NUCLEAR NATIVITY: RITUALS OF RENEWAL AND EMPOWERMENT IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS [Hardcover]

LAURENCE MARSHALL CARUCCI (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

The leading authority on the lifeways of the Enewetak people explores the rituals, customs, and meanings of the Kurijmoj festival. Illuminating the empowering aspects of rituals involved in feasts, competitive games, speeches, dances, songs of apocalypse, and gift giving, Carucci offers a wealth of insights into a celebration the Enewetak people have made uniquely their own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Outstanding.... A major contribution."—Journal of Ritual Studies

"Thorough and insightful. [Carucci] has presented a reading that brings closer the experience and worldview of the Marshall Islanders."—Center for Pacific Islands Studies

"Fascinating."—Choice

Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press; 1 edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875802176
• ISBN-13: 978-0875802176
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,850,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > History > Australia & Oceania > Marshall Islands

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marshall Islands Rituals, May 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: NUCLEAR NATIVITY: RITUALS OF RENEWAL AND EMPOWERMENT IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS (Hardcover)

In Nuclear Nativity, Carucci explores the rituals, customs, and meanings of the Kurijmoj festival. Feasts, competitive games, speeches, dances, songs of apocalypse, and gestures of extraordinary generosity are among the means by which Enewetak and Ujelang people celebrate the festival. Carucci thoroughly investigates the empowering aspects of these ritual devices. He gives special attention to the array of valu ables and intricate scenarios of exchange - including food and money, speeches and songs - and illuminates the ways that people create histories of Kurijmoj tracing the festival to its ancient or Christian sources depending on their positions or status in the community. Carucci's book will engage Pacific anthropologists, ethnographers, and scholars interested in the anthropology of religion and ritual.