article

Constructing regional worlds in experience: Kula exchange, witchcraft and Gawan local events

Man • 25 (1) • Published In 1990 • Pages: 1-17

By: Munn, Nancy D..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

This article focuses on certain cultural practices "in which spatiotemporally distanced events become meaning horizons of an actor's immediate situation or 'present.'" To illustrate this concept the author uses a single case derived from an interisland [n]kula[/n] transaction which shows how assumptions of witchcraft among Gawans incorporated this event into later local events and relations. In an analysis of the various ways in which events were connected to one another during a six year period, the author suggests a theoretical framework for viewing such historically specific symbolic processes.

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Theoretical orientation in research and its results

Theory of disease

Sorcery

Gift giving

Exchange transactions

Revelation and divination

Ingroup antagonisms

cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

Northeastern Massim

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

2015

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

article

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.

4: Excellent Secondary 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

1973-1975, 1979-1981

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

1974-1980

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

Gawa, Marshall Bennett Islands, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea

NotesAdditional notes

Nancy D. Munn

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

sf 80000548

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Massim (Papua New Guinean people)