139
IMETI SRCE SKRB IN ZAMERA V
AMBONWARIJU, PAPUA NOVA GVINEJA
Borut Telban
IZVLEČEK
Osnovna elementa medčloveških in
medskupinskih odnosov v vasiAmbonwarina
PaptdNovi Gvineji sta po avtorjevem mnenju
občutji skrbi (za posameznika) in zamere (kot
posledice občutka zanemarjanja posameznika).
Svoja dognanja utemeljuje z rezultati seman-
tične analize.
ABSTRACT
The author suggests that the basic
elements of relations between people and
groupsin the Ambonwari village o/Fapua New
Guinea are the feelings of care (for the indi-
vidual) and resentment (caused by the indi-
vidual's feeling of being neglected). He
corroborates his findings with semantic ana-
lyses.
Pojem ressentiment označuje odnos, ki nastane zaradi nakopičenih občutkov
sovraštva, maščevalnosti, zavisti in podobnega. Kadar takim občutkom lahko dajemo
duška, se ressentiment ne more razviti. Kadar pa jih nekdo ne more sprostiti proti osebam
ali skupinam, ki so jih izzvali, se v njem razvija občutek nemoči. In ko te iste občutke
vedno znova doživlja, pride do ressentimenta. Ressentiment napeljuje človeka k zaiü-
kanju, omalovaževanju pristnih vrednot in ljudi. Za razliko od pojma »upor« ressentiment
v ljudeh ne spodbuja nasprotnih vrednot, ker na skrivaj hrepenijo prav po vrednotah, ki
jih javno napadajo. (Coser 1961:23-4)
Gregory Bateson v knjigi Naven zagovarja teorijo, da so posamezniki v neki
skupnosti po svoji kulturi standardizirani in da je kultura izraz te standardizacije (1958:32-
3,118). Predlagal je dva koncepta: eidos (izraz posameznikovih standardiziranih
spoznavnih pogledov) in etos (izraz kulturno standardiziranega sistema, kako
posamezrüki upravljajo svoje nagone in čustva) (ibid: 118,120). Čeprav se je zavedal, da
je ta razlika nekoliko umetna, ga je predvsem skrbelo, da je problem medsebojne
povezanosti nekoristen (ibid: 28). Batesonov koncept etosa se je zelo uveljavil in številne
študije so izpostavile določena čustva kot temelj nekega etosa: paranoidni etos (Schwartz
1973), eto5 sramu (Epstein 1984), strahu (Robarchek 1979) aU melanhoUje (Taylor 1987).
Čeprav so ponos, strah in sram, ki jih obravnajo ti avtorji, tudi v življenju Ambonwarijev
zelo pomembna čustva, se vendar zdi, da so podrejena razmerju med zamero in skrbjo.^
1 v ambonwarijski vasi (ki pripada jezikovni skupini karavk^ari) v provinci Vzhodni Sepik na Papui
Novi Gvineji sem bival od septembra 1990 do srede marca 1992. Zahvaljujem se Avstralski narodni univerzi za
Borut Telban !
140
RazUka med spoznavnimi in čustvenimi vidiki v konceptu »skrb«, kar je glavna tema te
razprave, je zabrisana. »Skrb« predvsem govori o tistem razmerju med ljudmi, ki takorekoč
vzpostavlja driižbeno dinamiko. V tej dinamiki pa sta socialni nazor {etos) in razum
(ideologija) prepletena.
Etnopsihologi pogosto omenjajo prepad med čustvom in mislijo v postindustrijkih
družbah Zahoda in predindustrijskih družbah Vzhoda. V vzhodriih družbah misel in
čustvo nista tako ostro ločena; drug drugega oblikujeta s svojo prepletenostjo. Pojem
»čustvo-misel«, pravi Wikan (1989:294) za Bali, je socialnega izvora in pomena. V sodobni
Japonski pomeni hara (želodec, trebuh) nekakšno kombinacijo srca in možganov v
zahodnem smislu. Je pa tudi stičišče misli in čustva, razuma in strasti (Ohnuki-Tiemey
1984:58-9). Lutz (1988:4) pravi, da je čustvo prej »ideološki postopek (praksa) kot nekaj,
kar je treba odkriti au bistvo, ki bi ga morali destilirati«. Michele Rosaldo (1984:143) in
Scheper-Hughes in Lock (1987) govorijo o »utelešenih mislih« in o »osmislenem telesu«.
Abonwariji nimajo besed za tako splošna pojma kot čustvo in misel. Za oboje
omenjajo nefiziološki sedež v zgornjem trebuhu, ki ga bom imenoval srce. Pri njih pomeni
imeti srce, da imaš razimi in želje ter da si »uglašen« na javno mišljenje. Sprejel si vse
navade vasi, sposoben si razmišljanja in spominjanja. Kdor ima srce, je socialno in moralno
»spodoben« človek. Srce se nanaša na medsebojne odnose med ljudmi samimi ter med
ljudmi in okoljem. V vsakdanjem življenju se srce kaže skozi skrb (za druge) in
zaskrbljenost (zase) (Telban, b.d.); skrb v heidegerjanskem smislu, da manipuliramo z
okoljem, ga proizvajamo in uporabljamo), določa razmerje srca s svetom. Način, kako
ravnati z okoljem, temelji na »vedenju«, kako ravnati z ljudmi, pa na »skrbi«. V socialni
dinamiki srca je »skrb« družbeno priznana in upravičena rešitev za težave, ki izvirajo iz
zavisti ali zamere. Skrb je socialni odziv. Zamera pa je odziv na izkušnjo, da nekdo ne
skrbi zate, torej se ti dela krivica. Menim, da se je socialrü koncept »skrb« razvil iz dveh
tmiverzakuh človekovih stanj: iz tesnobe, ki jo doživljamo, ko smo sami v neznanem in
»nevarnem« svetu, in iz sovražnosti, zavisti, smiljenja samemu sebi ter zamere, kadar se
čutimo zanemarjanj, tj. kadar drugim ni mar za nas. V tej razpravi me zanima predvsem
drugi vidik pri razvijanju »skrbi«.
Preden nadaljujem s tolmačenjem ambonwarijske sodalne dinamike, moram navesti
nekaj pomembruh podatkov. Prvič, Ambonwariji imajo dva glagola, enega za čutiti (ki v
povezavi s srcem pomeru »skrbeti za«, marati) in drugega za spominjanje, učenje in
razmišljanja. Oba glagola uporabljajo skupaj s srcem. Drugič, misli imajo za neizgovorjen
govor. Tretjič, besede za zamero ne povezujejo z glagoloma »čutiti« in »misliti« in je ne
omenjajo skupaj s srcem. O zameri govorijo kot o stanju nekoga v celoti in jo povezujejo
finančno in drugo pomoč. Slovenskemu raziskovalnemu združenju pa za štipendijo, s katero mi je omogočilo
študijo, preden sem prispel v Avstralijo. Od leta 1986 sta mi Loraine in Emil Pavšič pomagala, kadarkoU sem bil
v Port Moresby. Moj dolg do njih je več kot očiten. Zahvaljujem se tudi Ambonwarijem, posebno Tonyju Simiwariyi
Andiyapiju, Bobu Kanjiku Anjapiju, EUasu Wapunu Kandangwayu in Julianu Kapyamairi Yanganu, ki se nikoU
niso naveličali razprav o tem, kaj pomeni biti Ambonwari. Zahvaljujem se tudi Quisu Ballaidu, Alleti Biersacku,
Williamu FoUeyu, Donu Gardneru, Jadranu Mimid in Michaelu Youngu za tehtne opombe med pripravo te
razprave. Zgodnje inačice te razprave so büe predložene kot oddelčni seminar na Oddelku za antropologijo
Raziskovalne skupine za pacifiške študije in na Oddelku za arheologijo in antropologijo. Fakulteta za umetnosti,
Avstralska narodna univerza. Leta 1992 je bila razprava predložena na konferenci Avstralskega antropološkega
društva v sekciji »Družbena teorija in antropologija čustev«.
V besedilu dosledno uporabljam simbol t za i, ki se sUši kot i v (angleški besedi) »sir«; drugi simbol je n,
za nosni n ali ng v besedi »thing« (glej Telban 1992).
Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)
141
z glagolom »biti, ostati«. In četrtič, čustva so za Ambonwarije vzgibi srca: so torej vzgibi
razimia, želja in prilagoditve javnemu mišljenju.
Levy (1973:324; 1984:227) imenuje kulturno spoznana čustva »nadspoznana čustva«
(angl. hypercogiüzedj tista, ki so bolj osebna ( in »deležna precej manj konceptualne
pozornosti« Heelas 1986:240), pa »podspoznana čustva« (angl. hypoognized). Oboja
»imamo lahko za načine (samo)obvladovanja, ki so kulturno standardizirani in
funkcionalno koristni« (Levy 1984:227). Zagovorniki konstrukcionizma pravijo, da so
čustva funkcionalna, če uravnavajo »socialno nezaželeno vedenje in spodbujajo odnose,
ki odražajo in podpirajo medsebojno povezane verske, politične, estetske in socialne
navade dnižbe.« (Armon-Jones 1986:58). Konstrukcionizem v svoji skrajni obliki zanika
možnost naravnih čustev, medtem ko v omiljeni obliki samo zagovarja socialno
furJccionalno vlogo čustev (ibid:61) »Skrb« Ambonwarijev je primer nadspoznanega
čustva s socialno funkcionalno vlogo. Skrb je nadspoznani sociahd nazor vasi.
Zdi se, da se je tak socialni odziv najprej pojavil na Poljskem s »čustvenim« stanjem,
imenovanim tesknota. Ta »žalost zaradi ločenosti« se je v današnjem pomenu besede
razvila šele po letu 1830, v času množičnega izseljevanja (Wierzbicka 1986:58). Socialne
dinamike čustev ne smemo zamenjati s čustvom per se, ker se nadspoznana socialna
čustva lahko razlikujejo med raznimi kulturami in dobami. Harré (1986:11) in Harré/
Finlay-Jones (1986:221) uvrščata accidie (lat. acedia, tj. dolgčas, pomešan z obupom,
nevoljo in žalostjo), ki so ga doživljali puščavniki v srednjem veku in zgodnji renesansi,
med »izumrla« čustva. Accidie je bil po mojem negativno čustvo, ki je v določenih
okoliščinah postalo sociahii odziv ali nadspoznano socialno čustvo takratne družbe.
Sartre je menil, da je čustvo določen način dojemanja sveta(1948:52), spreminjanja
sveta (str. 58), pojav vere (str. 75). Čustvo mu pomeni »način, kako biva zavest, eden
izmed načinov, kako zavest razume (v heidegerjanskem smislu »Verstehen«) svoje »biva-
nje v svetu« (1948:91). Skratka, Sartre zagovarja stališče, da so čustva zavestna dejanja,
oblike ustroja zavesti, »namenski« in »pomenljivi« načini, kako si vzpostavljamo svet,
za katerega moramo sprejeti odgovornost (Solomon 1981:212,213). Verjetno najboljši
povzetek Sartrovih pogledov na čustva je napisala Hazel Barnes, prevajalka knjige Bit in
Nič:
Od zgodnjih del dalje je Sartre razlikoval tri pojavne oblike tega, čemur ponavadi
rečemo čustva:
1) čustveni vzgibi oz. neposredni občutki,
2) strukturkan odziv na neko situacijo - tj. čustveno vedenje,
3) čustveru odnos, ki traja dalj časa in ga Sartre imenuje stanje - npr. ljubezen au
sovraštvo do koga.
Opazimo lahko, da je samo čustveni vzgib očiten, spontan in nedvoumno pristen.
V svoji knjigi o čustvih se Sartre ukvarja izključno s čustvenim vedenjem; za razliko
od vzgibov in ravnanja je stanje v nekem smislu psihični objekt in podoben idealni
eno(tno)sti jaza. Če primerjamo vse tri oblike, vidimo, da se stopnjuje trajanje in
objektivacija. (1984:3).
V zvezi z Ambonwariji merüm, da je posamezni »čustveni vzgib«, ki mu pravijo
»čutiti 5rce« [srce tu pomeni razimi, želje in socialna čustva), postal čustveno stanje, ki
142
Borut Telban i
pomeni vzajemno skrb. »Skrb kot nadspoznano socialno čustvo je tako etos kot ideologija.
Tisti, ki imajo občutek, da drugi ne skrbijo zanje, se odzovejo z zamero. Vsak otrok v toku
socializacije osvoji to socialno čustvo. Čutijo in se učijo, kaj je srce, ustroj srca pa se razvija
skozi razmerja z drugimi. Samo srceje plod intimnosti med ljudmi, »gradi« ga družba in
pomeni vzajenmo delovanje med Ambonwariji. Izmenjava je najbolj pomembna oblika
te interakcije. »Skrb za druge« in občutek »užaljenosti« (ki je posledica tega, da drugim
ni mar zate, da ne skrbijo zate) sta temelja medosebnih in medskupinskih odnosov pri
Ambonwarijih. V nadaljevanju bom to pojasnil z obravnavo semantičnih vidikov izrazov
in dogodkov iz vsakdanjega življenja.
»SRCE«
Na vprašanje, kje je wambun ali »srce«, pokažejo Ambonwariji na zgornji del
trebuha. Fiziološko «rceimenujejo sisinin (seme), wambun pa označuje nefiziološki sedež
želja, čustev in nüsK. To srce ni vidno kot nek organ, ampak pomeni miselno in čustveno
»notranjost«. V jeziku karawari uporabljajo besedo warn- kot koren glagola, ki pomeni
»iti noter«. Kadar govorim o »srcu«, imam v mislih to notranjost in ne nekakšne romantične
kategorije, s katero bi hotel poudariti sentimentalnost. Beseda wambun hkrati
onomatopoetično označuje srčni utrip: wam-bun, wam-bun (vir: pogovor s Foleyem).
Isti pojem wambun uporabljajo Ambonwariji tudi za notranjost rastlin, kamnov,
živali, meseca in sonca. Tudi diihovi imajo svoja srca. Ljudje pravijo: »Če tepeš otroka, bo
duh njegovega mrtvega sorodnika poskrbel za to, da boš bolan, ker duh ima rad otroka.«
Središče, srčika, mehki stržen rastlin, jedro, vse to imenujejo wambun. Kadar nekdo
izdeluje nov kanu, odstrani wambun iz drevesnega debla, pa tudi iz palme, kadar dela
sago^. Povedali so mi zgodbo, v kateri starec prosi otroke, da mu prinesejo betelove orehe.
Ker ga rüso ubogali, je šel sam ponje. Bila je noč in betelova palma je že spala. Ko se je
starec povzpel že skoraj do vrha, se je palma zbudua in se stresla. Možakar je padel z
drevesa in se ubil. Ljudje pravijo, da moraš palmo, če se hočeš ponoči povzpeti nanjo,
najprej brcniti in ji povedati, da boš plezal nanjo po orehe. »Drevo ima srce. Kadar posekaš
drevo, se trese, ker ga skrbi, ostati hoče pokonci, wambun min sikan min marayamindarin
(skrbi ga zaradi vode, ki ga hoče piti).«
Wambun vasi je ogromna kača, ki leži pod vasjo. To kačo morajo držati pri miru tri
»matere vasi« (žene potomcev prvih treh prednikov). Njihova edina dolžnost je, da sedijo.
Prepovedano jim je delo zunaj hiše. Kača komimidra z ljudmi skozi svoja »usta« in »ušesa«,
tj. glavno duhovno hišo v središču vasi. Tako kot je treba držati pri miru sro vasi (kačo),
ker bi sicer uručila vas, je treba tudi pomiriti wambun ljudi.
