Georges Condominas

Georges Condominas is a French cultural anthropologist of the 20th century specialising in oral culture. He is best known for his field studies of the Mnong people of Vietnam. [cite book |title=The Modern Anthropology of South-East Asia: An Introduction |last=King |first=Victor T. |coauthors=Wilder, William D. |year=2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415297524 |pages=p. 39 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a-jr_nr9WQkC&pg=PA39&dq=%22Georges+Condominas%22&num=100&client=firefox-a&sig=FnyGc4qNQylNs1wOmupDWnsOZAg#PPA39,M1 ] His work inspired many books, movies, etc. The record he made of the Mnong music can be heard at the end of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, the final scene of which was inspired by Condominas's description of the ritual slaughter of buffalo. [cite news |title=Le Vietnam met au pas ses minorités |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/reportage/20060706.FIG000000049_le_vietnam_met_au_pas_ses_minorites.html |work=Le Figaro |date=2007-10-15 |accessdate=2008-04-03 ]

Main Publications

Books

*Nous avons mangé la forêt de la Pierre-Génie Gôo (Hii saa Brii Mau-Yaang Gôo).Chronique de Sar Luk, village mnong gar (tribu proto-indochinoise des Hauts-Plateaux du Viet-nam central), Paris, Mercure de France, 1954 (2nd edition 1974, 2003; paperback edition Flammarion, 1982; transl. Italian, Milan, 1960; Russian, Moscow, 1968; German, Frankfurt, 1969; English, New York, Harmondsworth, 1977 and republished New York and Tokyo, 1994; Japanese, Tokyo, 1993; Vietnamese, Hanoi, 2003; Hungarian, Budapest, in preparation).
*L’ Exotique est quotidien, Sar Luk, Vietnam central, Paris, Plon, 1965 (Collection Terre humaine) (2nd edition 1977; transl. Spanish with preface by Manuel Delgado, Barcelona, 1992).
*Fokon ‘olona et collectivités rurales en Imerina, preface by Hubert Deschamps, Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1960, 234 p., cov. ill map; bibliog. p. 23 1-234 (L’homme d’Outre-Mer. Nouvelle série. 3) (2nd edition ORSTOM, 1991).
*L’Espace social. A propos de l’Asie du Sud-Est, Paris, Flammarion, 1980 (transl. Vietnamese, Hanoi, 1997). Re-publication underway by Editions Les Indes savantes.
*From Lawa to Mon, from Saa’ to Thai : historical and anthropological aspects of Southeast Asian social spaces, transl. by Stephanie Anderson, Maria Magannon and Gehan Wijeyewardene, Canberra, Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1990, VI-114 p., ill., maps, plan, photographs ; glossary (An occasional paper of the department of anthropology, in association with the Thai-Yunnan project).
*L ‘Espace social = Raya thaang sangkhôm, Bangkok, Cahiers de France, 1991 (transl. Thai by Chatchada Ratanasamakarn and Sumitra Baffie).
*Le Bouddhisme au village = Val sonna bot: notes ethnographiques sur les pratiques religieuses dans la société rurale lao (plaine de Vientiane), Vientiane, Cahiers de France, 1998 (transl. Laotian by Saveng Phinith).

Editorship of collective works

*Agriculture et societies en Asie du Sud-Est, Etudes rurales, 53-56, Jan.-Dec. 1974 (co-edited with J. Barrau, L. Bernot and I. Chiva).
*L’Anthropologie en France: situation actuelle et avenir. Acts of the international colloquium organized at the CNRS by G. Condominas and S. Dreyfus-Ganielon, 18-22 April 1977, Paris, CNRS, 1979.
*Disciplines croisées: hommage à Bernard Philippe Groslier, Paris EHESS, 1992 (co-edited by D. Bernot, M.-A. Martin and M. Zaini-Lajoubert).
*Les Réfugiés originaires de l’Asie du Sud-Est: rapport au Président de la République, Paris, La Documentation française, 2 vol. 1982-1984 (CeDRASEMI collective report, edited in collaboration with R. Pottier, duplicated in 1981).
*Formes extrêmes de dépendance: contributions à l’étude de l’esclavage en Asie du Sud- Est, Paris, EHESS, 1998 (co-edited with M.-A. Martin and J. Ivanof).

Filmography

*Sar Luk: les travaux et les jours d’un village mnong gar du Vietnam central, film directed by Georges Condominas and Aiain Bedos based on photos, sung poems collected between 1948 and 1950, and music recorded in 1958 and 1984 (English version translated by Maria Pilar Luna-Magannon).
* [Sar Luk: toils and days of a Mnong Gar village in Central Vietnam: [synopsis] , transl. by Maria Pilar Luna-Magannon, film, CNRS-CeDRASEMI, 1984, 14 ff. dact.]
*L’Exotique est quotidien: retour à Sar Luk, directed by Jean Lallier, 16:9 digital telefilm, 16:9 satellite broadcast by France Télévision, VHS videocassette, 52 min., Paris, ADAV / Europe images, Les Films d’ici, Paris, 1996, broadcast by France 2, 1997.
*Nous avons mangé la forêt..., film directed by par Georges Condominas and Jean Lallier, VHS videocassette, 80 min., Le Vidéographe, Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail / Les Films d’ici co-production, 1999.
*Le Sacrifice du buffle, film directed by Georges Condominas and Jean Lallier, VHS videocassette, 50 min., Le Vidéographe, Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail / Les Films d’ici co-production, 1999.

Discography

*Musique mnong gar du Vietnam (anthologie de musique proto-indochinoise, vol. 1), Paris, OCORA, 1974, 30cm LP, text by G. Condominas, 10 p. in French and English, notes and bibliog., 12 black and white photos, 1 color photo, 1 map (Musée de l’Homme collection, OCORA OCR 80/ ORTF).
*Vietnam: musique des montagnards, le Chant du Monde, CNR 2741085.86, 1997 (Collections of the CNRS and the Musée de l’Homme) [CDI, Jörai (1), Lac (14, 15, 16) ; CDII, Khmu, 1973 (19, 20, 21)] .

References