Overview

What gives artefacts their power and beauty? This ethnographic study of the decorated long yams made by the Nyamikum Abelam in Papua New Guinea examines how these artefacts acquire their specific properties through processes that mobilise and recruit diverse entities, substances and domains. All come together to form the 'finished product' that is displayed, representing what could be an indigenous form of non-verbal 'sociology'. Engaging with several contemporary anthropological topics (material culture, techniques, arts, aesthetics, rituals, botany, cosmology, Melanesian ethnography), the text also discusses in depth the complex position of the study of 'technology' within anthropology.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ludovic Coupaye
Publisher:   Berghahn Books
Imprint:   Berghahn Books
Volume:   2
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.671kg
ISBN:  

9780857457332

ISBN 10:   0857457330
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   01 August 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Prolegomenon Chapter 1. Getting there, Meeting the Things Encounters Towards the First Encounter Encounters in Display The General Setting The Structure of the Book Chapter 2 - Of Yams and Ethnography Yams as Artefacts General Description of the Plant: A Bi-polar Artefact General Description of the Tuber Shapes, sizes, and colour as criteria The skin: sepe The root system: megi General Description of the Vine The stem and its end: paate and kute Leaves (gaaga) and flowers (maawe) Local Classifications Ka classification Waapi classification Yam Behaviour and Reproduction General description of reproduction and behaviour Sett selection and the value given to the different parts Ka and waapi behaviours The aliveness of yams Yams in Books The Historical and Cultural Depth of a Botanical Artefact Yams and Gardening in island Melanesia Yams in the Sepik From Divides to Semi-Objects , from Sociality to Technology Chapter 3. Objects, Technology and Art How do we make powerful things? or the Question of Technical Origins of Objects Technology as an Anthropological Problem The Problem of Definition The Problem of Anthropological Discomfort The Problem of Materialistic Determinism The (Incomplete?) Return of Things: Globalisation and Consumption Black Boxes , Blind Spots and Other Elephants in the Corner : The Haunting Presence of Technology Technology as an Anthropological Approach to Techniques: Francophone vs. Anglophone angles? Art and Technology Gell's Premises and the Halo of Technical Difficulty of Artworks Power, Beauty and the Question of Technical Origin The Humility of Things and the Humility of Techniques (again) Chapter 4. Jebaa ( work ): Processes of materialisation Technology and Operational Sequences The Basic Operational Sequence Risky formalisation? Operational Sequences and Scientists Anxieties On Description of Technology: Temporality, Scales, and Components of Operational Sequences Components, descriptors, criteria, elements The Selective Heterogeneity of Sequences as Biographies The Long Yam Technical System: An overview Sequences as a biography of long yams Growing Long Yams: A Note on Reasons and Causes Some principles of yam cultivation Three Accounts of the Gardening Year Alex Jalemba's account The succession of gardens Operations and duration Kulang's account Two Nemadus' accounts New Elements in the Technical System Adjusting Phases Phases of waapi gardening Planting the