Page 1 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 239 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
Subset |
SAKALIOU:
RECIPROCITY, MIMESIS, AND THE CULTURAL ECONOMY OF TRADITION
IN SIBERUT, MENTAWAI ISLANDS, INDONESIA
by
Christian S. Hammons
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ANTHROPOLOGY)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Christian S. Hammons
Object Description
| Title | Sakaliou: reciprocity, mimesis, and the cultural economy of tradition in Siberut, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia |
| Author | Hammons, Christian S. |
| Author email | hammons@usc.edu; hammons@fastmail.fm |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Anthropology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date submitted | 2010 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2010-11-24 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Hoskins, Janet |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Cooper, Eugene Iwamura, Jane Lutkehaus, Nancy Mattingly, Cheryl |
| Abstract | Based on two years of fieldwork, this dissertation is an ethnography of the Sakaliou clan, one of several dozen upriver, forest-dwelling clans in the Rereiket region of south Siberut, the largest of the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Although it focuses on only one clan, it examines their social relations with other clans, with the spirits that live in the forest, and with the nonindigenous people who live on or come to visit the island, such as traders, government officials, and tourists. Its main argument is that the way Sakaliou engages in social relations within the clan, with other clans and spirits, and even with nonindigenous people is through various forms of reciprocity or gift exchange. Drawing on Rene Girard's theory of violence and the sacred, reciprocity is reconceptualized as a mimetic practice in which self is defined in relation to other through the exchange of an object that has no value outside of the relation it defines. By way of the object, reciprocity creates or recognizes a similarity between self and other that can mitigate mimetic rivalry or generate it, depending on the exchange. If mimetic rivalry can result in violence, then exchange can be seen as the deferral of violence, the exchange of objects instead of bodies or heads. This view of exchange is more or less explicit in the myth, ritual, and taboo of the indigenous religion, a blend of animism, ancestor worship, and shamanism, but it is so fundamental to Sakaliou's perspective that it not only shapes their relations with other clans, it also shapes their relations with nonindigenous people. Despite a century of colonialism and national modernization campaigns, Sakaliou continues to engage traders, government officials, and tourists on their own terms: defining self in relation to other, controlling mimetic rivalry, and deferring violence through the reciprocal exchange of objects. The dissertation is divided into two parts.; The first focuses on social relations within the clan, between clans, and between humans and spirits, concluding with an analysis of headhunting and shamanism. The second focuses on social relations with nonindigenous people, including missionaries, Dutch colonial officials, Minangkabau traders and migrants, Indonesian state officials, foreign tourists, and international environmentalists. |
| Keyword | reciprocity; mimesis; cultural economy; tradition; Siberut; Mentawai Islands; Indonesia |
| Geographic subject | islands: Siberut; islands: Mentawai Islands |
| Geographic subject (country) | Indonesia |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3560 |
| Rights | Hammons, Christian S. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Hammons-4137 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume44/etd-Hammons-4137.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | SAKALIOU: RECIPROCITY, MIMESIS, AND THE CULTURAL ECONOMY OF TRADITION IN SIBERUT, MENTAWAI ISLANDS, INDONESIA by Christian S. Hammons A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ANTHROPOLOGY) December 2010 Copyright 2010 Christian S. Hammons |
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 1
