Re-reading Ronald Berndt
Exploring the Depths of his Yolngu Ethnography
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2144302 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Morphy (0000-0001-6488-662X, Morpho (United States), corresponding author), Howard Morphy1 |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 73-97 |
| Publication date | 2009-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropological Forum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0066-4677 • E-ISSN: 1469-2902 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00664670802695624 |
| OpenAlex | W2070939714 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 19 |
The title of this essay sets its dialogic structure. Ronald Berndt's writing at times obscured the core insights that he had about Yolngu society, and partly as a consequence Australian anthropology has not yet made the best use of the immense richness of his ethnographic legacy. In retrospect, in many areas of their research the Berndts were pioneers addressing themes and topics that had been for too long ignored. They opened up new fields of study and redressed some of the imbalances associated with functionalism, the dominant paradigm of their early years as anthropologists. In this essay I examine two areas of Ronald Berndt's writings in which he had insights that were not fully appreciated at the time: the analysis of Yolngu social organisation and the analysis of Yolngu sexual symbolism. In both cases, his absorption in Yolngu ethnography made him aware that his predecessors had overlooked important themes of Yolngu society, yet in both cases his analysis was less convincing than it might have been
Dialogic · Epistemology · Ethnography · Functionalism (philosophy of mind) · Linguistics · Reading (process) · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Australian Indigenous Culture and History · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy
From Dull to Brilliant
Ancestral connections
Sites of Persuasion
Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion
Natural Symbols
Some Methodological Considerations in the Study of Australian Aboriginal Art
Body, Vision and Movement
The Responsibility of Performance
In Reply to Radcliffe‐Brown on Australian Local Organization
The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism
Djanggawul
Rights m Paintings and Rights in Women
"The Lust to Kill" and the Arnhem Land Sorcerer
Australian Aboriginal Anthropology
The Eternal Ones of the Dream
An Adjustment Movement in Arnhem Land. Northern Territory of Australia
"Murngin" (Wulamba) Social Organization
Tasting the Waters
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,22 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2022 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |