Payback: the logic of retribution in Melanesian religions
Near to the heart of the human predicament are impulses to avenge - what most of us will recognize to be negative, counterproductive reactions against others who pose a threat. By contrast, nothing re-establishes our faith in humanity more than extraordinary acts of concession, such as peace-making,...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge
Cambridge University Press
1994.
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| In: | Year: 1994 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Melanesia
/ Religion
/ Punishment
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| Further subjects: | B
Retribution
Religious aspects
B Melanesia Religion B Melanesia ; Religion B Retribution ; Religious aspects |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
Print version: 9780521416917 |
| Summary: | Near to the heart of the human predicament are impulses to avenge - what most of us will recognize to be negative, counterproductive reactions against others who pose a threat. By contrast, nothing re-establishes our faith in humanity more than extraordinary acts of concession, such as peace-making, generosity and sacrifice. In this study Garry Trompf shows how various aspects of 'payback', both negative and positive, provide the best indices to an understanding of Melanesian views of life. The book explores the reasons why people 'pay back' and opens up a whole dimension in the cross-cultural study of human consciousness. The author conducts his readers through the most complex anthropological pageant on earth, illustrating his arguments from western New Guinea to Fiji. Preliminaries: The Theory of Retributive Logic -- 1. Revenge -- 2. Reciprocity -- 3. Integrating and Explaining Significant Events -- 4. Reprisal -- 5. Redemption -- 6. Wishing and Explaining the Extraordinary -- 7. Recrimination -- in 'Modern' Guises -- 8. Making Money and Modernizing Reciprocities -- 9. Money, Morals, Meaning: Old Logics, New Retributions? |
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| Item Description: | Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015) |
| ISBN: | 0511470142 |
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511470141 |