Womens' views on men’s art in Chambri, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
In anthropological literature, secrecy is a central feature that opposes male and female in Sepik societies. Based on an analysis of women's perception of the men’s house and the way they can occasionally enter it, this paper considers the way men’s secrecy defines cross-gender relationship. Co...
Shranjeno v:
| izdano v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jso, |
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| Glavni avtor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jezik: | Anglais |
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Journal de la société des océanistes
2018
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| Online dostop: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Izvleček: | In anthropological literature, secrecy is a central feature that opposes male and female in Sepik societies. Based on an analysis of women's perception of the men’s house and the way they can occasionally enter it, this paper considers the way men’s secrecy defines cross-gender relationship. Contemporary accounts and early anthropological description are compared to shed light on what women know about male secrets, about what they tend to hide from what they actually know on that matter. Three main arguments are developed to explain why women do not say anything about what they may know about men’s secrets: shame for Mead, the fear of sorcery or the existence of a women’s esoteric body of knowledge according to contemporary Chambri testimonies. While early observers tend to emphasize a profound dichotomy between male and female realms, recent observations made among the Chambri nuance this strict opposition. |
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