Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language
Published on 20. May 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-571-17397-6 (ISBN)
Description
Arguing that gossiping is vital to a society, and that there is no such thing as "idle" gossip, this book disputes the assumption that language developed in male-male relationships. The author believes that, on the contrary, language evolved among women, and contends that, although men are just as likely to natter as women, women gossip more about other people, thus strengthening the female-female relationships that underpin society.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 130 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-571-17397-6 (9780571173976)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Robin Dunbar
Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language
E-Book
04/2011
Faber & Faber
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Liverpool and has held fellowships at the Universities of Cambridge and Stockholm. He has been praised for 'writing that is dizzyingly multi-disciplinary but shows great generosity to the ordinary reader' (Guardian). His books include The Trouble with Science (1995), 'an eloquent riposte to the anti-science lobby' (Sunday Times), and Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, praised as 'brilliantly original' and 'a delight to read' (Focus).His main research interests are the evolution of the mind, and the social systems of human and non-human primates; he has carried out field studies of monkeys and antelope in East and West Africa, and of wild goats in Scotland. In June 2003 he led a team of academics which won the largest single grant ever awarded by the British Academy, to research what it means to be human.