Bilder und Briefe aus einem indischen Dorf

the long version

Detlef Kantowsky did his fieldwork in the village of Rameshwar near Varanasi in 1965-67. In this book he reassembles his data in the light of subsequent revisits to his field which led to a long process interaction stretching over twenty years. Numerous photographs, personal documents and letters give the account a rare quality of authenticity and enable us to feel the pulse of a typical North Indian village. An Indian Village through Letters and Pictures is an example of reflective anthropology, in which the subjective dimensions of studying a society are consciously recognized. The book provides an intimate and vivid picture of Rameshwar village and its day-to-day activities and preoccupations, written without professional jargon.