Power in Performance: The Creation of Textual Authority in Weyewa Ritual Speech

by Joel C. Kuipers

Overview

Among the Weyewa of the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba, spokesmen seek to inscribe their traditions and sacred obligations through ritual speaking performances. In a series of lively poetic dialogues, performers use a distinctive couplet style to pursue the trail of their ancestors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812282450
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	01/29/1990
Series:	Anniversary Collection
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1450L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joel C. Kuipers is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at George Washington University.

Editorial Reviews

Rountree (anthro, Old Dominion U.), relying mainly on accounts written by John Smith and other English colonists, reconstructs the Powhatan way of life, including their adaptation to European influences. Among the Weyewa of the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba, spokesmen seek to inscribe their traditions and sacred obligations through ritual speaking performances. Two years of ethnographic fieldwork contributed to this study of how valued cultural knowledge is fixed, controlled, and manipulated through speech among the Weyawa. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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