The Nuer

''The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People'' is an ethnographical study by the British anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1902–73) first published in 1940. The work examined the political and familial systems of the Nuer people in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and is considered a landmark work of social anthropology. It was the first of three books authored by Evans-Pritchard on Nuer culture.

The structure of the book

The first two chapters - 'Cattle' and 'Oecology' - provided an environmental setting for the Nuer, cattle pastoralists who carried on limited horticulture. Evans-Pritchard emphasised the extent to which cattle dominated both their economic activity and their social ideals:
''The Nuer'' was the first of three books which Evans-Pritchard would publish on the Nuer. The others were published as ''Kinship and Marriage Among the Nuer'' (1951) and ''Nuer Religion'' (1956).

In the book's introduction, Evans-Pritchard warmly thanked the Nuer for the welcome he felt they gave him:

Reception

''The Nuer'' is considered a landmark work of social anthropology and has been discussed extensively. Audrey Richards considered that the book, though "unsatisfying in some respects, it is a brilliant tonic, and in the best sense of the word, an irritating book". This judgment has been echoed by modern academics. Renato Rosaldo has criticised Evans-Pritchard for rendering invisible, in the subsequent body of ''The Nuer'', the colonial power dynamics which enabled his ethnographic research.Renato Rosaldo, 'From the door of his tent: the fieldworker and the inquisitor', in J. Clifford and G. Marcus, eds., ''Writing Culture'' pp.77-97

References

Further reading

*
*
*
*

External links

''The Nuer'' (free e-book)
at Archive.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuer, The
1940 non-fiction books
Books about ethnic groups
English-language non-fiction books
Non-fiction books about Sudan
Nuer
Clarendon Press books