waapi Selecting the position of the kutapme Digging the waagu Placing the tawurem sewaa Filling up the waagu Preparing the teket Building up the teket and the kutapme Planting the waapi sett Building the horizontal trellis jaabe Staking the vines on the jaabe.106 Checking the sett and removing any secondary tubers Planting the second line of waapi Weeding: gwaale waara Building the taawu 'Sleeping with the yams' (waapi rasege kwasege) Maintaining a fire in the waapi yaawi Eating inside the waapi yaawi Talking to, and about the yams: the mouth power of spells, blowing and discourses The song-spells manegup The blowing: jaabu, yamabi, or yapejure Specific operations and behaviours. Prepare 'fertilizer' Phases of Ka gardening Preparing the planting session Building the shelter Gathering supplies Preparing the setts The work session: planting the ka General organisation and time Digging the hole Bringing the setts Planting the sett Aftermath Conclusion: Transecting Nyamikum's life Chapter 5. Collectives as Components Sepekwapa: The Body On Gestures On Bodies and Substances Jewaai: Blood, Power and Scent Kamek: the land as domain Yaabu: Roads that Connect Kem ( clans and villages/hamlets ) and gay (place) Kem as hamlets Kepma and the role of land Subterranean Agents Waale, Water-Hole Entities Gu, water Vemek, the One-Who Looks Nyaa, the Sun Baapmu, the Moon Maase, the Rain Non-Human Agents : Gwaal and Gwaldu Kudi and Bulu ( Speeches ) Maatu: the Stone and its Warden(s) Elements for the Description of a Shrine The Kajatudu Stone Warden and his Role Transect of Collectives Chapter 6. Waapi Saaki: Aligning Relationships A Waapi Saaki (Kaagu) at Kumim ame (June 16th, 2003) Preparing for the Ceremony The materials of decoration (cf. fig. 5.02) Hiding the waapi Last days of preparation The Waapi Saaki day The arrival of the waapi Evaluation of the tubers Food and nyegwes-maasa (Tobacco and betel-nut) Public speeches The night dance: Kaagu Distribution of Pig Meat The Course of the Night Aftermath A Cut in the Meshwork The series of long yam ceremonies Short yam ceremonies Moving eastward: a mythical geography? The web of the spider, the network of stones The Making of Efficacy Efficacy as a Point of Contention: Two Debates Efficacy or Innovation? Lemonnier and Latour against determinisms Warnier's efficacy: targets and subjects Efficacy for what and according to whom: Some Preliminary Ideas Efficacy for artefact: How to encapsulate Efficacy for agents: Encapsulating efficacy and determinisms Chapter 7. Of Properties of Artefact: (Food, Valuables and Images) Yams as food: nourishing substances Yams as valuables: appropriate connections Yams as images: Visual and material connections Abelam Art : Iconicity and Forge's Questions on Style and Meaning Indexes of Agency: Pragmatics and Enchantment of Technology Involution and technologies The Aesthetics of Yams. Creating the Aesthetical Conduct: Contrasts and Metaphors Contrasts as necessary contradictions Metaphors that open Displaying-While-Concealing Relationhips Style as the Meaning of Life Conclusion Chapter 8. Conclusions: Displays and Sprouts A sort of Waapi Saaki: A Lining up of Arguments Ethnography of Things, Ethnography through Things A Technology of Yams Yams a Social Forms, Waapi Saaki as Sociology Sproutings Of Masses, Volumes and Dimensions: Density and Fractality of Things Agency, Involution and Bundling Properties, Processes and Technology La Technologie, Science Humaine bibliography

