Narratives of self and other: Auto/biography in Papua New Guinea

Henry, Rosita

Abstract

It is currently a widely held view among scholars in the humanities and social sciences that one of the ways humans construct selfhood is through the stories that we tell about ourselves and about others. Yet, anthropological and linguistic studies on Papua New Guinea (PNG) reveal that, while humans may indeed construct selfhood through narratives, such narratives do not necessarily involve the teller as a character in the story. In other words, they are not autobiographical in the way this genre is typically defined in literature studies – that is, as a literary genre denoting the retrospective telling of one’s own life – often synonymously termed “life writing”.

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Celebrating Indigenous Voice: Legends and Narratives in Languages of the Tropics and Beyond

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9783110789836

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Publisher

De Gruyter

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Publisher Location

Berlin, Germany

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DOI

10.1515/9783110789836-012