Kaj pomeni, kadar Ambonwari pravi, da nekdo ima ali nima srcal Imeti
srce pomerü predvsem, da razume stvari in da ima pristen socialni odnos, da je sposoben
»skrbi« (za druge). Ima pa tudi želje in čustva. Kadar Ambonwari hoče povedati, da ve,
da ima znanje, pravi ama wambun nancHkin (imam srcéf. Tega izraza pa ne uporabljajo
2 Wambun ne smemo zamenjati s človekovim duhom. Vsak ima svojega čuvarja {angindarkwanarza
moškega in angmdarkwanma za žensko), ki zapusti telo, ko človek umre. Po smrti človeka postane njegov čuvar
(dobesedno drži luč-čuva moža /žensko) duh umrlega. Duh tudi vzame s sabo sire umrlega.
3 Ambonwari nimajo glagola s pomenom »imeti«, nandik- pomeni »s/z« in se uporablja za izražanje
odnosa med lastnikom in lastnino. Pripona te besede se spreminja glede na spol in število samostalnika tako kot
_Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)_
143
V smislu »čutim« ali »želim«. Lahko čutim svoje srce, vendar ne morem čutiti samo tako,
da »imamsrce«. Zato, da bi čutil, mora srce »postati«, »storiti« nekaj ali se na nekaj odzvati.
Kot bom pokazal v nadaljevanju, uporabljajo Ambonwariji glagol sine samo v pomenu
»čutiti«, ampak tudi »postati« ali »storiti«, podobno kot sosedni Ymias (glej Foley 1991:95,
334).
Imeti razum pomeni, da je nekdo sposoben učiti se, spoznati navade vasi in
predvsem prilagoditi se jim. To kar pri Ambonwarijüi imenujem srce, Harrison imenuje
Razum pri Avatipih. Čeprav Harrison meni, da je mawul tudi »sedež posameznikovih
čustvenih odzivov«, v svojem prevodu poudarja samo eno plat mawula. Tako pravi:
»Imeti mawul pomeni biti razumen, posedovati vse ustrezne sprebiosti in znanja
odraslega, zavedati se svojih obveznosti in pravic drugih. A bolj kot to govori predvsem
o naklonjenosti do drugih« (1990:353). Prav ta »naklonjenjenost do drugih« kaže na
nadspoznano socialno čustvo Avatipov, ki vključuje tudi skrb. Zdi se, da je v vseh
Harrisonovih primerih plemenitosti in razumevanja (ko govori o materir\stvu, skrbi za
moževe starše...) socialna dinamika »skrbi« tisto, kar določa srcebolj kot karkoli drugega.
Ta skrb vključuje tako čustvenost kot raziun in pravzaprav predstavlja moralnost*.
Imeti razum pomeru, da si sposoben poslušati druge ia tudi, da se znaš pogovarjati.
Manawk (pogovor, govor, razprava) služi temu, da si ljudje izmenjajo razne načine
dojemanja sveta (a tudi temu, da manipuliramo druge). Pomeni deliti znanje in
razumevanje (pa tudi oboje vsiliti drugim). Kadar nekdo reče ama manawk nandikin
(sem s pogovorom) pomeni, da misU na nekaj, kar bi nam rad povedal. Sosediü Yimas, ki
govorijo soroden jezik, imajo poseben glagol za »misliti«. V dobesednem prevodu pomeni
»čutiti besede«. Za Ymias je razmišljanje notranji govor (vir: pogovor s Foleyem). Podobno
Ambonwariji govorijo o pojmih, ki jim mi pravimo vera ali verovanje, z izrazom »poslušati
govor«. Mi andinbin yarar (yarma) lahko prevajamo kot »ti si mož (ženska), ki posluša
govor«, kar hkrati pomeru »ti veruješ« (v Boga npr.). Še bolj preprosto izražajo nevero z
kambra manawk {nič govora) in resnico s panmanawk(zelo-gOYOT) ali panbi {zelo tako).
Vendar ta »resrüca« ni nekaj absolutiiega, zahteva vedno znova pogajanje med ljudmi,
lahko je le zdravoraztmiska resnica, začasen sklep ah strinjanje.
Ker se zaveda, da svoje misli in čustva najlažje sporoča z besedami, vsakdo v vasi
v pogovoru z drugimi večkrat na dan pove, da je dober človek, plemenit in sramežljiv ter
da ni hitre jeze. Ne gre samo za to, da bi druge prepričal, da je res tak človek, ampak
predvsem želi pokazati, da ima vse tiste lastnosti, ki v medčloveških odnosih veljajo kot
»dobre misli« in »dobra čustva«. Temu pravijo wambun yapakupan (dobro srce), v
nasprotju z wambun maman (zlo srce). Pojma dobro in zlo uporabljajo zelo na široko in
pomenita tudi splošno mnenje o značaju posameznika. Biti dober pomeni predvsem biti
wanmbarar (plemenit/radodaren), biti hudoben pa karisi-kin (škrt/trd). Biti radodaren
pri pridevnikih. (Telban 1992). Ama wambun nandilanpmvikxo prevajamo: »jaz s srcem«.
Vendar rabo glagola »imeti« v prevodu upravičujejo Ambonwari sami (glej tudi Foley 1991:176-180 za
sorodne Yimas). Ljudje npr. pravijo »Imam misel (za povedati)«, ama manawk nandikin (jaz s pogovorom).
Najbrž je odveč povedati, da nandik- nima časov, ker pač ni glagol.
4 Read (1955:255-7) pravi za Gahuku-Gama, da mora večina članov neke skupnosti osvojiti in sprejeti
moralne vrline, ki pomenijo posplošen pogled na dobro (kar ima v osnovi socialni pomen). Tu ne gre zgolj za
čustveno izjavo, vsebuje tudi intelektualne, ideološke prvine (ibid). Ravno to mislim z izrazom »imetisrce:<. Vsa
najbolj intimna doživetja socialnega življenja (hranjenje, razdelitev hrane, delo in skrb), na katerih po Myersu
(1986:110) temeljijo moralne kategorije, so pri Ambonwarijih izhodišča za medsebojne odnose.
Borut Telban i
(in tako pokazati, da skrbiš za druge) je najbolj pomembna lastnost dobrih ljudi.
Plemenitost in skrb za druge sta protistrupa zameri. V vsakdanjih odnosih pomenita
vedenje, ki zmanjšuje možnosti zamere. Kdor bi rad bü plemenit, mora biti kar naprej na
nogah (v lovu na hrano in dandanes tudi na denar). Zato se skupnost norčuje iz lenuhov
in jih opravlja. To velja tako za moške kot ženske. Ljudje pravijo, da mora ženska »dobro
sedeti«, kar pomeni, da naj ne stoji pri vratih in si ogleduje ali klepeta z drugimi ženskami.
Sedi naj pri ognjišču, skrbi za otroke, kuha ali lovi ribe. Moško delo je lov na večjo divjad,
izdelava kanujev, gradnja hiše in »lov« na denar. Ambonwariji imajo še druge etikete za
ljudi, npr. artdsan (vročekrven); takega človeka se bojijo, vendar velja kot dober, če je le
plemenit. Kdor je yaprisipasikin (tih) mora biti tudi radodaren, če želi, da ga imajo za
dobrega. Ljudje, ki mnogo govoxip, mariawkkusirar, ali se radi smejejo, wurumindar, so
deležni občudovanja, vendar le, če so radodarni. Čeprav sem tu uporabil le moške oblike
besed, ženske oblike se končajo na -ma (Telban 1992), njihovi pomerü veljajo tudi za
ženske.
Ambonwariji za človeka, ki nima srca, ne pravijo, da je nor, kot bi morda pričakovali.
Prej menijo, da se nečesa ne zaveda, da nima potrebnih spretnosti, ne čuti in misli tako,
kot se od njega ali nje pričakuje v določenih okoliščinah ali pa je senilen. Tak človek nima
skrbi, ki jih imajo dJrugi, npr. žalovanja ob smrti, ne deli skupne zavesti in mu tudi mar
rü. Vse oblike individuaUzma, tj., da nekdo ne ravna skladno z vzdušjem vasi ali na
pričakovan način, se lahko označujejo z izrazom »on/ona nima srca«. Ta izraz uporabljajo
predvsem v zvezi z majhrumi otroki, ki ne žalujejo na pogrebih, jedo čisto zase in niti ne
pomislijo na to, da bi svoj obrok delili z drugimi. Vendar Ambonwariji ne mislijo s tem,
da otrok resručno nima srca. Dojenček se zasmeje, kadar zagleda starše in ob tem pravijo
wambun nand sikin (ima srce). Vendar otrokovo srce ne obstaja za rükogar, razen za
njega samega do starosti štirih aH petih let. Otrok skrbi predvsem zase in ne za druge,
misli samo na svojo hrano in dobrobit. Isti »ima srce« uporabljajo za zelo uglednega
človeka, ki vse razdaja. Takemu človeku ni mar za stvari zaradi njega samega. Nasprotje
radodarnega človeka je skopuh, ki ves čas skrbi samo zase, obdrži vse zase: mm wambun
pan star (zelo močno čuti svoje srce). Vendar takih ljudi nimajo za nore zaradi njihovega
skrajnega vedenja. »Resručno« nor je človek, ki ima srce, nima pa ušes [kwandikaskanar,
človek brez ušes); ta je nesposoben sodelovati v razumni razpravi, ne posluša, če mu kdo
kaj naroči in dela vse na svoj način. Afer/ah^a-(pogovor, govor, razprava) je glavni kriterij,
po katerem ljudje sklepajo o tem, kdo »ima ušesa« in kdo jih nima, Gluhec ali mutec je
lahko »dober«, pa bo vendar uvrščen med norce. Nekoliko podobno pojmovanje srečamo
pri Pintupijih (Myers 1979:350).
V razpravi sem doslej pokazal, da »imeti srce« pomeni, da je nekdo sposoben
skrbnega socialnega ravnanja, razume stvari in ima želje in čustva. Vendar te misli, želje
in čustva niso usmerjena v kogarkoli ali karkoli. Za položaj, v katerem srce samega sebe
»usmerja« (vodi), uporabljajo Ambonwariji dva različna glagola: si za želje in čustva
(glej nadaljevanje) in aylap za misli'. Otrokovo srce se mora učiti in doseči raziun. Z
učenjem otrok postopoma obvlada jezik in navade vasi. Otroci hreperujo po tem, da se
vključijo v razpoloženje, ki vlada v vasi. Da to storijo, morajo njihova srca osvojiti socialno
dinamiko »skrbi«. Ko se igrajo (gradijo »hiše« iz listja in oponašajo življenje odraslih), se
5 Wittgenstein loči »usmerjena čustva« in »neusmerjena čustva«. Predlaga tudi, da bi neusmerjenemu
strahu rekli »tesnoba« (Budd 1989:152).
144
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145
vidi, da komaj čakajo na odraslo življenje dajanja in sprejemanja. Za učenje, spominjanje
in vedenje uporabljajo Ambonwariji glagol aykap-, bodisi samostojno ali v povezavi s
srcem. Yimas poznajo isti glagol, vendar ga nikoli ne uporabljajo v povezavi z wambun.
Glagol je sestavljenka (dobesedno: »dihati-dati«) in pomeni »vedeti« (vir: pogovor s
Foleyem). Predstavil bom nekaj primerov, kako se glagol aykap- uporablja v
Ambonwarijski vasi:
wasekinday yukum pin siri aykapikan
DEKLICA KOŠ ONA - TO UČI
Deklica se uči delati košaro.
mingokyan kindi aykapi-kaykan
TI ŠE VEDNO/TI ČAKAŠ - TO SE SPOMNIŠ - OSTANE/JE
Ti še misliš na to./ Ti se še sponmiš.
wambun minyana ngokyan kindi aykapi-kaykana
TVOJE SRCE ŠE/ČAKA TO - TO SE SPOMNI - OSTANE/JE
Tvoje SRCE še vedno misH na to/se spomni.
min warayan aykapir
ON NE ON - TO SE SPOMNI
Pozabil je.
mi ambanamban aykapra
TI NAČRTUJEŠ - NAČRTUJEŠ MISLI
Premisli dobro.
wambun minara wara min aykapi-kaykan
SRCE NJEGOVO NE ON MISLI - OSTANE/JE
On ne razxmie.
Kot sem že večkrat omenil, glagol si združuje več medsebojno povezanih pomenov:
storiti, postati in čutiti. V vsakdanjem govoru ga uporabljajo npr. v izrazih: mi waria mi
sikana (kaj počenjaš/delaš), wi mi sikan (temiü se), maray kupay mi sikan (dviga se
plima). Poleg wambun {srce, glej spodaj) človek (se) lahko {po)aiuminngi{sram),kambia
{lakoio),piamin (zaspanost), saiik{miaz), iiin (hudo bolečino), arambayn (pekočo bolečino
ob dotiku rane z vodo), yipisikdn (težkega, utrujenega po napornem delu ), in warinan
(lahkega). Vse te pojme Ambonwariji povezujejo z glagolom si.
Ama wambun ama sikan (čutim srce} je izraz, ki pri Ambonwarijih označuje odnose
med ljudmi, njihovo odzivanje drugega na drugega. Vsebuje vrsto posameznih čustveruh
pomenov, ki so vsi združeni v pojem »skrbeti za« (glej spodaj). Beseda pokriva celo
človekove želje, ponavadi z dodano besedo pan (zelo). Med socialnimi prvinami, ki tvorijo
temelje za vzpostavljanje in vzdrževanje osebruh odnosov in celotne družbe je »čutiti
srce « najbolj pomembna.
Kadar Ambonwari dojema ali doživlja nekaj posebnega, nekaj, kar odstopa od
Borut Telban i
vsakdanjega ritma vasi, sro zaboli, poskoči, dela to in ono in se vrne (potem ko svet v
sebi spremeni - ne pa nujno zimanjih dogodkov) nazaj v svoj mir. Izrazi kot wambun
amanan kayngian inapaykan (»moje srce spi postrani«; tj. jezen sem), wambun amanan
ina mingaykan (»moje srce je pobegnilo«, tj. strah me je/bojim se) wambun amanan min
sikian (»moje srce skače«; tj. razburjen sem), wambun amananyawun apasikin (»moje
srce prihaja ven«; tj. razburjen sem ali rad bi bil plemenit) in mnogi drugi, so tipični
primeri »simptomatičnih metafor« (Solomon 1980:251), ki zunanje, vidne znake ali
»govorico« telesa pripisujejo njegovi »notranjosti«, tj. srcu (glej tudi Harrison 1990:353 za
avatipske izraze; Stephen 1989:164 za Mekeo; Heelas 1986:224-5 za razne kulture).
Ambonwariji pojasnjujejo čustvene izbruhe in nenadne čustvene odzive z metaforami.
