Sir John Rankine Goody (1919–2015) was an English

social anthropologist Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

. He was a prominent lecturer at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and was

William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology The William Wyse Professorship of Social Anthropology is a professorship in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge. It was founded on 18 June 1932 and endowed partly with the support of Trinity College from money bequeathed to them b ...

from 1973 to 1984. Among his main publications were ''Death, property and the ancestors'' (1962), ''

Technology, Tradition, and the State in Africa ''Technology, Tradition and the State in Africa'' is a book studying the indigenous political systems of sub-Saharan Africa written by the British social anthropologist Jack Goody (1919–2015), then a professor at St. John's College, Cambrid ...

'' (1971), ''The myth of the Bagre'' (1972) and ''The domestication of the savage mind'' (1977).

Early life and education

Born 27 July 1919, His parents were Harold Goody (1885–1969) and Lilian Rankine Goody (1885–1962). Goody grew up in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

and

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, where he attended St Albans School. He went up to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

to study English literature in 1938, where he met leftist intellectuals like

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...

and E. P. Thompson.

Military service

Goody left university to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following

officer training A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

, he was commissioned into the

Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, on 23 March 1940 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. Fighting in North Africa, he was captured by the Germans and spent three years in

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camps. At the end of the war he held the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. Following his release, he returned to Cambridge to continue his studies. He officially relinquished his commission on 19 January 1952.

Academic career

Inspired by

James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 Janua ...

's ''

Golden Bough ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion'' (retitled ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir ...

'' and the archaeologist V.

Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and th ...

, he transferred to Archaeology and Anthropology when he resumed university study in 1946.

Meyer Fortes Meyer Fortes FBA FRAI (25 April 1906 – 27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person ...

was his first mentor in Social Anthropology. After fieldwork with the LoWiili and

LoDagaa The Dagaaba people (singular Dagao, and, in northern dialects, for both plural and singular
, update as of 25 May ...

peoples in northern

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, Goody increasingly turned to comparative study of Europe, Africa and Asia. Between 1954 and 1984, he taught

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

at Cambridge University, serving as the

from 1973 until 1984. He gave the Luce Lectures at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

—Fall 1987. Goody has pioneered the comparative

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

, attempting to gauge the preconditions and effects of writing as a technology. He also published about the history of the family and the anthropology of inheritance. More recently, he has written on the anthropology of flowers and food.

Later life

Goody died on 16 July 2015, aged 95. His funeral was held on 29 July at the West Chapel, Cambridge City Crematorium.

Honours

In 1976, Goody was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA). He was an associate of the

US National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

. In the 2005

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

, he was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

"for services to Social Anthropology", and therefore granted the use of the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

''. In 2006, he was appointed Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Works

Jack Goody explained social structure and social change primarily in terms of three major factors. The first was the development of intensive forms of agriculture that allowed the accumulation of surplus – surplus explained many aspects of cultural practice from marriage to funerals as well as the great divide between African and Eurasian societies. Second, he explained social change in terms of urbanisation and growth of bureaucratic institutions that modified or overrode traditional forms of social organisation, such as family or tribe, identifying civilisation as "the culture of cities". And third, he attached great weight to the technologies of communication as instruments of psychological and social change. He associated the beginnings of writing with the task of managing surplus and, in a paper with

Ian Watt Ian Watt (9 March 1917 – 13 December 1999) was a literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at Stanford University. His ''The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding'' (1957) is an important work in the h ...

(Goody and Watt 1963), he advanced the argument that the rise of science and philosophy in classical Greece depended on the invention of the

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...

. As these factors could be applied to any contemporary social system or to systematic changes over time, his work is equally relevant to many disciplines.

Books

* 1956 ''The Social Organisation of the LoWiili'' (London, HMSO), 2nd ed. 1976, London, published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press * 1962 ''Death, Property and the Ancestors: A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the LoDagaa of West Africa'', Stanford, Stanford University Press * 1968 ed.
''Literacy in Traditional Societies''
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press); translated into German and Spanish. * 1971 ''Technology, Tradition, and the State in Africa'', Oxford, Oxford University Press * 1971 ''The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 1972 ''The Myth of the Bagre'', Oxford, Oxford University Press * 1973 ed.
''The Character of Kinship''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 1974 with

Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah (16 January 1929 – 19 January 2014) was a social anthropologist and Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor ''(Emeritus)'' of Anthropology at Harvard University. He specialised in studies of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Tamils, a ...

, ''Bridewealth and Dowry'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 197
''Production and Reproduction: A Comparative Study of the Domestic Domain''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 197
''The Domestication of the Savage Mind''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish. * 198
''Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into Spanish, French and Portuguese. * 198
''The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese. * 198
''The Logic of Writing and the Organisation of Society''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese. * 198
''The Interface Between the Written and the Oral''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 199
''The Oriental, the Ancient and the Primitive: Systems of Marriage and the Family in the Pre-Industrial Societies of Eurasia''
(Studies in Literacy, the Family, Culture and the State), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 1993 ''The Culture of Flowers'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into French and Italian. * 199
''The Expansive Moment: The Rise of Social Anthropology in Britain and Africa, 1918–1970''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 199
''The East in the West''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; translated into French and Italian. * 199
''Representations and Contradictions: Ambivalence Towards Images, Theatre, Fictions, Relics and Sexuality''
Oxford, Blackwell Publishers; translated into Spanish and French (Paris, La Découverte). * 199
''Food and Love: A Cultural History of East and West''
London, Verso * 200
''The European Family: An Historico-Anthropological Essay (Making of Europe)''
Oxford, Blackwell Publishers * 2000 ''The Power of the Written Tradition'', Washington and London, Smithsonian Institution Press '', Washington and London, Smithsonian Institution Press * 2004 ''Islam in Europe'', Cambridge, Polity Press * 2004 ''Capitalism and Modernity: The Great Debate'', Cambridge, Polity Press ; translated into French, Turkish. * 200
''Comparative Studies In Kinship''
London and New York, Routledge * 200
''The Theft of History''
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press ; translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish. * 2008 ''Family and Inheritance: Rural Society in Western Europe, 1200-1800'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 2010 ''Myth, Ritual and the Oral'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press ; translated into French and Turkish * 2010 ''Renaissances: The One or the Many?'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press ; translated into Chinese, French, Italian, Polish, Turkish * 2012 ''Metals, Culture and Capitalism: An Essay on the Origins of the Modern World'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press * 2018 ''Changing Social Structure in Ghana: Essays in the Comparative Sociology of a New State and an Old Tradition'', London and New York, Routledge

