Love In The South Seas
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Long before the Western world romanticised the Pacific islands, the indigenous peoples of Polynesia had developed rich and complex traditions of love, courtship, marriage, and sexuality that stood in striking contrast to the rigid moral codes of their European visitors. Love in the South Seas is Bengt Danielsson's authoritative and anthropological study of these intimate customs, drawing on firsthand observation and meticulous research gathered during his time living among Polynesian communities — most notably as a crew member aboard the legendary Kon-Tiki expedition. With scholarly precision yet accessible prose, Danielsson chronicles the full spectrum of romantic and familial life across the South Pacific, from the rituals of courtship to the institution of marriage and the communal raising of children, presenting a portrait of a society that treated love as a natural and celebrated force rather than a source of shame. What distinguishes this work is its empathetic and non-judgmental lens, rare for its era, which allows Danielsson to present Polynesian culture on its own terms rather than through the distorting prism of colonial morality. The text argues persuasively that Western assumptions about primitive societies collapse entirely when confronted with the sophistication and humanity of South Seas social life. Danielsson's style is both erudite and warmly observational, making Love in the South Seas an enduring classic at the intersection of anthropology and travel writing — one that leaves the reader questioning which civilisation, in the end, truly understood the art of living.
Author: Bengt Danielsson
Format: Hardback
Genre: Anthropology
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Long before the Western world romanticised the Pacific islands, the indigenous peoples of Polynesia had developed rich and complex traditions of love, courtship, marriage, and sexuality that stood in striking contrast to the rigid moral codes of their European visitors. Love in the South Seas is Bengt Danielsson's authoritative and anthropological study of these intimate customs, drawing on firsthand observation and meticulous research gathered during his time living among Polynesian communities — most notably as a crew member aboard the legendary Kon-Tiki expedition. With scholarly precision yet accessible prose, Danielsson chronicles the full spectrum of romantic and familial life across the South Pacific, from the rituals of courtship to the institution of marriage and the communal raising of children, presenting a portrait of a society that treated love as a natural and celebrated force rather than a source of shame. What distinguishes this work is its empathetic and non-judgmental lens, rare for its era, which allows Danielsson to present Polynesian culture on its own terms rather than through the distorting prism of colonial morality. The text argues persuasively that Western assumptions about primitive societies collapse entirely when confronted with the sophistication and humanity of South Seas social life. Danielsson's style is both erudite and warmly observational, making Love in the South Seas an enduring classic at the intersection of anthropology and travel writing — one that leaves the reader questioning which civilisation, in the end, truly understood the art of living.