Dokler je srce skrito in se ne pokaže, so tudi človekova čustva skrita. Posamezno čustvo
je nevidno, če se ne pokaže navzven (na telesu, koži npr.) ali z dejanji in besedami. Zato
ljudje pogosto pravijo »Ne vem, kaj on/ona čuti aH misH« - kar je vsakdanji refren v
etnografiji Papue Nove Gvineje (glej tudi Fajaris 1985:383, Read 1955:281-2, Schieffelin
1985:174, Young 1974:66). Če se srcene razodene (in včasih tudi to ni dovolj), drugi ljudje
lahko samo ugibajo, kaj se dogaja v srcu nekoga. Vendar moramo pripomniti, da se na
drugi strani od srca pričakuje ustrezno socialno odzivanje, ki človeka opredeH kot socialno
osebnost (pripadnika vasi). Kadar izkazano čustvo ustreza položaju (npr. otrok joče, ker
ga oče noče vzeti s sabo na vrt), ljudje ne ugibajo, ampak samozavestno povedo svoje
mnenje o tem. Zdi se, da je misel pri Ambonwarijih nekakšna »predhodnica« naslednjega
Sartrovega pojmovanja in ga hkrati zanika (kadar je v zvezi s socialnim odzivanjem):
»svet, kakršen je za drugega, mi bo logično vedno ostal skrit... zanj imajo stvari pomene,
ki jim jih on daje in razHkovaH se bodo od mojih že zaradi dejstva, da jim jih je on dal.«
(Danto 1991:100)
Poleg običajnega sociaHiega odziva »čutiti srce«, tj. »skrbeti«, obstajajo še drugi
izrazi, ki govorijo o človekovem stanju. Wapun min paykan (»on je srečen/ponosen«;
dobesedno: spi ponosno), mambara/sukunan min karar (»on zameri«), in min kapakin
(»jezen je«) so izrazi, ki drugim povedo, v kakšnem stanju je nekdo. Vsa ta stanja
(razpoloženja) so tesno povezana s »skrbjo«. Človek se na izkušnjo, da ga kdo ne mara
(»ne skrbi zanj«), odziva z zamero in jezo. Če te kdo mara, se čutiš srečnega. Srečen pa si
lahko samo, če te kdo osreči. Kdor je sam srečen in sreče ne deH z drugimi (kar pomeni,
da mu ni mar drugih), izziva zavist in ljubosumnost v obliki zamere. V takem položaju
bo njegova sreča drugim pomerula le to, da razkazuje svoj ponos. Po konceptu »skrb« je
prava sreča v tem, da skrbiš za druge in drugi zate. Myers upravičeno meni, da so čiistveru
koncepti glavne obHke pogledov Pintupijev na to, kaj pomeni biti človek in na poHtično
ureditev (Myers 1979:345).
V prvem delu te razprave sem se v glavnem osredotočil na semantične vidike izjav
Ambonwarijev o svojih čustvih in misHh. V drugem delu bom obravnaval dve glavni
prvini njihovih medsebojnih odnosov: skrb in zamero. Z uporabo etnografskega gradiva
bom skušal pokazati, kaj pri Ambonwarijih pomeni »skrbeti za koga« in nasprotje, da
nekdo (ruhče) »ne skrbi zate« (tj. da si »izključen« iz skrbi, da si spregledan).
SKRB
Nekoč sem vprašal moškega, ki je imel dve ženi, kako se ljudje vedejo v takem
položaju. Njegov odgovor ponazori, kako pomembna je vloga skrbi v odnosih med prvo
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147
in drugo ženo. Dogodki, kot jih bom tu opisal, bi se lahko drugače odvijali; kljub temu pa
pričajo o tem, kakšno vedenje se pričakuje v primerljivih okoliščinah.
Kadar moški hoče vzeti še drugo ženo, mora biti takten in previden. Medtem ko
dvori bodoči drugi ženi, je čimbolj prijazen in plemenit s prvo. Dovoli ji, da uporablja vse
njegove stvari, celo tiste najbolj osebne iz njegove pletene torbe, ki sicer veljajo kot izključno
njegove. Tako bodoča druga žena vidi, da je prva srečna in pričakuje, da bo prijazna do
nje. Ko pride nova zveza na dan, vaški svetnik skliče sestanek, na katerem žena zve za
razmerje svojega moža z drugo. Vendar njen mož noče priznati, da se žeU poročiti z
drugo. O poroki rü govora. Potem ko mož ali njegova ljubica aU oba skupaj ženi izplačata
odškodiiino, kaže, da je razmerja konec. Vendar druga še naprej daje darila ljubljenemu
(večinoma ribe, ki jih ulovi), njegova žena pa je ves čas na preži. A tudi če se razjezi in
vpije nanj aU če se njeni bratje norčujejo iz njega, mož ostane tih. Tako postane ženi jasno,
da moža nekaj skrbi.
Žena začne priganjati moža k delu (pojdi po drva, na vrt, posekaj sagovo palmo
itd.). Nekega dne se mož temu upre in je noče več ubogati. Žena se razjezi in mu reče, da
misli samo na drugo. Mož jo pretepe. Njeni bratje ga vprašajo, če mu je druga zopet kaj
dala. Mož prizna in jim pokaže gtimijasto zapestnico (razmerje med dvema ljubimcema
se lahko začne le z izmenjavo drobnih daril kot dokaz, da »čutita Srce«; če izmenjave ni,
nihče ne bo ruti omenil možnosti poroke). Ponovno skhčejo vaško sodišče. Svetnik vpraša
brate bodoče neveste, če so jo pripravljeni dati temu možu za drugo ženo. Če pristanejo,
vprašajo prvo ženo. Tudi ona mora pristati, sicer poroke ne bo.
A preden žena le pristane, hoče zvedeti več o nüslih in čustvih svojega moža in o
ženski. Skuša nagovoriti moža, da ji pove več o njej. On pa govori o splošnih rečeh brez
vsakih podrobnosti. Žena ga sili, da spi z njo in ga potem vpraša: »Ali še vedno misliš
nanjo? Mislim, da si videl njeno vulvo in zato še vedno misUš nanjo«. Odgovori ji, da
imajo moški pač dve aH tri žene, ženske pa nimajo dveh aU treh mož. Tako se ona zave,
da je njen mož nesrečen in da se res hoče poročiti (še) z drugo. Zdaj sklene, da mu bo
pomagala. Kadar gredo žer\ske lovit ribe, da svoji bodoči so-ženi košaro, mrežo ali otroka,
da ga nosi. Tako se začne razmerje med obema ženskama. Druge žeriske ob tem pravijo:
»Da, zdaj sta kot sestri.« Bodoča druga daje vso svojo hrano prvi.
Pripravijo poroko in vsakdo ve, da bo druga žena zdaj podrejena prvi. Mož mora
biti do obeh enak. Če se prepira z eno, bo ta potegrüla zraven drugo, tako da bosta obe
tepeni. Mož ne sme pojesti samo tega, kar je pripravila ena žena, ampak vse, kar pripravita
tako ena kot druga. Kadar skupaj odidejo delat sagovo moko, mora mož nositi dve polni
košari nazaj, eno za vsako ženo. Mož tudi ne sme razdvojiti žena, ampak mora počakati,
da gre ena od njiju npr. na obisk k staršem in šele takrat lahko spi z drugo.
Ženi se vedeta kot sestri. Brate prve žene so bratje tudi drugi, očeta prve tudi druga
kHče oče in obratno. Bratje prve žene dajejo prednost otrokom druge. Otroci imajo tako
dva rodovnika po materi.
Najbolj razširjeno izjavo (izrek) ama wambun ama sikan ustrezno prevajamo z
»maram« nekoga ali nekaj. Izjava ima številne pomene in odtenke in samo sovaščani, ki
so seznanjeni z vsemi okohščinami, jo lahko pravilno raztmiejo v konkretnem primeru.
Ama wambun ama sikannamieč lahko pomeni »čutim«, »bojim se«, »skrbi me«, »žal mi
je«, »žalosten sem«, »sočustvujem«, »hrepenim po...«, »imam domotožje«, »ljubim«.
Čeprav ni izrecno povedano, so ta čustva usmerjena v nekoga. V koga, nam najbolj jasno
pove zaimek, ko se glagol uporablja v prehodni obliki (glej Telban 1992). Vsem zgornjim
Borut Telban i
izrazom je skupna »skrb« za (strah za) nekoga ali nekaj. To pa je ustrezen odziv v odnosih
med ljudmi. Ne skrbeti rvi vrlina. Vsakega, ki ne skrbi (m je torej brezbrižen, ravnodušen
in neodgovoren), imajo Ambowariji za maman (zlega, hudobnega).
To ne pomerü, da se vsi ljudje v vsakem trenutku odzivajo enako. Mnogo faktorjev
(stvari) vpUva na vedenje Ambonwarijev in njihove izreke. Z naslednjim primerom bom
skušal osvetliti razliko v vedenju med skupinami in posamezrüki v vasi ob smrti nekoga,
za katerega so vsi rekli, da ga imajo radi (jih skrbi, so žalostni, zaskrbljeni).
V času mojega bivanja v vasi je umrlo več ljudi in večkrat sem imel priložnost
sprenüjati ves žalni obred. Vsak je rekel ama wambun ama sikan in temu pogosto dodal
besedo pan (zelo). V prevodu bi lahko rekli, da so bili žalostru, prizadeti, potrti, zakrbljeni
in še vrsto slovenskih izrazov bil lahko navedli. Čeprav je bilo očitno, da so žalujoči imeli
radi umrlega, rü büo mogoče ugotoviti, »koliko« ali do kakšne mere so büi prizadeti.
Žalni obredi so se razlikovali po obsegu (vendar ne po postopkih), odvisno od tega, kdo
je umrl. Opazil sem lahko sodalne značilnosti, ki so odražale sorodstvene vezi, posebne
vloge posamezrükov in značilnosti kulture Ambonwarijev (npr. posmrtno irüdacijo
mladega fanta). Omejil se bom na to, kdo vse in kako je jokal ponoči ob smrti
dvanajstletnega prvorojenega sina mladega moža iz glavnega klana vasi (klana prvega
prednika). S tem primerom lahko pokažem, da čustva in skrbi posameznikov in majhnih
skupin rüso vedno v skladu s pričakovanim spodobnim vedenjem.
1) Zaradi nedavnega spora med dvema hišama z enakim »hišnim imenom« (iz
istega klana), ki mu je pripadal tudi imirli, se nekateri moški sorodniki (ki so bili umrlemu
»oče« ali »brat«) sploh rüso udeležili žalnega obreda.
2) Najožji sorodiüki (mati, oče, materirü bratje, drugi »očetje, matere in sestre«,
plesrü partner...) so javno jokali in sluz pomešana s slino jim je visela na bradi; plesali so,
peli žalostinke, se dotikali trupla m prijemali osebne stvari imirlega fanta.
3) Eden izmed očetovih bratov (zrel moški; dva druga brata sta büa odsotna) je
prišel naravnost v hišo, jokal eno uro in potem ostal v hiši.
4) Mladenke (sorodnice po klanu ali poroki) so prišle v skupini. Obraze so imele
pokrite z brisačami in majicanü. Jokale so pol ure in odšle.
5) Mladeruči (iz istega in sorodnih klanov) in mladi moški so se pripravljali, da bi
stopili v hišo in jokali, vendar tega rüso storili.
6) Neka ženska je ugasnila vse kerozinske svetilke razen ene in se postavila med
edino gorečo in njenega odraslega poročenega sina, tako da ruhče rü mogel videti, da sin
joče.
7) Otrod so sedeli v krogu, sitnarili svojim materam, se malo tepli in smejaH, jokali
pa rüso in po polnoči so zaspali.
Če povzamem: jeza in zamera, ki so ju nekateri moški sorodniki čutili, sta jim
preprečili, da bi stopili v hišo, kjer je ležalo truplo, čeprav so govorili, da so imeli fanta
radi. Pri primerih 2) in 3) sta bili prizadetost in bolečina ob izgubi očitru, pri 4), 5) in 6) je
prevladoval občutek sramu. Dekleta so mi povedala, da so čutila mešanico žalosti, sramu
in olajšanja (ker so büa skupaj); hkrati so se zavedala, kakšno (spodobno) ravnanje se od
njih pričakuje. Pri mladeručih je občutek sramu skoraj popolnoma prevladal nad žalostjo,
njihov občutek za to, kaj se spodobi, pa je podlegel bojazrü pred sramoto, da bi jüi kdo
videl jokati. Starši so jih razumeli: kadar se neporočeni mladi znajdejo v položaju, ko bi
Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)
149
morali javno kaj storiti (posebno, če naj bi jokali), jih je tako sram, da jih to povsem
paraUzira. Nihče jim tega ni očital. V primeru 6) je mati skušala obvarovati sina pred
sramoto, da bi ga kdo ne videl jokati. Otroci pa se ne zavedajo položaja (in rümajo izdelane
ideologije o tem, kaj je spodobno aU ne). Lahko bi navedel nmogo drugih primerov,
vsakega s svojimi posebnostmi, z različnimi posamezniki v glavnih vlogah (tihimi,
sramežljivimi, zgovornimi itd), pokazal na posebne sorodstvene vezi, omenil socialne in
kulturne vidike. Skratka, za prav vsakega posemeznika bi lahko prikazal, kako doživlja
svet in kako se nanj odziva. Vendar koncepti ambonwarijevske družbe priznajo in
vključujejo vse te posebnosti. Sram, jeza in zamera so del pristnega vzdušja v vasi, priznaiü
in sprejeti, čeprav se morda komu zdi, da povzročajo težave.
Denimo, da bi nekdo vstopil v hišo ponoči (sorodrüki običajno žalujejo vso noč ob
truplu) in videl koga, ki ne joče. Lahko bi si postavil vrsto vprašanj: ali je človeka sram,
da bi javno jokal; ali je preveč utrujen; ali je najhujše že mimo; aH je morda njegova bolečina
tako huda, da ne more jokati; aH se zavestno obvlada; aH je že nehal jokati, ker so tudi
drugi nehali; morda mu pa sploh ni hudo. Ambormiwariji se ne sprašujejo nič takega.
Ožji sorodniki vidijo, da so vsi navzoči žalostni in potrti, izgledajo kot ljudje, ki »skrbijo«,
ki »jim je mar«. Zjutraj mnogi pravijo, da vso noč niso spaU (tudi če dejansko so), ker so
bili tako prizadeti. Sprejme se to, kar pravijo in družina to ceni. To, kar ljudje pravijo,
skupaj z vidnimi zrmanjimi znaki (vključno z golo prisotnostjo), pove drugim, kako nekdo
čuti.
To, da je nekomu mar za druge, je globoka vrlina; zaradi nje so ljudje dobri. Ta
lastnost se lahko kaže v mnogih razHčnih položajih: fant daje darila dekletu in obratno
(pomerd: naklonjenost, nagnjenje, vdanost); prisotiiost na žalovanju (sočutje, žalost); obisk
bolnih (skrb); podarjanje hrane, oblek in orodja; pomoč pri gradnji hiše aH veUkega kanuja.
»Skrb« se najbolj izrazi v funkciji starševstva. Ta se ne vzpostavlja z »rojevanjem« aH »biti
oče«, ampak z dajanjem imena in »skrbjo«. Pri Ambonwarijih ni redko, da je sam obrok
darilo. Otroka dobijo tisti, ki ga potrebujejo (družina npr. dobi fantka za nadaljevanje
roda aH dekHco, da se lahko oddolži za neko poroko; otroka lahko dobi zakonski par, ki
sam ne more kneti otrok, aH človek (moški aH ženska), kije ostal sam). Ljudje tako izkažejo
svojo skrb za tiste, ki nimajo otrok. Za podarjenega otroka se pričakuje nekoč vračilo. Bolj
pomembno pa je to, da očim in mačeha postaneta prava starša šele, ko otroku dasta svoje
ime (vsak klan ima svoje posebno ime) in zanj skrbita. Če za podarjenega otroka ne skrbita,
ga člani izvornega klana vzamejo nazaj in mu vrnejo njegovo ime. Če pa novi starši skrbijo
za otroka, ga bo ta kHcal z imeni, ki so v splošni rabi za naravno mater in očeta. Nihče v
vasi ne sme javno omenjati posvojitve, še najmanj sam posvojenec. Če pa to vendar nekdo
stori, ga novi starši lahko prijavijo sodišču. V večini primerov, ko je bil dojenček predan
novim staršem takoj po porodu, vaščani in (poznejši) mlajši bratje in sestre ruti ne vedo,
da je bil otrok posvojena
»Čutiti STce.< najbolj pristno izraža »navade vasi«, njeno socialno dinamiko, javno
vzdušje in ideologijo. Kaže se v vseh mogočih družbenih zvezah. Ljudje in duhovi, vsi
6 Posvojitev in dajanje imena sta veliko bolj izdelana postopka kot tu lahko prikažem. Človek lahko
posvoji otroka od kogarkoU (npr. tudi od vseh tistih, ki jih kHče »oče« ali »mati«); v mnogih primerih je pri
rojstvu prisotna krušna mati, ki prereže popkovino in jo zakoplje, pozneje pa skupaj s pravo materjo pazi na
upoštevanje vseh prepovedi. Če krušna mati nima mleka za dojenje (kar se pogosto zgodi), gre lahko skozi zelo
mučno obdobje pripravljanja ustrezne druge hrane za dojenčka (pretlačenega sladkornega trsa, kokosovega
mleka, sagove kaše, očiščenega ribjega mesa).
