Malanggan
Subtitle: art, memory, and sacrifice
By: Susanne Küchler.
Series: Materializing culture
Publisher: Berg
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Oxford, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 212
Subjects: Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- New Ireland Province; Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Papua New Guinea -- New Ireland Province; Art -- Papua New Guinea -- New Ireland Province; New Ireland Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs
Description: "Malanggan are among the most treasured possessions in the Pacific, yet they continue to confound anthropologists. Central to funerals in New Ireland, these 'death' figures are intended to decompose as symbolic representations of the dead. Wrapped in images that are conceived of as 'skins', they are both visually complex and intriguing. This book is the first to interpret these mysterious agents of resemblance and connection as having a cognitive rather than a linguistic basis."

"This study begins by tracing the history of the collections and moves on to consider the role these artefacts play in sacrifice, ritual and exchange. What is the relationship between Malanggan and memory? How can Malanggan be understood as a life force as well as a vehicle for thought? In an analysis of the cognitive aspects of Malanggan, Kuchler offers a conceptualization of the centrality of the knot as a mode of being, thinking and binding in the Pacific." "Malanggan: Art, Memory and Sacrifice provides a new take on one of the Pacific's classic puzzles, as well as a wealth of new information and resources for anthropologists, collectors and curators alike."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Gathering places; title: Matriliny in the making; title: Sacrifice and calendrical rites; title: The building up of the fire; title: Images of malanggan; title: On building and thinking; title: Potent absence and the dynamics of sacrificial economy; title: Conclusion: the repast recaptured.