Ancestral Presence

Cosmology and Historical Experience in the Papuan Highlands

By: Eric Hirsch

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Paperback | 1 August 2022 | Edition Number 1

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258 Pages

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23.4 x 15.6 x 2.3

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Ancestral Presence tells a history that has more than one history in it while also telling the story of the relation between worlds.

For the Fuyuge people of the Papuan highlands, the past is not âhistoryâ in a conventional sense. For them, the world and its history derive from a creator force called Tidibe which is central to Fuyuge cosmology: the Fuyuge are at the âcentre of the worldâ. But Fuyuge people are part of another history, too: they have experienced decades of mission and government influence from centres of power located elsewhere, to which their mountain home is marginal and remote. Through a detailed exploration of Fuyuge myth, changes to ritual life and cosmology, Eric Hirsch weaves an account of the relationship between these two histories. He documents the real changes wrought by colonialism, government and Christianity from the late nineteenth century to the turn of the millennium. Yet this is not a story of âcontinuity and changeâ. Hirsch demonstrates how transformation was always central to Fuyuge life: changes brought by missionaries and government were processes they themselves initiated in the ancestral past through Tidibe, the cosmological creator force.

Engaging in debates that have been pivotal to Melanesian anthropology, the book presents an ethnographically rich account of a distinctive world, cosmology and ideas of historical change. It also raises questions regarding assumptions central to Western History, its worldview and ideas of historical time.

Industry Reviews

"Ancestral Presence is a rich, insightful, and enjoyable ethnography, and Hirsch makes important contributions to the field. By showing how continuity and change are not necessarily mutually exclusive, Hirsch meaningfully intervenes in key ongoing debates within the anthropology of Melanesia. [...] This book merits a wide audience." - Dario Di Rosa in Pacific Affairs

"I found Ancestral Presence to be an engaging account of a Melanesian lifeworld that successfully draws on key studies in Melanesian anthropology to outline a nuanced approach to the question of cultural continuity and change that is grounded in important insights derived from the Fuyuge's perspective." - Christiane Falck in Oceania

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