Bena stories, histories and sociality -- Unexpected actions and strategic exchanges : leadership and economy -- In exchange with the world : the concept of person in Bena -- Changing exchanges : Bena life cycle rituals -- Magical practices and their transformations in modern Bena -- Sanguma : the 'essence-suckers' -- In exchange with God : Christianity in modern Bena -- Expect the unexpected : Scientology in Napamogona.
Summary
"How is cultural change perceived and performed by members of the Bena Bena language group, who live in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea? In her analysis, Knapp draws upon existing bodies of work on 'culture change', 'exchange' and 'person' in Melanesia but brings them together in a new way by conjoining traditional models with theoretical approaches of the new Melanesian ethnography and with collaborative, reflexive and reverse anthropology"-- Provided by publisher.