Borut Telban !
150
tisti, ki bivajo na tem istem svetu, se srečajo na osnovi skrbi. Ama wambun ama sikan
(skrbi me) je torej posledica tega, da sta dva človeka v neki povezavi. Ko skrbijo drug za
drugega si ljudje zmanjšajo tesnobo (nenehen občutek, da »rüso doma«) (glej Telban,
b.d.). Zdi se, da čutiti srce (skrbeti) pri Ambonwarijih odgovarja konceptu družine {walytjä)
pri Pintupijih. Pintupiji s tem konceptom označujejo idealni svet medsebojne podpore,
plemenitosti, domačnosti in topline (Myers 1979:352). Ravno tako se zdi, da odgovarja
stanju, ki ga Ifaluki z atolov v KaroUnih imenujejo »fago«. Lutz (1988) prevaja ta pojem
kot sočutje, ljubezen in žalost. Izraža, kako Ifaluki dojemajo pozitivne človeške odnose
(Lutz 1988:121).
Velja si zapomniti, da ta »skrb« rü nekaj, kar ljudje sanü »storijo«, pričakujejo jo
tudi od drugih. Pri Ambonwarijih je zamera lahko zelo huda in tako »skrb« postane
obveznost, ki v sodobnem času z vse večjo ponudbo uvoženega blaga, bolj pogostimi
potovanji in denarno ekonomijo ustvarja še dodatne, prej neznane pritiske na
posameziüka. Dokler imajo drugi manj, nekaj potrebujejo, in če se jim je kaj zgodüo, so
kanambringra (reviü, nesrečni). Ljudje čutijo srce (sočutje) za druge. Kdor ima več, mora
upoštevati tiste, ki imajo manj ali so v težavah. Uravnavati je treba tako pomanjkanje kot
blagostanje, da bi se izognili zavisti, Ijubosimmosti in zameri.
ZAMERA
Ambonwariji razlagajo človekove odnose z duhovi m živalmi, z nüti in legendami,
ki pravijo, da so v daljtü preteklosti duhovi in živali govorili isti jezik kot ljudje. Vprašanje
je torej, zakaj so duhovi in živaU nehah govoriti. Odgovor najdemo v dveh kratkih
zgodbah:
(1) Duhovi grmovja se lüso vedno skrivali tako kot danes. Nekoč so hodili okoli v
človeških telesih in živeli prav »normalno življenje«. Pred davrümi časi so ljudem posodiU
kokosovo lupino z okrasnim oljem. Ljudje so pomešali olje s črno barvo, preden so šli v
boj. Vendar so pozabüi duhovom vrniti lupino. Duhovi rüso reku ručesar, vendar so čutili
sukunan (zamero, bili so užaljeru) in se jezili. Merüli so, da bi se z ljudmi kar naprej tepli,
če bi govorili in büi ljudem vidrü. Zato se duhovi danes skrivajo in samo kdaj pa kdaj
prevzamejo človeško obliko. Vendar še vedno kaznujejo ljudi za njihova krivična dejanja.
(2) V davrü preteklosti so govorili tudi psi. Nekoč se jih je nekaj odpravüo s človekom
na lov. Zasledovali so prašiča, ga ujeli in klicali človeku: »Imamo ga, imamo ga. Pridi
hitio in ga ubij!« Človek je pritekel, vrgel kopje in ubü prašiča. Psi so bili zadovoljni in
rekli človeku: »Oče, lahko greš domov, tiü ga bomo prinesli v tabor.« In tako so psi nesU
prašiča na svojih hrbtih. V taboru so plen razrezali in meso dali prekaditi. Isto noč je
lovec ünel spolne odnose s svojo ženo. Psi so to videli in začeli vpiti: » A te rü ruč sram,
kaj pa delaš pred našimi očmi? Saj je nas sram!« Lovec je prekršU tabu, da ne sme imeti
spolnih odnosov tistega dne, ko ubije prašiča. Psi so čutili sukunan (zamero), se vrnili v
vas in vsem povedali, kaj so videli. Lovca in njegovo ženo je büo sram m hotela sta se
psom maščevati. Žena je pripravüa hrano in medtem ko so psi jedli, je vrgla panapinin
(malajsko jabolko) v njihove smrčke. To jim je odvzelo sposobnost govora in od takrat
naprej psi samo še lajajo in zavijajo: »hov, uuuu«. Od tistega dneva dalje lahko moški in
žer^ke spijo drug z drugim pred očmi psov, ne da bi se morali bati, da bodo ti o tem
komu pripovedovali.
_Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)_
151
Zgodbi povesta, da Ambonwariji pripisujejo živalim in duhovom v preteklosti
enake občutke in vedenje kot ljudem ter da sebi pripisujejo krivdo za spremembe, ki so
se zgodile. Ravno tako vidimo, da so vsi nečloveški udeleženci v teh mitih občutili sukiman
in da so se nanj tako odzvaH, da so zapustili ljudi in se od njih osamili (tako kot ljudje še
delajo v medsebojnih odnosih).
Nasprotje od »skrbeti« je »ne skrbeti«. Kdor ne skrbi za nekoga, za katerega bi
moral, je hudoben človek. Na to, da drugi ne skrbijo zanj, se človek odziva z občutki
užaljenosti, osramočenosti in zamere. Kazal bo vse ztmanje znake, ki ustrezajo stanju
sukiman aU mambara (oba pomenita zamero). Ne prvega ne drugega izraza Ambonwariji
ne uporabljajo z glagolom »čutiti« in ju tudi ne povezujejo s srcem. Uporabljajo ju z
glagolom kay-, ki je najbrž najbolj pogosto uporabljan glagol v jeziku karawari. V
posameznih izrekih lahko pomeni: ostati, bivati, obstajati, živeti (samostabiik ira/-lahko
pomeni: bitje, navado, način, obred, obnašanje, običaj; kay tudi pomeni kanu,
najpomembnejšo materialno dobrino v družbi Ambonwarijev. Lahko torej rečemo, da
mambara in sukunan pomenita neko stanje. Poenostavljeno prevajam to stanje kot
»zamera«, vendar ne smemo pozabiti, da sukunan/mambara min karar (on zameri)
vključuje celo vrsto čustev in občuticov: zavist, ljubosumnost, nevoljo, samopomilovanje,
užaljenost, zavrtost, pob-tost itd. Za vse te pojme Ambonwariji nimajo posebnih besed.
Človek ne bo nikoli sam rekel, da komu kaj zameri. To bo storil nekdo drug, ko bo postal
pozoren na njegovo vedenje. Človek »se počuti slabo« ( stanje mambara ali sukunan),
kadar čuti (vidi, sUši, ve), da se mu zgodi krivica (pozabiÜ so nanj, ne vključujejo ga v
nekaj, očitajo mu nekaj, česar rti storil, opravljajo ga...). To je čustven odziv na to, da ni
udeležen pri nečem, kar si drugi deHjo, ali da je izključen iz skupnih opravkov oziroma
izobčen). Skratka, odziv na to, da drugi »ne skrbijo« zanj, »ni jim mar«. Stanje je zelo
podoben pojmu popokl pri Melpah (Strathem 1968) in unuwewe pri Kalaunah (Yoimg
1983). Zdi se mi, da razmerje med skrbjo in njeno odsotnostjo močno vpliva na medsebojne
odnose in vedenje po vsej Papui Novi Gvineji. Izraz »skrbeti za« je tujcu lahko razumljiv,
težje pa je ugotoviti, kaj Ambonwariji misHjo z izrazom »ne skrbeti za«. Zato bom »zamero«
opisal bolj podrobno. Naslednji primer, ki mi ga je povedal prijatelj JuÜan Kapyamari
Yangan, je le eden izmed mnogih:
Wasapik amanan mambara minma karandukun bini anay sapina
MLAJŠI BRAT MOJ UŽALJEN ON OSTANE TAKO/TAKO OČE NE MI
¦ Moj mlajši brat je bil razburjen (užaljen): »Oče mi rü
anandukun payn mirum. Sayn min any bini mi wara kupan bini
DATI GROZD BETELOVIH OREHOV VENDAR ON OČE TAKO TI NISI VELEK/STAR
dal grozda betelovih orehov.« A oče (je rekel) takole:
kamban anakirpayn wurum.
JAZ - TI DATI GROZD BETELOVIH OREHOV.
»Ti nisi (tako) velik, da bi ti jaz (moral) dati grozd betelovih orehov«.
Borut Telban i
Min bini ama ama wapaykarpaymbiambina. Sayn min anay
ON TAKO JAZ JAZ PLEZAM NA BETELOVO PALMO AMPAK ON OČE
On (je rekel) takole: »Splezal sem na palmo.« Vendar je oče
kwasambin yanma kurandukun. Mba minma yaynjukun sukunan ndnma
VSTATI ON - NJEGA TEPSTI TAKO/DOVOLJ ON JOKATI ZAMERA ON
vstal in ga tepel. Jokal je in ostal poln zamere.
karandukun min pinma simindukun binisambin ama wara ama
OSTATI ON ON - NJEGA REČI TAKO POZNEJE POZNEJE JAZ NE JAZ
Rekel je tole: »V bodoče ne bom več plezal na drevo, da bi prišel do betelovih orehov.«
wapaykaykirpayn aurarin. Mba min sukunan karan
PLEZATI - OSTATI BETELOVE OREHE HOTETI DOBm TAKO/DOVOLJ ON
ZAMERA OSTATI/BITI
Tako je ostal užaljen, poln zamere.
min wara minwa wapaykaynjukun. Sayn mbayamba miruna
ON NE ON PLEZATI AMPAK DOVOLJ ZDAJ ON
Ni plezal (na palme). A zdaj on
yangan wapaykaykanpayn aurarin
: ZOPET PLEZATI BETELOVI OREHI HOTETI DOBITI
zopet pleza na betelove pahne po orehe.
Za nekoga, ki se počuti užaljenega, pravijo, da je mambara (gre za kratkotrajno
zamero). V vasi lahko pogosto slišimo, da nekdo reče amanok (jaz tudi), kadar se hoče
pridružiti drugim, ki se nekam odpravljajo, nekaj počenjajo (se igrajo) aU nekaj dobivajo
(obrok hrane). Mambara je zelo pogost pri otrodh. Starši in sorodniki se morajo stalno
odzivati na otrokovo zamero in mu pokazati, da jim je mar. Velja tudi, da so mlajši otroci,
»ki riimajo srca«, do neke mere upravičeni zahtevati razne stvari na škodo starejših otrok.
Kadar otrok meni, da sam ni dobü dovolj mesa k sagovi kaši (drugi otroci pa več), skuša
dobiti več z izsiljevanjem. Otrok pogosto grozi drugim (tistim, za katere lahko razimmo
domneva, da zanj skrbijo) tako, da reče: »Prav, bom pa šel k vratom in padel dol s hiše«.
Ko triletni Sangirmari od matere ni dobil, kar je hotel, je začel tepsti sedem mesecev staro
sestrico Mayo, ki jo je mati ravno dojua. Sorodniki in starši skušajo karseda hitro odpraviti
otrokovo zamero, tako da mu dajo nekaj več ali mu kaj obljubijo. Popolnoma drugače pa
je, kadar kak otrok poje vso hrano, ne da bi jo delil z drugimi. Drugi bodo naglas govorili
kako hudoben je, kako nič ne skrbi za druge, da kar naprej tako dela itd. Otroka bo
kmalu sram svojega ravnanja. Kadar pa je pri deUtvi spregledan en sam otrok, začne
jokati ali se komaj zadrži. Ko ga drugi pozneje kučejo, naj se jim pridniži in da bo dobil
tisto, jih niti ne pogleda in se jim ne približa. Včasih prav patetično reče: »Ni pomembno,
kar vzemite vse, ni mi mar,« in gre stran.
_Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)_
Pri tistih, ki doživljajo sukunan, dolgotrajno zamero, se lahko razvijeta mržnja in
maščevalnost. Zato se bo vedno našel nekdo, ki ga bo skušal potolažiti. Ambonwariji se
pogosto znajdejo v položaju, v katerem so razpeti med dvema človekoma, ki sta jezna
drug na drugega ker zaradi sorodstvenih vezi ne smejo pomagati ne enemu ne drugemu.
Tako se bratje lahko pridružijo različnim stranem v sporu ali pretepu.
Naj povem še nekaj primerov. Madi mož, ki je vedno našel delo (in zato vedno
imel denar), je bil poročen z mlado žensko. Potem ko je žena rodila mrtvorojenčka, so jo
videli z drugimi možnti. Mož jo je nagnal iz hiše. Kakih šest mesecev pozneje je neko
drugo dekle kazalo naklonjenost do tega mladega moža, on pa ni imel ruč proti. Njegova
bivša žena je bila Ijubosimma, njen ponos je bil prizadet. Ponovno moram poudariti, da
Ambonwariji nimajo besed za taka »čustvena stanja«, kot sta zavist in ljubosumnost.
Govorili so, da jo (bivšo ženo) »skrbi« zanj, da ji je še vedno do njega (»čutila je srce«).
Tako se je v njej razvila sukunan (zamera), ker je menila, da je njen bivši še vedno njen in
da ga nobena druga ne sme dobiti. Nekega večera je napadla svojo tekmico (ne pa bivšega
soproga!) z žepnim nožem in jo hudo porezala po obrazu. Mož je v sporu ostal povsem
ob strani, zadeva pa je prišla na sodišče.
Podoben primer, v katerem pa izrečene grožnje niso bUe uresničene, se je zgodil,
ko je neko dekle, ki je bilo že dolgo samsko, čutilo sukunan potem, ko se je neko drugo
dekle poročilo z moškim, ki bi se po njenem moral poročiti prav z njo. Glede na družbena
»pravila« je imela prav. Obe dekleti sta biU iz pobratenih klanov in starejša bi morala
imeti prednost. Ker pa Ambonwariji danes ravnajo po načelu »svobodne poroke«, so
ljudje prizadetim prepustiH, da sami odločajo. Starejše dekle je hodilo po vasi in grozilo,
da bo teknüco napadlo z nožem za krčenje grmovja. Pritoževala se je, kako se ji godi
krivica. A zgodilo se ni nič. Kljub temu, da je bil moški v tem primeru poročen, se (tako
kot v prvem primeru) sploh ni vmešal v zadevo. Sorodniki njegove žene pa so se ostro
odzvali. Ženske so o ženini tekmici govorile: »Ona ni prava ženska. Če bi bila prava
ženska, bi uresničila grožnje. Ona pa rtič.« Dekle je vendar vztrajalo in po šestih mesecih
je mož zaradi nje zapustil svojo ženo.
