Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea (Paperback)

Fredrik Barth

ISBN 10: 0521387353 / ISBN 13: 9780521387354

Edité par Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990

A propos de cet article

Paperback. In examining the changes that have taken place in the secret cosmological lore transmitted in male initiation ceremonies among the Mountain Ok of Inner New Guinea, this book offers a new way of explaining how cultural change occurs. Professor Barth focuses on accounting for the local variations in cosmological traditions that exist among the Ok people, who otherwise share largely similar cultures. Rejecting existing anthropological theory as inadequate for explaining this, Professor Barth constructs a new model of the mechanisms of cultural change, emphasizing the role that individual creativity plays in it, and maintaining that cosmologies can be adequately understood only if they are regarded as knowledge in the process of communication, rather than as fixed bodies of belief. In examining the changes that have taken place in the secret cosmological lore transmitted in male initiation ceremonies among the Mountain Ok of Inner New Guinea, this book offers a new way of explaining how cultural change occurs. Professor Barth focuses on accounting for the local variations in cosmological traditions that exist among the Ok people, who otherwise share largely similar cultures. Rejecting existing anthropological theory as inadequate for explaining this, Professor Barth constructs a new model of the mechanisms of cultural change, emphasizing the role that individual creativity plays in it, and maintaining that cosmologies can be adequately understood only if they are regarded as knowledge in the process of communication, rather than as fixed bodies of belief. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9780521387354

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Variation in Inner New Guinea (Paperback)
• Éditeur: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Date de parution: 1990
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0521387353
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780521387354
• Reliure: Paperback
• État de l'article: new

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

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

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.