The Making of Great Men: Male Domination and Power among the New Guinea Baruya (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 56) - Softcover

Godelier, Maurice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521312124 ISBN 13: 9780521312127

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1986

Synopsis

The Baruya are a tribal society in highlands Papua New Guinea, with whom Western contact was first made in 1951. During the last twenty years, Maurice Godelier has spent many long periods of time living among this people, and in this book he presents a detailed account of their lives and their forms of social organization. The focus of the book is on inequality and power in this classless society. Godelier discusses both the power that certain men (the Great men) have over others through their control of war, shamanism, hunting, and rites of initiation, as well as the extraordinary power and domination that men in general exert over women. He explores how this domination is produced and maintained, examining it in particular through a detailed study of male and female initiation. He also analyzes the role that sexuality plays in Baruya thought and theories, showing that in the Baruya view, every aspect of domination - be it (in Western categorization) economic, political, or symbolic - can be explained by sexuality, and the different role of the sexes in human reproduction. A major contribution both to the ethnography of Melanesia and to anthropological theory, the book will interest scholars and students of anthropology, as well as other readers interested in power and inequality, and in the relationships between the sexes.

About this title

Book Description:

This portrayal of the classless Baruya society of Papua New Guinea explores the nature of male domination through a detailed study of male and female initiation rites as well as other expressions of sexuality in Baruya thought and theory. Copublished with the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme.

Language Notes:

Text: English, French (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0521312124
• ISBN 13: 9780521312127
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284