Paths and rivers : Sa'dan Toraja society in transformation / Roxana Waterson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waterson, Roxana.

Series:

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 253.

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1572-1892 ; 253

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Toraja (Indonesian people)--Rites and ceremonies.

Toraja (Indonesian people).

Toraja (Indonesian people)--Social life and customs.

Ethnology--Indonesia--Tana Toraja.

Ethnology.

Social evolution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (552 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden : KITLV Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Fieldwork extending over a thirty-year period provided materials for this book. Paths and Rivers offers an unusually deep and broad picture of the Sa’dan Toraja as a society in dynamic transition over the course of the past century. The Toraja inhabit the mountainous highlands of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and are well known for their dramatic architecture, their unusual cliff burials, and their flamboyant ceremonial life, which places extraordinary economic demands on individuals and families. The analysis is informed, firstly, by a comparative perspective which sets Toraja social structure in the context of the Austronesian world. Secondly, the author delves deeply into Toraja social memory to show how people think about the past. She examines the usefulness of history and myth in the present as a source of identity, a template for action, or a resource by means of which to claim precedence. The book gives a clear picture of the structure and ethos of the indigenous Toraja religion, the Aluk To Dolo or \'Way of the Ancestors\', with its complex cycle of rituals. The book concludes with an analysis of the ceremonial economy, which draws upon both domestic subsistence production and the global market economy. Paths and Rivers draws together a fascinating picture of one society’s journey into modernity. Full text (Open Access)

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Roxana Waterson

Chapter I: Toraja and their neighbours: Historical perspectives / Roxana Waterson

Chapter II: The view from the mountains / Roxana Waterson

Chapter III: The Ancestors of the Same Dream / Roxana Waterson

Chapter IV: A time of chaos / Roxana Waterson

Chapter V: The awakening of the oath: Memory, identity and historical action / Roxana Waterson

Chapter VI: The colonial encounter and social transformation / Roxana Waterson

Chapter VII: The mythical origins of humans and their houses / Roxana Waterson

Chapter VIII: A system of rank under strain / Roxana Waterson

Chapter IX: Trunk and branch / Roxana Waterson

Chapter X: Blood and bone / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XI: Women and men / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XII: Planting a hearth / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XIII: Land, labour and inheritance / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XIV: The structure of Aluk To Dolo / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XV: The enhancement of fertility / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XVI: A changing religious landscape / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XVII: The making of ancestors / Roxana Waterson

Chapter XVIII: Dynamics of the ceremonial economy / Roxana Waterson

Conclusion / Roxana Waterson

Appendices / Roxana Waterson

Glossary / Roxana Waterson

Bibliography / Roxana Waterson

Index / Roxana Waterson.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [475]-498) and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

ISBN:

9789004253858

9004253858

OCLC:

808385268

Publisher Number:

https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253858