Selected articles

* 1956 Jack Goody ''A Comparative Approach to Incest and Adultery'',

British Journal of Sociology ''The British Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1950 at the London School of Economics. It represents the mainstream of sociological thinking and research and publishes high quality papers on all asp ...

, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Dec. 1956), pp. 286–305 * 1957 ''Fields of Social Control Among the LoDagaba'' The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 87, No. 1 (Jan. – Jun. 1957), pp. 75–104 * GOODY, J. 1959. The Mother's Brother and the Sister's Son in West Africa. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 89:61–8
response
* 1961 Jack Goody ''Religion and Ritual: The Definitional Problem'' The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jun. 1961), pp. 142–164 * 1963 Jack Goody, Ian Watt ''The Consequences of Literacy'' Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Apr. 1963), pp. 304–345 * 1969 ''Adoption in Cross-Cultural Perspective'' Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan. 1969), pp. 55–78 * 1972 ''Taboo Words'' ''Man'', New Series, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Mar. 1972), p. 137 * 1973 Goody, J. '' olygyny, economy and the role of women'. In J. Goody (Ed.),
The character of kinship
'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973 * 1973
Inheritance, Property, and Marriage in Africa and Eurasia
' Sociology, Vol. 3, No. 1, 55–76 (1969) * Goody, Jack (1973)
Bridewealth and Dowry in Africa and Eurasia
' in Bridewealth and Dowry, ed. J. Goody and S. Tambiah. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press * Jack Goody, Joan Buckley
Cross-Sex Patterns of Kin Behavior: A Comment
' Cross-Cultural Research, Vol. 9, No. 3, 185–202 (1974) * 1977 ''Ethnology and/or Cultural Anthropology in Italy: Traditions and Developments nd Comments and Reply'' Vinigi Grottanelli, Giorgio Ausenda, Bernardo Bernardi, Ugo Bianchi, Y. Michal Bodemann, Jack Goody, Allison Jablonko, David I. Kertzer, Vittorio Lanternari, Antonio Marazzi, Roy A. Miller Jr., Laura Laurencich Minelli, David M. Moss, Leonard W. Moss, H. R. H. Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, Diana Pinto, Pietro Scotti, Tullio Tentori. ''Current Anthropology'', Vol. 18, No. 4 (Dec. 1977), pp. 593–614 * 1989 ''Futures of the Family in Rural Africa'' Population and Development Review, Vol. 15, Supplement: Rural Development and Population: Institutions and Policy (1989), pp. 119–144 * 1991 ''Towards a Room with a View: A Personal Account of Contributions to Local Knowledge, Theory, and Research in Fieldwork and Comparative Studies'' Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 20, 1991, pp. 1–23 * 1992 ''Culture and its boundaries: a European view'' Social Anthropology 1 (1a),9–32. * 1994 Jack Goody, Cesare Poppi ''Flowers and Bones: Approaches to the Dead in Anglo-American and Italian Cemeteries'' Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Jan. 1994), pp. 146–175 * 1996 ''Comparing Family Systems in Europe and Asia: Are There Different Sets of Rules?'' Population and Development Review: 22 (1). * 1996 ''Cognitive contradictions and universals: creation and evolution in oral cultures'' Social Anthropology Volume 4 Issue 1 Page 1-16, February 1996. * 2002 ''The Anthropology of the Senses and Sensations'' La Ricerca Folklorica, No. 45, Antropologia delle sensazioni (Apr. 2002), pp. 17–28 * 2004
The folktale and cultural history
' Cahiers de littérature orale n. 56, pp. 53–66 * 2006
From misery to luxury
' Social Science Information, Vol. 45, No. 3, 341–348 * 2006
Gordon Childe, the Urban Revolution, and the Haute Cuisine: An Anthropo-archaeological View of Modern History
' Comparative Studies in Society and History (2006), 48: 503–519 (Issue 03 – May 2006) Cambridge University Press

Notes

External links

* * Other articles: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *

** ** https://web.archive.org/web/20080911060913/http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/7A086958-19BD-4AE4-861E-21A9A4D010BE/1006/11205.pdf ** ** ** * Maria Lúcia Pallares-Burke
interview with Jack Goody
Chapter 1 of ''The New History: Confessions and Conversations'' (Polity Press, 2002). * Maurice Bloch, Dan Sperber (to Jack Goody)

' Current Anthropology. 2002. 43 (4) 723–748
Interview of Jack Goody by Eric Hobsbawm 18 May 1991 (film)

Jack Goody at "Pioneers of Qualitative Research" from the Economic and Social Data Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goody, Jack 1919 births 2015 deaths English anthropologists Literacy and society theorists Mass media theorists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Knights Bachelor People from St Albans People from Welwyn Garden City World War II prisoners of war held by Germany People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Sherwood Foresters officers William Wyse Professors of Social Anthropology Military personnel from London British World War II prisoners of war British Army personnel of World War II People from Hammersmith