Skip to navigation – Site map

HomeIssues162ÉTUDES ET ESSAISTransformations of Monetary Symbo...

ÉTUDES ET ESSAIS

Transformations of Monetary Symbols in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern
p. 137-156

Abstracts

This article discusses the transformations of “monetary” systems among the Hagen people of the Western Highlands Province and the Duna people of the Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, with some cross-reference to the Wiru people also of the Southern Highlands Province. The materials demonstrate how colonial and post-colonial experiences have impacted the way these monetary forms have been perceived over time. The “worth” and “moral” weight of the shell valuables that were used prior to the introduction of paper money and coins were integral to definitions of self and personhood. The decline of indigenous systems of exchange has changed the definitional parameters of what we call the “relational-individual” within the group and the ways in which transactions of all kinds are conducted. Reflecting on this point, the people themselves have used this topic of alterations in the kinds of monetary forms they employ in transactions to construct their own narratives of historical transformations.

Top of page

References

Bibliographical reference

Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, “Transformations of Monetary Symbols in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea”L’Homme, 162 | 2002, 137-156.

Electronic reference

Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, “Transformations of Monetary Symbols in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea”L’Homme [Online], 162 | avril-juin 2002, Online since 03 July 2007, connection on 29 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/lhomme/159; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/lhomme.159

Top of page

About the authors

Pamela J. Stewart

By this author

Andrew Strathern

By this author

Top of page

Copyright

CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

The text only may be used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

Top of page
Search OpenEdition Search

You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search