V obeh primerih je v središču razlog za sukunan. Na opisane odnose pa so vpHvali
tudi predhodni dogodki, povezave med »hišami« in skupinama, obljube in laži vpletenih,
vpletenost drugih, sram in ponos, bojazen deklet (in v manjši meri fantov), da bi ostala
sama. Bilo je še več drugih vidikov, ki so določali, kako je vsak posamezni udeleženec
dojemal stvari in kako so jih dojemali tisti, ki so jim biU samo priče (z mano vred).
Nemogoče bi bilo raziskovati prav vsak vidik pri vsaki posamezni osebi. Ambonwariji
sami jih ne raziskujejo, ker so del njihovega sveta, in so jim taki dogodki pač bolj aU manj
znani. Raziskujejo pa (na sodišču) tiste pomembne sestavine dogodkov, ki so jih udeleženci
morda prikrivali.
Zgoraj sem pokazal, da se tista čustva, ki jih mi imenujemo zavist, Ijubosimmost
aH samopomilovanje, in za katera Ambonwariji nimajo besed, izražajo kot zamera. V
nadaljevanju bom skušal pokazati, kako tolmačimo te občutke v naši družbi. Definicije
so vzete iz The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles.
ZAVIST (angl. envy) - želja biti na istem kot nekdo drug v nekem pogledu aH biti
obseden z nečim, kar ima nekdo drug.
Borut Telban I
154
LJUBOSUMNOST (angl. jealousy) - razburjen zaradi vere, suma ali strahu, da je
(ali bo) nekdo odtujil dobrino, ki si jo želimo dobiti ali obdržati zase; zameriti drugim na
osnovi znanega ali domnevnega rivalstva.
ZAMERA (angl. resentment) - ogorčen občutek prizadetosti ali užaljenosti, krivice
ali žalitve, storjene nekomu ali nečemu, kar nam je drago.
- močan občutek zlonamemosti ali jeze do storilca ali storilcev krivice ali žalitve;
izkazovanja takega občutka do njegovega vzroka.
Skratka, tako zavist kot ljubosumnost sta povezani z željo, da bi nekaj bili ali imeU
(nekaj, kar so ali imajo drugi), zamera pa je odgovor ali odziv na storjeno krivico (nekaj
mojega zdaj pripada drugemu).
Najbolj vsakdanji dosežek pri Ambonwarijih je dober ulov. Denimo, da veslam
mimo nekoga in vidim da je imel dober ulov. Moral mi bo dati nekaj rib^ Če tega ne stori,
ne bom zavisten ali Ijubosimien na njegov uspeh pri ribolovu, ampak mu bom zameril,
užaljen bom ali celo jezen. Če se ponavlja, da možakar obdrži vse ribe zase, mu bom
rekel, da je karisikin (škrt; dobesedno: močan) in maman (hudoben). Govoril bom, da je
sandikambayn antindar (mož, ki ves čas je sam), da je min panatna aH min pasa (samo
nase gleda). Če bo možakar dalj časa imel srečo pri ribolovu, ne da bi spremenil svoje
škrte navade, bom drugim govoril, kako hudoben je. Drugi se mi bodo verjetno pridružiH
in mož bo kmalu zbolel aH pa mu bodo fantje kaj ukradH z vrta in podobno. Vendar to ne
pomeni, da ljudje kar razdajajo, karkoH že imajo. Zapomnijo si, kaj so komu daH in
pričakujejo vzajemnost. Kmalu po mojem prihodu v vas so me svarili, naj ne zdravim
prav vsakogar, ki je bolan, naj ne dajem tobaka tistim, ki mi ne prinašajo hrane. To so mi
povedaH prav tisti, pri katerih sem bil vsak dan, hkrati pa so me pogosto prosiH za stvari,
ki bi jih sami radi dobUi od mene.
Fantje in dekleta se učijo plemenitosti od mladih nog. Kadar gredo na ribolov aH
nabirat jajca divjih ptic, so dobro »organizirani«. Ko se vrnejo s takega »nabirakiega«
pohoda, pripovedujejo takole: » Jaz sem prvi našel jajce in ga dal Sangirmari. Kapim je
našel dve, dal eno meni in eno ImbHiamariju. Sangirmari je našel štiri jaca in vsak od nas
je dobil eno. Nato sem jaz zopet našel dve in ju dal Kapimu in Imbiarmariju. Tako je vsak
imel dve jajci. Ko smo našH še dve, smo se odločiH, da ju skuhamo v Hstu in pojemo.«
OdrasH in otroci si v vsakdanjem življenju kar naprej pripoveduje take zgodbice.
Kot sem že omenil, se Ambonwariji bojijo zamere v medsebojnih odnosih, v odnosih
med ljudmi in duhovi in med duhovi samimi. Ena izmed prvih stvari, ki jih mladeruč
sliši, ob prvem vstopu v moško hišo je, da ne sme imeti spolnih odnosov na določenih
ozriačenih »mestih duhov« prednikov. Taka mesta so habitat duhov. Taka dejanja bi užalila
duhove. Kako duhovi kaznujejo ljudi in se jim maščujejo, je upodobljeno na dveh
izrezljanih stebrih v moški hiši: na prvem ogronma kača moškega ugrizne v penis, na
drugem kača ženski leze v vagino.
7 To ne velja samo za ožje sorodnike, ampak bolj ali manj za vso vas. Seveda ruhče ne pričakuje, da mu
bo dal ribo kak levež ali poiočera žerwka/moški, če je sam drugega spola, ali nekdo, s katerim se niti ne pogovarja
itd. Vsak ima seveda sorodnike, ki jih bo najprej poiskal, da jim da ribe (moški dajejo ribe sestrinim otrokom
npr.). V knjigi Primitive Polynesian Sodety^ymona Firth opisuje podobne spremenljive »obveznosti« v skupini
ribičev (podatek je naveden v Schoek 1969:30).
_Imeti srce : skrb in zamera v Ambonwariju (Papua Nova Gvineja)_
155
Kljub temu, da Ambonwariji na splošno razumejo, da je trgovina lahko uspešna
samo, če za blago plačajo, ne pa da se jim brezplačno razdeH iz skladišča, so trgovci kar
naprej prisiljeiu posojati blago za nedoločen čas ali pa ga zastonj dati. Tako se seveda
vsak posel sesuje že kmalu po začetku. Če pa kak trgovec noče ravnati »tako kot se
spodobi«, vlomijo v skladišče in blago odnesejo. Podobni odnosi veljajo, ko gre za osebno
imovino. Ker se ljudje bojijo zahtev obiskovalcev, skrivajo svoje imetje, denar, obleke,
gorivo, tobak, tj. večinoma uvoženo blago. Nočejo ga razdati, bojijo se pa zamere tistih,
ki bi te stvari pri njih opazili.
Kadar se obiskovalci približajo neki hiši (iiikoH ne vstopijo brez povabila), gospodar
hiše ponavadi nekajkrat ponovi da v hiši ni hrane,/)an kaya (zelo-nič), apia kambra apia
san (luč nam ni ostalo), da so jedli čisto navadno sago, pa tudi te ni več ali kambra karis
(nič kaše ni). Obiskovalec odgovori, da nič ne de, wara mahawk{mč pogovor/ pustimo
to), da je v redu. Skupaj z domačimi uživajo betelove orehe in odidejo dobre volje.
Kar sem zgoraj opisal, ni neznano. Helmut Schoek omenja koncept Erica Wolfa o
»institucionalizkaiü zavisti« v kmečkih skupnostih v Južru Ameriki. Vsesplošen strah
pred tako zavistjo »pomeni, da je za posameznika le malo možnosti za gmotno
napredovanje in da ni stikov z zunanjim svetom, ki bi skupnosti lahko zbujaK upanje na
napredek. Nihče noče pokazati česarkoli, kar bi drugim dalo nüsHti, da je na boljšem od
njih.« (1969:47). Čeprav to velja tudi za Ambonwarije, je treba s konceptom »institu-
cionaUzirane zavisti« zelo previdno ravnati. Meriim, da je zavist tako primarna (Foster /
1972:165/ pravi, daje vmiverzalni človeški pojav), daje do neke mere »institucionalizirana«
v vsaki družbi, tj. bodisi jo institucionalno zatirajo aU priznajo in sprejemajo. Bolj
pomembna se mi zdi socialna dinamika, ki vključuje zavist. Tako postane splošno mišljenje
del vsakogaršnega srca. Ambonwariji ne pravijo »ona mu zavida« ali »zavistna je«, pravijo:
»Ona je v stanju zamere.« Tako stanje, ki ga ljudje doživljajo v medsebojnih odnosih,
vpUva na značilnosti socialnega in kulturnega življenje in te postanejo institucionaUzirane.
Epstein (1992:266) za Tolai piše, da se takšne družbe močno razlikujejo od tistih, za
katere je Schoek ugotovil, da so zavistne. Pravi, da na polotoku Gazelle želja doseči nekaj
in tekmovalno načelo prevladujeta nad tveganjem, da človek postane predmet zavisti.
Nejasno pri Epsteinu je, da govori o »tekmovanju« med tolajskimi skupnostmi. Wolf in
Schoek pa sta pisala o »osebnem gmotnem napredovanju« znotraj ene same skupnosti.
Skratka, velika razlika je med vedenjem ljudi znotraj eni vasi (med svojimi) in med vasmi.
Socialna dinamika, ki jo obravnavam, izvira iz odnosov med ljudmi, ki so v vsakdanjem
intimnem stiku, in prav dinamika usmerja te odnose. Ljudje iz drugih vasi so »drugi«, za
odnose z njinü veljajo drugi sociaM nazori, ideologija in dinanüka.
Iz angleščine prevedel
Franc Smrke
Borut Telban i
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158
HAVING HEART: CARING AND RESENTMENT
IN AMBONWARI, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Borut Telban
Ressentiment denotes an attitude which arises from a cumulative repression of
feelings of hatred, revenge, envy and the Uke. When such feelings can be acted out, no
ressentiment results. But when a person is unable to release these feelings against the
persons or groups evoking them, thus developing a sense of impotence, and when these
feelings are continuously re-experienced over time, then ressentiment arises. Ressentiment
leads to a tendency to degrade, to "reduce" genuine values as well as their bearers. As
distinct from rebellion, ressentiment does not lead to an affirmation of coimter-values
since ressentiment-imbued persons secretly crave the values they pubHcly denoimce.
(Coser 1961:23-4).
In Naven Gregory Bateson promoted the theory that the individuals of a com-
munity are standardized by their culture and that culture is an expression of this
standardization (1958:32-3,118). He proposed the concepts of eidos (expresses the
individual's standardized cognitive aspects) and ethos (expresses the individual's
culturally standardized system of orgaruzing his instincts and emotioris) (ibid: 118,120).
He recognized that this distinction was somehow artificial but was worried that the
problem of inter-relatedness was improfitable (ibid: 28). Bateson's concept of ethos became
widely accepted and numerous studies identified certain emotions as the foimdation of,
for example, a paranoid ethos (Schwartz 1973) an ethos of shame (Epstein 1984), an ethos
of tearfulness (Robarchek 1979), or an ethos of melancholy (Taylor 1987). While pride,
fear and shame, discussed by these authors, are also important elements in the lives of
Ambonwari people, it seems that they are all subordinate to the relationship between
resentment and care.' The distinction between cognitive and emotive aspects in ibe concept
of care, the main subject of this paper, is blurred. "Caring about" primarily represents the
1 I stayed in Ambonwari village (Karawari language group), East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea
from September 1990 to the middle of March 1992.1 am most grateful to the Australian National University for
financial and other assistance. I also thank the Slovenian Research Association for a grant that helped further my
studies before coming to Australia. Since 1986 Lorraine and Emil Pavšič have provided me with support whenever
I was in Port Moresby. My debt is obvious. 1 am grateful to the Ambonwari people, especially to Tony Simiw-
ariya Andiyapi, Bob Kanjik Anjapi, Ellas Wapun Kandangway and Julian Kapyamari Yangan who never got
tired of discussion about what it meai\s to be an Ambonwari. 1 wish to thank Chris Ballard, Alleta Biersack,
William Foley, Don Gardner, Jadran Mimica and Michael Young for insightful comments during the preparation
of this paper. A earlier versioi\s were presented as a departmental seminar at the Anthropology Department,
Research School of Pacific Studies and Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, the
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
Australian National University; and at the 1992 Australian Anthropology Sodety Conference in the Panel "Sodal
Theory and the Anthropology of Emotion".
Throughout the text 1 use the symbol i which is heard as i in "sir"; the other is n representing a nasal n or
ng with g inaudible, heard something Uke the ending in "thing" (see Telban 1992).
159
relationship between people, constituting as it were the social dynamics in which social
sentiment (ethos) and imderstanding (ideology) are interwoven.
It is often said, from an ethnopsychological point of view, that there is a gap between
emotion and thought in the post-industrial societies of the West on the one hand, and
those of the pre-industrial societies and the East on the other. In the latter, thought and
emotion are not sharply distinctive; they shape each other through their intercormection.
The notion of "feeling-nund", Wikan (1989:294) says of Bali, has a social source and
significance. In contemporary Japan bara (stomach, abdomen) represents a combination
of the heart and the brain in the Western sense. Furthermore, it is the point of coimection
between thought and emotion or between intellect and affect (Ohnuki-Tiemey 1984:58-9).
Lutz (1988:4) treats emotion as an "ideological practice rather than as a thing to be
discovered or an essence to be distilled", while Michele Rosaldo (1984:143) and Scheper-
Hughes and Lock (1987) talk about "embodied thoughts" and "mindful body".
Abonwari do not have words for such general terms as emotion and thought. Both
are expressed through the non-physiological seat in the upper abdomen, a seat which I
wiU call the Heart, with a capital letter. To have Heart means that you have imderstanding
and desires, and that you are "attuned" to public sentiment. You have already learned the
way of the village, you are able to thiiik, you are able to remember. Having Heart means
that you are a "proper" social and moral person. Interaction between people, between
people and their envirorunent is represented by Heart. The everyday Heart shows itself
through care and anxiety (Telban n.d); its relationship with the world is one of concern,
in the Heideggerian sense of manipulating, producing, and using the envirormient. The
way of dealing with the environment is "knowing", and the way of dealing with people
is "caring". In the social dynamics represented by Heart, "care" is a socially recognized
and justified solution to troubles deriving from states such as envy and resentment. Care
is a social response. At the same time resentment is a response to the experience of "not
being cared for" and thus being wronged. I would argue that to social concept of "caring
about" has evolved following two universal himian states: the aruciety experienced by
being alone in an unfamiliar and "dangerous" world, and the experience of spite, envy,
jealousy, self-pity and resentment when humans feel they are neglected and thus not
"cared about". In this paper I am concerned with the latter aspect of the development of
care.
But if I want further to interpret Ambonwari social dynamics then I have to make
some important observations. Firstly, Ambonwari people have two verbs, one for feeling
(which when used with Heart means "care") and another for remembering, learning and
thinking. Both verbs are used with the same Heart. Secondly, imtold speech represents
thoughts. Thirdly, resentment is used neither with the verb "to feel" nor the verb "to
think". It is not even referred to Heart. Resentment is expressed as the state of a person as
a whole. It is used with the verb "to be, to stay". Fourthly, "emotions" are for Ambonwari
motions of Heart; they are thus motions of imderstanding, desires and incorporated public
sentiment.
Borut Telban •
160
Levy (1973:324; 1984:227) calls culturally identified emotions "hypercognized
emotions" and those more private "which receive much less conceptual attention" (Heelas
1986:240), "hypocognized emotions". Both of these "can be considered as ways of control,
which are culturally standardized and functionally useful" (Levy 1984:227).
