Schieffelin.PerformanceCulturalConstructionReality

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Performance and the Cultural Construction of Reality

Author(s): Edward L. SchieffelinSource: American Ethnologist, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Nov., 1985), pp. 707-724Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association

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performance and the cultural construction of reality

EDWARD L. SCHIEFFELIN-Institute for the Studyof Human Issues

introduction: meaning-centered analyses of ritual

In this paper I will assess the limitations of symbolic analyses of ritualthat take the form,

primarily,of a meaning-centered examination of ritual text and emphasize the critical impor-

tance of the nondiscursive rhetoricaland performativeaspects of ritual.Iwill supportthe claim

that symbols are effective less because they communicate meaning (thoughthis is also impor-

tant)than because, through performance, meanings are formulated in a social rather han cog-nitive space, and the participantsare engaged with the symbols in the interactionalcreation of

a performance reality, ratherthan merely being informed by them as knowers. Iwill illustrate

the point by an analysis of the drama and rhetoric of curing seances among the Kalulipeopleof Papua New Guinea.

limitations of the meaning-centered approach Ever since anthropologists turned from

viewing rituals in purely structural-functionalterms and began looking at them as systems of

symbols, a great deal of research has focused on how rituals work: what do ritual symbols

mean, how are they communicated, and how do they accomplish the social and psychologicaltransformationsthat they do.1

The most recent anthropological studies of ritual share a similar perspective on the questionof the efficacy of ritualsymbols. The major premise is that symbols are effective because theysomehow formulate or "make sense" of particular,often problematic, cultural, or psycholog-ical situations and then reframe, transform,or intensify this "sense," leading to a new orien-

tation of the participantsto their situation. SherryOrtner has given perhaps the clearest char-

acterization of this idea:

Asactorsparticipatenoremploysymbolicconstructs,heirattitudes ndactionsbecomeoriented nthe directions mbodied nthe formandcontentof theconstructiontself; heconstruct-the model ifyou will-makes it difficult for them to "see" and respond to the situation in a different way [Ortner1978:8].

Recent discussions of the efficacy of ritualperformancesemphasize thatthe trans-formation of the self and the social state of the participants is closely bound to

changes in symbolic meaning within the ritual. I examine the limitations of this

meaning-centered approach by showing thatin the Kalulicuringseances, the forceof the transformationcomes across on the nondiscursive dramaturgicaland rhe-torical levels of performance. The spiritmedium and audience together co-createa new reality that recontextualizes particularproblematical social circumstances

and enables action to be taken in regardto them. [PapuaNew Guinea, ritual,spiritmediums, Kalulipeople, performance]

Copyright ? 1985 by the American Anthropological Association0094-0496/85/040707-18$2.30/1

Kaluli performance and reality 707







A basic problem for analysis, then, is to determine what are the problematic realities in the

culture to which the symbolic construction addresses itself, what strategicorientationstoward

those realities are embodied in the construct, and finally, how does it work? How in itspeculiarconstruction does the symbolic construct accomplish its task in a powerful and convincing

way, so that its respondents in fact accept it as an accurate renderingof "reality," and adopt

its implied orientation of attitude and/or action (Ortner 1978:8)?Most investigators have addressed this problem by focusing particularlyon the symbolic

meanings embodied in the structureand content of the ritualitself,viewing ritualacts and state-

ments as a kind of coded communication, a cultural text. The analysis of ritualthen takes the

formof a kind of textual analysis:

[It san]analysisof semantic tructurendprocess hat eeks o revealhow theproblematichenomenahavebeen portrayedndinterrelated,y meansof various emanticdevices,so as to cast the situationinthe light nwhich it in factemerges Ortner 978:8].

This basic programhas been carried out in a number of differentstudies that,although drawn

from sources as diverse as linguistics, literarycriticism, and psychoanalysis, ultimatelyexhibit

very similar analytical strategies. Whether the analysis emphasizes the multivocal, synthesiz-

ing, internal structure of the symbols themselves (as does Turner1967), or the narrative,struc-

tural, or psychological relations between them (cf. Levi-Strauss1967; Devereux 1956), or in-

tegrates all of these, the main weight of the analysis rests on a demonstration of the permuta-

tions of meaning in the symbolic materials themselves.2 The resultoften seems to imply that

the efficacy of symbols is a rather rational, intellectual business. As Kapferer(1979a) has

pointed out, it is as if the participantssomehow undergo the ritual transformationsautomati-

cally as they are exposed to the symbolic meanings and that an understandingof how symbols

are effective is simply a matter of understandingthe logic of thought that underlies them. This

kind of cognitivist emphasis on the efficacy of symbols is a bit overstatedhere, but the emphasis

is difficult to avoid when the focus of the analysis is mainly on symbolic meaning. So long as

the analysis of ritual is restricted to the meaning of symbols, understandinghow rituals work

will appear to be largely a matter of the message they communicate.

