Big men and the conversational marketplace of Tanna (Vanuatu)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2142382
AutoresLamont Lindstrom (University of Tulsa, autor de correspondencia)
Año1988
Volumen53
Número3-4
Páginas159-189
Fecha de publicación1988-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEthnos (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0014-1844 • E-ISSN: 1469-588X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00141844.1988.9981368
OpenAlexW2034666214
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas34

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