Constructionists explain emotions as functional in the sense of regulating "socially undesir-
able behaviour and the promotion of attitudes which reflect and endorse the interrelated
rehgious, political, moral, aesthetic and social practices of society" (Armon-Jones 1986:58).
In its extreme form, constructionism rules out the possibility of natural emotions, while
in its nüld form it only advances the sociofunctional aspects of emotions (ibid:61). "Care"
in Ambonwari is an example of such hypercognized emotion with its "sociofunctional"
aspects. It is a hypercognized social sentiment of the village.
It seems that such a social response emerged in Poland with the "emotional" state
of tesknota. This "sadness caused by separation" developed its present meaiung only
after 1830, at the time of massive emigration (Wierzbicka 1986:588). It seems that the
social dynamics of emotions should not be confused with emotion perse and that such
hypercogriized social sentiments may differ between cultures and over time. In the same
way Harré (1986:11) and Harré/Finlay-Jones (1986:221) range accidie (Latin acedia, i.e.
boredom tinged witii despair, disgust and sadness) experienced by hermits in the Middle
Ages and early Renaissance, among the "extinct" emotions. Accidie, I think, was a negative
feeling which in a particular situation became a social response or a hypercognized social
sentiment of that society.
Sartre argued that emotion is a certain way of apprehending the world (1948:52); it
is a transformation of tiie world (p .58), a phenomenon of belief (p. 75). For Sartre emotion
is "a mode of existence of conscioxisness, one of the ways in which it understands (in the
Heideggerian serise of "Verstehen") its 'being-in-the-world" (1948:91). In short, Sartre
defended the view that emotions are cor^cious acts, structures of consciousness, that
they are "purposive" and "meaningful" ways of "constituting" our world for which we
must accept responsibility" (Solomon 1981:212,213). Sartre's view on emotions is probably
best presented by the translator of Being and Nothingness, Hazel Barnes:
Since his earHest work Sartre has distinguished three manifestations of what we
ordinarily call emotions:
(1) affective impidses or immediate feelings;
(2) a structured response to a situation - i.e., emotional behaviour;
(3) an emotional attitude sustained for a long period of time, which Sartre calls the
state - e.g., a love or a hate.
We may note that only the affective impulse is taken to be unmistakable,
spontaneotis, necessarily genuine; it is solely with emotional behaviour that Sartre is
concerned in his book on the emotions; the state, xmlike the other two, is in a certain
sense a psychic object and resembles the ideal imity of the ego. In moving from the first
to the third, we observe a progress in duration and in objectification (1984:3).
What I propose for Ambonwari is that the individual "affective impulse" of "feeling
Heart" (where Heart represents im-derstanding, desires, desires and social sentiments)
has become an emotional state, representing reciprocal caring. "Caring about" as a
hypercognized social sentiment is both ethos and ideology. Those who experience the
161
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
feeling of not being cared about will respond with resentment. Through socialization
every child incorporates this social sentiment. The construction of Heart is both felt and
learned, and evolves through relationships with others. Heart itself derives from intimacy
between people. It is "built" by the society and represents the interaction between
Ambonwari people. Exchange is the most important of these interactions. "Caring about"
and the feeling of "being offended" (a consequence of the perception of "not being cared
for") are the foimdation of interpersonal and intergroup relationships in Ambonwari. I
will 1 show this by discussing the semantic aspects of everyday expressions and events.
"HEART"
People point to the upper abdomen to show where wambun or "Heart" is. While
the physiological heart is called sismin (a seed), wambun designates the non-physio-
logical seat of desires, emotions and thoughts. This Heart is not visible as an organ, it
represents the mindful and affective "insideness". In Karawari language the word wam-
is used as a verb stem meaning "to go inside". It is this insideness I have in nund when I
refer to it as Heart, and not some kind of romanticized category emphasizing
sentimentality. At the same time the word wambun itself onomatopoetically denotes
the beating of a heart; wam-bun, wam-bun (Foley pers. comm.).
The same term wambun is also used when referring to the insideness of plants,
stones, animals, the moon and the sim. Spirits have their own Hearts. People say:" If you
beat a child, the spirit of a dead relative will make you sick, because the spirit cares about
the child." The middle, the heart, the soft pith of a plant, the core is called wambun.
When someone makes a new canoe he removes wambun from tree trtmk, as he does
from a palm when processing sago.^ I was told a story about an old man who asked
children to go and get some betel nut for him. As they did not listen to him he went by
himself. It was already dark and the betel palm was asleep. The old man was near the top
when the palm woke up, shaking. The man fell down and died. People say that if they
want to climb a palm at night, they kick it first and tell it that they are going to climb it to
get some nuts. "A tree has Heart. When you cut a tree, it shakes because it worries, it
wants to stand up. Wambun min sikan min maray amindarin (he worries about water
he wants to drink)."
Wambun of the village is the huge imaginary snake which Kes under the village.
This snake has to be pressed down firmly by three "mothers of the village" (wives of
descendants of the first three ancestors) whose obligation is jtist to sit. They are prohibited
to do any work outside the house. This snake commimicates with the people through its
"mouth" and "ears" - the main spiritual house in the centre of the village. Just as Heart of
the village (a snake) has to be kept quiet (otherwise it can destroy the village), wambun
of people should be kept quiet as well.
What does it mean to have or not have Heart? To have Heart means primarily that
one has imderstanding and a proper social sentiment, such as the ability to "care about".
2 Wambun is not to be mistaken for the spirit of a man. Every person has his or her guardian
{angindarkwanar for man and angmdarkwanma for woman) which leaves the body when the person dies.
After death the guardian (lit. light-hold-watchman/woman) becomes the spirit of the dead. The spirit takes with
him or her the person's Heart.
Borut Telbaii i
One also has desires and feelings. To express knowledge, Ambonwari wUl say ama
wambun nandikin (I have Heart). ^ This saying is not used to express "I feel" or "I desire".
I can feel my Heart but I cannot feel only by "having Heart"; in order to feel. Heart has to
"become", to "do" something, to react or respond to something. As I will show below,
Ambonwari use the verb sf'not only in the sense of "to feel" but also "to become", "to
make" and "to do", in the same way as the neighbouring Yimas do (see Foley 1991:95,
334).
To have imderstanding means to be able to learn and to know the way of the village,
and moreover, to follow this way. What 1 call Heart in Ambonwari, Harrison calls
Understanding in Avatip. Though Harrison recognizes mawul as being also "the seat of
the individual's affective resporises", in his translation he emphasizes only one side of it.
He says: "To have a mawul is to be rational, to possess all appropriate adult skills and
knowledge, and to be conscious of one's obUgations and the rights of others". But more
than this it involves above all an empathie disposition toward others" (1990:353). And
exactly this "empathie disposition toward others" points toward the Avatip hypercognized
social sentiment which incorporates care. In all his examples of generosity and
xmderstanding (about motherhood, care about husband's parents...) Heart appears to be
characterized predominantly by the social dynamics of Care which include both affection
and imderstanding. This care stands for morality.*
To have understanding means both that you have the ability to listen to others and
that you have the ability to talk. Manawk (talk, speech, discourse) is the manner of
sharing the ways of apprehending the world (but also the way of manipulating others).
It is the means of sharing knowledge and understanding (and of imposing it on others).
When someone says ama mariawknandikin (I am with talk), it means that he or she has
a thought about something he or she wants to tell us about. The neighbouring Yimas
who speak a related language have a special verb to express "to think". In literal translation
it means "to feel words". To the Yimas thinking is internal speech (Foley pers. comm.). In
the same way the Ambonwari concepts which we call belief or faith are expressed through
the expression "listen-to-talk". Thus mi andinbin yarar (yarma) can be translated as "you
are a man (a woman) who listens to talk", which at the same time means that you believe
(in God, for example). In an even simpler way one can express disbelief by kambra
mariawk (nothing talk) and truth by pan mariawk (very-taUc) or panbi (very much like
that). This truth is not something absolute, but it represents a kind of a constant nego-
tiation between people; it can be a common sense truth, a temporary conclusion or
agreement.
3 Ambonwari do not have a verb "to have'./jand*-means "with" and it is used to express the relationship
between possessor and possession. The agreement suffix of the word changes according to the gender and number
of the noun, in the same way as in adjectives (Telban 1992). Ama wambun nandikin i properly translated "I with
the Heart". Nevertheless the use of "to have" in translation is justified by Ambonwari themselves (see also Foley
1991:176-180 for the related Yimas). In the same way people say "I have a thought (to say), ama manawknandiUn
(1 with talk). It is probably needless to say that, not being a verb, nandik- has no tense distinction.
4 Read (1955:255-7) says for the Gahuku-Gama that moral values have to be internalized and accepted
by the majority of the members of a particular group, and they represent a generalized expression of the good
(which has basically social coimotatior«). This is not only an emotional statement, but has also intellectual,
ideological components (ibid.). And this is precisely what I mean by the expression of having Heart. All those
most intimate experiences of social life (ntuturing, sharing of food, labour and concern) on which, as Myers
(1986:110) says, the moral category is groimded, represent the basis of Ambonwari relatioiwhip.
162
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
163
As people realize that one can express his or her thoughts and feelings mainly
through speech, everyone in the village in discourse with others keeps repeating that
he/she is a good person or generous and bashful, or that he/she is not a person who
easily gets angry. In doing so the person does not only try to convince others that he/she
really is such and such a person, but mainly to show fhat he/she has all those virtues
regarded as "good thoughts" and "good feelings" in interpersonal relationships. This is
expressed by wambun yapakupan (good Heart) as opposite to wambun maman (bad
Heart). The terms good and bad are widely used and represent also a general notion
about someone's personality. Thus to be good mainly mearis that one is warimbarar
(generous), while to be bad mainly shows that one is karisUdn (stingy/ firm). To be
generous (and in this way showing that one cares) is the most important factor which
makes people good. Generosity and "caring about" are antidotes to resentment. In
everyday relationship they represent resentment-reducing behaviour. But to be generous
one has to be busy all the time (searching for food and nowadays money) which means
that lazy people are derided and gossiped about. This applies to both men an women.
People say that a woman has to "sit weU", meaning that she should not look aroimd from
the entrance of the house and simply talk to other women. She has to sit near the fireplace,
take care of the children, cook and fish during the day. Men's work is himting large
game, making canoes, buUduig houses and finding money. Ambonwari have other labels
for people, such as arMsan (hot-tempered) for example; such a person is feared, but
considered good if he is generous. On the other hand a person who is yaprisipasikin
(quiet) has to be generous too, if he wants to be thought good. People who talk a lot,
mariawkkusirar, or laugh a lot, wurumindar, are admired, but only if they are generous.
Although I have here used otüy the male forms of the vernacular terms (the female forms
end in -ma, see Telban 1992), the same characteristics apply to women as well.
Ambonwari don't say that a person who does not have Heart is mad, as might be
thought. Rather, he or she is just not coriscious of something in particular, has no skills,
does not feel and think as he or she is expected to imder the circumstances, or is senile.
Such a person does not have the worries others have, does not, e.g., mourn at a death, has
no socially shared understanding and does not care. Every instance of individualism,
meaning that someone does not follow the atmosphere of the village and does not behave
in the expected way, can be labelled as "not having Heart". The notion that someone has
no Heart is mostly used in relation to small children, who do not mourn at funerals, eat
food by themselves and do not think about its distribution. This does not mean,
Ambonwari acknowledge, that a child does not really have Heart. Indeed it has. When a
baby sees one of its parents and smiles, others will say wambun nandildn (it has Heart).
But a child's Heart does not exist for anyone except itself imtil the age of foiir or five.
Thus a child's concern is mostly about itself rather than others, it thinks only about its
own food and well-being. In contrast to this, the same expression is used for a highly
esteemed person who gives away everything. Such a person does not care about things
for himself. The opposite of a generous man is a stingy one, someone who worries aU the
time about his own well-being by keeping things for himself, min wambun pan sirar (he
feels his Heart very much). But such people are not mad because of their extreme
behaviour. A "truly" mad person has Heart but no ears {kwandikas kanar, ears-no-man);
he or she is imable to join in reasonable discourse, does not listen when asked to do
something, and does everything in his or her own way. Mariawk{talk, speech, discourse)
is the chief criterion guiding people to conclusions about who "has ears" and who does
Borut Telban <
164
not. Thus a deaf or mute person may be "good", and yet will be placed in the same category
as someone who is mad. Somewhat similar concepts to these are foimd also among Pintupi
Aborigines (Myers 1979:350).
In my exposition I have so far shown that "having Heart" means to have a feeling
for caring social interaction, understanding, desires and feelings, while at the same time
thoughts, desires and feelings are not directed toward anyone or anything. For the
situations when the Heart "directs" itself, Ambonwari use two different verbs; s/for desires
and feelings (this will be discussed below) and aykap-iov thoughts.' A child's Heart has
to learn and to reach imderstanding. Through learning a chud masters the language and
the way of the village. Children look forward to entering the atmosphere of the village,
i.e. to incorporate the social dynamics of care into their Hearts. As it is often seen in their
play (building "houses" from leaves and imitating the life of adults) they can hardly wait
for the adult life of giving and receiving. For learning, remembering and knowing,
Ambonwari use the verb a/irap-which may stand alone or together with Heart. Yimas
use the same verb but never together with wambun. The verb is a compound of
'breath-give") and means "to know" (Foley pers. comm.). I wUl present some examples of
the ways in which the verb aykap- is used in Ambonwari village:
wasekinday yukum pin siri aykapikan
A GIRL BASKET SHE-IT DO LEARN
The girl learns how to make a basket.
mingokyan Mndi aykapi-kaykan
YOU STILL/WATT YOU-IT THIS REMEMBER-STAYS/IS
You still think about/remember it.
wambun minyana ngokyan kindi aykapi-kaykana
HEART YOURS STILL/WAIT IT-IT THIS REMEMBER-STAY/IS
Your Heart stiU thinks about/remembers it.
min warayan aykapir
HE NOT HE-IT REMEMBER
He forgot.
mi ambanamban aykapra
YOU PLAN-PLAN THINK
You must think well.
wambun minana wara min aykapi-kaykan
HEART HIS NOT HE THINK-STAY/IS
He does not understand.
5 Wittgenstein distinguishes between "directed emotions" and "undirected emotiorw". He also suggests
that undirected fear might be called "anxiety" (Budd 1989:152).
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Gtiinea
As I have already mentioned several times, the verb sf'combines several interrelated
meanings; to do, to become and to feel. The same verb is used in everyday communication,
for example: mi waha misiJcana (what are you doing), wi mi sikan (it is becoming dark/
night), maray kupay mi sikan (the high water is coming up). Besides wambun (Heart,
see below) a person can feel miringi {uiame), kambia (hunger), piamin (sleepy), sarik
(cold), iraL(deep pain), arambayn (a smart after contact between an injured par and water),
yipisiMn (heavy, tired after hard work) and warinan (light); all of these use the same verb
si.
Ama wambun ama sikan (I feel Heart) is an expression which in Ambonwari
characterizes tiie relationship between people, their response to each other. It carries with
it a ntmiber of individual emotional meanings all of them united in the notion of "caring
for" (see below). Even human desires are covered by his term, usually with the additional
word pan (very). "To feel Heart" is the most important among tiiose social aspects which
form tiie basis for the construction and preservation of personal relationships and the
whole society.
