Prayer : text and commentary

175 Pages·2003·11.861 MB·English

by  Marcel Mauss, William Stuart Frederick Pickering

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Edited and with an Introduction by V\fBSaFB P lC lC G riH ^
O P
n rayer
M arcel M auss
O n P
rayer
Translated by
Susan Leslie
Edited and with an Introduction
by W.S.F. Pickering
and
Concluding Remarks
by Howard Morphy
Durkheim Press/Berghuhn Books
New York • Oxford
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First published in 2003 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2003 Durkheim Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the written permission of Berghahn Books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mauss, Marcel, 1872-1950.
[La Prière. English]
On prayer : text and commentary / Marcel Mauss,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-57181-633-X (alk. paper)
1. Prayer. 2. Religion and sociology. I. Title.
BL560.M3813 2003
306.6’9143—dc21
2003051812
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper
ISBN 1-57181-633-X hardback
A reproduction of the cover of La Prière printed in 1909 and privately circulated. The original
is located in the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Oxford University.

Contents
Frontispiece v
Acknowledgements ix
Presentation, Notes and Referencing xi
Introduction to an Unfinished Work 1
W.S.F. Pickering
Marcel Mauss: On Prayer 17
Translated by Susan Leslie
Book I 19
Chapter 1 General Introduction 21
Chapter 2 27
Chapter 3 Initial Definition 49
Book II The Nature of Elementary Oral Rites 59
Chapter 1 The History of the Question and Delineation of the Subject 61
Chapter 2 Do Prayers Exist in Australia? 69
Chapter 3 The Formulae of the Intichiuma 83
Notes 9 7
Edited by Robert Parkin
Mauss’s Review of Segond’s book on Prayer 13 7
Translated by Susan Leslie
Some Concluding Anthropological Reflections 139
Howard Morphy
Index 155

Acknowledgements
The British Centre for Durkheimian Studies and the Durkheim Press, which
are both located in Oxford, are grateful to M. Pierre Mauss of Montpellier for
permission to translate Marcel Mauss’s La Prière.
The Centre also wishes to thank David Roth for the financial contribution he
made towards the cost of translation.
The production of this book has been essentially the co-operative venture of
people who have worked on the project started several years ago. Nevertheless
the Editor, who called on their services, wishes to thank them by name.
Sincere gratitude is extended to Susan Leslie for undertaking the arduous
task of translation, and to Nick Allen who has assisted in dealing with technical
points raised by translating such a complicated text. His advice and many
comments made at nearly every stage of the development of the book have
been much appreciated.
Howard Morphy, a specialist in Australian ethnography, has kindly written
some observations on Mauss’s work on prayer and his use and interpretation of
primary sources available in his day
A considerable contribution has been made by Robert Parkin who has
closely examined the large number of sometimes complicated footnotes that
Mauss spread liberally over his text.
The Editor also extends warm thanks to Dominique Lussier, Julia Goddard
and his wife, Carol, who in various ways have helped in the production of the
manuscript.
W.S.F.P.