Papers in Honor of Melville J. Herskovits: Gossip and Scandal Author(s): Max Gluckman Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 4, No.

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Papersin Honor of MelvilleJ.Herskovits

Gossipand Scandal
by Max qluckman
IT HAS TAKEN the development of anthropological individual... the same rightto indulgein slander, and break-up of smallgroups gossip, interest in the growth outbursts of conceit, jealously, etc.,thathe has perspective, to givevent proper to themore to putgossip and scandalintotheir respectable emotions." Radin's was thusmuchlessacutethanhisobservations societaland cultural theory as amongthe most important we are called upon to analyse. Perceptive of gossip.He may have confused phenomena themaintenance of of goodrelations from the a surface anthropologists dealt withthesephenomena between leaders with actual Paul Radin, in his good relations, early days of field observation. buthe clearly detected how theycomdescribed peted through (1927:177-8), Primitive Man as a Philosopher gossip,withoutbeing able to weave thisinto a theory. theway in which This is partlyunderstandable in of the background of analyticalideas at the and terms themost persistent areindeed among primitive people for the same Contestants honours, pos- timehe wrote, ofgossips. though a yearearlier, inveterate Malinowski had theauthorized nar- presented rites of thetribe, of thesacred sessors his theory of mythas a social charter for as to the existing doubt all leaveyou in little rators of legends, social arrangements on the basis of a man's oftheir "Ignoramus,"boaststhathe had theprivilege andproficiency colleagues. character to tella certain myth bandied (Mythin Primitive infrequently "liar" areliberally "braggart," andnot Psychology, 1926). about. "some observers In his study of a Trinidad Village (1947:185), that therefore Radin commented probedmuchmoredeeplyinto gossipas that not love, kindness, Herskovits have drawn the conclusion a cultural phenomenon. He discusses howprosecutions and forbearance, but envy,slanderand hate are the and jailing of a sect called the Shouters "give riseto He of a primitive dominant community." atmosphere becausethe "unkind gossip about the eventsthat led to the suppressed arguedthat thiswas incorrect, talesthatare toldand retold witha mixture bandiedabout meetings, and slanderous remarks so frequently of relish and sympathy." He proceeds to show how the do not engender feudsand thatoften principals and pointsof view influence this Radin dismissed popular attitudes are on verygood terms." concerned gossip, so that "fantasy supplements or even supplants was to be explained the idea thatthiscontradiction into but he fellback on factin orderto weave morecloselya new motif or sublimation"; by "suppression of grievance againstdiscrimination." has a the old pattern thattribalsociety a meagre thesis, psychological blamedthelocal minister gossip for of expression whichgives"every Thus oft-repeated of freedom theory a first series of arrests of Shouters, forit was alleged thathe was piqued becausethe Shouters had drawn MAX GLUCKMAN is Professor of Social Anthropologyat the his own away congregation. Prominent of a laymen Victoria Universityof Manchester,England. Born in 1911, he recognized church were accusedin gossipof leading was educated in Johannesburgand as a Rhodes Scholar at the police to a Shouters' Oxford (D.Phil., 1936). He carried out lengthyfield research Herskovits relates meeting. among the Zulu and the Barotse and shortersurveysin other this gossip to allegations by those of lower socioRhodesian tribes. He was Director of the Rhodes-Livingstone economic positionthat the discrimination of larger Institute'of Social Studies in British Central Africa (1939and wealthier denominations had achieved thepassing at Oxford (1947Lecturer 1947), beforebecominga University of theordinance theShouters in order"to forbidding 9), whence he established the Department of Social Anthropology and Sociology at Manchester.He has been editor of the a dangerous suppress rivalin thequestforsouls." Institutepublications. Rhodes-Livingstone In another connects studyHerskovits gossipwith Gluckman's main publications are on politics and law, inthe maintenance of morals. In his in a Haitian Life cluding a series of books and essays on the Barotse and a Valley (1937:74f) he analyses songs sung at the number of essays on the Zulu, as well as collaborativework on the Rhodesian Tonga and Lamba. Also, he has published combites: working-bees-the general theoretical work, including Custom and Conflict in Atthe combite a man Africa and Rule, Law and Ritual in Tribal Society (in press), notonly learns all the gossip ofthe with contributions to Essays on the Ritual of Social Relations day,butenjoys learning andsinging thesongs which causand Closed Systemsand Open Minds: The Limits of Naivete comment onthe tically ofneighbours, shortcomings orevalin Social Anthropology (in press), both of which last he edited. uatethehospitality of those whohavecalledcombites, or A collection of his essays has just been published under the detail scandal, phrased with sufficient directness to allow title Order and Rebellion in Tribal Africa. thereference of thesong to remain butwarily, so as ctear, Max Gluckman's paper is the third in a series, edited by notto givetheindividual grounds fordirect recrimination. Francis L. K. Hsu and Alan P. Merriam specially prepared to As we shallsee,all thelessons of successful scandalhonorMelville J. Herskovits.The entireseries,when completed, will constitute a new type of Festschrift (CA 4:92). are compressed in Herskovits' mongering fewwords.

