Mana: An Anthropological Metaphor for Island Melanesia

‘Press the Button, Mama!’ Mana and Christianity on Makira, Solomon Islands

“…For Keesing, contemporary linguistic and ethnographic evidence suggests a 'tripartite usage of mana as stative verb, active verb, and abstract noun' (Keesing 1985: 203). Recent scholarly writing on mana generally agrees with Keesing (Blevins 2008;Blust 2007;Keesing et al 1989;MacClancy 1986;Tomlinson 2006).…”

Hierarchy and ‘Heroic Society‘: Manam Variations in Sepik Social Structure

“…All tanepoa are believed to have the capacity to influence the health of their villagers and the prosperity of their gardens. This quality of potency or efficaciousness, referred to as marou by the Manam, appears to be a cultural variant of the concept of mana associated with chiefs and chiefly lineages throughout Polynesia (Goldman 1970;Sahlins 1963) and island Melanesia (Keesing 1984;MacClancy 1986).…”

Codrington,Keesing, and CentralMelanesianmana: Two Historic Trajectories ofPolynesian Cultural Dissemination

“…But the manner in which mana is addressed in da Col and Graeber's foreword to the inaugural edition of HAU shows the need for conceptual clean‐ups. As indicated by MacClancy (), mana has not only become an anthropological metaphor for island Melanesia. Taking his cue from Lévi‐Strauss, MacClancy finds that mana serves as a floating signifier, at the servitude of all thought, among the symbols in a pure state, ‘which “oppose themselves to the absence of meaning ( signification ) without requiring any particular meaning […] for themselves” ’ (Lévi‐Strauss , in MacClancy : 148, italics in original; see also da Col : 5).…”

“…As indicated by MacClancy (), mana has not only become an anthropological metaphor for island Melanesia. Taking his cue from Lévi‐Strauss, MacClancy finds that mana serves as a floating signifier, at the servitude of all thought, among the symbols in a pure state, ‘which “oppose themselves to the absence of meaning ( signification ) without requiring any particular meaning […] for themselves” ’ (Lévi‐Strauss , in MacClancy : 148, italics in original; see also da Col : 5). In da Col and Graeber's version, mana becomes an emblem for the golden decades when anthropology was fab; when anyone with serious intellectual ambitions was expected to be familiar with key anthropological debates; and when advances in philosophy frequently were inspired by ethnographic writings.…”

“…. ] for themselves" ' (Lévi-Strauss 1950, in MacClancy 1986 in original; see also da Col 2012: 5). In da Col and Graeber's version, mana becomes an emblem for the golden decades when anthropology was fab; when anyone with serious intellectual ambitions was expected to be familiar with key anthropological debates; and when advances in philosophy frequently were inspired by ethnographic writings.…”