At the centre of this study is a shaman's chant performed during a three-week long feast in the eastern Himalayas. The book includes a translation of this 12-hour text chanted in Apatani, a Tibeto-Burman language, and a description of the events that surround it, especially ritual exchanges with ceremonial friends, in which fertility is celebrated. The shaman's social role, performance and ritual language are also described. Although complex feasts, like this one among Apatanis, have been described in northeast India and upland Southeast Asia for more than a century, this is the first book to present a full translation of the accompanying chant and to integrate it into the interpretation of the social significance of the total event.
- ISBN10 9004175784
- ISBN13 9789004175785
- Publish Date 2 March 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country NL
- Imprint Brill
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 402
- Language English
- URL brill.com/product_id30615