Book Description
This cultural and psychological study of gender identity and sexual development in a New Guinea Highlands society includes initiation rites and socialization studies, and contrasts the Sambia with other societies, including our own. Sambia boys experience ritualized homosexuality before puberty and do not leave it until marriage, after which homosexual activity is prohibited. The implications are developed cross-culturally and contextualized in gender literature.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting Read.......2001-01-25
In interesting read. The Sambia are a people of a unique and intregueing culture and the insight this book provides is inmatched.
Book Description
This cultural and psychological study of gender identity and sexual development in a New Guinea Highlands society includes rich material on initiation rites and socialization studies, and contrasts the Sambia with other societies, including the United States. For example, Sambia boys experience ritualized homosexuality before puberty and continue this practice until marriage, after which homosexual activity is prohibited. The implications are developed cross-culturally and contextualized in gender literature. This new edition contains updated information about the Sambian ritualization and socialization of gender practices and will include a new chapter on sexuality, gender and social change among the Sambia.
Book Description
In the first systematic documentation of New Guinea rituals of manhood, Gilbert Herdt places the homosexual customs of the Sambia in their ecological and ideological contexts while exploring what they mean to the individuals who practice them. Raising a host of issues concerning gender identity, hostility between the sexes, and the relationships between myth, culture, and personal experience, Herdt provides a vivid and convincing portrait of how Sambia men experience their sexual development.
Customer Reviews:
One of the most important books ever written...........2007-02-10
...about this subject.
One reviewer whines "How Do We Know?" and thereby implies directly that the author is a liar, and made up everything reported in this book.
While that person may choose to remain in darkness, this book was very well received among professionals, who realized at once that it added more detail (a lot more detail) to the generally known facts about sexuality in New Guinea. In fact, there are many other tribes, reported in the literature, who practice the same system of sexuality -- with the perhaps interesting exception that the sexuality is not oral but via the posterior route.
As for disguising the name of the tribe, it seems to me that Herdt has really done something quite remarkable: he has protected his sources. There is no tribe called the "Sambia" in New Guinea, but there is the tribe which Herdt studied, and one of the key elements in their system of male sexuality is that it must be kept SECRET.
In this, I must confess that by the age of 60 I have seen this sort of behavior all over the world: men can have all the sex they want together, but it is imperative not to scare the horses. DON'T let the women know.
If Herdt had published his book with the tribe's real name, he would have blown their cover. I congratulate him for not doing so.
As for what the Sambia are up to, I would suggest reading the book, and not counting on a book review to fill you in on all the details. But as a very high-level view, the Sambia have a superstitious belief that a young boy's development into a full-fledged male is a highly doubtful procedure -- not guaranteed by the spirits or the gods. So they practice "boy invigoration," which entails the young boy receiving regular doses of masculinity. When the boy reaches puberty, the magic has obviously worked, so it is time for him to reverse roles and begin helping the younger ones.
All in all, this is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. It's true to say, "We're not in Kansas any more, Dorothy." No, we're in the steamy jungle islands of New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, and learning about some of the very flexible limits of human sexuality.
Highest possible recommendation!
how do we know?.......2004-06-10
Although an excellent study if all of this is true, it remains to be seen whether it is in fact true. Herdt admits that the name of the Sambia is a fake name that he gave them to protect their identity. There is therefore no way for other researchers to study this tribe and compare notes. How do we know that this tribe exists at all? All of the other studies of homosexual customs among New Guinea tribesman describe sodomy as their exclusive mode of behaviour. The Sambia are the one and only tribe of this region to practice fellatio. Why is this tribe out of sync with all of the other tribes? It makes me wonder.
An Academic study of the Sambia in PNG.......1999-02-17
An investigation into the lives of the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea, an isolated and "primative" tribe who believe that boys must ingest semen in order to reach full adulthood.
The flutes are magic phallic objects which the men of the tribe use in initiation cermonies to introduce the boys to the ritualized sexual contacts.
