Chapter 11
In: Brill's Companion to Classics and Early Anthropology
Search for other papers by Thérèse A. de Vet in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) is best known for his essay The Gift, first published in l’Année sociologique deuxième série in 1923–24. Mauss’ impact on anthropology, and indirectly on classics, went well beyond his many reviews in l’Année sociologique and his original essay on gift-giving. His emphasis on the importance of fieldwork influenced many generations of French anthropologists, and, coincidentally, also an American graduate student in classics. Milman Parry happened to be studying in Paris in the 1920s and would go on to play an important role in the study of orality in classics. Mauss’ early life and work are discussed in the first part of this chapter, his essay The Gift forms the topic of the second part, and the last section discusses the influence of the French anthropological fieldwork school on the study of orality and on the formulation of the Oral Theory.