Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery : The Quest for Power in Northern Queensland

This is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between marriage, violence and sorcery in an Australian Aboriginal Community, drawing on David McKnight’s extensive research on Mornington Island. The case studies, which occurred both before and after a Presbyterian Mission was established on the island, allow McKnight to show how the complexities of kin ties and increased sexual competition help to explain incidences of violence and sorcery, without resorting to psychiatric justifications. He demonstrates that kin ties both stimulated conflict and helped to mitigate it. Following on from McKnight’s previous book, Going the Whiteman’s Way (Ashgate 2004), Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery offers an archive of valuable primary materials, drawing on the author’s forty-year knowledge of the community on Mornington Island. Authored By Well-established And Respected Scholars, This Work Examines The Kinds Of Efforts That Have Been Made To Adopt Western Modernity In Melanesia And Explores The Reasons For Their Varied Outcomes. The Contributors Take The Work Of Processor Marshall Sahlins As A Starting Point, Assessing His Theories Of Cultural Change And Of The Relationship Between Cultural Intensification And Globalizing Forces. They Acknowledge The Importance Of Sahlins' Ideas, While Refining, Extending, Modifying And Critiquing Them In Light Of Their Own First Hand Knowledge Of Pacific Island Societies. Also Presenting One Of Sahlins; Less Widely Available Original Essays For Reference, This Book Is An Exciting Contribution To Serious Anthropological Engagement With Papua New Guinea.--jacket. Introduction / Joel Robbins -- Economics Of Develop-man In The Pacific / Marshall Sahlins -- The Humiliations Of Sin : Christianity And The Modernization Of The Subject Among The Urapmin / Joel Robbins -- Transformations Of Desire : Envy And Resentment Among The Huli Of Papua New Guinea / Holly Wardlow -- We Are Not Straight : Bumbita Arapesh Strategies For Self-reflection In The Face Of Images Of Western Superiority / Stephen C. Leavitt -- Sepik River Selves In A Changing Modernity : From Sahlins To Psychdynamics / Eric Kline Silverman -- We Are All 'les' Men : Sorrow And Modernism In Melanesia, Or, Humor In Paradise / Douglas Dalton -- Moral And Practical Frameworks For The Self In Conditions Of Social Change / Lisette Josephides -- The Death Of Moka In Post-colonial Mount Hagen, Highlands, Papua New Guinea / Pamela J. Stewart And Andrew Strathern -- On The Life And Times Of The Ipili Imagination / Aletta Biersack -- On Humiliation And Class In Contemporary Papua New Guinea / Frederick Errington And Deborah Gewertz -- Turning To Violence : Hazarding Intent In Central New Ireland / Karen Sykes -- Ancestral Vigilance And The Corrective Conscience In Kwaio : Kastom As Culture In A Melanesian Society / David Akin -- Afterword : Frustrating Modernity In Melanesia / Robert J. Foster. Edited By Joel Robbins, Holly Wardlow. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Belief Held By Aboriginal People That Their Art Is Ultimately Related To Their Identity, And To The Continued Existence Of Their Culture, Has Made The Protection Of Indigenous Peoples' Art A Pressing Matter In Many Postcolonial Countries. The Issue Has Prompted Calls For Stronger Copyright Legislation To Protect Aboriginal Art. Although This Claim Is Not Particular To Australian Aboriginal People, The Australian Experience Clearly Illustrates This Debate. In This Work, Elizabeth Burns Coleman Analyses Art From An Australian Aboriginal Community To Interpret Aboriginal Claims About The Relationship Between Their Art, Identity And Culture, And How The Art Should Be Protected In Law. Through Her Study Of Yolngu Art, Coleman Finds Aboriginal Claims To Be Substantially True. This Is An Issue Equally Relevant To North American Debates About The Appropriation Of Indigenous Art, And The Book Additionally Engages With This Literature.--jacket. Mapping The Problem -- Cultural Appropriation -- Culture And Property -- Domestic Questions -- Identity And Images -- Religion And Significance -- Art Fraud And The Ontology Of Painting -- Applying The Criteria For Authenticity -- Insignia And Collective Entities -- Cultural Vandalism -- Interpreting Aboriginal Claims As Rights -- Freedom Of Expression And Insignia -- Responding To Aboriginal Claims. Elizabeth Burns Coleman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [173]-181) And Index. Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Series Editors' Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Chanted Tales in the New Guinea Highlands of Today: A Comparative Study -- 3 Duna Pikono: A Popular Contemporary Genre in the Papua New Guinea Highlands -- 4 'Our Heart Always Remembers, We Think of the Words as Long as We Live': Sacred Songs and the Revitalization of Indigenous Religion Among the Indonesian Ngaju -- 5 Calling on the Ancestors to Stop Crime: Ritual Performance in an Age of Intermittent Violence -- 6 The Camera is Working: Paiwan Aesthetics and Performances in Taiwan -- 7 The Aesthetics of Politics: Transforming Genres and Meanings in Melanesia -- 8 Melpa Songs and Ballads: Junctures of Sympathy and Desire in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea -- 9 Emphatic Speech, Expressive Genres, and the Dancing-Songs of the Eipo and Yalenang (Eastern Mountains of West Papua) -- Index This collection of essays, edited by leading scholars in the field, focuses on how expressive genres such as music, dance and poetry are of enduring significance to social organization. Research from New Guinea, Indonesia and Taiwan is used to assess how historical changes modify these forms of expression to adjust to the social and political needs of the moment. The volume is unique in exploring the significance of expressive genres for the social processes of coping with and adjusting to change, either from outside forces or from internal ones. The contributions detail first-hand fieldwork, often conducted over a period of many years, and with each contributor bringing their experience to bear on both the aesthetic and the analytical aspects of their materials. Comparative in scope, the volume covers Austronesian and non-Austronesian speakers in the wider Indo-Pacific region. Authored by well-established and respected scholars, this work examines the kinds of efforts that have been made to adopt Western modernity in Melanesia and explores the reasons for their varied outcomes. The contributors take the work of Professor Marshall Sahlins as a starting point, assessing his theories of cultural change and of the relationship between cultural intensification and globalizing forces. They acknowledge the importance of Sahlins'ideas, while refining, extending, modifying and critiquing them in light of their own first hand knowledge of Pacific island societies. Also presenting one of Sahlins'less widely available original essays for reference, this book is an exciting contribution to serious anthropological engagement with Papua New Guinea.

