The Cassowary's Revenge: The Life and Death of Masculinity in a New Guinea SocietyDonald Tuzin first studied the New Guinea village of Ilahita in 1972. When he returned many years later, he arrived in the aftermath of a startling event: the village’s men voluntarily destroyed their secret cult that had allowed them to dominate women for generations. The cult’s collapse indicated nothing less than the death of masculinity, and Tuzin examines the labyrinth of motives behind this improbable, self-devastating act. The villagers' mythic tradition provided a basis for this revenge of Woman upon the dominion of Man, and, remarkably, Tuzin himself became a principal figure in its narratives. The return of the magic-bearing "youngest brother" from America had been prophesied, and the villagers believed that Tuzin’s return "from the dead" signified a further need to destroy masculine traditions. The Cassowary's Revenge is an intimate account of how Ilahita’s men and women think, emote, dream, and explain themselves. Tuzin also explores how the death of masculinity in a remote society raises disturbing implications for gender relations in our own society. In this light Tuzin's book is about men and women in search of how to value one another, and in today's world there is no theme more universal or timely. |
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Abelam Akwaliwa Arapesh Asao associations Baingap behavior boys brother bweapa'w cassowary Cassowary-Mother ceremonial chapter Christian clan cult elders cult secrets cultural dead death dreams ethnographic exchange fantasies father fear female feminine fieldwork gender ghost Gidion happened Hollandia human husband ideas ideology Ilahita imagination important killing knew Kunai Liebenzell Mission living magic Malay male Maprik marriage men's cult millenarian Miss Schrader Mission Mission Christianity missionaries moral mother Mountain Arapesh myth mythic Nambwea Nambweapa'w Nggwal occurred Papua New Guinea patriclan Pidgin polygyny prophecy prophetic punishment revealed revenge Revival Revivalists ritual Salalaman secrecy Sepik Sepik River sexual siblings significance sister skin social society sons sorcery story of Nambweapa'w Supalo swan maiden swan maiden story Ta'af Tambaran Tambaran spirit tell Teresia things Tidore tion tradition traditionalists Tuzin village court Wa'akea Wewak wife wives woman women yams young youngest