Tale
The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans
Gunnar Landtman · 1917
Synopsis
Nearly five hundred tales, more than nine hundred with their variants, collected from 1910 to 1912 in the Fly delta and on the neighbouring coast. They include the legend of Sido, the first man to die, who opened the road to Adiri, the land of the dead, and whose journey names the places where the Kiwai live; the stories of the ancestors from whom the clans descend; and the supernatural beings who inhabit the waters and the landscapes. Many of the places mentioned are still those whose story is told today.
Context
The book appeared in Helsingfors in 1917, in the proceedings of the Finnish Society of Sciences, from the presses of the Finnish Literature Society: 471 pages, illustrated, with a map, in English. Landtman had brought back his manuscript almost complete and published it four years after his return; his major monograph on the Kiwai followed in 1927. A specialist sees in it “probably the largest collection of Melanesian mythology ever published”. More than thirteen hundred objects brought back from the same stay are in the National Museum of Finland.
Who it is for
A large collection in English, to be consulted rather than read in one sitting; the text is freely accessible online.
Prizes and reception
The Kiwai still tell the stories of the places he cites, and Sido's tale still grounds their presence on these lands.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.