Big men and the conversational marketplace of Tanna (Vanuatu)

Bibliographic Data

ID2142382
AuthorsLamont Lindstrom (University of Tulsa, corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume53
Issue3-4
Pages159-189
Publication date1988-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnos (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1844 • E-ISSN: 1469-588X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00141844.1988.9981368
OpenAlexW2034666214
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited34

Big men" in different parts of Melanesia achieve political status by various means. However, all big men possess a reputation-a "big name." Reputations grow or decline as people talk. Big men acquire renown by meeting the costs of the "conversational marketplace," to use Randall Collins' term. Some of these costs are systemic, given by the local mode of communication; others are discursive, related to cultural rules for producing authentic talk. This paper describes the conversational costs of acquiring renown on Tanna, Vanuatu. It traces how Nampas, who emerged as a leader of the John Frum movement, made his name by investing in the island's conversational marketplace

Big data · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Reputation · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Media Studies and Communication