When female pheasants no longer lay eggs, their plumage changes and they start to resemble the male of the species, even growing spurs. A similar change happens to the widows in Andalucia. In general, they married men older than themselves, therefore, when the men naturally die before their wives, the role of the female in relation to her children changes fundamentally and, once widowed, she takes on the role of the husband. Andalucian widows gradually change into males, believes Pitt-Rivers in his short essay on the Andalucian woman.
Drawn by the anarchism of Andalucia, Julian Pitt-Rivers, the great English anthropologist (London 1919 – Fons par Figeac 2001) went to Grazalema, a village chosen after a recent visit to see Ramon Carande in Seville. This village in the Sierra de Cadiz was chosen as the focal point of his study where he completed his thesis on the people of the Andalucian hills . Under the tutelage of Meyer Fortes, Evans Pritchard and Peristiany and recommended Evans Pritchard himself, the study was part of his PhD and was the result of applying social anthropology to Mediterranean societies.
After publishing his book, “The People of the Sierra”, he did not receive good reviews from within Britain, with the exception of from his Oxford colleagues. The opposite happened with his American anthropologist counterparts. George M. Foster did a magnificent review of Pitt-Rivers’ book and invited him to a meeting of Spanish scholars in 1957 and from this point onwards, Robert Redfiled not only referred to him in his lectures and wrote significant positive reviews on him, but also included his book amongst the 10 best anthropological studies of the post-war period. He was an avid follower of Simmel and admirer of his work “Sociology” which, whilst in Grazelema, became his bible. This was the only study at that time which was published in English and he kept in mind the book’s observations on the struggle, the submission, self-condemnation, secrecy, women, and the scope and interweaving of social circles. Simmel’s book was recommended to him by Julio Caro during his stay in Grazelema in a small house in La Ribera de Gaidovar. What made the most impression on him from the work of Simmel were his observations on dishonesty. He discovered that the peasants of Andalucia were the world’s greatest liars, “masters of knowing when to tell the truth and when to hold it back, and experts in deciding to whom and in which situations it was necessary to lie”.
The book on Grazalema is dedicated to Julian Caro, being not only his friend, but also the person who most influenced Pitt-Rivers, instigating the connection between the interpretation of history and anthropology. “The People of the Sierra” was published in 1954 (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson) and years later Caro revealed that this dedication was “one of the greatest rewards in my professional career”. The book (first translated with the title of “The Men of the Sierra”, Grijalbo, 1971 and later “Grazalema, people of the Sierra”, Alianza, 1989) has been used in many universities as an example of an anthropological dissertation and also represents the beginning of modern anthropology in Spain.
In his work, Pitt-Rivers highlights the study of social segregation and the use and value of nicknames and developed anthropological thought on issues such as honour, co-parenting, fictitious relationships, grace, hospitality, marriage through abduction, and the concept of the “people”.
As member of a long-standing and illustrious English family, his great-grandfather, L.F. Pitt-Rivers, together with E.B. Taylor, was the founder of all anthropological study at Oxford. As an army official, he was named as warden of the young King Faisal of Baghdad. “The People of the Sierra” was published in 1954 (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson). He began his educational career at the University of California at Berkeley and later was invited by Robert Redfield to make up part of the Anthropology Department at the University of Chicago. From there he participated in and co-directed the Chiapas Project. He returned to Europe in 1964 and was named as Head of Studies at the ESHE in Paris. He became friends with Claude Levi-Strauss, Louis Dumont and others during his stay in Paris and at the London School of Economics.
For 50 years he was a regular visitor to Spain. In addition to his work in the field in Grazalema he also undertook various studies on anarchism, fiestas, local identity, bull fighting, and the numerous bull-related rituals in the villages throughout Spain. He is the author of other works for a report for the European Parliament on bulls. In 1996 the Spanish Government awarded him the Commendation of Isabel the Catholic.
Written by Jesús Castro.
Translated by Rachael Harrison.
Sponsored by www.costaluzlawyers.es
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