the Anggor bowman: ritual and society in Melanesia

Throughout Melanesia, the mobilization of communities focuses on productions which may be broadly classed as “ritual events.” In a significant sense, such events generate society, and structure it according to the conceptual order in which they are grounded. This point of view is illustrated in the analysis of Anggor pig hunting as a ritual event which structures society in a specifically Anggor way; it suggests a comparative sociology of Melanesia grounded in a comparison of mobilizing events rather than of jural norms. [ritual, Melanesia, social organization, hunting, cosmology, Big Men, symbolism]