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This semi-autobiographical novel by American anthropologist Laura Bohannan fictionalises her sojourn among the Tiv people of Nigeria in the early 1950s. It was first published under the pseudonym Elenore Smith Bowen. This book lays bare the impossibility of being at the same time a detached observer of social mores and a genuine participant in the community activities. Early enculturation makes us what we are and, short of playing games, she says, no-one can escape its sway. Thus, her growing unease as some moral values she could not disown, soon became major impediments to both her anthropological work and a frank relationship with her informants. Another interesting feature of the novel is the narrator's unassuming attitude towards the people she met and her sincere interest in their way of thinking.
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