article
Poetics and politics of Tongan laments and eulogies
American ethnologist • 20 (3) • Published In 1993 • Pages: 474-501
By: Kaeppler, Adrienne Lois.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Kaeppler examines Tongans' emotion-laden laments and eulogies and their role in constructing cultural values and imposing social order. She gives examples of five laments, or TANGI, intoned at the funerals of high-ranking individuals by their close relatives. She also gives the full text of four eulogies (LAULAU), which extol the greatness of the deceased, who in these examples are royalty. Kaeppler discusses the meaning of the metaphors, omens, and traditional values expressed in the songs. She argues that the above songs take advantage of the moment to comprise an effective mix of grief with statements of power and rank. The article contains the music of several of the laments and eulogies.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Music
- Verbal arts
- Status, role, and prestige
- Special burial practices and funerals
- Texts in the speaker's language
- Texts translated into english
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tongans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2006
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Polynesia
- 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
- Ian Skoggard; 2004
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1964-1991
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1799-1990
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Tonga
- NotesAdditional notes
- Adrienne L. Kaeppler
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 500-501)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74644326
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tongans