Gender, song, and sensibility : folktales and folksongs in the highlands of New Guinea / Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stewart, Pamela J.

Contributor:

Strathern, Andrew.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnology--Papua New Guinea.

Ethnology.

Man-woman relationships--Papua New Guinea.

Man-woman relationships.

Tales--Papua New Guinea.

Tales.

Folk songs--Papua New Guinea.

Folk songs.

New Guinea--Social life and customs.

New Guinea.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (255 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The authors present a historical picture of gender relations in Highlands New Guinea by exploring domains of imagination as revealed in courting songs, ballads, and folktales from across the Highlands but with particular reference to field areas in the western Highlands. Texts and/or translations are from a rich corpus of materials previously unpublished in English. The examples draw the reader into the imaginative world of the people, while the analytical framework sets the discussion firmly into debates within interpretive anthropology. The aim is to re-examine the images of gender relations in Highlands New Guinea by revealing the sensuous and emotional modalities of expressive folk genres and their aesthetic qualities. Ideas and practices centered on female spirit entities are shown to be important and pervasive in cult contexts, and these spirits were felt to have a significant influence on relations of courtship, marriage, and reproduction. Both women and men are also shown to have complex expressions of emotional dispositions in the spheres of courting and the choice of marital partners. By entering into these domains, the book modifies earlier analyses that have concentrated on antagonism, behavioral taboos, separation, and domination as themes in gender relations in Highland societies.

Contents:

Cover

GENDER, SONG, AND SENSIBILITY

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Introduction: Sensibilities and Sexuality

Chapter 2 Courting Songs: I

EASTERN HIGHLANDS

CHIMBU

WAHGI

HAGEN

NOTE

Chapter 3 Courting Songs: II

PANGIA

DUNA

Yekea

FURTHER AREAS

Chapter 4 Folk Tales and Oral Narratives

CREATIVE SPIRITS IN THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

KEWA

"Sister and Wife" and Other Stories

"The Sister, the Sky Wife, and the Snake" (Tale 23, LeRoy 1985a: 77-80)

"The Sky Woman and the Broken Promise" (Tale 74, LeRoy 1985a: 225-27)

1. The Story of Mara-Pil

2. The Story of the Hole in the Cedar Tree

3. The Ringlet of Hair

4a. The Forest Parrot Man

4b. A Story of the Forest Man Nikint

5. The Story of the Young Woman Rangmba of the Place Ambra (Told by K-K. She heard it from her mother. Narrated on June 1, 1964.)

CONCLUSION

Chapter 5 Ballads

HAGEN: KANG ROM

PLOTS OF THREE KANG ROM BALLADS

1. The Story of Kuma Pököt and Kopon Morok

2. The Story of Miti Weipa and Kundila Rangkopa

3. The Story of Miti Krai and Ambra Rangmba

DUNA: PIKONO

Kiliya's Pikono Story

Chapter 6 Body Decoration

HAIR

SHELLS

SUBSTANCES AND PAINT

MOVEMENT

NETBAGS

FOLK TALES

The Story of Nggömbi Kan

Chapter 7 Female Spirits and Initiation

SPELLS (MINI MINDI KÃO)

FURTHER FEMALE SPIRITS

OTHER CASES

MENSTRUAL POWERS

NOTES

Chapter 8 Conclusion

References

Index

About the Authors.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9798400655982

9786610468751

9781280468759

1280468750

9780313012679

0313012679

OCLC:

614706261