"An outstanding contribution to psychological anthropology. Its excellent ethnography and its provocative theory make it essential reading for all those concerned with the understanding of human emotions."--Karl G. Heider, American Anthropologist
An interesting book asserting emotions are culturally constructed. Lutz did fieldwork on Ifaluk, a Micronesian atoll, & studied the Ifaluk coneption of emotions & of the self. Ifaluk ethnopsychology includes such emotions as fago 'love/sadness/compassion', song 'justified anger', ker 'excitement/happiness/anger' & rus 'anxiety/panic/surprise.' What exactly does classing emotions differently mean? Do the Ifaluk people just call them different things? Do they *feel* different things than we do? What does it all mean? I am fascinated although not entirely convinced by this book. My grad school advisor suggests there are certain basic sort of proto-emotions that are generated by hormones & things basic to all human beings, but that how these are shaped & perceived depends on culture. Anyway, this is a really interesting book, & a good read (well-written). I highly recommend it.
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