Misconstrued Order in Melanesian Religion

Abstract

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‘I Was Like Abraham’: notes on the anthropology of Christianity from the Solomon Islands

“…Concurring with Ron Brunton (1980), Barker (1990a:11-12;:157) has argued that people in general -and Melanesians in particular -have little need for religious coherence. While I am not suggesting that toleration of ambiguity, contradiction, and uncertainty is not a constant of human experience, I am casting it as a predicament and arguing that Arosi seek to overcome it.…”

Being Marshallese and Christian: A case of multiple identities and contradictory beliefs

“…To do so would hearken back to colonial paternalism towards 'fuzzy-thinking' natives or Lévy-Brühl's distinction -now out of fashion in anthropology -between 'primitive' thinking and Western thinking. While cogent arguments against the assumption of consistency have been made before (Gellner 1970;Brunton 1980), none (to my knowledge) have explicitly identified this sort of 'ethnographic politeness' as a potential obstacle to admitting contradiction.…”

Memorable Religions: Transmission, Codification and Change in Divergent Melanesian Contexts

“…1 This general characterization of the divergent paths of Baktaman and kivung religions superficially recalls the debate over 'misconstrued order in Melanesian religion', instigated by Brunton (1980). Kivung religion is more 'ordered' than Baktaman religion in the specific respect that it is subject to far greater logical integration.…”