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He goes on to explainhow thismakesthe leaderof against the canons of the Church. Yet it is possible to it,"The show that among relatively small groups, gossip, in foras one Haitianexpressed feared, thesongs is all its very many varieties,is a culturallydetermined and everysimidor [leader] is a journalist, simidor on process, which has its own customaryrules, trespass here theanalysis Herskovits-anticipating a Judas!" of these beyond which is heavily sanctioned. I propose to depend-givesexamples whichI shallmainly "amonga people illustratethe social affiliationsof this process and to to showhow theyfindfavour songs to whosenaturallove of gossipis added a patterned suggestthat gossip,and even scandal, have important short- positive virtues. Clearly they maintain the unity, of individual forobliquepublicstatement relish inhospitality morals and values of social groups.Beyond this,they which scorn songs cites He then comings." cousins, enable these groups to control the competingcliques two first between a love affair and meanness, of magic and aspiringindividualsof which all groupsare comwherea suspicion quarrel and an impending and finallya song which was a posed. And finally,they make possible the selection entered, practices in whichthe singer boastedof his equality of leaders withoutembarrassment. challenge The one theme of my argumentwas clearly exwithanother. of pressedin JaneAusten'snovel,Emma, that penetrating of gossipwiththe maintenance The connection was takena analysis of the small village of Highbury in Surrey. the unityof groupsand theirmorality the passage when the elite of the of Plainsville, You may remember Westin hisstudy by James stepfurther U.S.A., (1945:99-107, 162), a Middle West town; village were to gather for Christmasdinner at Mr. of an analysiswhich Weston's house. Among themwas Mr. JohnKnightly, beginning and thisis the first the pervasiverole of gossip in com- who had left Highbury to practise law in London. demonstrates and As he was driven throughthe snow to Mr. Weston's, vividlythe"loafing life.' West describes munity to his companions: the sugges- he grumbled and creates gossip"groupsof Plainsville, of old men tive title"gossipcells."Thereare groups A man musthave a verygood opinionof himself when and old women,and men can only enterthe store he asks people to leave theirown fireside, and encounter in a joking- sucha day as this,forthe sake of coming wherethe old womensit by indulging to see him.He markedby sexual innuendo.He also mustthinkhimself relationship, a mostagreeablefellow; I could not women do sucha thing. oneof young married It is thegreatest snowabsurdity-actually describes cliques, younger ofpeople's notstaying moment! Thefolly at home He says ingat this married couples. and oneof four"fast"young of old people thereis exchanging whentheycan! If we wereobligedto go out on suchan thatin the groups what a as this,by any call of dutyor business, of all news, thoughthe old men are evening and garbling hardship we should deem it;-and here we are, probably He states, too, thantheyoungwomenthink. kindlier ratherthinner than usual, setting forward clothing progressive with are on thewholeagainst thatthese groups withoutexcuse,in defianceof the voice of voluntarily, that Finallyhe (p. 162) writes developments. nature whichtellsman,in everything givento his view or to stay at homehimself, and keep all under with his feelings, concern the air. . . as a vital topermeate seems religion thathe can;-here are we setting to spend forward set the churches which conduct up. shelter onmoral the negotiations dull in to five hours another man's with house, nothing morals of through control mainly operates The religious and laugh say or to hearthatwas not said and heardyesterday, suspect, report, ofgossip. People andthefear gossip Going in and walkand may not be said and heard again tomorrow. of others, thepeccadilloes at,andcondemn dismal to return in weather, probably worse; four horses in any trifling to avoid beingcaught behavecarefully and four servants takenout fornothing but to convey five own.... of their missteps
have had at home. in conjunction withthebook pany thantheymight passages Takingthese of a community Five idle creatures to geta feeling as a whole, onebegins were being taken that night to itsvalues and maintains heldtogether whichis partly spend their time in idle gossip with other idle creacliquesand bothwithin and scandalizing by gossiping That day theyhad chattedthe same idle gossip. forhisgreat tures. in general. We must giveWestfullcredit And on the followingday, they would engage in the was he because perhaps but achievement; pioneering idle gossip. Now, obviously, in the kind of he was notable to graspthefullimportance same a pioneer society describedby Miss Austen-the countryupper He did not bringout that circles of of his own discoveries. early nineteenthcentury England-gossip life, gossipdoes not have isolatedrolesin community was not idle, though the creatureswere. In fact the but is part of theveryblood and tissueof thatlife. more idle the creatures,the less idle was the gossip. this BeforeI examine a studywhichdemonstrated Their These were people living on land, rents and giltat ourproblems. terms I glancein general fully, off fromothersby markingthemselves by the factthateverysingle edged shares, is indicated importance about one talking another. And about one day,and fora largepartof each day,mostof us are anotherwas what helped maintaintalking them as a groupI imaginethat if we were to an elite-in the wider engagedin gossiping. in which society lived. they gossiping Mr. ofhowwe useourwaking-time, keepa record had left this to John Knightly society practice would comeonly after"work"-for someof us-in law in London; hence he was intolerantof its gossip. aboutgossip comments thescore. popular Nevertheless, intelligent, and very high-principled brother, chanceand haphazard His more tendto treatit as something of. It is joined in the gossip with interest,for he was still and oftenas something to be disapproved
1 J draw attentionto Simmel's brief referenceto "gossip" as important in the nuances of human interaction, but he is led off from analysis by emphasisingthe betrayalof secrets,even though this is most importantin community gossip (The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 1950, p. 334).