While apprehending or experiencing something in particular, something standing
out of the everyday dynamics of the village. Heart becomes sore, it jumps, it does this
and that, and then (after changing the world for itself - not necessary the outside events)
returns to its quietness. Expressions such as wambun amanan kayngian im paykan ("my
Heart sleeps on the side", i.e. I am angry), wambun amanan ina mingaykan ("my Heart
has nm away"; i.e. I am scared/afraid), wambun amanan min sikian ("my Heart squirts/
jumps"; i.e. I am excited), wambun amanan yawun apasikin ("my Heart is coming out";
i.e. I am excited or I feel generous), and many others are typical examples of "symptomatic
metaphors" (Solomon 1980:251), which attribute the external and visible characteristics
of tiie body and its physiological disruptions to the "insideness" of the body, to Heart (see
also Harrison 1990:353 for Avatip expressions; Stephen 1989:164 for Mekeo; Heelas
1986:224-5 for various cultures) Ambonwari explain emotional outbursts and sudden
emotional reactions by using metaphors (see above). As long as Heart is hidden and does
not reveal itself, a person's feelings are hidden too. These individual emotions are invisible,
if they do not show themselves through the appearance of the body (e.g. skin) or through
deeds and words. For this reason people often say "I do not know how he or she feels, or
what he or she thinks" - a common refrain in the ethnography of Papua New Guinea (see
also Fajans 1985:383, Read 1955:281-2, Schieffelin 1985:174, Young 1974:66). If Heart does
not show itself in a revelatory way (and sometimes even then) others can only speculate
what is going on with a person's Heart. But on tiie other hand, it has to be noted that an
appropriate social respor\se of Heart is expected and recognized as such from a social
person (a villager). Thus, when such feelings are situationally proper (e.g. a child is crying
because his father did not take it to the garden) people will not speculate but quite confi-
dently state their opinion about the person's feelings. It seems that thought in Ambonwari
precedes and at tiie same time rejects (when social response is concerned) Sartre's notion
that "the world as it is for another will always be logically hidden to me... things have for
him Ü\e meanings he gives them, and these will differ from mine just from the fact that
tiiey are given by him" (Danto 1991:100).
Along with the habitual social response of "feeling Heart", i.e. "to care", there are
other expressions which represent the state of a person. Thus wapun min paykan ("he is
happy/proud; lit. he sleeps proudly), mambara/sukunan min karar ('he resents"), and
Borut Telban J
min kapakikan ("he is angry") are expressions telling other people in what state someone
is. All these states are closely cormected with care. People respond with resentment and
anger to the experience of "not being cared for". If someone cares for you, you experience
happiness. You can be happy only if someone makes you happy. But if you are alone in
this happiness and do not share it - which means that you do not care for others - they
will experience envy and jealousy, both expressed as resentment. In such a state your
happiness wiU be, to others, oiüy evidence that you are showing off your pride. In the
concept of "caring" real happiness is "caring for someone" and "being cared for". Myers
rightly argues that emotional concepts are major constructs of the Pintupi view of what it
means to be a person as well as of the poKtical order of Pintupi life (Myers 1979:345).
In the first part of this paper I have concentrated mainly on the semantic aspects of
Ambonwari discourse about their feelings and thoughts. In the second part I want to
discuss two major aspects in their relationships: care and resentment. Using ethnographic
material, I shall attempt to show what it means "to care for someone" and, the converse,
"not to be cared for" in Ambonwari.
CARING
I once asked a man who had two wives, how people behave in such situations. His
reply illustrates the importance of care in the relationship between spouses and co-wives.
The events in this story might easily have taken a different course; nevertheless, this
sequence shows the expected behaviour under comparable circxmistances.
When a man wants to marry a second woman, he has to be tactful and careful.
During his courtship with the second-to-be, he takes pains to be particularly kind and
generous towards the first. He allows her to use all his belongings, even those most
personal things in his woven bag otherwise considered his exclusive property. In this
way the second wife-to-be sees that the first one is happy and expects that she will be
nice to her. When the new relationship is disclosed, the village councillor calls a meeting
in which the man's wife finds out about the relationship for the first time. But her husband
does not admit tiiat he wants to marry this woman. Marriage is not mentioned at all.
After paying compensation (tiie husband, the woman or both pay it to ihe man's wife)
the affair seems to be over. But the second wife-to-be continues to give presents (mainly
fish she catches) to the man, while his wife is alert and on guard. But even when she
becomes angry and screams at him, or when her brothers ridicule him, the man remains
quiet. Thus his wife sees that her husband worries about something.
The wife then begins to push her husband around, urging him to do work (get
firewood, go to the garden, cut the sago pahn etc.). At one stage the husband opposes
her, saying no. His wife gets angry, teUing him ti:\at he only thinks about the other woman.
The man beats her. Her brothers ask him if the other woman has again given him
something. He admits it and shows them a rubber bracelet (the relationship between two
lovers can start only through the exchange of small gifts as signs of "feeling Heart"; when
no gifts are exchanged, no one will even discuss the possibility of marriage). The village
court is again convened. The councillor asks the brothers of tiie wife-to-be, if they are
prepared to give her as a second wife to this man. If they agree, tiie first wife is asked. She
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
167
has to give her agreement too, otherwise there will be no marriage.
Before she agrees, she wants to know more about her husband's thoughts and
feelings as well as more about the women. She tries to persuade her husband to tell her
more about her. He talks about general things , but offers no details. She urges him to
sleep with her and then asks him: "Do you still think about her? I think you saw her
vulva and because of this you still think of about her." He replies that men marry two or
three women, and women do not marry two or three men. Then she realizes that her
husband is not happy and that he really wants to marry the other woman. She decides to
help him. When the women go fishing she gives her future co-wife a basket, a net or a
child to carry. Thus the relationship between the two women starts. Other women will
say: "Yes, you two are sisters now." The second wife gives all her food to her co-wife.
The marriage is arranged and everyone knows that the second wife will come imder
the control of the first. But the man now has to relate equally to both: if he brawls at one
wife, she wUl drag in the other so both can be beaten. The man cannot leave the food
prepared by one but has to eat what they have both prepared. When they go out together
to make sago flour, Üie man has to carry back two baskets, one for each. The man caimot
separate one wife from the other, but has to wait imtU one of them goes to her parents,
e.g., and then he can sleep with the other.
The wives act as sisters. One wife calls the broti:iers of the other 'brother", the fathers
"father" etc. Brothers of one wife give priority to the children of the other. Children thus
get two maternal lineages.
The most widely used saying ama wambun ama sikan is properly translated "I
care " for about somebody or something. This dictum has a great number of meanings
which are imderstood by fellow villagers famiUar with the circimistances of a particular
situation. Thus ama wambun ama sikan can mean anything from "I feel", "I am anxious",
"I am worried", "I am sorry", "I am sad", "I am compassionate", "I am longing for", "I am
homesick", "I love". Though not explicitly said, these feelings are directed at someone.
Direction can be more clearly expressed by a pronoun when the verb becomes traiisitive
(see Telban 1992). What the above expressions have in common is care for (or anxiety
about) somebody or something. They represents the proper response in the relationship
between people. Uncaring is not a virtue. Anyone uncaring (and thus indifferent,
imconcemed, irresponsible) wUl be considered maman (bad).
This does not mean that aU people at every moment react in the same way. Many
factors influence the behaviour of Ambonwari people and their expressions. In the
foUowing example I wül try to illustrate the differences between groups and individuals
in Ü\e village after someone died of whom everyone said he or she "cared about" (was
sad, worried).
There were a number of deaths in the viUage during my stay and I was able to
observe the whole mourning ritual several times. Everyone would say ama wambun
ama sikan and often add ihe word pan (very). I could translate this as being sad, grieved,
distressed, worried and by lots of otiier Enghsh terms. WhUe it was obvious that the
mourners cared about the person who died, it was impossible to know "how much" or to
what degree people felt these emotions. The mourning rituals varied in extent (tiiough
not in procedure), depending on who the dead person was. There were social aspects
reflecting the kinship sbucture with particiüar individual roles and cultural aspects (the
postmortem initiation of a yoimg boy, for example). If I concenb-ate on the crying during
Borut Telban i
168
the night on the occasion of the death of a 12 year-old first-bom son of a young man from
the mair\ clan of the village (that of the first ancestor), I can already show how the
expectation of proper behaviour are almost always disturbed by the feelings and concerns
of small groups and individuals. Mourning took place as follows:
1) because of a recent dispute between different houses of the same "house name"
(clan) as the dead (and thus of the same clan) some of the male relatives (related to the
dead as "father" or "brother") did not come to moum at all;
2) the closest relatives (mother, father, motiier's brother, class, mothers, class, father's
father, class, sisters, dancing companion...) cried openly, mucous mixed with saliva
hanging from their chin; people danced, sang elegies, touched the body and held the
deceased boys's belongings;
3) One of the father's brother (a mature man; two brothers were absent) came without
hesitation, cried for an hour and afterwards stayed in the house;
4) adolescent girls (kin from tiie same clan and tiiose related through marriage)
came in a group with towels and T shorts over their faces, sat near the body, cried for haK
an hour and left;
5) adolescent boys (from the same and related dans) and yoimg men made ready
to enter the house and cry, but tiiey never did;
6) a woman tumed off the kerosine lamps and stood between the orüy one she left
lit and her adult married son so that he could not be seen crying;
7) children were sitting aroimd, making demands on tiieir mothers, sometimes
fighting and sometimes laughing, but not crying, until after midnight when they fell
asleep.
To simraiarize: the anger and resentinent felt by some male kin prevented them
from coming to the house where the body was, though they said they worried about the
dead boy; there was obvious grief and consciousness of loss in tine second as well as in
the third instances. In the case of four, five and six, shame was involved. In the case of the
girls (as they old me), there was a combination of sadness, shame, relief because they
were in a group, consciousness of what is proper in the situation, and the pressure of
others. In the case of the adolescent boys shame almost completely overshadowed their
sadness, while tiieir consciousness of what is proper was outweighed by their fear of
being seen to cry. They were understood by their elders; young unmarried people
experience almost paralyzing shame when they are put in a position where they are
expected to do something in public, especially if crying is concemed. No one was angry
with them. In the sbcth case the motiier tried to protect her son so that he would not be
seen crying by others, and thus would not feel ashamed. Children, as I mentioned before,
are not conscious of the situation (and tiieir ideological concepts of what is proper are not
yet formed). Many more examples could be enumerated, each of them individual cases,
featuring individual personalities (quiet, bashful, talkative persons), particular kin
relations, as well as social and cultural factors, to show how every individual perceives
the world and how he or she responds to it. But as I have said, all these particularities are
recognized and covered by the concepts of Ambonwari sodety. Thus shame, anger and
resentment ,although they may appear to be trouble, are all part of the ahnosphere of the
village and recognized as such.
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
169
If someone were to enter the mourning house in the middle of the night (the practice
is that relatives cry near the body the whole night) and see people who are not crying, he
might ask himself many questions. Is this because the person is ashamed of crying in the
presence of others? Is the person tired or his grief diminished? Maybe the grief is so
strong that the person cannot even cry? Is he or she controlling himself or herself
consciously? Is he or she thinking about other things? Perhaps the person has stopped
crying because everyone else did so? Maybe he/she does not worry a all. But Ambonwari
would not ask themselves any of these questioris. The closest relatives perceive that
everyone present is sad and worried, like someone who cares. In the morning many
people will say that they did not sleep at all ( even if they did), because they grieved so
much. What they say is accepted and the mourners appreciate it. The articulated expression
along with the visibly body signs (including simply physical presence) are those which
tell people how somebody feels.
Thus "caring about" is a profoimd virtue which makes people good. "Caring about"
can show itself in all kinds of situations: giving presents to a boyfriend or a girlfriend
(like, affection); being present at mouniing (compassion, grief); visiting those who are
sick (concern); presentation of gifts, mainly food, clothes and tools; and through assist-
ance in building houses and making large canoes. But the relationship where care shows
itself most clearly is that of parenthood. This is not established by "giving birth" or "being
a father", but by giving names and by care. In Ambonwari, children of both sexes often
become gifts themselves, when they are given to those who need a child ( a boy is given
for the continuation of the lineage; a girl for an exchange marriage; a child to a couple
which cannot have children or when a man or a woman who has remained single. In
these ways people show that they care of those without children. The gift of a child is
expected to be returned over generations. But what is more important here is that the
step-parents become "real" parents by naming the child (every clan has its own personal
names) and by caring for it. If they do not care for the child, the people from his or her
natal group will take it back, and return his or her name to those who adopted it. But if
the adoptive parents care about the child, he or she will call them by the terms used for a
real mother and father. No one in the village will be allowed to mention in public anything
about the adoption, even less so the adopted person. If someone breaks this rule, the
foster parents may take him or her to court. In the majority of cases when a child was
given immediately after birth, most of the villagers, including his later bom brothers and
sisters, did not even know that the child was actually adopted. ^
"To feel Heart" genuinely represents "the way of the village", its sodal dynamics,
public sentiment and ideology, and shows itself in all kinds of sodal arrangements. People
and spirits, all those who dwell in this same world, encoimter each other by virtue of
solicitude. Ama wambun ama sikan (I care) is thus a consequence of being with one
another. By taking care of each other people diminish the anxiety (the coristant feeling of
"not being at home") (see Telban n.d.). To feel Heart (to care) in Ambonwari corresponds,
6 Adoption and name-giving are more elaborated procedures than I can show here. You cannot adopt
torn just anyone (for example from those that you call "fathers" or "mothers"); in many cases a foster mother is
present at birth, cuts the umbilical cord, buries it and later observes all the prohibitions together with the woman
who gave birth. If the foster mother does not have milk (as often happens), she may go through a very difficult
period of preparing food for the baby (squeezed sugar cane, coconut milk, sago porridge, cleaned fish, sago
grubs).
Borut Telban
it seems, to the concept of family {walytja ) among Pintupi Aborigines. This concept
denotes an ideal world of support, generosity, famiUarity and warmth (Myers 1979:352).
In the same way it seems to correspond in its fundamental construction to the condition
of fago among the Ifaluk from an atoll in the Caroline Islands, which Lutz (1988) translates
as compassion, love and sadness. It is the Ifaluk comprehension of positive human
relationships (Lutz 1988:121)
It is well to notice that tills "care" is not something that people just "do", but which
they expect from others too. In Ambonwari, where resentment can be very powerful,
"taking care" becomes an obhgation. In our time with it monetary economy, with more
and more goods being imported and people travelling more, this obligation puts
additional, previously imknown pressures on the individual. As long as others have less,
they are in need of something, and if something bad has happened to them, they are
kanambringra (poor, miserable). People feel Heart (compassion) for others. But if the
other has more, he or she has to consider those who have less or are in trouble. Thus not
only deficiency but also welfare has to be adjusted to avoid envy, jealousy and resentment.
RESENTMENT
Human relations with spirits and animals are interpreted through myths and
legends. In a distant past, they say, spirits and animals spoke the same language as people
do. The question arises why did spirits and arumals stop talking? The answer is given m
two short stories:
(1) Bush spirits did not always hide themselves as they do today. Once, they walked
around with human bodies and lived quite a "normal life". In a distant past they lent a
coconut shell witi:i decorative ou to the people. The people mixed the oil with black paint
before going to war. However, they forgot to return the shell to tiie spirits. The spirits did
not say anything, but felt sukiman (offended, resentinent) and got angry. They thought
that if they talked and were visible to people, they would fight with them all the time. So
spirits hide themselves today, and only from time to time do they take the shape of humans.
But they still punish people for their wrongdoings.
(2) Dogs used to speak in a distant past. Once upon a time, they went himting with
a man. They followed a pig, trapped it and called out to the man. "We got it, we got it.
