Book Report On Nisa, The Life And Words Of A Kung Woman

Numerous aspects of the Kung women’s way of life is revealed, beginning with Nisa as a little girl, “I remember when my mother was pregnant with Kumsa. I was still small and I asked, “Mommy, that baby inside you…”(Shostak, 1981, P. 51) and proceeded on to her marriages, “I had refused Bo, but Tsaa, my next husband, I liked. When I married hi

This ethnographic portrayal of the !Kung is restricted mainly to the words of Nisa, which is subject to her own cultural prejudices and biasness. The outcome is that the book only give a partial view of the !Kung culture and is found lacking in many areas, some of which are stated above.

What I noticed particularly missing from the text is that it covers a mainly female viewpoint on life in a !Kung village, while information about the !Kung men were given in the introductions, it is just mainly skimming through it. If the anthropologist was a man, this book may turn out totally different, covering more of the men’s aspect on life, giving details on the men going out for hunting, the specific methods and knowledge needed in the hunt. The way this book is presented or why

Some topics in this essay:
Bo Tsaa, Marjorie Shostak, shostak 1981, , nisa’s life,