idle shivering creatures intocolderroomsand worsecom-

fully absorbed in the social life of the village. But the right to gossip idly was severely restricted even the circle; so within that Mrs. the Rector's Elton, bride from Bristol, was pert and impertinent when she joined in that gossip too freely and tooout quickly. The novelist Frank Swinnerton pointed that
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Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL Jane Austen uses gossip as a means of interrelating so skillher characters in a commonsocial intercourse fully, that Mr. Perry, the apothecary, never once position. Gossip here is a two-edged weapon; for it appears in person during the course of the book, yet also means that you have no ancestorsin the group in the gossip of otherswe see him as an individual, to be attacked through-in short that you have no theirdealings with one another(1939:16). influencing ancestors. And each time that someone in your Gossip of this kind is one of the chief weapons presencerefersto a scandal about another'sancestor, higherin status or even his own ancestor,he is gentlyrubbingin the which those who considerthemselves use to put those whom they consider lower in their fact that you have no ancestors and do not belong proper place. Huntin', fishin' and shootin',in them- properlyto the group, and are a parvenu. The third type of exclusive group is that which selves, as expensive recreationalactivities,may have thrustupon it-either by being in a by which has exclusiveness been-and may be-among thechiefsymbols by isolation of locality,or by other distincertain sets in England mark themselvesoff from minority, others.But with the activitiesgoes a large measureof guishing criterionwhich the memberscannot overgossip which makes huntin', fishin', and shootin' a come. I shall illustrate the function of gossip and constantand endurin'bond between those who prac- scandal in this type of group in detail, since here (as phenomenawere most tice them-against thosewho do not. The Sphere,the far as I know) theseimportant Tattler, and othermagazines bear witness.The gossip fully subjected to an illuminating anthropological This was in Elizabeth Colson's studyof which accompaniesthese activitiesis interwovenwith investigation. taking up the Makah Indians (1953). I have selected her study a separate technicalJanguage.I remember of my centraltheme,and the sportsof ridingand sailing,and having to struggle for its detailed presentation to acquire these new technical languages which help of some of the complicatingpeculiaritiesthat enter make one a member of the fellowship. But when into the gossip of each type of group, because she it came to riding, I was never able to acquire the made manifestto me that gossip and scandal have gossip among thosewho rode-even in thesmall circles theirvirtues. of Johannesburg-and I always feltlost in the group. The Makah Indians were a small group of Red I was glad when the time came for me to slink away Indians residentin the Puget Sound area at the tip with my horse to carry out my field research in of Cape Flattery,opposite Vancouver Island. It was Zululand, until there again I found myselfexcluded estimated that -in 1780 they numbered some 2,000 from groups because I did not know enough gossip. people. A century later,smallpoxand othervicissitudes Gradually I learnt the gossip; but I never acquired had reduced them in number to under 700 and in enough certaintyin knowing when and, more im- 1942, when Dr. Colson studied them,therewere 400when not to use it, ever to become a mem- odd on the tribal roll. The Makah belonged to the portantly, ber of Zulu society. NorthwestCoast group of American Indians, famous of for theirperformance The more exclusive the group, the greaterwill be in anthropologicalliterature the amount of gossip in it. There are three formsof the potlatch. A potlatch was a ceremonial feast to The one is the which one group or individual invited social rivals in social group which testthis hypothesis. professional group, like lawyers or anthropologists, order to demonstratefamily prerogatives.The host so tightly aggressivelyasserted his and his family's ownership whose gossipis built into technicaldiscussion that the outsidercannot always detect the slightper- of particular propertyin resources,titles, songs and sonal knockdown which is concealed in a technical ceremonial privileges while feasting and making recital,or the technicalsneerwhich is contained in a presentsto the visitors.The visitorsthen had to give the most irritating a returnfeast on a biggerscale or lose face. personal gibe. This is, therefore, kind of group to crash into, because one has no clue Beforethe Makah came under Americanprotection no apparatus for taking sound- and care by treatythey lived in five villages, divided to the undercurrents, of a subject into longhouses in which dwelt extended families. ings. And this is why old practitioners and can so easily put a comparative newcomer into his The people were divided into chiefs,commoners, place, can make him feel a neophyte.They have only slaves. ago to to hint in a technicalargumentat some personal fact The AmericanIndian Servicesetout a century about the person who advanced the theorydiscussed, turntheMakah 'intoAmericancitizens-agriculturalists and hunting to make the eager young studentfeel how callow he in an environment suitableonly forfishing, is. Again, the more highly organized the profession, collecting;Sunday School addicts, aware of the value is the role of gossip here. theirown property, the more effective of moneyand averse to destroying I have glanced already at the second type of highly living in houses by small families,wearing clothes, exclusive group-that feels it has high social status eating off tables and the like. Childrenwere taken by from which it wishes to exclude parvenus. But compulsionfromtheirparents and sent to boardingwe mnust notice that these groups tend to become school to cut themoff fromtheirparentsand Indian hereditary; and once they are, it means that each tradition. All things Indian were prohibitedby the of the local agent of the Indian Service. This process of group comprisesnot only the presentmembers And here lies indoctrinationwas kept up until 1932, when the group,but also the past dead members. great scope for gossip as a social weapon. To be able policy of the Indian Service changed,and it began to to gossip properly,a memberhas to know not only encourage the development of Red Indian cultural but also about their individualitywithinthe generalAmericanpattern. about the present membership, can hit at one anotherthrough forbears.For members Colson tried, in her study, to assess how far this their ancestors, and if you cannot use this attack processof Americanizationhad succeeded. She found because you are ignorant,then you are in a weak that the Makah in practice had made a satisfactory
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adjustmentto the modernAmericanworld. From the beginning,they had paid their way economically, unlike the Plains Indians, who had been put on of the bufGovernmentrations after the destruction falo. The Makah were protected in a part of their ancient territoryby their treaty with the United States Government;and from their Reservation they had been able to earn a living firstat sealing, and then at fishingfor halibut, and also by working for the lumber company exploiting the forests on the Reservation. By thistimethe tribehad ceased to be pure-blooded. in it, but many Not only were theremany half-breeds membersof the tribe had considerablymore white blood than Indian blood. Most of the younger and middle-agedpeople spoke Englishand few had a good knowledge of Makah. The overt practice of Makah customand ceremonialhad died out. More than this, most Makah were subjectto the intensivepropaganda of what are technically called, "mass media communication," i.e. cinemas, radio, newspapers, magacontactwith Amerizines. They were also in intensive cans. Some of theseAmericanslived in the Neah Bay settlement into which all Makah had moved. Many if periodically, moved out of Makah cQntinuously, the Reservationand scatteredin the cities and farmlands of the West Coast wheretheyearned theirliving in the same ways as any other Americansof parallel skill. In 1942, Neah Bay was filled by additional Whites,come to the wartimenaval base and associated constructionalactivities. Again, the Makah were on good terms with many of these Whites. Indeed, in many cases Dr. Colson found it impossibleto detect whethera man was Makah or White by his surface relations with others. Many Makah were Christians and associated with Whites in worship. Colson saw that the Makah were able to adapt themselvesto the new conditions and that this was possible because theywere able to earn a good living fromthe sea and fromwork on theirReservation as well as outside it. Yet they still cling togetheras a group, partly because they have economic interests in being Indians. As wards of the United States Government, they cannot be taxed by State or local either directlyor throughpurchase sales authorities, tax, petrol tax, etc. They are not tax, entertainment subject,while on the Reservation,to certainprocesses of law, such as garnisheeorders on their wages or attachmentof goods acquired by hire purchase and taken on the Reservation. They are entitled to free and their children to dental and medical treatment, free lunches at school as Whites are not. There are many advantages in being an Indian and also in being a Makah. This entitles a man to free rightsin the Makah Reservation and ultimatelyto a share in the proceeds when the Reservationor parts of it are sold as provided in the Treaty. Therefore the Makah collectively and theoretically strive to keep their numberslow in total, in order that shares shall be greater, though in practice individuals will try to insurethat the descendantsof theirown relativesare on the tribal roll, whatever their parentage, while they try to keep the descendantsof othersoff. argument a beautifully presented I have su~mmarized and analysis to give a backgroundto Colson's perception of the virtuesof gossip and scandal among the
310

