0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology

Buy Now

Stealing People's Names - History and Politics in a Sepik River Cosmology (Paperback, New ed) Loot Price: R1,029
Discovery Miles 10 290
Stealing People's Names - History and Politics in a Sepik River Cosmology (Paperback, New ed): Simon J. Harrison

Stealing People's Names - History and Politics in a Sepik River Cosmology (Paperback, New ed)

Simon J. Harrison

Series: Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology

 (sign in to rate)
Loot Price R1,029 Discovery Miles 10 290 | Repayment Terms: R96 pm x 12*

Bookmark and Share

Expected to ship within 12 - 19 working days

Among the people of Avatip, a community in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, the most prestigious and valued forms of wealth are personal names. In this intriguing study, Simon Harrison analyzes the significance of names in the context of Avatip ritual, cosmology, and concepts of the person, and shows how the Avatip system of names parallels the gift-exchange systems of many other Melanesian societies. In ritualized debates, which form the arena of Avatip political life, rival leaders and the groups they represent struggle in oratorical contests for the possession of strategic names, and as they do so, continually manipulate myth, ritual and cosmology. By exploiting the inner possibilities of this symbolically constituted economy, these competitive processes over the past century have been progressively transforming the political system from a relatively egalitarian type to one based on hereditary inequality and rank. The author offers a critique of the analytical separation of economy and the symbolic order, arguing that it obscures the processes of political evolution in Melanesia and disguises the fundamental similarities underlying the sociocultural diversity of the region.

General

Imprint: Cambridge UniversityPress
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Series: Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology
Release date: June 2006
First published: 1990
Authors: Simon J. Harrison
Dimensions: 229 x 154 x 16mm (L x W x T)
Format: Paperback - Trade
Pages: 240
Edition: New ed
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-02647-5
Categories: Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > General
Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Human biology & related topics > Biological anthropology > General
Promotions
LSN: 0-521-02647-4
Barcode: 9780521026475

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!

You might also like..

Rich Pickings Out Of The Past
Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe Paperback  (1)
R373 Discovery Miles 3 730
Afrikaner Identity - Dysfunction And…
Yves Vanderhaeghen Paperback R280 R259 Discovery Miles 2 590
Sapiens - A Brief History Of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari Paperback  (4)
R345 R318 Discovery Miles 3 180
First People - The Lost History Of The…
Andrew Smith Paperback  (1)
R280 R250 Discovery Miles 2 500
The Politics Of Custom - Chiefship…
John L. Comaroff, Jean Comaroff Paperback R420 R388 Discovery Miles 3 880
Blou Bloed - Koninklike Spore In…
Daniel Lotter Paperback R380 Discovery Miles 3 800
Representation - Cultural…
Stuart Hall, Jessica Evans, … Paperback  (1)
R1,938 Discovery Miles 19 380
The Gambling Animal - Humanity's…
Glenn Harrison, Don Ross Paperback R350 R312 Discovery Miles 3 120
Hillbilly Elegy - A Memoir of a Family…
J D Vance Paperback  (1)
R330 R295 Discovery Miles 2 950
The Man Who Shook Mountains - In The…
Lesley Mofokeng Paperback R295 R264 Discovery Miles 2 640
Fading Footprints - In Search Of South…
Jose Manuel de Prada-Samper Paperback R350 R312 Discovery Miles 3 120
An Unholy Brew - Alcohol in Indian…
James McHugh Hardcover R2,991 Discovery Miles 29 910

See more

Partners