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Resumo

This introduction to *Bodies and Persons: Comparative Perspectives from Africa and Melanesia* lays out the theoretical framework for the volume's comparative approach to understanding the constitution of persons and bodies across cultures. Strathern and Lambek argue against a universalizing Western notion of the individual as a bounded, autonomous entity, proposing instead to examine how personhood is constructed relationally through social practices and interactions. They introduce the concept of "dividuality," where persons are understood as composite and permeable, constituted by the flow of social substances and relations. The introduction highlights the diverse ways in which bodies are conceived and experienced in African and Melanesian societies, focusing on themes such as bodily transformations, gender and sexuality, and the relationship between persons and their environment. By comparing ethnographic examples from these two regions, the authors aim to illuminate the cultural variability of embodiment and personhood, challenging Western assumptions about the nature of the self.

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