Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea - Couverture rigide

Barth, Fredrik

 
9780521342797: Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0521342791 ISBN 13 : 9780521342797
Editeur : Cambridge University Press, 1987

Synopsis

Changes in cosmological traditions among the Mountain Ok of Inner New Guinea.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Présentation de l'éditeur

All culture, particularly that of non-literate traditions, is constantly being recreated, and in the process also undergoes changes. In this book, Fredrik Barth examines the changes that have taken place in the secret cosmological lore transmitted in male initiation ceremonies among the Mountain Ok of Inner New Guinea, and offers a new way of explaining how cultural change occurs. Professor Barth focuses in particular on accounting for the local variations in cosmological traditions that exist among the Ok people, who otherwise share similar material and ecological conditions, and similar languages. Rejecting existing anthropological theory as inadequate for explaining this, Professor Barth constructs a new model of the mechanisms of change, based on his close empirical observation of the processes of cultural transmission. This model emphasises the role of individual creativity in cultural reproduction and change, and maintains that cosmologies can be adequately understood only if they are regarded as knowledge in the process of communication, embedded in social organization, rather than as fixed bodies of belief. From the model he derives various theoretically grounded hypotheses regarding the probable courses of change that would be generated by such mechanisms. He then goes on to show that these hypotheses fit the actual patterns of variation that are found among the Ok.

Revue de presse

"Barth provides significant theoretical insight into the nature of traditional and cultural variation. His focus on the mechanisms of communication and their effects on cultural symbols and the distribution of knowledge opens up a promising direction for future research." William H. McKellin, Pacific Affairs

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Cambridge University Press
Date d'édition
1987
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0521342791
ISBN 13 
9780521342797
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
112
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
Avery
https://www.avery.fr/

chemin des peupliers 27
Dardilly
France

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780521387354: Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  0521387353 ISBN 13 :  9780521387354
Editeur : Cambridge University Press, 1990
Couverture souple