Makah. Here we have a verysmall group (400 people) set against the mightymass of the American population. They are hostile in many ways to the Whites with whom they associate. They feel that the Whites have robbed themof a cultureand a way of life that was theirs,that the Whites have despoiled them and their Indian brothersof land, and so forth. One would expect that they would array themselvesin unity in order to maintain their independence and their identityas Makah. Far from it. They are torn by internal dissension and strugglesfor status and use the tongueof scandal to keep one they constantly anotherin proper place. Colson, knowing that the Makah had previously been divided into chiefs, commoners, and slaves, sought to establishthe nature of this rankingin the past. She found great certaintyabout the rules as some expressedby various people. But, unfortunately, rules contradicted others,and the application of each was always uncertain. Someone would tell her that was determined chieftainship absolutelyby birth,both on father's and mother's sides; and add, of course, that he was thusdescended.Others would corroborate these rules, but would point out that the first informant was descendedfroma Nootka slave woman, and therefore was low class. Then otherswould say that birth was of some account, but it was more important that a man, to be high-class, should achieve himself, by being a doctor or whale-hunter, something or the like, and of coursehis father was a greatwhalehunteror doctor or the like. Yet others would then run down thesepretensions. Again, under the potlatch system,a man had had to give feasts to show his greatness;so today a man ought to be generousif he is to be esteemed. But now that anyone can earn money,if a man gives feastshis rivals can say that he is a nouveau riche tryingto cover his low-class and that the real high-classpeople do not need to do this since their status is well known. Others will then accuse themof meanness,inappropriateto high-class, until they become prodigal, when they are nouveau riche. Finally, you can always down another by allegingthat his familyis addicted to sorcery(poisoning). And to use sorcery means that one is of low class-for the man or woman who is secure in social positiondoes not need to use sorcery to securehis ends. Everyone is likely to accuse othersof being sorcerers and to be accused in turn. Thus Colson says (pp. 204-5) that hardly had she been in the village a week, when she heard that there was a class system 'We Indiansare justlike ... and it was highly important. We classup. Therearehigh-class Whites. peopleand middleclass people and thenreal low-classpeople. Most people herecomefrom thelowerclassthough theydon'tlikeit to be said. You can tell thedifference whenyou meet though people. Only the high-class people know how to act. The don't know anything othersnaturally about how things Just should be done.Theyhad no old peopleto teachthem. know.' Each personsayingthisthensaid, certain families was of upper-class thathisfamily status and had of course, been so fromas far back as Makah tradition went,and to warnme against families whichhe calledlow proceeded class. These in turn warned her against the others. Dr. Colson sumsit up:
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So it went frompersonto personuntil I foundthat in the village accusedothersof beinglow-class everyone to speakfortheMakahor to holdup their and notentitled of thereallygood people. headsin front theoThe result is thatin Neah Bay todaya classsystem to place fortheobserver but it is impossible retically exists, any singlepersonin his properclass becausethereare no as to whatconstitutes a valid standards generally accepted claim to class status.Nor is thereany generally accepted in variousclassesrecognized placingof individuals by all of class and it Makah themselves. Yet, theyare conscious to otherMakah into theirthinking withreferences enters to a newcomer. Each thatis incomprehensible to an extent status for himselfand his individualclaims high-class each usually deridesthe claims of immediate ancestors; other Makah unless theyhappento be closerelatives-and even a close relativeis not safe sincehis claimsto status can always be deridedon the groundthat through some linenotshared withyouhe descends from low-class people, or it may be claimedthathe has not achievedenoughto justify his equal position withyourown. Makah also attach great value to the theory that kinsmenshould help one another,and for pride's sake to maintaintheirsocial standing;they go out of their way to assistdistantkin. So that the poor Makah who runs a store or restaurantis compelled to give credit to his kin, and they do not feel it necessaryto pay their debts. He cannot, on the other hand, make a living out of people who are not related to him; for unrelated people will not buy from him because if he becomes rich he will rise in status.They preferto buy from Whites and make Whites rich. Similarly, when the Makah try to run any political activity, those who take the lead are sniped at by vicious, scandal, to underminetheir rise in status,until they abandon the activity.This has happened to the Presidentand otherofficers of the Makah Tribal Council instituted by the United States Government.Scandal also attacked and drove frompublic life a numberof Makah who tried to run an Annual Makah Day, duringwhich so-called traditionalMakah dances and ceremonies were staged.2 Historically, it is easy to see how this situation arose. In the old days the chiefs'statuswas validated by their control over economic resources and over This statuswas periodicallydemontheirsubordinates. strated throughceremonialprerogativesexhibited in potlatch feasts. Today anyone can pay his way by earningmoney and can give feasts.Lines of ancestry and connectionsoutside are blurredby intermarriage of marriagewith Whites and other Indians and ultimately, all Makah are probably interconnected by blood with each other. At the moment, there are certain groupingsof closely related kindred but new marriagesand new birthsmay change the alignment. statusby referHence it is impossibleto demonstrate ence to the past. That the Makah should still put so much energyinto this factiousstruggle for class status may largelybe a relicof theformer rankedpotlatching It may also be the intrusion competition. among them of American class-ideas. But I ventureto go beyond Colson's analysis and suggestsomething more. Colson concludes her discussion(p. 228):
2 Colson contrasts the situationof the Makah with the situation and Personality among describedby V. Barnouw in "Acculturation the Wisconsin Chippewa," Memoirs American Anthropological Association,No. 72 (1950).

