Maring Mythology: The Study of the Social and Educational Function of Myth in a Rapidly Changing New Guinea Society

FAIN: FA-11390-76

Georgeda Buchbinder
CUNY Research Foundation, Queens College (Flushing, NY 11367-1575)

To study the fiction of the Maring peoples of New Guinea thus rounding out the picture of the Maring culture by concentrating on its more humanistic aspects. Maring fiction, known as Terurn, is of particular interest partly because some of their motifs represent1,'significant departure from previous overt social norms, e.g. cannibalism, and are beginning to reflect Maring contact with Western culture. Grantee is studying this body of literature for contemporary and traditional Maring society, paying particular attention to the spontaneous role of stories in Maring social life, giving equal emphasis to the content of the stories and the content of the stories and the context in which they are told.