Yam Cycles and Timeless Time in Melanesia
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: Western and Melanesian cultures frame time differently. The Western concept of time is mainly linear, whereas with the Abelam of Papua New Guinea it is primarily episodic and organized around a cycle of ceremonial yam growing. In episodic time, current events are thought to be repetitions in an unchanging temporal reality; in linear time, events cause change gradually. From the Abelam perspective, real change can only occur cataclysmically via a total restructuring of the world. Such notions fit comfortably with cargo cult beliefs and contemporary Melanesian anxieties concerning the year 2000.
Source: Ethnology
DOI: 10.2307/3773814
Author: Richard Scaglion
Language: English
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W21057631