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Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman Paperback – 1 March 1990

by Marjorie Shostak (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 177 ratings
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Married at twelve, then separated, divorced and widowed, Nisa is the mother of four children, none of whom survived. She is strong, capable of foraging on her own in one of the world's most hostile environments, not dependent on any man for her daily sustenance and ready to talk to anyone as her equal. Wise, full of humour at the absurdities of life and courageous in the face of its defeats, she is bawdy, practical and incurably romantic. She is a woman of the !Khung people who live by means of humanity's oldest survival strategy - gathering and hunting.
This book is the remarkable story of Nisa's life, told in her own words to Marjorie Shostak. It is a story full of echoes from a female past that we can never know directly. But it is also Nisa's unique story, her own voice, her own dignity. In anyone's culture, she is a remarkable woman.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    412 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    1 March 1990
  4. Dimensions
    13.79 x 2.36 x 21.59 cm
  5. ISBN-10
    1853830607
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1853830600
  7. See all details
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Product description

From the Publisher

Marjorie Shostak is an anthropoligist who lived for two years with the !Khung in the Kalahari desert.

About the Author

Marjorie Shostak is an anthropoligist who lived for two years with the !Khung in the Kalahari desert.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (1 March 1990)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 412 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1853830607
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1853830600
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.79 x 2.36 x 21.59 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 177 ratings

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Majorie Shostak

Majorie Shostak

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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Top review from Australia

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Australia on 22 January 2019
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If you want to know about life with the hunter-gatherers, this is the book.
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Brad Cassidy
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and thought provoking.
Reviewed in Canada on 25 February 2021
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Shostak provides good solid information on the culture of the !Kung which is very useful background, especially were one new to this people. However, the real gem in this work are the thoughts and words of Nisa. With clarity and unselfconscious authenticity Nisa paints a portrait of her life and her people. Not only does the reader learn of their ways and world-view, but the reader is also drawn to question their own biases and judgements. An extremely worthwhile read for anyone who would understand the human condition better.
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Kristen
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorite ethnographies and an absolute stable in anthropology
Reviewed in the United States on 20 May 2017
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I love, love, love this book. I initially read it for a college class in anthropology, but after reading many other ethonographies and ultimately getting my degree in anthropology, Nisa remains one of my all-time favorites. Nisa is a classic in the field, written by Marjorie Shostak of her field work in the 60's and 70's on of !Kung people in Souther Africa through the narrations of one !Kung woman, Nisa. The !Kung are significant in anthropology because they are one of the few peoples in the world that maintain a modern hunter-gatherer lifestyle (at least at the time of Shostak's fieldwork). Thus, they represent a lifestyle that human beings have lived for thousands of years dating back to the earliest hunter-gatherers. It's how we lived for the majority of our evolutionary time, and thus modern hunter-gatherers shed precious light on humanity's origins. Unlike most ethnographies and most social science texts more broadly, Nisa is primarily informed by one voice: Nisa's. The book consists of interviews conducted over time between Shostak and Nisa with the purpose of Nisa bestowing her own knowledge upon Shostak as a younger woman about what it means to be a woman. Each chapter chronicles a period of Nisa's life, which she tells to illustrate not only her own stories by central truths and life lessons. Of course, these are all according to one person, an older woman with a lifetime of lived experience through the lens of her own culture. Topics include growing up, marriage, taking lovers, being a mother, and losing those closest to you. Shostak begins the book with a long introduction describing the !Kung people and putting their culture into context for Western readers, including the !Kung language, traditions, family structures, group dynamics, migration, diet, etc. Then each chapter begins with an introduction to the topic based on Shostak's fieldwork with the whole community followed by Nisa's individual stories and insights. Overall, Nisa is an enigmatic, funny, unique, talented, and captivating storyteller selected by Shostak as narrator for these very reasons. This book is a treasure, and is certain to teach readers much about human truths according to one incredible woman. It's a must-read for anyone interested in womanhood, culture, modern hunter-gatherer societies, African peoples, anthropology, and human kind.
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W. J. H. Sanderson
5.0 out of 5 stars but still a great read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2016
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Absolutely fascinating. A real page turner. I was studying the emergence of 'religion' (whatever you mean by religion) in the Neolithic Near East. This is a fascinating view of a hunter-gatherer society. Shostak looks at the role of women here, and perhaps approaches it from a 1990s feminist perspective, but still a great read.
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731
5.0 out of 5 stars Nisa: The Life and Words of a !King Woman
Reviewed in Japan on 1 March 2003
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Nisa自身の言葉に忠実にかかれたこの本はとにかく臨場感たっぷりです。電気も水道もないアフリカ南部の奥地に住むNisa、そして様々な“便利”なものに囲まれて暮す自分自身。同じ女性として、親として、何に喜びを感じ、どのように暮らすことが本当に幸せなのか、あらためて考えさせられました。自分の生き方、そして自分自身に自信と誇りを持って力強く毅然と生きるNisaから多くのものを教えてもらった気分です。アフリカに暮す女性の姿、それ以上のものを得られる一冊です。
One person found this helpful
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Paige Lucas
5.0 out of 5 stars Textbook
Reviewed in Canada on 14 September 2020
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Bought as a textbook for class, was great! Came right away
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