Book

Kitawa: a linguistic and aesthetic analysis of visual art in Melanesia

Mouton de GruyterBerlinPublished In 1989 • Pages: viii, 457

By: Scoditti, Giancarlo M. G..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Scoditti presents a formal analysis of the symbolism of the designs carved on the prowboards (LAGIMU and TABUYA) of Kula canoes on Kitava Island. Much of the data come from three primary informants who were skilled carvers -- Towitara Buyoyu, Siyakwakwa Teite, and Tonori Kiririyei. These data were gathered by the author through a series of lengthy interviews with the informants in what he terms 'aesthetic conversations.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Interviewing in research
Vocabulary
Woodworking
Boats
Decorative art
Representative art
Literary texts
Status, role, and prestige
Magic
Transmission of skills
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Trobriands
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1995
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Melanesia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
June 1973-Aug. 1974; June 1976-Nov. 1976 [p.6]
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Kitava Island, Papua New Guinea
NotesAdditional notes
by Giancarlo M. G. Scoditti
The text of 'aesthetic conversations,' followed by English translations, were indexed for TEXTS (539,) on pp. 211-369.
Figures containing diagrams and photographs were indexed for Woodworking (322), Representative Art (532), and Decorative Art (531), pp. 387-434
Includes index.|Bibliography: p. [439]-447
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
89003216
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Trobriand Islanders