Ongka: Self Account by a New Guinea Big-man

Andrew J. Strathern

Gerald Duckworth Co Ltd

This entirely new book is written collaboratively by experts on different regions of Oceania. It presents a unique tool for instructors and general readers who wish to become more familiar with the peoples of the Pacific and for scholars looking for an analytical conspectus on this part of the world. Oceania combines surveys of prehistory and history with careful discussions of cultural patterns and problems arising out of contemporary political and economic change. 
General discussions on specific islands or sub-regions are followed by wide-ranging studies that bring together classic themes and recent, pertinent issues. Readers will find the book easy to understand, and instructors will find the layout of the materials simple to set into course syllabi. 
Each section of the book probes issues that are significant for the study of the peoples of Oceania. These issues range from the contemporary interpretation and manifestation of traditional concepts such as "aloha" ("pity," "love," "affection," "sympathy," or "empathy") to the development of ethnicity and political conflict between local and national levels within the state, to the long-term influence of forms of Christianity and their intertwining with indigenous religion and ritual. 
Throughout Oceania, the authors emphasize the vitality and adaptability of Pacific Islanders in their rapidly transforming world, while analyzing their culture and cultural issues in a style and format accessible for students and interested readers alike.

Oceania: An Introduction to the Cultures and Identities of Pacific Islanders

Politics & Social Sciences

Pamela J. Stewart

Laurence M. Carucci

Lin Poyer

Richard Feinberg

Cluny Macpherson

Social Sciences

Carolina Academic Press

Part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series. This unique set of essays explores the multiple ways in which ritual practices have responded to, or have been a part of, historical and political changes. Particular chapters on China deal with the revival of festivals in Pucheng, Zhejiang Province (Paul Katz); the Emperor Huizong's musical insignia (Joseph Lam); music and rituals for Hong Kong's reunion with the Mainland (Yu Siu Wah); Christianity in nineteenth century South China (Joseph Tse-Hei Lee); and refusal by Buddhists and Christians to bow to the Emperor (Eric Reinders). Chapters on Taiwan discuss cultural revival movements (Stewart and Strathern); a Daoist master's performances (Marc Moskowitz); history in spirit-writing morality books (Philip Clart); and the cult of a female figure, Wang Yulan, on Jinmen Island (Michael Szonyi). Vesna Wallace's chapter is on transformations in Indian Tantric Buddhism. Throughout, the emphasis in this book is on complex connections between ritual, state politics, and changing senses of local and personal identity.

Asian Ritual Systems: Syncretisms and Ruptures (Ritual Studies Monograph Series)

Anthropology

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Books by Andrew J. Strathern