Making History Pukapukan and Anthropological Constructions of Knowledge [Paperback]

The unravelling of an anthropological puzzle concerning a Polynesian island's social organization clarifies the strength and limitations of the anthropological approach to constructing knowledge.The unravelling of an anthropological puzzle concerning a Polynesian island's social organization clarifies the strength and limitations of the anthropological approach to constructing knowledge.The unravelling of an anthropological puzzle concerning a Polynesian island's social organization clarifies the strength and limitations of the anthropological approach to constructing knowledge.List of illustrations; Foreword Alan Howard; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Differing accounts of the past; 2. Pukapukan social organization: A perspective on anthropological ways of knowing; 3. Acquiring traditional knowledge: Pukapukan ways of knowing, Part I; 4. Validating traditional knowledge: Pukapukan ways of knowing, Part II; 5. Making history; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index. ...one of the most original and thought-provoking ethnographies I have read in some time... J. Howe in Pacific Studies ...recommend the book highly as a good anthropological read; the writing is lucid and stylish, and the contents rich and original. Man ...one of the finest [discussions] in the literature on the relationship between social context and acquisition of knowledge...It raises significant questions about the uses and meaning of the past both to Pukapukans and to ethnographers. There is much to learn from here. Journal of American Folklore This ethnographic contribution has a brevity, simplicity, and charm that mask the sophistication, the scholarship, the masterly handling of highly complex material, and the sheer hard work that went into its preparation and writing. Ben Finney, The Contemporary Pacific Scholard with special interests in traditional cultures, Polynesian life in particular, will find this a most useful text. Elaine Bradtke in Come-All-Ye