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Structure and Dynamics

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SPACE AND PERSON IN THE TROBRIANDS: THE SELF AS LIVING AND DEAD

Abstract

The Trobriand language contains two spatial markers, o and wa, which designate types of space, space of the living and space of the dead. All geographic space in the Trobriand world is assigned into one or the other of these two categories. This essay delves into the hows and whys of this and illustrates why such a seemingly simple topic as space has proven to be so ethnographically and linguistically challenging

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