The python's back : pathways of comparison between Indonesia and Melanesia /

Strathern has been writing on Melanesia (specifically Papua New Guinea) for the past three decades. This venture with Pamela Stewart compares ethnographic materials on specific themes from the Papua New Guinea Highlands, the Bird's Head area of Irian Jaya, and a number of small island clusters in eastern Indonesia as far west as Sumba Island. Traditionally, these areas, resulting from British, Dutch, and Indonesian colonial influences, were recognized as belonging to different ethnographic regions. The authors subjectively select and compare certain themes that transcend such artificial boundaries in nine chapters divided into three parts. Part one deals with an overlapping series of topics dealing with personhood, such as slavery, kinship, and commoditization. Part two shifts to themes of mythology and ritual, including female spirits and witchcraft. Chapter eight reviews themes from the previous chapters and addresses anthropological perspectives on comparison making. The final chapter returns to the thematic comparative approach, discussing historical changes (the construction of inequalities, religion and culture change, and culture and identity) and structural comparisons. It is a pity that all sources in the bibliography are in English, with only two exceptions, and that the 13 illustrations are all from three locations in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Graduate and professional. B. M. du Toit; University of Florida