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Titre Souvenirs de « folie » chez les Wiru (Southern Highlands)
Auteur Andrew Strathern, Bernard Juillerat, Margaret Marris
Mir@bel Revue Journal de la Société des Océanistes
Numéro Tome 33, no 56-57, mars-décembre 1977
Rubrique / Thématique
Articles
Page 131-144
Résumé anglais This article examines accounts of a collective outbreak of madness similar to the so-called "wild-man" behaviour described in other areas of the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, and tries to explain these stories through different approaches, dealing seriously with both their historical character and apparent fictional elaboration. The analytical problems discussed are: why did the outbreak occur exactly at the time the Europeans started to administer the Wiru area, and why have these stories since evolved into a recognized oral tradition? Also, how can it be explained that such madness, although analogous to behaviour which is associated with possession and mediumship, did not lead to any form of "ritualisation" other than the preservation of the accounts themselves, as funny stories? The answers are to be found both in historic events and in the logic of the Wiru culture itself.
Source : Éditeur (via Persée)
Article en ligne http://www.persee.fr/doc/jso_0300-953x_1977_num_33_56_2951