Research Catalog
Payback : the logic of retribution in Melanesian religions
- Title
- Payback : the logic of retribution in Melanesian religions / G.W. Trompf.
- Author
- Trompf, G. W.
- Publication
- Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Items in the Library & Off-site
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1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Request in advance | BL2620.M4 T765 1994 | Off-site |
Details
- Description
- xx, 545 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
- Summary
- Near to the heart of the human predicament are impulses to avenge - what most of us will recognize to be negative, counterproductive reactions against others who pose a threat. By contrast, nothing re-establishes our faith in humanity more than extraordinary acts of concession, such as peace-making, generosity and sacrifice. This ambitious study is the first monograph on religion and 'the logic of retribution' ever written.
- Garry Trompf shows how various aspects of 'payback', both negative and positive, provide the best indices to an understanding of Melanesian views of life, and that the explanatory modes of thought connected with these themes are carried through to the world of 'cargo cults' and modernization. Exploring the reasons why people 'pay back' opens up a whole new dimension in the cross-cultural study of human consciousness.
- Subjects
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
- Contents
- Preliminaries: The Theory of Retributive Logic -- 1. Revenge -- 2. Reciprocity -- 3. Integrating and Explaining Significant Events -- 4. Reprisal -- 5. Redemption -- 6. Wishing and Explaining the Extraordinary -- 7. Recrimination - in 'Modern' Guises -- 8. Making Money and Modernizing Reciprocities -- 9. Money, Morals, Meaning: Old Logics, New Retributions?
- ISBN
- 0521416914
- LCCN
- 93031388
- OCLC
- 28666158
- ocm28666158
- Owning Institutions
- Columbia University Libraries