Come quicldy and kill it!" The man came, threw his spear and killed the pig. The dogs
were happy and said to him: "Father, you can return, we will carry it back to the camp."
So ti:ie dogs carried tiie pig on tiieir backs. In the camp they cut it and smoked it. That
same night the man copulated with his wife. The dogs saw them and they started
screaming: "You have no shame on your skin, what are you doing imder our very eyes?
We are ashamed." The man had broken the taboo on copulation by the hunter on the day
he kills a pig. The dogs felt sukunan (resentment), returned to the village and told
everyone. The man and his wife were ashamed and sought revenge. The wife prepared
food and while the dogs were eating she threw panapinin (a sot of Malay-apple) into
tiieir snouts. This bereaved tiiem of their ability to speak and since then dogs can only
bark and howl: "Wau, uuuu." From ti:\ose times onwards men and women can sleep
together in the presence of the dogs without fearing that they will talk about it.
These two tales show that Ambonwari attribute to arumals and spirits of the past
Having Heart: caring and resentinent in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
171
the very same feelings and behaviour as to humans, and blame themselves for the changes
which occurred. It may also be seen that all non-hvmian actors in these myths experienced
the same bad feeling - sukunan and reacted to it by abandoning the humans and isolating
themselves from them (as humans still do with respect to one another).
The opposite of "to care" is " not to care". If a person does not care about someone
he or she should care about, he is considered bad. As a reaction to "not being cared for by
someone" Ambonwari experience a sense of insult or affront and will react to it with all
those external expressions which correspond to sukunan or mambara (both meaiiing
resentment). Neither expression is used with the verb "to feel" nor are they referred to
Heart. They are used with the verb kay-, probably the most frequently used verb in Karaw-
ari vernacular. It holds several meanings: to stay, remain, be, exist, live (at the same time
the noun ira/-holds the following mearungs: being, habit, way, ritual, fashion, custom;
kay- can also mean canoe, the most important material object in Ambonwari society). .
Thus it may be said that mambara and sukunan represent a state. To simplify I translate
these states as "resentment" or "being affronted", but one should keep in mind that
sukunan/mambara min karar (he is/stays resents) combine all kinds of emotions or
feelings such as envy, jealousy, spite, self-pity, offence, frustration and depression, for
which Ambonwari do not have special words. People will never say that they resent
someone/something but someone else will say it for them after noticing their behaviour.
This state of "feeling bad" arises when, perceiving the world, someone feels/sees/hears/
knows that he or she has been wronged (left out, forgotten, reproached for something
that he or she did not do, gossiped about...). It is an affective response to being left out of
something others share, to being excluded from joint activity or excommunicated. In
short: to "not being cared for". The parallel with popokl among the Melpa (Strathem
1968) and to unuiveivein Kalaima (Young 1983) is obvious. It seems to me that at a very
general level this relationship between "care" and its lack has a powerful irifluence on
relationships and behaviour all over Papua New Guinea. While the meaning of "to care"
can be easily imderstand by a non-Papua New Guinean, the expression "not to care"
should be looked into more closely. For this reason I will discuss the condition of
resentment in more detail. The following example, told to me by my friend JuUan
Kapyamari Yangan, is one of many:
Wasapik amanan mambara minma karandukun bini anay sapina
YOUNGER BROTHER MINE OFFENDED HE STAY SO/LIKE THIS FATHER
NOT - HE - ME
My yoxmger brother was upset (offended): "My father did
anandukun payn wurum. Sayn min any bini mi wara kupan bini
GIVE BETEL NUT CLUSTER BUT HE FATHER SO YOU NOT BIG/OLD SO
not give me a cluster of betel nuts." But the father (spoke) thus:
kamban anakirpayn wurum.
I - YOU GIVE BETEL NUT CLUSTER
"You are not a big man that I will give you a cluster of betel nuts."
Borut Telban :
Min bini ama ama wapaykar paymbiambina. Sayn min anay
HE SO II CLIMB ON THE BETEL NUT PALM BUT HE FATHER
He (spoke) thus: "I climbed on the palm." But the father
kwasambin yanma kurandukun. Mba minma yajnjukun sukunan minma
GET UP HE - HIM BEAT SO/ENOUGH HE CRY RESENTMENT HE
got up and beat him. So he cried, he stayed resentful.
karandukun min pinma simindukun binisambin ama wara ama
STAY HE HE - HIM SAY SO LATER LATER I NO I
He said so: "In the future I will not climb anymore to get betel nut."
wapaykaykir payn aurarin. Mba min sukunan karan
CLIMB - STAY BETEL NUT WANT TO GET SO/ENOUGH HE RESENTMENT
STAY/BE
So he stayed, offended,
min wara minwa wapaykaynjukun. Sayn mbayamba minma
HE NOT HE CLIMB BUT ENOUGH NOW HE
he did not climb (the palms). But now he
yangan wapaykaykan payn aurarin.
AGAIN CLIMB BETEL NUT WANT TO GET
again climbs (palms) to get betel nuts.
Someone who feels affronted is said to be mambara (meaning short-lasting
resentment). In the village, one can often hear someone saying amanok {me too) when he
or she wants to join others who are going somewhere, doing something (like playing) or
getting something (his or her portion of food). Mambara occurs among children all the
time and their parents and other relatives constantly have to coimteract it by showing
that they care. It is considered that yoimger children, "not having Heart", are allowed to
some extent to demand things at the experte of their elders. When a child does not get
enough meat with its sago porridge (while others, in his opinion, do) it will try to extort
more. Quite often a child threatens others (those he reasonably expects to care about
him) by saying: "All right, I'll go straight to the doorway and fall down from the house:"
When the three-year old Sangirmari did not get from his mother something he wanted,
he started to beat his seven-month old sister Maya, which his mother was breast-feeding
in her lap. Siblings and parents try to soothe this kind of resentment quickly, either by
giving the child more or by making promises. A different case arises when a sibling eats
all the food without sharing it with others. The others will talk loudly about how bad she
or he is, does not care, does this all the time etc., and the child will shortly feel ashamed
of its doings. But if only one child is left out, it will start crying or be on the verge of
crying. When others call it later to join them and get the same thing, it will not even look
172
_Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
at them and will not approach. It may even say pathetically: "It does not matter, you can
take it all, I don't care about it," and wUl walk away.
In those who experience sukunan, a long-lasting condition of resentment, this may
lead to brooding anger and revenge. Accordingly there will always be someone trying to
comfort such a person. Ambonwari often find themselves caught between two people
who are angry with one another, and their kin relationships are such that they cannot
help either of them.. Brothers can, for example, join opposite sides in a quarrel or fight.
Let me present some more examples. A young man who was always able to find
work (and thus had money) was married to a young woman. After she gave birth to a
stillborn baby she was seen going around with other men. Her husband kicked her out
of the house. Some sbc months later another girl displayed a liking for this yoimg man
and he did not object. His ex-wife became obviously jealous, her pride was hurt. I
emphasize once more that Ambonwari do not have words for such "emotional feelings"
as jealousy and envy. They said that she "worried" about him, stiU "cared" about him (she
felt Heart). She developed sukunan (resentinent) tiiinking that her ex-husband was still
hers and tiiat no other woman should get him. One evening she attacked her rival (not
her ex-husband!) witii a pocket krüfe and cut her face badly. The man stayed completely
out of the quarrel which was brought to court.
A similar case, but one where the threats were not realized, happened when a girl
who had remained single for some time felt sukunan after another girl married a man
who - in her opinion - should have married her. Considering sodal "rules" she was right.
The girls were from fraternal dans and tiie elder should have had priority rights. But as
Ambonwari now follow "free marriage", people let tiiem dedde themselves. She walked
aroimd the village threatening to sbike the girl with a bush knife and complaining that
she had been wronged. Nothing happened. Though in this case the man was aheady
married, he again stayed out of the matter, but it produced fierce reactions from his wife's
kin. Other women said of the older girl: "She is not a real woman. If she were a real
women she would do it. But she is not." The girl, however, persisted and after six moths
the man left his wife for her.
Both of these cases feature a motive for sukunan. There were past events affecting
U\e above relationships; sodal alliances between "houses" and groups; promises and lies
between Üiose involved; involvement of others; shame and pride; the fear among girls
(and to a lesser extent among boys) of being left alone.
There were many other aspects defining the perception of ihe world around for
every single ador in each case, and for those who merely observed them (including myself).
It would be impossible to investigate every single aspect for every single person. And
Ambonwari certainly do not investigate them because they are part of tiieir world and
people are more or less familiar with such situations. What they do investigate (in the
forum of court) are those important facts that were hidden by the actors.
I showed above that tiiose emotions which we call envy, jealousy and self-pity, and
for which Ambonwari do not have words, reveal themselves as a state of resentment. In
the following discussion I have to indicate first, how we explain these feelings in our
own sodety. The definitions are from The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical
Prindples.
Borut Telban
174
ENVY - to wish oneself on a level with (another) in some respect, or possessed of
(something which another has).
JEALOUSY - troubled by the beUef, suspicion or fear that the good which one desires
to gain or keep for oneself has been or may be diverted to another; resentful towards
another on account of known or suspected rivalry.
RESENTMENT - an indignant sense of injury or insult received, or of wrong or
affront done to some person or thing to which one is attached.
- a strong feeling of ill-wiU or anger against the author or authors of a wrong or
affront; the marüfestation of such feeling against the cause of it.
In short, envy and jealousy are both related to the desire to have or to be something
someone else has or is, while resentment is the reaction or response to being wronged
(something that was or I supposed to be mine was diverted to someone else).
In Ambonwari an everyday achievement is successful fishing. If someone has fish
in his canoe and I paddle by and see them, he has to give me some.' If he does not, I will
not feel envious or jealous because of his fishing success, but resentful and offended or
even angry. If he continues to keep everything for himself, I will call him karisikin (stingy,
lit. strong) and maman (bad). I wül say that he is sandikambayn amindar (a man who
eats alone all the time) that min panatna or min pasa (he is important to himself oiüy). If
he happens to be very successful for a long period and does not change his stingy habit I
will tell others how bad he is. Some other people will probably say the same and soon he
will get sick, or some yoimg boys or men will steal things from his garden, his betel nut,
his tools or whatever. But this does not mean that people just give away whatever they
have. Given things are remembered and require reciprocity. I was told shortly after my
arrival that I should not treat everyone who is sick, not take or give away prints, not give
tobacco to those who did not bring me food. I was told this by the very people I stayed
with dauy and who were constantly asking me for things they wanted from me.
Yoimg boys and girls learn generosity from childhood. They are well "organized"
when they go fishing together or looking for eggs of wild fowl. After they return from
such "gathering" trips their stories go as follows: "I found an egg first and gave it to
Sangtrmari. Kapim found two, gave me one and one to Imbianmari. Sangirmari foimd
four and each of us got one. I got two more and gave them to Kapim and Imbianmari.
Thus each of us had two eggs. When we found two more we decided to cook them in
leaves and eat hem." In everyday hfe such stories are heard all the time among children
and among adults too.
Resentment is feared, as I have already shown, in relatior\ships between himians,
between humans and spmts and between spirits themselves. One of the first things a
yoimgster is told when entering the men's house for the first time, is that he should not
7 This is not only between close kin but more or less throughout the whole viUage. Of course one does
not expect to get fish from poor people, from a married woman/man paddling alone (if I am a man/woman) or
from people one does not talk to very much, and so on. On the other hand, there are relatives one seeks out to
give fish to (a man's sister's children for example). Raymond Fv^va. Primitive Polynesian ^co/jo/njdescribes
similar variable "obligations" among a group of fishermen (cited in Schoeck 1969:30).
Having Heart: caring and resentment in Ambonwari, Papua New Guinea
175
have sex in certain designated "ancestral places of spirits". Such places represent a habitat
where sphits dwell and the spirits would feel ii\sulted and wronged. How they take
revenge and pimish people, can be seen on two carved posts in the main men's house: on
the first a huge snake bites a man's penis, on the second a snake enters a woman's vagina.
Although people imderstand that a business can be successful only if goods are
paid for and not given from a store free of charge, owners continually have to give them
either on indefinite loan or for nothing. Thus, all businesses in Ambonwari collapse shortly
after they begin. If one does not follow the "good way" of giving things away, someone
will break into the store and steal the goods. Similar situations catch the eye in individual
houses. People are afraid of visitor's demands and hide most of their possessions such as
money, clothing, fuel, tobacco, i.e. mostly recently introduced goods. They do not want
to give them away but they are also afraid of the resentment of those who might see
them. When visitors come near the hoiise (they never it without invitation) the house
owner will usually repeat several times that there is no food in the house, pan kaya
(very-nothing), apia kambra apia san (we stay nothing), that they have eaten plain sago
porridge, kambra karis (nothing porridge). And the visitor will reply that it does not
matter, wara mariawk (no talk), that it is O.K. They will share betel nut and depart with
good will.
The subjects mentioned above are familiar. Helmut Schoeck refers to Eric Wolf's
concept of "institutionalized envy" among peasant commimities in Latin America. The
ubiquitous fear of such envy "means that there is little possibility of individual economic
advancement and no contact with the outside world through which the community might
hope to progress. No one dares to show anything that might lead people to think he was
better off (1969:47). Although this applies to Ambonwari as well, the notion of
"institutionalized envy" should be used with care. I think envy is so primordial (Foster
(1972:165) calls it a panhimian phenomenon), that it is "institutionalized" to some extent
in every society, i.e. it is either institutionally suppressed or recognized and accepted.
What seems important to me are the social dynamics which incorporate envy into their
structure. Such s social sentiment becomes part of everyone's Heart. Ambonwari do not
say "She envies him" or "She feels envious", they say "She is in a state of resentment".
Such a state, experienced through the interaction between people, forms, influences and
articulates aspects of social and cultural life which then become institutionalized.
Epstein (1992:266) depicts the Tolai as strikingly different from those societies which
Schoeck considered to be envious. He says that on the Gazelle Peninsula the desire to
achieve and to compete outweighs the risk of becoming the object of someone else's
envy. However, Epstein talks about "competition between Tolai communities", while Wolf
and Schoeck discuss "individual economic advancement" within one commimity. In short,
there is a great difference between behaviour inside the village (among your own folk)
and between villages. The social dynamics I have discussed in this paper derive from
and guide the relationships between those who are in intimate daily commtmication.
People from other villages are "others" and other social sentiments, ideologies and
dynamics are associated with these relationships.
Borut Telbai\ )
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BESEDA O AVTORJU
Borut Telban, mag., po osnovni izobrazbi
farmacevt, se je v svojem podiplomskem študiju
posvetil antropologiji. S krajšimi premori je od
leta 1985 pa vse do srede 1992. raziskoval med
domorodci Papue Nove Gvineje. V tem obdobju
je napisal več člankov, od katerih je najpo-
membnejši People, Illness, and Plants: Ethno-
medicine in The Highlands Fringe of New
Guinea. To je bil tudi naslov njegove magistrske
naloge. V Oxfordu je imel letos otvoritveno
predavanje na temo strahu, trenutno pa
zaključuje doktorat na Research School of Pacific
Studies na Avstralski državni univerzi.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Borut Telban. M.A., is a pharmacist by
training but has dedicated his post-graduate
work to anthropology. Between 1985 and mid
1992 (with short intervals) he performed
research among the aborigines of Papua New
Guinea. During this period he wrote several
articles, the most important being People,
Illness and Plants: Ethnomedicine in the
Highlands Fringe of New Guinea, which is also
of his Master of Arts' thesis. This year, he held
an opening lecture in Oxford on the theme of
fear and is presently completing his doctorate's
thesis at the Research School of Pacific Studies
of the Australian National University. ^
178