Cross-Cultural Lifestyle Studies

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This book is a part of the proceedings of UNESCO workshop. "Cross-cultural Lifestyle Studies with Multi-media Computerizable Documentation", held at the IGNCA in New Delhi. The essays here collected form the text of an exemplary model for cross-cultural lifestyle studies.

The central concern of the authors of this book is to evolve a holistic approach to lifestyle studies, the distinguishing features of which is to look for interacting factors in human cultures. The book demonstrats through case studies that aspects such as economic pursuit, health, pilgrimage, music, religious images and ritual can be taken as an entry point to study creative life and configuration of styles of traditional cultures.

The book opens the way to a new methodology of lifestyle studies. The materials presented here are of great interest and value to anthropolo- gists, folklorists, ethno-archaeologists and art- historians.

This book is a part of the proceedings of a UNESCO-workshop, "Cross Cultural lifestyle Studies with Multi-media Computerizable Documentation," held at the IGNCA in New Delhi. The essays here collected deal with theoretical and technical issues concerning documentation and comput- erization of cultural data.

The authors of this brilliant book have tried to introduce new concepts and appropriate techniques capable of comprehending the multi-dimensional configuration of cultures. Reflective approach has been illustrated, empha- sizing indigenous categories and taking a multiplicity of view-points.

Cognizance of ideological and methodological problems in man-computer interface is admirably demonstrated by several contributors, taking into account a comprehensive view of cultural data on India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan. the computer scientists and technical experts have provided alluring illustrations of the efficacy of hardware/ software in carrying out multi-media computerizable documentation.

This book is first of its kind, technical and scholarly, and is a must for those engaged in documentation and computerization of cultural materials.

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has been identified as a nodal agency for developing data bases for South and South-East Asian art and cultural heritage and lifestyles through the application of modern information technologies for stand- ardization, exchange and dissemination of data through the develop- a ment of integrated regional referral data bases and information systems for storage, retrieval and dissemination.

In January 1989, a UNESCO sponsored workshop on "Cross-Cul- tural Lifestyle Studies with Multi-media Computerizable Documen- tation" was held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. The proceedings of the workshop are being released concurrently in two separate but intrinsically related texts. The text concerning general concepts and theories of cross-cultural comparisons and technical aspects of computerized databases is called Computerizing Cultures. The ten essays here collected form the text of an exemplary model for Cross-Cultural Lifestyle Studies.