Full Description
Focusing on different forms of agency in North Ambrym social life, the author demonstrates the potency of outsiders at different times and in different situations in Ambrym society. This model challenges the premises of much Western thinking about reciprocity, and suggests new directions in the analysis of Melanesian societies
Contents
List of maps and illustrations
Foreword: "Putting people first"
Acknowledgements
Note on language
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Kinship and sand-drawing
Chapter 3. The totalising third party
Chapter 4. The circles of marriage
Chapter 5. Of yams and men
Chapter 6. The intentionality of ceremonial agency
Chapter 7. Displaying life after Death
Chapter 8. The phenomenology of Ambrym exchange
Chapter 9. Conclusions: Denying the gift
Appendices
Bibliography
Index
