more traditional approaches, views behavior from the standpoint of manipula- tion of social contacts and communication networks. This presents the data in an understandable way as well as mirrors the boat people’s explicit view of their own behavior. The boat people’s marine adapta- tion has been the prime factor in the formation of their distinct cultural identity; this includes the striking de-emphasis of lineages and the concomitant decrease in the role of lineage ancestors.

Regrettably, n o maps or illustrations are included, although photos are available from the author on request.

Those interested in comparative studies of fishing peoples or in Chinese ethnicity will find the book of considerable impor- tance. Although Anderson has written a number of articles on the Castle Peak Bay boat people, this is certainly the most complete statement t o date; our basic knowledge about the distinctness of the maritime oriented populations of Southeast and East Asia is greatly enriched by the monograph.

The Shehus of Kukawa: A History of the Al-Kanemi Dynasty of Bornu. LOUIS BRENNER. Oxford Studies in African Affairs. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. viii + 145 pp., figures, tables, glossary, bibliography, index. $12.00 (cloth).

Reviewed by JEAN-CLAUDE MULLER Universite de MontrPal

This relatively short book is an attempt a t narrating and a t analyzing the rise of the Al-Kanemi dynasty of Bornu, its consolida- tion, its stagnation, and finally its defeat by Rabeh followed by its restoration by the British. The book is divided into two parts; the first one relates the fall of the Saifawa