The Heart of the Pearl Shell: The Mythological Dimension of Foi Sociality

The Heart of the Pearl Shell is a book that examines the myths of the Foi people of Papua New Guinea and how they relate to their social world. It challenges traditional interpretations of mythology and suggests that there is a dialectical relationship between the images of myth and the social world. The book is part of UC Press' Voices Revived program, which aims to make high-quality scholarship accessible again.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 350 pages
Publication date: 19 August 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

For the Foi people who reside on the periphery of Papua New Guinea's central highlands, the flow of pearl shells holds paramount significance in their social life. The pearl shell serves as the medium through which they establish and negotiate their most crucial sexual and social roles.

The Heart of the Pearl Shell is a groundbreaking work that delves into a multitude of myths of the Foi people, skillfully integrating substantial ethnographic evidence in a manner that holds significant implications for the advancement of social theory in anthropology and Melanesian studies. Scholars specializing in semiotic-symbolic anthropology and comparative religion will undoubtedly find resonance with the author's exploration of the meaning and significance of mythology within the Foi culture.

Rather than adhering to conventional approaches of Freudian or structuralist interpretation, James Weiner posits a dialectical relationship between the imagery of Foi myth and the imagery of the Foi's social world. He adeptly illustrates how each set of these images is mutually reliant upon the other for their creation. This innovative study uncovers the Foi social meaning by re-creating and attempting to resolve the moral dilemmas that are crystallized in mythology and other poetic expressions.

This title is a part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, a testament to the University of California Press's commitment to identifying and nurturing the most brilliant minds and providing them with a platform to articulate their ideas, reach a wider audience, and exert meaningful impact. Drawing upon a rich backlist dating back to 1893, Voices Revived employs print-on-demand technology to re-make high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship readily accessible once more. Originally published in 1988, this title has been revitalized and reintroduced to the scholarly community.

Weight: 499g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520336926