Good Company and Anger: the Culture and Sociology of Sorcery Among the Gebusi of the Strickland Plain, Papua New Guinea. (Volumes I and II).

Abstract

This thesis considers the relationship between good company (kogwayay) and anger (gcf) among the Gebusi, a society of 450 persons living in the lowl and rain forest of the Western Province, Papua New Guinea. "Good company" is the Gebusi's word for their customs and culture as a whole. The concept embodies their pre-eminent orientation to social life, as evidenced in strong communality, amity, camaraderie and pronounced conflict avoidance within the community. At the same time, the Gebusi are subject to short bursts of homicidal violence within the community. The vast majority of this violence is directly related to sorcery accusations. The Gebusi per annum homicide rate for 1940-1982 is one of the highest ever reported, and 32.7 percent (129/394) of the adult deaths during this period were homicides. The opposition between good company and anger/sorcery is traced through various dimensions of Gebusi social life. An extended case study conveys the poignant Gebusi experience of sorcery inquests. The ethos of Gebusi life and their beliefs concerning sickness and death are described, using anger and good company as organizing principles. In the middle chapters, empirical analysis reveals that imbalances in sister exchange ( and in the marital deployment of women generally) are the major structural features of 253 sorcery attributions. However, Gebusi culture in many ways precludes awareness of these patterns, while also reinforcing them through the dominant orientation of good company itself. Later chapters analyze the good company/anger schism as it is manifested in Gebusi ritual feasts, narratives and spirit seances. It is concluded that Gebusi good company and anger are necessarily related, and that understanding this relationship requires the close articulation of a symbolic and a sociological analysis.