Growing Artefacts, Displaying Relationships

Ludovic Coupaye is a Lecturer in Material Culture Studies at the Department of Anthropology of University College London, a member of the Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l’Oceanie (CREDO, Marseille), and teaches anthropology of Pacific Arts at the École du Louvre in Paris. He has been a teaching fellow at the Sainsbury Research Unit (UEA) and assistant curator at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.

• ProlegomenonChapter 1. Getting there, Meeting the ThingsEncountersTowards the First EncounterEncounters in DisplayThe General SettingThe Structure of the BookChapter 2 – Of Yams and EthnographyYams as ArtefactsGeneral Description of the Plant: A Bi-polar ArtefactGeneral Description of the TuberShapes, sizes, and colour as criteriaThe skin: sëpëThe root system: mëgiGeneral Description of the VineThe stem and its end: paatë and kutëLeaves (gaaga) and flowers (maawë)Local ClassificationsKa classificationWaapi classificationYam Behaviour and ReproductionGeneral description of reproduction and behaviourSett selection and the value given to the different partsKa and waapi behavioursThe aliveness of yamsYams in BooksThe Historical and Cultural Depth of a Botanical ArtefactYams and Gardening in island MelanesiaYams in the SepikFrom Divides to “Semi-Objects”, from Sociality to TechnologyChapter 3. Objects, Technology and Art“How do we make powerful things?” or the Question of Technical Origins of ObjectsTechnology as an Anthropological ProblemThe Problem of DefinitionThe Problem of Anthropological DiscomfortThe Problem of Materialistic DeterminismThe (Incomplete?) Return of Things: Globalisation and Consumption“Black Boxes”, “Blind Spots” and Other “Elephants in the Corner”: The Haunting Presence of TechnologyTechnology as an Anthropological Approach to Techniques: Francophone vs. Anglophone angles?Art and TechnologyGell’s Premises and the Halo of Technical Difficulty of ArtworksPower, Beauty and the Question of Technical OriginThe Humility of Things and the Humility of Techniques (again)Chapter 4. Jëbaa (“work”): Processes of materialisationTechnology and Operational SequencesThe Basic Operational SequenceRisky formalisation? Operational Sequences and “Scientists” AnxietiesOn Description of Technology: Temporality, Scales, and Components of Operational SequencesComponents, descriptors, criteria, elementsThe Selective Heterogeneity of Sequences as BiographiesThe Long Yam Technical System: An overviewSequences as a biography of long yamsGrowing Long Yams: A Note on Reasons and CausesSome principles of yam cultivationThree Accounts of the Gardening YearAlex Jalëmba’s accountThe succession of gardensOperations and durationKulang’s accountTwo Nëmadus’ accountsNew Elements in the Technical SystemAdjusting PhasesPhases of waapi gardeningPlanting the waapiSelecting the position of the kutapmëDigging the waaguPlacing the tawurëm sëwaaFilling up the waaguPreparing the tëkëtBuilding up the tëkët and the kutapmëPlanting the waapi settBuilding the horizontal trellis jaabëStaking the vines on the jaabë.106Checking the sett and removing any secondary tubersPlanting the “second line” of waapiWeeding: gwaalë waaraBuilding the taawu‘Sleeping with the yams’ (waapi rasëgë kwasëgë)Maintaining a fire in the waapi yaawiEating inside the waapi yaawiTalking to, and about the yams: the mouth power of spells, blowing and discoursesThe song-spells manëgupThe blowing: jaabu, yamabi, or yapëjurëSpecific operations and behaviours.Prepare ‘fertilizer’Phases of Ka gardeningPreparing the planting sessionBuilding the shelterGathering suppliesPreparing the settsThe work session: planting the kaGeneral organisation and timeDigging the holeBringing the settsPlanting the settAftermathConclusion: Transecting Nyamikum’s lifeChapter 5. Collectives as ComponentsSëpëkwapa: The BodyOn GesturesOn Bodies and SubstancesJëwaai: Blood, Power and ScentKamëk: the land as domainYaabu: “Roads” that ConnectKëm (“clans” and “villages/hamlets”) and gay (place)Këm as hamletsKëpma and the role of landSubterranean AgentsWaalë, Water-Hole EntitiesGu, waterVëmëk, the One-Who LooksNyaa, the SunBaapmu, the MoonMaasë, the RainNon-Human “Agents”: Gwaal and GwalduKudi and Bulu (“Speeches”)Maatu: the Stone and its Warden(s)Elements for the Description of a ShrineThe Kajatudu Stone Warden and his RoleTransect of CollectivesChapter 6. Waapi Saaki: Aligning RelationshipsA Waapi Saaki (Kaagu) at Kumim ame (June 16th, 2003)Preparing for the CeremonyThe materials of decoration (cf. fig. 5.02)Hiding the waapiLast days of preparationThe Waapi Saaki dayThe arrival of the waapiEvaluation of the tubersFood and nyëgwës-maasa (Tobacco and betel-nut)Public speechesThe night dance: KaaguDistribution of Pig MeatThe Course of the NightAftermathA Cut in the MeshworkThe series of long yam ceremoniesShort yam ceremoniesMoving eastward: a mythical geography?The web of the spider, the network of stonesThe Making of EfficacyEfficacy as a Point of Contention: Two DebatesEfficacy or Innovation? Lemonnier and Latour against determinismsWarnier’s efficacy: targets and subjectsEfficacy for what and according to whom: Some Preliminary IdeasEfficacy for artefact: How to encapsulateEfficacy for agents: Encapsulating efficacy and determinismsChapter 7. Of Properties of Artefact: (Food, Valuables and Images)Yams as food: nourishing substancesYams as valuables: appropriate connectionsYams as images: Visual and material connections“Abelam Art”: Iconicity and Forge’s Questions on Style and MeaningIndexes of Agency: Pragmatics and Enchantment of TechnologyInvolution and “technologies”The Aesthetics of Yams.Creating the Aesthetical Conduct: Contrasts and MetaphorsContrasts as necessary contradictionsMetaphors that openDisplaying-While-Concealing Relationhips“Style” as the Meaning of LifeConclusionChapter 8. Conclusions: Displays and SproutsA sort of Waapi Saaki: A Lining up of ArgumentsEthnography of Things, Ethnography through ThingsA Technology of YamsYams a Social Forms, Waapi Saaki as SociologySproutingsOf Masses, Volumes and Dimensions: Density and Fractality of ThingsAgency, Involution and BundlingProperties, Processes and Technology“La Technologie, Science Humaine”bibliography

“As a descriptive study of Abelam long yams and yam growing, the book succeeds at many levels. The ethnographic reports are rich and detailed, adding much to what we know of Abelam culture specifically, and by extension, to Melanesian studies more generally… Abelam yam displays and rituals intentionally ‘give to see’ (donner à voir) various forms of sociality and other aspects of their lives. This volume delivers valuable ethnographic information about Abelam yam growing and, in engaging with a wide assortment of topics linked with it, provides the readers with much food for thought.” · The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology"…a valuable attempt to bring the influences by which the author was trained—important French writers from the 1930s to the present not already well-recognized in English-written anthropology—into several productive debates in contemporary English-written anthropology."  ·  Fred Damon, University of Virginia