How religious practices are reproduced has become a major theoretical issue. This work examines data on Nuaulu ritual performances collected over a 30 year period; comparing different categories of event in terms of frequency and periodicity. It seeks to identify the influencing factors and the consequences for continuity. Such an approach enables a focus on related issues: variation in performance; how rituals change in relation to material and social conditions; the connections between different ritual types; the way these interact as cycles; and the extent to which fidelity of transmission is underpinned by a common model or repertoire of elements. This monograph brings to completion a long-term study of the religious behaviour of the Nuaulu; a people of the island of Seram in the Indonesian province of Maluku. Ethnographically; it is important for several reasons: the Nuaulu are one of the few animist societies remaining on Seram; the data emphasize patterns of practices in a part of Indonesia where studies have hitherto been more concerned with meaning and symbolic classification; and because Nuaulu live in an area where recent political tension has been between Christians and Muslims. Nuaulu are; paradoxically; both caught between these two groups; and apart from them. Originally published with imprint KITLV Press (ISBN 9789067183918). Full text (Open Access)
#7847744 in Books 1990-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 10.00 x 6.75 x 1.25l; 1.92 #File Name: 9004092315410 pages
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