Fluid Ontologies: Myth, Ritual, and Philosophy in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

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Myths are best understood as a convergence of voices from across times and cultures. They are the instruments through which authors and auddiences seek to grapple with questions about the fundamental nature of the universe. The answers, however, constantly change in light of changing circumstances such as the interface between western and non-western cultures, or cataclysmic events. The authors argue that these societies' worldviews assume that the process of flow between events, rather than the nature of the events, is critical to a model of human sociality. Boundaries, whether of a ritual, physical, or social nature, are perceived as constantly broken by the exchange of ideas across time, space, and peoples. Our understanding of such issues as gender relations and the body, social change, imagination, play, and the conceptualization of power is furthered by probing how it is that myth is both expressive as well as constitutive of human thought on these topics.

Reviews

"This collection of essays on the mythology of Highland peoples of Papua New Guinea is the first of its kind. The fresh perspective on Highland Papua New Guinea cultures which these essays jointly provide makes this book an important contribution to Melanesian studies. And the rich diversity of theoretical perspectives which the essays exemplify should make this book appeal to students, scholars, and others interested in the understanding of myth."-Simon Harrison University of Ulster
This group of papers is scholarly in ways one rarely sees in more typical ethnographic projects, and the result is a commendable one....This short volume could be useful in seminars about myth, religion, or culture change, not because the authors provide answers but because they raise questions. The myths discussed are enjoyable and well contextualized and the ethnographic background for each society is readily available for both students and teachers. But what I feel is most important about this book is its attempt to develop a regionally and historically sensitive anthropology, one that deals with what must be the most challenging venue for spatial and temporal analysis: local renderings of myth.-American Anthropologist
"This group of papers is scholarly in ways one rarely sees in more typical ethnographic projects, and the result is a commendable one....This short volume could be useful in seminars about myth, religion, or culture change, not because the authors provide answers but because they raise questions. The myths discussed are enjoyable and well contextualized and the ethnographic background for each society is readily available for both students and teachers. But what I feel is most important about this book is its attempt to develop a regionally and historically sensitive anthropology, one that deals with what must be the most challenging venue for spatial and temporal analysis: local renderings of myth."-American Anthropologist

Author Bio

L.R. GOLDMAN is Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Queensland, Australia - C. BALLARD is Professor of Anthropology at the Australian National University.