Acting for Others - Relational Transformations in Papua New Guinea

Men in Papua New Guinea do not become fathers by growing up and reproducing; instead, their fatherhood is a result of a series of relational transformations operated in and by rituals. Pascale Bonnem's book Acting for Others offers a novel and provocative analysis of the Ankave ritual cycle, arguing that genders can act for and upon one another by limiting action through the obeying of taboos. This first English translation by Nora Scott is accompanied by a foreword from Marilyn Strathern, challenging how we think about mutual action, mutual being, and mutual life.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 322 pages
\n Publication date: 01 May 2018
\n Publisher: HAU
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The Ankave of Papua New Guinea presents a unique perspective on the concept of fatherhood, as men do not attain adulthood and become fathers solely through reproduction. Instead, what defines men and, by extension, men is a result of a complex series of relational transformations facilitated by rituals. These rituals involve men and women performing complementary actions in separate spaces. Pascale Bonnem's groundbreaking work, Acting for Others, is a seminal contribution to Melanesian ethnography, gender studies, and theories of ritual. Drawing on years of fieldwork conducted alongside her husband and co-ethnographer, this book offers a dual perspective of the Ankave ritual cycle, capturing the experiences of women in the village and men in the forest. What sets this work apart is its innovative and thought-provoking analysis of the emergence of ideas about gender in Papua New Guinea. At the core of Bonnem's argument is the notion that genders can act upon and for one another, albeit in paradoxical ways, by adhering to taboos and other restrictions. Through this first English translation by acclaimed French translator Nora Scott, accompanied by a foreword by Marilyn Strathern, Acting for Others brings the Ankave ritual world to new theoretical life, challenging our understanding of mutual action, mutual being, and mutual life.

\n Weight: 488g\n
Dimension: 153 x 228 x 19 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780997367584\n \n