Frederick Karl Errington

This interpretation of the cultural and social life of the inhabitants of a small island in the territory of Papua and New Guinea offers important new perspectives for the study of other societies. Focusing on Karavaran society's preoccupation with achieving stability, Mr. Errington first describes the principal relationships among men and between men and women. He then turns to ritual activities, where the Karavarans find answers to the fundamental questions about power and social order that arise in their nonritual life. With particular stress on the masked figures of the mortuary ceremony, he analyzes the meaning of the symbols and their effectiveness in a ritual context.