The sorrow of the lonely and the burning of the dancers / Edward Schieffelin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schieffelin, Edward L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kaluli (Papau New Guinea people)--Social life and customs.

Kaluli (Papau New Guinea people).

Kaluli (Papau New Guinea people)--Rites and ceremonies.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 244 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

This classic ethnography, now in second edition, describes the traditional way of life of the Kaluli, a tropical forest people of Papua New Guinea. The book takes as its focus the nostalgic and violent Gisaro ceremony, one of the most remarkable performances in the anthropological literature. Tracking the major symbolic and emotional themes of the ceremony to their sources in everyday Kaluli life, Schieffelin shows how the central values and passions of Kaluli experience are governed by the basic forms of social reciprocity. However, Gisaro also reveals that social reciprocity is not limited to the dynamics of transaction, obligation, and alliance. It emerges, rather, as a mode of symbolic action and performative form, embodying a cultural scenario which shapes Kaluli emotional experience and moral sensibility and permeates their understanding of the human condition.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

140396789X

1403966060

OCLC:

56964368