Giving (up) a traditional problem-solving ritual: materialisation of power and self-transformation amongst the people of Awim, East Sepik Province
The village of Awim is situated in the south of the Sepik basin of Papua New Guinea. In 2012, the village had been introduced to a Pentecostal movement known as the Angel Michael Ministry, which is locally considered as being key to the realisation of peoples desires for change and development. This...
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| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jso, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
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Journal de la société des océanistes
2018
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | The village of Awim is situated in the south of the Sepik basin of Papua New Guinea. In 2012, the village had been introduced to a Pentecostal movement known as the Angel Michael Ministry, which is locally considered as being key to the realisation of peoples desires for change and development. This article analyses the last of a series of failed attempts of the people of Awim to materialise power by receiving the statue of the Virgin Mary from the Angel Michael’s hands, and considers the relationship between power’s materiality and the possibility of Awim people’s self-transformation. Although Awim people failed in their attempts to secure the statue, which leads me to consider also the less studied reality of failed exchanges, this very failure brought up a new power by way of exchange: they exchanged their traditional problem-solving ritual for an enhanced presence of the Angel Michael in their lives. |
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