TY - BOOK ID - 5230909 TI - Bodies and persons : comparative perspectives from Africa and Melanesia AU - Lambek, Michael AU - Strathern, Andrew PY - 1998 SN - 0521621941 0521627370 0511802781 9780521627375 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Human body KW - Corps humain KW - Social aspects KW - Symbolic aspects KW - Aspect social KW - Aspect symbolique KW - #SBIB:39A9 KW - Body, Human KW - -Body, Human KW - Human beings KW - Body image KW - Human anatomy KW - Human physiology KW - Mind and body KW - Medische antropologie / gezondheid / handicaps KW - -Social aspects KW - -Symbolic aspects KW - -Human body KW - -Medische antropologie / gezondheid / handicaps KW - -#SBIB:39A9 KW - Social Sciences KW - Anthropology KW - Body, Human - Social aspects - Melanesia - Congresses KW - Body, Human - Social aspects - Africa - Congresses KW - Body, Human - Symbolic aspects - Africa - Congresses KW - Body, Human - Symbolic aspects - Melanesia - Congresses UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:5230909 AB - Large-scale comparisons are out of fashion in anthropology, but this book suggests a bold comparative approach to broad cultural differences between Africa and Melanesia. Its theme is personhood, which is understood in terms of what anthropologists call 'embodiment'. These concepts are applied to questions ranging from the meanings of spirit possession, to the logics of witchcraft and kinship relations, the use of rituals to heal the sick, 'electric vampires', and even the impact of capitalism. There are detailed ethnographic analyses, and suggestive comparisons of classic African and Melanesian ethnographic cases, such as the Nuer and the Melpa. The contributors debate alternative strategies for cross-cultural comparison, and demonstrate that there is a surprising range of continuities, putting in question common assumptions about the huge differences between these two parts of the world. ER -