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References (27)
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Given that Bergendorff presents his analysis poised on the relationship of 'personhood' and 'cosmos', it is peculiar that he cites my book but refrains from any discussion of its contents -
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- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Copyright
- Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
- ISSN
- 1740-9314
- eISSN
- 1444-2213
- DOI
- 10.1080/14442210500074903
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
In a recent article in The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology (TAPJA), Bergendorff (2003) offers a new approach to the interpretation of traditional sorcery practices among the Mekeo peoples of Papua New Guinea involving the transcendence of certain conceptual divisions of the indigenous cosmology and local understandings of personhood and the institutional order. On the basis of the ‘literal meaning’ for various words of the Mekeo language, Bergendorff argues that his interpretation resolves an earlier debate on the topic of Mekeo sorcery between Stephen (1998) and me (Mosko 1997). This essay examines the ethnographic data that Bergendroff brings to bear in support of his new interpretation and juxtaposes his methodological use of literal meanings against authoritative linguistic analyses of the Mekeo language and its several dialects (Desnoës 1941a, 1941b; Jones 1998). It is concluded that Bergendorff's analysis is internally inconsistent, that his use of literal meanings is unsupportable, and that the resulting view of Mekeo sorcery, personhood, society and cosmos is profoundly distorted.
Journal
The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology – Taylor & Francis
Published: Apr 1, 2005
Keywords: Sorcery; Personhood; Agency; Chieftainship; Native Etymology; Linguistic Method; Symbolism; Melanesia; Linguistic Anthropology