‘Becoming Beautiful in the Dance’: On the Formation of Ethical Modalities of Being in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia¹

Abstract

This article examines how the ideals of self-monitoring, self-reflexivity, self-restraint, and self-governance, as well as assumptions pertaining to the mastery of the body, its movements, and forms of expressivity, lie at the heart of one of Yap's (Federated States of Micronesia) most important aesthetic institutions -the dance. In so doing, it suggests that Yapese dancing and the forms of self-vigilance that are associated with it can be understood as implicated in the formation of a distinctly Yapese moral modality of being. That is, Yapese dancing -including its performance and appreciation -plays a role in helping individuals craft particular forms of feeling, thinking, appreciating, judging, imagining, and behaving that are consonant with local understandings of the good person, the good life, and right action.

On Inaccessibility and Vulnerability: Some Horizons of Compatibility between Phenomenology and Psychoanalysis

“…The elaboration of Husserl's notion of acts of phenomenological modification as developed in this article and elsewhere (Throop , , , , ) has been worked out in collaboration with Alessandro Duranti with whom I coteach the Meta‐Epistemology and Culture of Intersubjectivity seminars at UCLA. While I have for some time now been engaged in an exploration of how Husserl's insights into temporality and the patterning of attention may contribute to anthropological theorizing and practice (see Throop ; Throop and Murphy ; Laughlin and Throop ) it was Duranti who first brought my attention to the significance of the notion of “modification” (Modifikation) in Husserl's writing.…”

“…While I have for some time now been engaged in an exploration of how Husserl's insights into temporality and the patterning of attention may contribute to anthropological theorizing and practice (see Throop ; Throop and Murphy ; Laughlin and Throop ) it was Duranti who first brought my attention to the significance of the notion of “modification” (Modifikation) in Husserl's writing. Since that time we have been working collaboratively to examine the anthropological significance of acts of phenomenological modification (see Duranti , ; Throop , , , , ). Duranti's long‐standing interest in Husserl is perhaps first most explicitly evident in his early work on truth and intentionality (Duranti ).…”

Moral Moods

“…They are instead always mediated through various sensory, emotional, embodied, and mooded modalities of being. The ways that we are conditioned to move, balance, see, touch, hear, taste, and smell and to feel particular emotions, sentiments, motives, and moods may thus all become configured by and inform particular moral modalities or ethical assumptions (see Howes ; Throop , , ). Such feelings, emotions, sentiments, and moods can guide our attention to salient aspects of a particular situation or interaction that may then be taken to have relevance for our moral modes of being‐in‐the‐world (Throop ), while also allowing a moral dilemma to remain closely bound to our being through time.…”

Walking on the village paths: Kanaawoq in Yap and rarahan in Yami

“…14 The attitude of seeing the 'path' as the teacher, expecting one to be vigilant and respectful while walking on the path, has demonstrated the Yapese valuation of being humble and respectful-to the environment and to other people. The norms of walking on the path are similar to those of Yapese dancing: mastery of one's own bodily movements is an achievement in selfrestraint and self-governance (Throop 2009). Yet the 'lesson' of walking is somehow different.…”