Reviews

Prolegomenon Chapter 1. Getting there, Meeting the Things Encounters Towards the First Encounter Encounters in Display The General Setting The Structure of the Book Chapter 2 - Of Yams and Ethnography Yams as Artefacts General Description of the Plant: A Bi-polar Artefact General Description of the Tuber Shapes, sizes, and colour as criteria The skin: sepe The root system: megi General Description of the Vine The stem and its end: paate and kute Leaves (gaaga) and flowers (maawe) Local Classifications Ka classification Waapi classification Yam Behaviour and Reproduction General description of reproduction and behaviour Sett selection and the value given to the different parts Ka and waapi behaviours The aliveness of yams Yams in Books The Historical and Cultural Depth of a Botanical Artefact Yams and Gardening in island Melanesia Yams in the Sepik From Divides to Semi-Objects , from Sociality to Technology Chapter 3. Objects, Technology and Art How do we make powerful things? or the Question of Technical Origins of Objects Technology as an Anthropological Problem The Problem of Definition The Problem of Anthropological Discomfort The Problem of Materialistic Determinism The (Incomplete?) Return of Things: Globalisation and Consumption Black Boxes , Blind Spots and Other Elephants in the Corner : The Haunting Presence of Technology Technology as an Anthropological Approach to Techniques: Francophone vs. Anglophone angles? Art and Technology Gell's Premises and the Halo of Technical Difficulty of Artworks Power, Beauty and the Question of Technical Origin The Humility of Things and the Humility of Techniques (again) Chapter 4. Jebaa ( work ): Processes of materialisation Technology and Operational Sequences The Basic Operational Sequence Risky formalisation? Operational Sequences and Scientists Anxieties On Description of Technology: Temporality, Scales, and Components of Operational Sequences Components, descriptors, criteria, elements The Selective Heterogeneity of Sequences as Biographies The Long Yam Technical System: An overview Sequences as a biography of long yams Growing Long Yams: A Note on Reasons and Causes Some principles of yam cultivation Three Accounts of the Gardening Year Alex Jalemba's account The succession of gardens Operations and duration Kulang's account Two Nemadus' accounts New Elements in the Technical System Adjusting Phases Phases of waapi gardening Planting the waapi Selecting the position of the kutapme Digging the waagu Placing the tawurem sewaa Filling up the waagu Preparing the teket Building up the teket and the kutapme Planting the waapi sett Building the horizontal trellis jaabe Staking the vines on the jaabe.106 Checking the sett and removing any secondary tubers Planting the second line of waapi Weeding: gwaale waara Building the taawu 'Sleeping with the yams' (waapi rasege kwasege) Maintaining a fire in the waapi yaawi Eating inside the waapi yaawi Talking to, and about the yams: the mouth power of spells, blowing and discourses The song-spells manegup The blowing: jaabu, yamabi, or yapejure Specific operations and behaviours. Prepare 'fertilizer' Phases of Ka gardening Preparing the planting session Building the shelter Gathering supplies Preparing the setts The work session: planting the ka General organisation and time Digging the hole Bringing the setts Planting the sett Aftermath Conclusion: Transecting Nyamikum's life Chapter 5. Collectives as Components Sepekwapa: The Body On Gestures On Bodies and Substances Jewaai: Blood, Power and Scent Kamek: the land as domain Yaabu: Roads that Connect Kem ( clans and villages/hamlets ) and gay (place) Kem as hamlets Kepma and the role of land Subterranean Agents Waale, Water-Hole Entities Gu, water Vemek, the One-Who Looks Nyaa, the Sun Baapmu, the Moon Maase, the Rain Non-Human Agents : Gwaal and Gwaldu Kudi and Bulu ( Speeches ) Maatu: the Stone and its Warden(s) Elements for the Description of a Shrine The Kajatudu Stone Warden and his Role Transect of Collectives Chapter 6. Waapi Saaki: Aligning Relationships A Waapi Saaki (Kaagu) at Kumim ame (June 16th, 2003) Preparing for the Ceremony The materials of decoration (cf. fig. 5.02) Hiding the waapi Last days of preparation The Waapi Saaki day The arrival of the waapi Evaluation of the tubers Food and nyegwes-maasa (Tobacco and betel-nut) Public speeches The night dance: Kaagu Distribution of Pig Meat The Course of the Night Aftermath A Cut in the Meshwork The series of long yam ceremonies Short yam ceremonies Moving eastward: a mythical geography? The web of the spider, the network of stones The Making of Efficacy Efficacy as a Point of Contention: Two Debates Efficacy or Innovation? Lemonnier and Latour against determinisms Warnier's efficacy: targets and subjects Efficacy for what and according to whom: Some Preliminary Ideas Efficacy for artefact: How to encapsulate Efficacy for agents: Encapsulating efficacy and determinisms Chapter 7. Of Properties of Artefact: (Food, Valuables and Images) Yams as food: nourishing substances Yams as valuables: appropriate connections Yams as images: Visual and material connections Abelam Art : Iconicity and Forge's Questions on Style and Meaning Indexes of Agency: Pragmatics and Enchantment of Technology Involution and technologies The Aesthetics of Yams. Creating the Aesthetical Conduct: Contrasts and Metaphors Contrasts as necessary contradictions Metaphors that open Displaying-While-Concealing Relationhips Style as the Meaning of Life Conclusion Chapter 8. Conclusions: Displays and Sprouts A sort of Waapi Saaki: A Lining up of Arguments Ethnography of Things, Ethnography through Things A Technology of Yams Yams a Social Forms, Waapi Saaki as Sociology Sproutings Of Masses, Volumes and Dimensions: Density and Fractality of Things Agency, Involution and Bundling Properties, Processes and Technology La Technologie, Science Humaine bibliography

Author Information

Ludovic Coupaye is a Lecturer in Material Culture Studies at the Department of Anthropology of University College London, a member of the Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Oceanie (CREDO, Marseille), and teaches anthropology of Pacific Arts at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. He has been a teaching fellow at the Sainsbury Research Unit (UEA) and assistant curator at the Musee du quai Branly in Paris.

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