Alexis Themo von Poser Book order

This Festschrift in honor of Jürg Wassmann compiles essays about ethnographic fieldwork which bear witness to the diversity of experiences possible in this classic method in social and cultural anthropology. Following the academic life-course of an anthropologist, the contributions to this volume speak of personal and/or professional moments in the field. They shed light on different approaches to the field, of research over long distances or long periods of time, of research in unexpected areas or with surprising interdisciplinary agendas. It becomes clear that fieldwork is far from becoming a redundant or old-fashioned tool in the methodological canon of the discipline – through its multitude of facets it remains central and authoritative for the empiricist approach in anthropology.

The author of this book investigates a system of indigenous thought that pervades the life in Kayan, a village at the North-Coast of Papua New Guinea in a multitude of ways. The material is framed from the perspective of the former village elder Blasius Jong. With its roots in pre-missionary time, this system links different spheres of life and constitutes the basis for the organization of religious as well as of daily activities. Emanating from myths and a traditional calendar, the conceptions of person, time and space are discussed and the impact on social structure and religious life is highlighted. Together with historical and astronomical material, the author combines elements of the Anthropology of Person, of the Anthropology of Time and of the Anthropology of Space in novel ways, to reconstruct a fascinating system of thought that still has many consequences for today's life in Kayan.