Gluckman: GOSSIP

AND SCANDAL

givesthe imforposition of rivalry The whole picture of theMakahare completely thattheclassconcepts pression functhesmooth and workonlyto disrupt unconstructive true.The desire of the group.That is not entirely tioning something and for social positioncontributes forprestige gossipand back-biting to triballife.Indeed,the incessant holding feature as an important goeson canbe viewed which whichis distinctive Makah in a set of social relationship society. widerAmerican within and thebickering to characterize It wouldbe too simple the doesamong [as Barnouw aggression' as 'in-group sniping others Chippewa]and let it go at that.The Makah criticize thegroupto within ofa setofvalueswhichoperate in terms The constant of thegroup. ofmembers thebehaviour govern of these is a reassertion gossipand backbiting criticism, in no otherway. If values,whichtodaycan be expressed thevaluesthemthegossipand back-biting, theyrepressed muchof thefeeling and withthem selveswould disappear, people. thattheMakahare a distinct has becomean end itself theback-biting To someextent intowhichtheMakah have of behaviour a system in itself, which witha zest and a determination, themselves thrown to a highpeak. theart of verbaldenigration have brought giverise of their fellows statements themalicious Certainly public from and to a retreat and to unhappiness to hatred view, but fromthe zest with which they recounttheir thatthey it is apparent in thefieldof slander, experiences intoa gamewithits thistypeof behaviour have developed "Makahwereexperts [Shefootnotes: and interest. ownrules recognithisart obtainedgeneral before in 'Lifemanship'3 in theMakah delight or sportsmen) tion."]Like all artists, of their skill.And onlyothers technical withtheir playing to compete knowledge have the technical own community theskillwithwhicha pointis or to appreciate in thegame, scored. In this analysis Colson clearly establishesthe imgossipwithin portantpoint that specificand restricted a group marks it off from other groups, both like and unlike. The gossip and scandal which are so bitingin Makah life unite them into a group outside of general American society.And, as she points out, and since this gossip and scandal involve the criticism of people against the traditionalvalues of assessment Makah society, they maintain the tribe as Indians against Whites, and as Makah against other Indians. These Makah values and traditionslargely persistin the gossip and in no otherway. To be a Makah, you must be able to join in the gossip, and to be fully a This Makah you mustbe able to scandalize skillfully. entails that you know the individual familyhistories of your fellows; for the knowledgeablecan hit at you and you mustbe able to retort your ancestry, through in kind. You have also have got to have some knowledge of the old ways of the Makah tribe. In the specificsituationof the Makah, it seemsalso that theirbitingscandal is used to maintain the prinWhat thegroup ciple of equalitybetweenall members. seems to be unable to do is to admit that one person is superiorin any respect.The Makah foughta Washington State law to protect the breedingof fish, by claiming the rightto fish out of season in a certain river on the groundsthat they fishedtherewhen the Treaty of the Reservation was signed. To win their case, theyhad to admit thatone familyhad hereditary
3 Stephen Potter, Lifemanship (1950) (1952). and One-Upmanship

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of status within itself, and none of them in their dealings with other Americans would admit that a fellow is his superior. What they are clinging to is the status of Indians, as wards of the United States Government with the privilegesof wardship,and the status of Makah, with its rightsin the Reservation. To maintain this status, they have all to be equal, lest anyone who acquires superiority gets more than his share of privilege.Old traditionsand presentamand their bitionsdrive individualsto assertthemselves status; Makahship, through the weapon of scandal, keeps themin practice equal. The desire to remain Makah, with its attendant advantages, explains why people do not try to break away fromthe group. Otherwise,it seemsthat at least the lighter-coloured Makah could disappear into the American population: probably many have in fact done so. But this desire is felt by the individuals and extended families which make up the Makah tribe. in the Reservation are competitive And the interests between them,because if it is sold it will bring in a limited amount of money. Hence, I suggest,Makah gossip does not show merelythat general interestin the doings,and the virtuesand vices, of others,which characterizes any group.The gossippasses beyond this stage and becomes vicious scandal, aimed at demonstratingthat the other parties are not worthy to be Makah. The different groups and individuals in the tribe fight an unceasing battle to demonstratetheir own true Makahship, as against the failuresof others to attain Makahship. But this involves them in a continual process of remaining Makah, which (as Colson says) gives highimportanceto the scandalizing itself,as a mechanismfor maintainingthe Makah as a group encystedin the Americannation,whose other membersare excluded fromthis war of scandal. And the practiceof this scandal is developed to a high art, culturallydefined.Scandalizing is one of the principal means by which the group's separateness is expressed, even thoughit is also the principal mannerin which internal strugglesare fought. This combination of functions of scandal makes the hostility itselfa mode throughwhich the triberemainsunited. This analysis of gossip passing into scandal brings out some of the general characteristics of gossip, as a culturally controlled game with important social functions.It also shows that in differentkinds of groups the role and functionof gossip will vary with theirspecifichistories and theirsituations in the larger society. Colson's penetrating study has lessons for us all as observersof life around us. We learn from it that gossip is not idle: it has social functionsand it has rules which are rigidly controlled. Ronald has applied Colson's analysis to a Welsh Frankenberg to remaina comvillage (1957) which was struggling munity,thoughmost of its men now go to work in a town some miles away.4 The villagers ran a seriesof
4 "Gossip" is mentionedin studies such as those of Williams The Sociology of an English Village: Gosforth(1956), and Stacey,

rights in the river.They preferred to lose theircase. communal activities whichsymbolized this desireto of theirsituation, that be a community: It appearsto be in thenature dramatic village choir,brass-band, they refuseto admit to Americans any inequality society, footballclub,carnival.These activities were amongthemselves-nor dare theyclaimit publicly as run in succession,not at the same time. For it seems individuals. They are a smallgroup, whosemembers that each activity in time became so bedevilled by so- the internal group and personal feuds in the village move withequal freedom in the largeAmerican ciety.The groupis too smallto sustain any division that it could no longerbe pursuedsuccessfully without
leading to irremediable breachof relationships between villagers.Thereforeas the brass-bandfailed, the choir was started; as the choir failed, a football club was founded; when that failed, an annual carnival was instituted. And as each failed, the villagers felt they could make a freshstart,with old animosities purged with the failingactivity.But the animosities continued into the new activity. This is a fascinatingstory in itself. But what I want to emphasize here is that the struggles between villagers are not foughtopenly in committee meetinguntil crisesare reached. Instead, of opinion are foughtout in behind-thedifferences back tattle,gossip,and scandal, so thatmanyvillagers, who are actually at loggerheads, can outwardlymaintain the show of harmonyand friendship (cf. Radin above). They remaina community, despite the verbal cut-and-thrust in the dark, where theytryto advance their separatecauses againsttheirostensible friends who are theirenemies. Some accommodation is thusreached. In thisgossip theyevaluate people as leaders,as good villagers, and the like, so that gossip also serves to bring, conformity with village values and objectives. Eventually, when a crisis is reached, a stranger5 to the village is thrustinto the position of appearing to take the decision which forcesone party out of the currentactivity; and gossip can blame this stranger for destroying village unity: "We would be happy if foreignersdid not make trouble!" After one such crisis,when a stranger had proposed the critical,and Ccobjectively" sensible, motion in open committee,a woman said: ccAllstrangers should be shot!" Here, too, the outsider cannot join in gossip. The poor anthropologist, before he understood this, got into trouble. His landlady and some friends,after a whist drive were criticisingthe play of a certain woman. The anthropologist aftera while joined in with an example.His landlady turnedon himand reminded him that he was referring to her prospectiveson-inlaw's grandmother. He was oftenrebukedfor criticising distant cousins. Thus, though the villagers were kind and friendly,he was reminded often that he was a foreigner. He sumsup by sayingthat ccvillagers did not hesitate to make accusations against and ridiculetheirfriendsand relatives,but outsiderswere not allowed this privilege." Frankenbergfound, as Colson had among the Makah, that the constant crit-cism -of those who tried to run village affairs punished anyone who appeared to get too much prestigeas a leader. The members of the village were equal against the overwhelming onslaught of the modern industrial world. The brass-band could not

