Dangerous Woods and Perilous Pearl Shells
The Fabricated Politics of a Longhouse in Pangia, Papua New Guinea
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2390776 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew Strathern (University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author), Pamela J Stewart (0000-0003-3438-6469, University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 69-89 |
| Publication date | 2000-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Material Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/135918350000500104 |
| OpenAlex | W2035634734 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 20 |
This article approaches the analysis of ambivalence in exchange relations between groups in the Pangia area of the Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea from an unusual angle: the structure and materials of a ceremonial longhouse constructed to house participants in a gift-giving occasion. The sponsor of the feast declared that it was to mark peace and alliance with neighbors, but one of the recipients noted that the types of wood used in the building themselves carried threatening and competitive messages encoded non-verbally. Gifts of pearl shells and pork were similarly interpreted as double-sided: both to repair friendships and to declare enmities. The recipients themselves risked, from their point of view, death in accepting these perilous gifts from a longhouse consisting of 'dangerous woods'. The case study illustrates the possible disjuncture of interpretations of material acts and structures by differently positioned persons in the social arena
Alliance · Ambivalence · Archaeology · Ethnology · Genealogy · New guinea · Pearl · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology
Constructing inequality
Good company and violence
The Rope of Moka
Etoro social structure
Embodiment and experience
The feast of the sorcerer
The sorrow of the lonely and the burning of the dancers
Origins versus Creative Powers
Anthropology through the Looking-Glass
About the House
Embodiment and communication. Two frames for the analysis of ritual
The Structuring of Polopa Kinship and Affinity
The Heart of the Pearlshell
From Head-Dresses to Head-Messages
Female Spirit Cults as a Window on Gender Relations in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
Pigs in Disputes1
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,26 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2018 (16) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |