article

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

Man25 (1) • Published In 1990 • Pages: 1-17

By: Munn, Nancy D..

Abstract
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.
Subjects
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Theory of disease
Sorcery
Gift giving
Exchange transactions
Revelation and divination
Ingroup antagonisms
culture
Northeastern Massim
HRAF PubDate
2015
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Melanesia
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle
Field Date
1973-1975, 1979-1981
Coverage Date
1974-1980
Coverage Place
Gawa, Marshall Bennett Islands, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea
Notes
Nancy D. Munn
LCCN
sf 80000548
LCSH
Massim (Papua New Guinean people)