Review by Choice Review
Strathern is an accomplished researcher and writer on the social anthropology of Papua New Guinea, particularly its Highland peoples. Here she examines how Western concepts and thought models influence writings about Melanesia. She also gives attention to feminist perspectives as these pertain to the same region. The author does not present much Melanesian ethnography or Melanesian ideas, "but an analysis from the point of view of Western anthropological and feminist preoccupations of what Melanesian ideas might look like if they were to appear in the form of those preoccupations." The book first explores the relationship between feminism and anthropology and then compares the anthropology of Melanesia with Western models of imaging and explanation. This is not anthropology in the classic sense, where an author attempts to present the (social) universe of the actor. Strathern abstracts a certain set of ideas regarding society and human interaction in Melanesia and puts them against Western orthodox ideas. Rather than taking an ethnographic approach, Strathern's method is analytical-critical. Yet an inevitable question remains: did the subject require such extensive treatment? Of interest to feminists, anthropologists, and students of Melanesia. This volume will be valuable for graduate and research libraries. -B. M. Du Toit, University of Florida
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