An academic text on male sexual initiation in PNG........1999-02-17
This book describes in detail the initiation of boys in the Sambia of Papua New Guinea, an isolated and "primitive" tribe who believe that masculine characteristics can only by aquired by boys through ingesting the semen of older men. The flutes symbolize the magic of the oral copulation stage through which the boys must go to be considered adult males.
Book Description
Filled with insight, provocative in its conclusions, A'aisa's Gifts is a groundbreaking ethnography of the Mekeo of Papua New Guinea and a valuable contribution to anthropological theory. Based on twenty years' fieldwork, this richly detailed study of Mekeo esoteric knowledge, cosmology, and self-conceptualizations recasts accepted notions about magic and selfhood. Drawing on accounts by Mekeo ritual experts and laypersons, this is the first book to demonstrate magic's profound role in creating the self. It also argues convincingly that dream reporting provides a natural context for self-reflection. In presenting its data, the book develops the concept of "autonomous imagination" into a new theoretical framework for exploring subjective imagery processes across cultures.
Customer Reviews:
An Uncommanly Great Ethnograthy.......2000-07-19
Michele Stephen does a fantastic job weaving a wonderful story, personal narrative, and intellegent analysis in this anthropological work. She is reflexive in her work, reminding the readers where she is coming from, what biases she may be burdened with by her own culture, and to work with the readers on their potential level(s). I have read a great number of ethnographies, and I have to say this is without a doubt the best WRITTEN one I have come across - combining analysis with prose that remains interesting, explanatory, and provoking. I have hesitated to give it the punch of five starts because I feel that Stephen had goals too high at times, almost teasing the reader with explanations of every facet of Mekeo culture while actually concentrating solely on the element of magic and the mind. But, without a doubt, her cultural analyses were very good and intellegent - I was very impressed with her ability to weave so many theorists and philosophies into a story that stays essentially focused on the people and the complexity of their relationships.
Book Description
When David Gillison first arrived in New Guinea in 1973, ceremonies marking birth, death, initiation, and marriage were still being conducted by the Gimi tribe as they had been for thousands of years. Today, many of the Gimi's indigenous traditions, like those depicted in Abrams' acclaimed African Ceremonies, are disappearing forever.
Gillison's brilliant photographs and intimate text capture the remarkable dramas enacted during what was probably the last-ever Hau, a two-week fertility festival. Ranging from creation myths to scenarios of affairs, clan jealousies, and family strife, these playlets, ultimately forbidden by Westerners, are no longer performed. Gillison movingly preserves them here for history. The only photographic record we have of the Gimi and their unique theater rituals, the book also depicts the major effort to save the spectacular rainforest home of the Gimi, which stands as a world model for indigenous conservation.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful, accurate and perceptive.......2002-09-03
The photography in this book is spectacular. Gillison spent years getting to know the Gimi people of PNG and it shows in the photography. Subjects are casual and acting normally; you won't find photos like this by any photographer briefly (read less than a couple years) visiting PNG. This book is a window into the lives and ceremonies of PNG people that few outsiders are fortunate enough to see and even fewer talented photogaphers capture. This is not the standard travelogue with snapshots,
The text is equally exceptional. Gillison obviously knows his subjects and writes crisply and to the point. The text matches the art for giving the reader an insight to the lives of Gimi people-- a group of people with fascinating traditions, ceremonies, and culture. Gillison has witnessed the staggering transition that the Gimi are going through as the 20th century world intrudes in their rainforest and garden paradise. It gives the reader a different perspective from which to examine our own culture and traditions.
The price is a bargain. 168 pages, almost every one with at least one well-reproduced color photo. This could be a "coffee-table" art book selling for 4-5 times the price. I collect books on New Guinea and live in the country. This is one of the best books for my shelf in many years.
Average customer rating:
- Repetitious recycling of some important work
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Sambia Sexual Culture: Essays from the Field (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture)
Gilbert Herdt
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0226327523 |
Book Description
Few cultures have received as much attention in the study of erotic desire, sexuality, and gender as the Sambia of Papua New Guinea. Here, for the first time, is a collection of groundbreaking essays and a new introduction on the Sambia's sexual culture by the renowned anthropologist Gilbert Herdt.