the Term Expressive Genres Refers To Such Art Forms As Ritual Sequences, Iconic Representations, Self-decoration, And Ceremonial Display. The Contributing Anthropologists Here Highlight The Significance Of These Genres Predominantly In Relation To Song Form. Their Topics Include Chanted Tales In The New Guinea Highlands Of Today, Sacred Songs And The Revitalization Of Indigenous Religion Among The Indonesian Ngaju Paiwan Aesthetics And Performances In Taiwan, Transforming Genres And Meanings In Melanesia, And The Dancing-songs Of The Eipo And Yalenang In The Eastern Mountains Of West Papua. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, Or

"This is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between marriage, violence and sorcery in Australian Aboriginal culture, drawing on David McKnight's extensive research on Mornington Island. The case studies, which occurred both before and after a Presbyterian Mission was established on the island, allow McKnight to show how the complexities of kin ties and increased sexual competition help to explain incidences of violence and sorcery, without resorting to psychiatric justifications. He demonstrates that kin ties both stimulated conflict and helped to mitigate it."--Jacket This collection of essays, edited by leading scholars in the field, focuses on how expressive genres such as music, dance and poetry are of enduring significance to social organization. The contributors have all carried out first-hand fieldwork, often over a period of many years, and they bring their experience to bear on both the aesthetic and the analytical aspects of their materials. Drawing on research conducted in New Guinea, Indonesia, Melanesia and Taiwan, the contributors to this volume focus on how expressive genres such as music and dance are of enduring significance to social organization The term 'expressive genres' refers to a range of processes in which human creativity is at work, dealing with issues in social life and producing domains of aesthetically appealing communication between people.