The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers

By Edward L. Schieffelin

Book Overview

This classic ethnography, now in its second edition, describes the traditional way of life of the Kaluli, a tropical forest people of Papua New Guinea. The book takes as its focus the nostalgic and violent Gisalo ceremony, one of the most remarkable performances in the anthropological literature. Tracking the major symbolic and emotional themes of the ceremony to their sources in everyday Kaluli life, Schieffelin shows how the central values and passions of Kaluli experience are governed by the basic forms of social reciprocity. However, Gisaro reveals that social reciprocity is not limited to the dynamics of transaction, obligation and alliance. It emerges, rather, as a mode of symbolic action and performative form, embodying a cultural scenario which shapes Kaluli emotional experience and moral sensibility and permeates their understanding of the human condition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1403966060
• ISBN13: 9781403966063
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

sorrow for those who do not partake of this book

While reading Schieffelin's account of the reciprocity system of the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea, I was struck by how much of interaction between humans is a product of cultural ideology and aesthetics. The Kaluli's performance of gisaro may seem overwhelmingly brutal to a western sensibility (indeed, the burning of the dancers was soon banned by a missionary influenced government.) Yet Schieffelin, a highly respected anthropologist, presents this cultural practice with insight and understanding. While at times, especially in his concluding chapter, Shieffelin's theories of the cultural structure of reciprocity may dwarf the individuals living within that construct, the book remains an incredible glimpse into another culture. This book is an invaluable read for anyone interested in theoretical anthropology. Further reading on the Kaluli can be found in Schieffelin's student Steven Feld's ethnomusicological papers. Bruce Chatwin's Songlines is another fascinating, albeit less focused, theoretical look at performance practice in Aboriginal Australia. After that, the bibliographies will keep you busy until you die.