Tradition and Change: A Study of Banbury (1960), with some attentionto the restricted circulationof gossip, but without full analysis. 5 The definition of "stranger," and the differencebetween "strangers"and "outsiders," is a very complex problem,discussed at lengthby Frankenberg. The criticalproposal may be put forward by a "stranger"to the set of social relationships involved.I have to simplifyin order to compress.
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Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL because neither run, thoughthey had the instruments, his fellows of the conductorsin the village dared tell behindhis back,if yourallegations are how to play. A local lad could not captain the village an opponent football team as he did not dare give orders to his at all open, to his face, you mustbe delicateand givehimground to statethatyou have insulted mates: they had to import a West Indian from a never of thiskind,if open,makeimpossible nearby town to be captain. Again the anthropologist him.For insults of group amity. Similarly, misplaced has been able to show that dispitethesedisputes,quar- the pretence to gossipmay forcethegroupeither of the behind-the-back rels, gossip and scandal, and the restricting slandered or to turnon thegossiper. privilege to talk thus,have the effectof maintaining expeltheperson theprocess of scandalenables a group, the village as a village and of preventingit from Morethanthis, becominga collectionof houses,like a housingestate. to evaluatepeople for theirwork,theirqualitiesof and theirmoral character, withoutever Town planners are very anxious to turn housing leadership, in any themto theirfaceswithfailures estatesinto communities: they should develop scandal confronting betweenindividualsand in them.Perhaps it is theirduty to providecause forit. sphere.Thus animosities Gossip and even scandal unite a group within a cliquesare builtinto the largersocial orderthrough of gossipand scandal. techniques larger society, or against another group, in several thecultural I beg of you, therefore, if you are convinced by ways. Firstly,all groups try to thrusttheirroots into not to feel thatit is easy to fulfilthe the past; scandal by creating a past historyfor the thisanalysis, obligation that lies on you to scandalize membersin relation to one another,into which new- important As Colson says,it is an art and comers have to be inducted if they are to be full about yourfellows. We do need cca schoolfor achieves this; Secondly,no groups are com- a skill and a technique. members, of Education All of them consist in the scandal"-as Her Majesty'sInspectors pletely undifferentiated. firstplace, of individuals,and, secondly,most consist have seen.I foundin the LondonTimes of October of smaller groupings of individuals, cliques. These 13th,1954,thefollowing: individuals and cliques may be competitively aligned in West schools A recommendation that children Riding against each other. They struggle for status and should to gather in small forcgossip' be encouraged groups prestige. These struggles have to be kept within sessions, is made as an aid to learning English, bytheEdubounds, while the general values of the group are cation an inCommittee Inspectors, whohaveconcluded asserted, if the group is to survive. The values of spection schools thecounofmodern secondary throughout on in a memorandum They make therecommendation the group are clearly assertedin gossip and scandal, try. in secondary ofEnglish schools.' teaching since a man or woman is always run down for cthe on oral expression The inspectors claimthatemphasis failing to live up to these values. But the struggles totalk about children byallowing naturally to fulfil those values by individuals and cliques are canbeachieved them.... things which interest because the methodsof achievingthem also restrained are defined by gossip and scandal: and the3e themof oursin ourfellows, Thusearlybegins thisinterest selves punish any excess. For they controldisputation and a markof thatinterest to talk is our willingness by allowing each individual or clique to fightfellow- about them.To Gamesmanship we and Lifemanship members of the larger group with an acceptabile,. must add Gossipship. The rules of Gossipshipare socially institutedcustomary weapon, which blows somewhat as follows: back on excessivelyexplosive users. For the battle of The important aboutgossipand scandalare things scandal has its own rules,and woe to him who breaks thatgenerally these are enjoyed by peopleaboutothers theserules.By the act of carrying his scandalizingtoo with whom theyare in a close social relationship. far, he himselfoverstepsthe values of the group and Hence when we try to understand why it is that his scandal will turn against him, will prove that he people in all places and at all timeshave been so or his small clique is unworthyof the larger group. interested in gossipand scandalabouteach other, we And the scandal will in fact redound to the creditof have also to look at thosewhomtheyexcludefrom the person attacked, since he will have been unfairly joiningin the gossiping or scandalizing. That is, the assailed. Colson tells (233-34) the storyof two Makah right to gossip aboutcertain which peopleis a privilege women who were on bad terms.On one occasion one is onlyextended to a person whenhe or sheis accepted woman in the streetshurled stringsof insults at the as a member of a groupor set. It is a hallmark of other, who kept walking along, singing,ccThe bear membership. to gossipserveto markoff Hence rights went over. the mountain." ccBothwomen knew that a particular group fromothergroups.There is no one was behaving like a clow-class'person,the other easierway of putting a stranger in his place thanby like a "high-class' person,and the advantage lay with beginning to gossip:thisshowshimconclusively that the one who ignored the insults." Thus the gross he doesnotbelong. On theother hand,if a mandoes scandalmongeroverreacheshimselfand is hoist with not join in the gossipand scandal,he showsthathe his own slander. (Similarly,gamesmanship is the art doesnot acceptthathe is a partyto therelationship; of winninggames withoutactually cheating.)6In this hencewe see thatgossiping is a dutyof membership withinthe group are fought of thegroup. way, the internalstruggles That is whyit is goodmanners to gossip with concealed malice, by subtle innuendo, and by and scandalizeaboutyourdearest friends withthose pointed ambiguities.Yet all of these have their own who belong, eventhough it be their dearest friendsmoral norms, which must not be overstepped. The butit is bad manners-which is a moraljudgment and main moral norm is that you must scandalize about hence a sanction-totellunpleasant stories aboutyour
See StephenPotter,The Theoryand Practiceof Gamesmanship, or The Art of Winning Games withoutActually Cheating (1947).
6

