Ronald Godfrey Lienhardt (17 January 1921 – 9 November 1993) was a British anthropologist. He took many photographs of the
Dinka people
The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotes, Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, South Sudan, Renk, in the region of Bahr el Gh ...
he studied. He wrote about their religion in ''Divinity and Experience: the Religion of the Dinka''.
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, of mixed
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internati ...
and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
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 ...
in 1939, where he read English at
Downing College
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
under F. R. Leavis until he was called up and became a transport officer, stationed in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. He was followed in 1946
to Downing by his brother Peter Lienhardt, who also read English and became an anthropologist.
After returning to civilian life, Godfrey's academic interests were redirected to
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 be ...
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
.
His chosen field of research were the
Dinka
The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of ...
of southern Sudan, a people closely related to the Nuer studied by his mentor, (1947–50) and the Anuak (1952-1954). His work on the former, culminating in ''Divinity and Experience: the Religion of the Dinka,'' is regarded as unsurpassed as a study of African religion. His central, ultimately Durkheimian premise here is that religion is not reducible to a matter of beliefs and practices, but rather to a complex set of natural and social practices. His methodology shows an acute sensitivity to the dangers of translating key words in an indigenous lexicon concerning belief and religion, for example, into Western languages.
Sudan drifted into a civil war, and many of the native people he had got to know were swept up in the chronic violence of the area, Lienhardt found writing about his field increasingly difficult, particularly since he found himself at odds with the rising vogue for theory in anthropology, which overtook the practice of ethnological description.
The dilemma he faced in struggling with expectations that he should replace Evans-Pritchard in the chair of anthropology at Oxford informed
Dan Davin
Daniel Marcus Davin (1 September 1913 – 28 September 1990), generally known as Dan Davin, was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press. The themes o ...
's novel ''Brides of Price'' (1972).
He died, aged 72, of complications from pneumonia.
Honours
In 1988, Lienhardt was presented with a
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...
: it was tiled "Vernacular Christianity: essays in the social anthropology of religion presented to Godfrey Lienhardt" and was edited by
Wendy James
Wendy James (born 21 January 1966) is an English singer-songwriter most notable for her work with the pop band Transvision Vamp.
Transvision Vamp
Born in London to Norwegian parents, James was adopted soon after birth. She left home at the ag ...
and
Douglas H. Johnson
Douglas Hamilton Johnson is an American scholar who lives in Britain who specializes in the history of North East Africa, Sudan and the Southern Sudan.
Work in the Sudan
Johnson worked to support the 2003 Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement ne ...
.
Bibliography
* Divinity and experience: The religion of the Dinka '' Oxford University Press, 1961
*''Social anthropology,'' Oxford University Press, 1964
*T. M. S. Evens, 'Contradiction and Choice among the Dinka and in Genesis,' in his ''Anthropology as ethics: nondualism and the conduct of sacrifice'', Berghahn Books, 2008
*Peter Rivière, ‘Lienhardt, (Ronald) Godfrey (1921–1993)’,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
September 2004.
*
Mary Douglas
Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkheim ...
, 'Obituary:Godfrey Lienhardt,' in Anthropology Today, 10, 1, 1994, reprinted in Mary Douglas, ''Implicit meanings: selected essays in anthropology,'' in ''Mary Douglas:Collected Works'', Routledge, 2002, vol.5, pp. 188–198
*Douglas H.Johnson, 'Obituary: Godfrey Lienhardt', in
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
17 November 1993
*An excerpt from ''Divinity and Experience'' was included in the
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Rules and Meanings (1973).