Wantok and Lain ‐ a look at two Melanesian cultural concepts in two Tok Pisin texts

Q2 Arts and Humanities Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies Pub Date : 2019-10-01 DOI:10.1386/nzps_00002_1
Paweł Kornacki
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Abstract

Abstract This article looks at salient interpersonal uses and meanings of two prominent Tok Pisin social relations nouns ‐ wantok ('friend', 'same language speaker') and lain ('group', 'family', 'clan') ‐ which it is proposed exemplify key cultural Melanesian concepts in some anthropological literature of the area. Whereas certain aspects of language use in Tok Pisin were identified as potentially divisive and socially harmful, some scholars endeavoured to identify a group of concepts indicative of culturally specific Melanesian values. For example, the words wantok and lain were claimed to jointly represent 'the value of the clan' across Melanesian societies, while embodying and supporting a distinct world-view of the Melanesian peoples. This article studies two Tok Pisin texts which focus on the cultural significance of concepts of wantok and lain in their rural/traditional environment. While the first text offers a native speaker's insight into the social significance of the cultural expression wantok sistem ('system favouring friends'), the other one details the roles of lain in the passage of a bride-price ceremony. Given that both texts presuppose the cultural background of rural Tok Pisin, a brief look at some characteristic usage of the two words in electronic media suggests that certain aspects of traditional uses and meanings of these words may be extended and employed to conceptualize new social and political phenomena.
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Wantok和Lain——从两个托克皮辛文本看两个美拉尼西亚文化概念
摘要本文考察了两个著名的托克皮辛社会关系名词wantok(“朋友”、“同一语言使用者”)和lain(“群体”、“家庭”、“氏族”)在人际关系中的显著使用和含义,并提出这两个名词在该地区的一些人类学文献中体现了美拉尼西亚文化的关键概念。尽管托克皮辛语言使用的某些方面被认为具有潜在的分裂性和社会危害性,但一些学者试图确定一组表明特定文化的美拉尼西亚价值观的概念。例如,wantok和lain两个词被声称共同代表了美拉尼西亚社会的“氏族价值”,同时体现和支持了美拉西亚人民独特的世界观。本文研究了两部托比辛文本,这两部文本聚焦于wantok概念的文化意义,并置于其乡村/传统环境中。虽然第一篇文章让母语人士深入了解了wantok系统(“偏袒朋友的系统”)文化表达的社会意义,但另一篇文章详细介绍了在彩礼过程中的角色。鉴于这两个文本都以农村托克皮辛的文化背景为前提,简单地看一下这两个词在电子媒体中的一些特征用法,就会发现这些词的传统用法和含义的某些方面可能会被扩展并用于概念化新的社会和政治现象。
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来源期刊
Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies
Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies Arts and Humanities-Literature and Literary Theory
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
20
期刊介绍: The Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies covers disciplines including the humanities and social sciences, and subjects such as cultural studies, history, literature, film, anthropology, politics and sociology. Each issue of this publication aims to establish a balance between papers on New Zealand and papers on the South Pacific, with a reports and book reviews section included. The journal is sponsored by the New Zealand Studies Association and hosted by the University of Vienna. It has replaced the key publication NZSA Bulletin of New Zealand Studies.
期刊最新文献
In conversation with Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa Mothers’ Darlings of The South Pacific: The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla (eds) (2016) Beyond Hawaii: Native Labor in the Pacific World, Gregory Rosenthal (2018) The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa, Vincent O’Malley (2019) Special Issue: New Scholarship in New Zealand and Pacific Studies Part 2
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