that you all belong to one set which has the duty to
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he will not talk either about himself or another do kill theirown kin and here gossip and back-biting are additionallydangerous.In his analysisof Th;e Yao person." What applies to anthropologists, applies to all pro- Village (1956:1328) Mitchell writes that: fessions.Lawyers are supposed to talk shop and to be 7 The Life of a South Af rican Tribe (1927; reprinted1962).
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be interested in one another's vicesas well as virtues. very exclusive. I grew up among them, and woven Whenyou gossipaboutyourfriends to strangers you into their legal shop is a considerable amount of are eithershowingthe strangers that they do not scandal about other lawyers. Colleges at Oxford and or you are admitting belong, them to a privilege and Cambridge are similar.In some Oxford colleges there to membership of a group withoutconsulting the is a taboo on talkingat dinnerabout work or women otherpeople involved.So that if you want to run -the sanction at Exeter College is that the offender downa friend to a stranger ask that must try to drink 5 pints of beer at one draught. If you shouldfirst friend's permission. You do notneedhispermission to he fails, he pays for that beer and for a refillof the runhimdownto mutualfriends-provided thatthey large sconce which is passed around the table. Talk of are in the same set of relationships withyourself. I women introducesan element into College life that thinkit would be bad manners to run two people is hostile to its united monasticism, expressedin the talk of work dividesmembers down to one another, eventhough theyare mutually ritual of commensalism; in the of the College according to their academic interests, acquainted, if you are notassociated withthem sameway.So it wouldbe bad manners about and the College as an associationis hostileto organizato gossip of another yourUniversity Uni- tion in termsof common scholarship. fellowto a member I am, of course,aware that gossip and scandal will even if the two of themlived in the same versity, if its aim be to not contributeto the cohesion of a groupingof pervillage.For scandalis only virtuous demonstrate somekindof social unity. Scandalwhen sons, unless these persons are united by a sense of directed of a groupagainst another by members group communitywhich is based on the fairly successful is unifying in another, and an obvious, way-it asserts pursuit of common objectives. In his study of a housing estate in Coventry (Living in Towns, 1953), thesuperiority of thescandalizing group. Leo Kuper and his colleagues noted that the new I am surethatif reflect on yourown experience -you you will realisehow sound Colson's analysisis. Its settlersin the estate were afraid of, and resented, the the gossip of their neighbours.This can be related significance mostclearlyif we consider emerges in way whicha new member of a groupis inducted largely to bad design of the houses: the two masterinto the group.He may learnthe rulesof technique bedrooms in the semi-detachedslay back to back, whichkeep the groupin being,and he may be on without a soundproof wall between, so that each excellent terms withtheother of thegroup, couple was bound to overhear practically everything members a sourceof great embarrassbut he does not belongto the groupuntilit is im- done by theirneighbours, possiblefor him to be rude to one of its members ment. Moreover, each house looked into the other's That is,he must knowso muchabout livingroom.There was constanttrespasson the essenunintentionally. eachof themembers' and likings and dislikes, tial intimacies of family life. No group life could histories thathe will neversay something whichis hurtful to emergehere. I was told by the wife of a University anyoneunlesshe wantsto hurthim(or her).Corres- lecturerthat in a betterdesigned estate in Newcastle thebadge of membership pondingly, is thata person neighboursformedthemselvesinto gossip cells which can quite allusively, and apparently cut an- got along very happily-except for her. Foolishly she naively, othermember to the quick by a seemingly innocent thoughtthat there were more importanttopics than statement. And of course,it is important that the personal gossip; and she was sent to Coventry-metapersonoffended knowsthatthe allusionis intended phorically,I mean. In a housingestatein Essex where but not be able to pin it down,and thatthe injurer I lived, gossip cells were again determinedby the shouldknow thatthe offended knows,and thatthe sociometricrules of neighbourliness-plus a complioffended should knowthattheinjurer knowsthatthe cated evaluation of social status-and togetherwe formeda happy and united scandalizing community, offended knows-and so on ad infinitum. Therefore a mostimportant part of gaining mem- with constantfightsgoing on betweenour secondary of anygroup bership is to learnitsscandals: whatyou modern schools to emphasize our overall unity. Here can say withapparent innocence and whatyou may I observedgossip and scandal biuldingup community say by indirect rudeallusion. Anthropology is a very life. knitprofession: tightly it is one of thefewprofessions When a group, even one with a united history, whichstillhas an initiation ceremony. You must have begins to fail in its objective, gossip and scandal studiedsome exotic community. We maintainour accelerate the process of disintegration.Anthropolbondsof friendship tight by a vast storeof scandal ogists have analysed how if joint families and suband gossipas well as by legends. A mostimportant sistencevillages increasetheirnumberstheyare bound or hive off segments.This process is part of my dutyin training research workers is to to disintegrate teach themthe scandals.I believe I am not alone often accompanied by chargesof sorceryand witchjudgmentsassertthat as this amongsenioranthropologists in finding it morein- craft.African customary to teachstudents teresting aboutanthropologists than occurs scandal and back-biting increase. Hence as about anthropology. It is worthnoting herethatthe Junod reportedmany years ago for the Tsonga, the Greek Lexicon defines"an anthropologist" not as barrierof magic to keep out the witch is breachedby "anthropos plus logos,"a "student of man,"butonly internal gossiping and grumbling.7These processes as "a scandalmonger;" and in theNicomachean Ethics, within the group make possible the entryof an outAristotle-whoanticipated us all-says of the great- side witch, though in Tsonga society witches do not souledman:"He is no scandalmonger (anthropologos): directlykill theirown kin. In Central Africa,witches

