Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands by McArthur, Phillip
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands by McArthur, Phillip

Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands

"We joked often--laughed to the point of crying (that deep visceral laughter)--not just about the subversive antics...
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
SKU: 9780824897611
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 30 left in stock
Author: Phillip McArthur
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $1,243.83
10 customers are viewing this product
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands by McArthur, Phillip

Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands

$1,243.83
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands by McArthur, Phillip

Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands

$1,243.83
Author: Phillip McArthur
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description

"We joked often--laughed to the point of crying (that deep visceral laughter)--not just about the subversive antics of Letao, but to all the allusions to how he, my friend, and I, were tricksters in our own right, moving between our cultural worlds, illuminating ambiguities and celebrating them."

This rich, experimental ethnography plays within the margins of mythology and ethnographic practice to pursue a decolonizing method of inquiry and intercultural engagement. Through a range of mischievous narratives about the mythological trickster Letao, a riM̧ajeļ (Indigenous Marshall Islander) storyteller takes the author on a journey into a deep cosmological and epistemological past and back into the colonial and imperial present. Transcribed in this book, the simultaneously effortless and pointedly deliberate conversations between author Phillip H. McArthur and respected riM̧ajeļ elder Kometo Albōt subvert and dismantle boundaries of time, culture, and religion.

Through lighthearted dialogue, Kometo explores serious histories of imperial abuse, war, atomic bomb testing, ideologies of social power, decolonization, Christianity, magic, sex, and death. He plays upon a range of ambiguities such as the slipperiness of mythic discourse, ethnographic entanglements, ambivalent analogies about Americans, cosmological musings about Western and Indigenous deities, the complexities of matrilineal kinship and modern manifestations of power, the interplay of magic within politics and religion, the social efficacy of ideologies of deception and revelation through divination, the way by which risky topics and profane stories bring the sacred into relief, and prophecies that presage the end of culture and the death of the trickster.

In this way of relating, the boundaries blur between ethnographer and subject and the theories of myth and folklore--all become part of the dialogic process. The author critically attends to his positionality, as well as to how Kometo slyly positions them through his jokes and in drawing the author into trickster mythologies. Written in a narrative style that combines transcribed dialogue, poetic ethnographic descriptions, applied theory and sharp analysis, and storytelling, this book grants us insight into a decade-long friendship and honors the wisdom of a trickster.

Author: Phillip McArthur
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 10/31/2024
Pages: 302
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780824897611

About the Author
Phillip H. McArthur is professor of anthropology, cultural sustainability, and integrated humanities, and affiliated faculty of history and Pacific studies at Brigham Young University-Hawai'i.
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review

Related Products

Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83
Example product title
HK$1,243.83
HK$1,243.83

Recently Viewed Products