Book
Kuna ways of speaking: an ethnographic perspective
University of Texas Press • Austin • Published In 1983 • Pages: xii, 260 , plates
By: Sherzer, Joel.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study, based primarily on fieldwork done in 1968-1970s on the island of Mulatuppu in the San Blas area, examines language and speech as the central and organizing focus of Kuna society. Sherzer's analysis is based on naturally occurring speech, observed and recorded in actual contexts and studied in terms of its relationship to these contexts (p. 10). As the result of the central and organizing role of language and speech in Kuna life, the author is able to present new and different insights into the nature of Kuna social and political organization, religion, economics, medicine, world view and aesthetics. The text of this work examines in turn the complex set of Kuna sociolinguistic resources, forms of discourse central to the prevading areas of Kuna ritual life -- politics, curing, magic, and puberty rites, discourse in everday life, patterned interrelationships linking many types of Kuna discourse and verbal interaction and the processes involved in the transmission and acquisition of speaking ability.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Language
- Speech
- Sociolinguistics
- Visual arts
- Music
- Oratory
- Community heads
- Community councils
- Magical and mental therapy
- Magic
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kuna
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1999
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central America
- 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 ; 1997
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- ca. 1968-1970s
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- ca. 1968-1970s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mulatuppu Island; San Blas Coast and Islands, Panama
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Joel Sherzer
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-260)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 83001318
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Cuna Indians