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Gluckman: GOSSIP AND SCANDAL of the dangerof sorcery variation is the An interesting thatsorcerers taketheopportunity belief ofsquabbles within The rationale packet of tobacco may take me twentyminutes.But to kill one of its members. a matrilineage instruments are unableto this field of gossip and scandal still awaits study of behindthisis thatthe diviner's theimmediate cause. detect of thesorcery theorigin beyond A diviner will indicatethatthe cause of deathof, say, a the kind deployed by Colson upon the Makah. Meanbehindthe while, for small groups alone, my conclusion is that childis sorcery, but thatthewitchis obscured quarrelling wordsof some relative.Consequently, danger we mightformulatea law to say, the more exclusive whenoneof itsmembers to a matrilineage ensues goesto an a social group is, the more will its membersindulge outsider [note: to an outsider-bad manners indeed]and in gossip and scandal about one another. And the and quarrels. more persistently grumbles to himabout the family squabbles will they repeat the same gossip of using thissquab- again and again and again withoutgetting takestheopportunity The outsider then bored."We his sorcery into the lineage.The Yao are back in the carriages driving throughHighbury ble to introduce theYao word, to Mr. Weston's house. translates greatly fearbackbiting [as Mitchell dreadof sorcery and nonedreadsit becauseof their miseci] complain that anthropologists a wardenof a sorority-group, Outsiders frequently more thana villageheadman, are able to find that anything social has a useful to keepa matrilineage of having or a person in theposition and theymay therefore conclude that anthrothe function Thesepeopleare constantly or section together. adjuring who are believed pologists approve of everything.Thus it has been womenunderthem-forit is thewomen to fight to be themainculprits-not and argued that the criminal classes are as importantas amongthemselves; to an outsider but the police for the maintenanceof law in a society; if theydo, not to take their complaints to thesenior The Significance theyprovide people who commitcrimesbut who can member of thematrilineage. to lineageunityis plain enough. of thisin relation easily be caught by the police and publicly tried. Later (p. 170) Mitchell recountsduringthe history Their trials demonstrate to the society at large, and of a long dispute within a lineage, how a woman's particularlyto its growingyoungsters, not o-nlythat with another woman was frownedon be- crimeis wrong-which is true,but also thatcrimedoes friendship cause friendship leads to gossip and this mightopen not pay-which is not true. Amateur criminals,less the way to sorceryby the memberof the opposing easily caught,are not so useful.But thisdoes not mean group.8 we approve of crime. We argue only that the comI note finallythat I have discussedgossiponly with- mission of a crime, provided that the criminal is in small groups. Gossip about royalty,by the lower caught, tried, and punished, serves useful ends in classes about the upper, and the upper by the lower, maintainingthe law, and therefore society.My arguhas to be related to other areas of social relations. ment about gossip and scandal is similar: if I suggest I thinkwe can say that men and women do wish to that gossip and scandal are socially virtuous and talk about personal matters,for reasons on which I valuable, this does not mean that I always approve am not clear, and in the great conurbationsthe dis- of them. Indeed, in practice I find that when I am cussion of, for example, stars of film and sport, gossipingabout my friendsas well as my enemies I produces a basis on which people transitorily asso- am deeply consciousof performing a social duty; but ciated can find somethingpersonal to talk about. that when I hear they gossip viciously about me, I Frankenbergreportsthat when he was studyingthe am rightfully filled with righteousindignation. Welsh village, the firsttime he went to buy a loaf of bread he was back in five minutes. His land9 Richard P. Werbner has supplied me with the following lady said scornfully:"Back already? It takes me an hour to buy a loaf of bread." When Frankenberg had beautifullyillustrativepassage from Carl Carmer, Stars Fell on been in the village for some time,as soon as he went Alabama (1940, p. 12): "Aside from these the main diversions of the Alabamians are into a shop, the tea-kettlewas put on the fire: after love-making and gossip. The constant social chatter dealing in all, as anthropologos,he was the scandalmongerpar personalitiesat firstannoysand bores the stranger. Gradually,howexcellence.And I myselfhave found throughmy in- ever,as he picks up the threadsof the relationships throughwhich terestin soccer and cricket,that I have steadily ex- it sometimesseems that the entiresLateis bound into one family, he becomes not only tolerantbut an eager participant. The proporpanded my commercialtransactions with shopkeepers tion of malice in this talk is not greaterthan in othercommunities. into warm friendships, even into a kind of blood There are the usual Mrs. Grundysand meddlesomescandalmongers. brotherhood, in which our ritualalliance movesjerkily But the majorityof Alabamian gentlefolktake a strong interest from elation to despair with the fate of our city's in people thatis not unlike thatof a novelist.They are entertained like to teams, and our county eleven at cricket. To buy a and instructedby the antics of their fellow-beings-they speculate on
8 Contrastthis sophisticatedapproach with Kluckhohn's simple of the relationbetweengossip and witchcraft treatment in Navaho Witchcraft (1944). motivations.And talk about an individual takes on added zest when (as frequently happens) he is a cousin in whom flows the blood of a commonancestor. As for love-making, it is the accepted basis of all social activity. Even verylittle boys are trainedto be gallant and the ambitionof every daughter'smotheris that her girl shall be a belle."

References Cited
BARNOUW, V.

1950. 'Acculturation and Personality among the Wisconsin Chippewa,' Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association,No. 72.

London: Lovat Dickson and Thompson. COLSON, E. 1953. The Makah Indians, Manchester: Manchester University Press; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

CARMER, C. 1940. Stars Fell on Alabama,

1957. Village on the Border, London: Cohen and West. HERSKOVITS, M. 1937. Life in a Haitian Valley, New York: Knopf. --. 1947. Trinidad Village, New York: Knopf.
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African Tribe, London: MacMillan. Reprinted, 1962. New York: University Books. KLUCKHOHN, C. 1944. Navaho Witchcraft, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, xxii, No. 2. KUPER, L. et. al. 1953. Living in Towns, London: CressetPress. MITCHELL, J. C. 1956. The Yao Village, Manchester:ManchesterUniversity Press for the Rhodes-LivingstoneInstitute; New York: Humanities Press.

JUNOD, H. A. 1927. The Life of a South

Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating, London: Hart-Davies. --. 1950. Lifemanship,London: HartDavies. 1952. One-Upmanship, London: --. Hart-Davies. (The firsttwo, withSupermanship,republishedby Penguin Books of Harmondsworth, 1962). RADIN, P. 1927. Primitive Man as a Philosopher,New York: Appleton. Reprinted 1957. New York: Dover.

POTTER, S. 1947. Gamesmanship,or the

A Study of Banbury, London: Oxford University Press. SIMMEL, G. 1950. The Sociologyof Georg Simmel, translated,edited and with an Introduction by K. H. Wolff, Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press. WEST, J. 1945. Plainsville, U.S.A., New York: Columbia University Press. WILLIAMS, W. M. 1956. The Sociology of an EnglishVillage: Gosforth, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

STACEY, M. 1960. Tradition and Change:

Erratum: Vol. 3, No. 5, Dec. 1962, top of p. 479. The last sentencebeginning in column 2 and ending in column 3 should read, "I sometimes get the feelingthesedays thatwe have entereda stage of evolutionwhich can be identified moreor less directly with a revivalist cult whose practitioners claim to be able to transform a theist into a materialistby the very rapid turning of thepages of AncientSociety to the accompanimentof suitable incantations."

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