Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2005

The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers

Palgrave Macmillan

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
  2. Introduction

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 1-17
  3. Ceremonies and Reciprocity

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 18-28
  4. In the Shadow of the Mountain

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 29-44
  5. I’m Sorry, Brother, I Don’t Eat That

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 45-71
  6. The Unseen World and the Opposition Scenario

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 93-115
  7. Assertion and Appeal

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 116-133
  8. Anger, Reciprocity, and the Rhythms of Experience

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 134-146
  9. The Perception of a Human Condition

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 147-159
  10. Ceremonial Occasions and Preparations

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 160-170
  11. The Gisaro

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 171-195
  12. Gisaro and the Opposition Scenario

    • Edward L. Schieffelin
    Pages 196-223
  13. Back Matter

    Pages 225-244

About this book

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.

About the author

EDWARD SCHIEFFELIN is Reader Emeritus at University College London, UK. He received his BA in Physics and Philosophy from Yale University in 1960 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1972. He has spent more than five years among the Kaluli (Bosavi) people in Papua New Guinea since 1966.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access