The Past in the Present: History, Ecology, and Cultural Variation in Highland Madagascar

by Conrad Phillip Kottak

Studies the Betsileo, tracing the rise of social stratification, state organization, and colonialism in Madagascar.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472093231
• ISBN13: 9780472093236
• Release Date: October 1980
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A must-read work for serious scholars of Madagascar

Though Madagascar does not appear on the travel wish-lists of many people, nor is it the area of study most young anthropologists aspire to, it is one of the most fascinating places on the planet for travellers or for people with interests in anthropology, religion, music, and history. Eighteen or twenty different branches of the Malagasy people grew up over the centuries, each in a specific ecological niche, all of whom were eventually dominated by the highland dwelling Merina, whose kings ruled the great island in the 19th century. Over the last few decades, various works have appeared on the different Malagasy groups: Merina, Sakalava, Tanala, etc. Kottak's book must be considered the definitive work on the Betsileo, a large group living in the southern highlands, traditionally earning their living by rice farming and cattle herding. THE PAST IN THE PRESENT is a traditional ethnography, (most data was gathered in 1966) describing in particular, state formation (in the past), social organization, and ceremonial life. Kottak assembles an impressive collection of data and makes the most of it in a rich description. Statistics, maps, diagrams, tables, and footnotes mark a thoroughly professional job. If this is what you are looking for, you are bound to find this book useful. To understand Madagascar from a historical point of view, as well as in the time just after independence in 1960, the book is a necessity. Kottak studied a district town and a village in the Betsileo area. If you wonder what the Betsileo thought or said about themselves or about life; if you are looking for a more qualitative ethnography, you will not find it here. Given that the author did not set out to create such a book, it is unfair to criticize him for not doing so. I strongly recommend Kottak's work to someone who doesn't mind wading through a mass of detail, who wishes to become a serious student of Madagascar.