Over the course of 20 years, Herdt made 13 field trips to live with the Sambia in order to understand sexuality and ritual in the context of warfare and gender segregation. Herdt's essays examine Sambia fetish and fantasy, ritual nose-bleeding, the role of homoerotic insemination, the role of the father and mother in the process of identity formation, and the creation of a "third sex" in nature and culture. He also discusses the representation of homosexuality in cross-cultural literature on premodern societies, arguing that scholars have long viewed desires through the tropes of negative western models. Herdt asks us to reconsider the realities and subjective experiences of desires in their own context, and to rethink how the homoerotic is expressed in radically divergent sexual cultures.
Customer Reviews:
Repetitious recycling of some important work.......2000-04-28
Herdt has spilled millions of word about pederastic initiation among the people he has called the Sambia. Anyone but a hardcore, masochistic anthropologist would do better to read his Holt book _The Sambia_ than this minimally edited, highly repetitious recycling of some of his journal articles. The introduction is particularly opaque and unhelpful. Herdt is a recovering Freudian who takes a thousand words to say what could be said clearly in a sentence.
Average customer rating:
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Malanggan: Art, Memory and Sacrifice (Materializing Culture)
Susanne Kuchler
Manufacturer: Berg Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Cultural
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ASIN: 185973622X |
Book Description
Shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folkore Award 2003
Malanggan are among the most treasured possessions in the Pacific, yet they continue to confound anthropologists. Central to funerals in New Ireland, these 'death' figures are intended to decompose as symbolic representations of the dead. Wrapped in images that are conceived of as 'skins', they are both visually complex and intriguing. This book is the first to interpret these mysterious agents of resemblance and connection as having a cognitive rather than a linguistic basis.
Found in nearly every ethnographic museum in the world, Malanggan collections have been left virtually untouched. This original study begins by tracing the history of the collections and moves on to consider the role these artefacts play in sacrifice, ritual and exchange. What is the relationship between Malanggan and memory? How can Malanggan be understood as a life force as well as a vehicle for thought? In an analysis of the cognitive aspects of Malanggan, Küchler offers a highly original conceptualization of the centrality of the knot as a mode of being, thinking and binding in the Pacific.
Malanggan: Art, Memory and Sacrifice is a groundbreaking study. Based on fifteen years of fieldwork and collection research, it provides an incisive new take on one of the Pacific's classic puzzles, as well as a wealth of new information and resources for anthropologists, collectors and curators alike.
Book Description
Challenging the portrayal of sexual inequality as a universal condition, Lepowsky presents a vivid account of Vanatinai, a matrilineal society in New Guinea.
Contradticting scholars who consider sexual inequality a universal condition, Fruit of the Motherland reveals an exceptional society in which women have equivalent access to power and prestige and significant control over the means of production.
Lepowsky presents an ethnography of Vanatinai, a matrilineal, decentralized society in New Guinea where there is no ideology of male dominance and women and men are considered fundamentally equal. tracing the life cycle of islanders of both sexes, she examines the role of gender in thye Vanatinai's: social life and history, religious philosophy and worldview, practice of ceremonial exchange and ritual.
In addition, Fruit of the Motherland includes useful cross-cultural analysis of gender roles, ideologies, and power.
Average customer rating:
- An excellent book for all students of movement
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Rhythm and Timing of Movement in Performance: Drama, Dance and Ceremony
Janet Goodridge
Manufacturer: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Classical
| Dance
| Performing Arts
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ASIN: 1853025488 |
Book Description
Despite the richness of the subject and the importance frequently ascribed to the phenomena of rhythm and timing in the arts, the topic as a whole has been neglected. Janet Goodridge writes from a practical movement background and draws on a wide range of sources to illuminate the subject in relation to theatre, drama, dance, ceremony, and ritual.
Written for all those working in, or interested in the expressive arts - teaching, directing and performing - arts therapies, inter-personal communication and anthropology, the book provides a first step towards a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary perspective.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent book for all students of movement.......1999-08-23
This book covers a wide field - theatre, dance, communication and has lots of lively examples, both written and visual. It's the kind of book to dip into as a fund of information. Excellent bibliography and notes to follow up for future study.
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