Many anthropologists have been aware of this limitation and have tried to avoid it by calling

attention to the nondiscursive dimensions of ritual, emphasizing that ritualsgain their effec-

tiveness through being enacted or performed. It is through participation in ritualsinging and

dancing, through viewing dramatic presentations of sacra, emblems, and masks, or through

being subjected to painful ordeals that participantscome to see symbolic representations as

external and having a force of their own. Vivid ethnographic accounts of exotic rituals make

this intuitively apparent. However, the means by which the performance accomplishes this,beyond providing dramatic or emphatic presentation of ritualsymbols and provoking strong

emotional arousal, is rarelyexamined. The problem is not that of recognizing the importance

of nondiscursive elements for the efficacy of ritual, but rather of understandingexactly how

they work.

In an importantpaper on ritual and political oratory, Bloch (1974) made an important step

in this direction. He argued that most meaning-centered analyses of ritualassume that symbols

operate primarilythrough their propositional force, that is, their power to convey information

about, comment upon, or formulate some particularstate of affairs. He maintained, to the con-

trary,that the significance of ritual symbols was in large part determined by the manner in

which they were presented linguistically in ritual;for him thiswas largelya matterof the highlyformalized and restricted quality of ritual language. Discussing political and ritual oratory

among the Merina of Madagascar, he argued that the highly restricted code constrains ritual

communication to structures of formulaic speech, singing, and dancing and renders the se-

mantic aspect of the ritual text so predictable and redundant that far from representingan en-

708 american ethnologist







richedand emphaticformof communication, t represents n informationallympoverishedone. While the information-carryingorceof theritualanguagesthusreduced, tspersuasiveor compellingforce is not. This"illocutionary"orce,according o Bloch(followingSearle,

Austin,andothers),resides,however, naspectsof language orm,notin its semanticcontent.

Whenpeoplefindthemselves n situationslikeritual rpoliticaloratory)wherea certain orm

is obligatory, here is no way the structure f role relationsandauthorityan be challengedexceptbyoptingout of the ritual tself andhence,outof thesocialgroup,Bloch1974:59).In

otherwords,ritual anguageand ritualmodes of communication renoteffectivemainlybe-

causethey convey information,eveal mportantulturalruths, rtransformnything n the

semantic evel. Rather,heyarecompellingbecausetheyestablishanorderof actionsand re-

lationshipsbetweenthe participantshrough estrictingndprescribinghe formsof speaking

(and,Iwouldadd, interaction)nwhichtheycanengageso that heyhave no alternativewayto act. The situation tself s coercive.

Bloch'sworkcan be usefullycriticizedon a numberof grounds.Theethnographic ecord

reveals hat he rituals anbyno meansbe universallyharacterized,s Bloch mplies, nterms

of highlyformalized anguageand rigidlyprescribedbehavior.Indeed,such ritualsmaybecharacteristicmainlyof hierarchicalocietiessuchas the Merina ather hanegalitarianoci-

eties such astheGnauof PapuaNewGuinea Lewis1980),whereritualanguage nd behavioris morelooselydetermined ndnegotiable. rvine1979)hasshownthatBloch'snotionof for-malization ombines a numberof separableaspectsof speechand behavior hatmayvary n-

dependentlyof each other,do not all imply he same sortsof restrictions f rolebehavior,and

can potentiallybe combinedin manywaysto perform ifferent indsof communicative unc-

tions.Finally,Bloch focusestoo narrowly n formalization f speech,while leavingotheras-

pectsof the performance,ituation,and contextin which the speechoccursrelativelyunex-

amined(Brenneis ndMyers,eds. 1984). Nevertheless,Bloch's undamental ontribution e-

mains:the notionthatthe efficacyof symbolsin ritual s to be soughtnot so much in theirsemanticcontentorpropositionalharacterthemeaning-centeredpproach) s in the nonse-

mantic,nonpropositional spectsof performancendlinguisticorm hatshapethecontentofritual vents and the relationsamongthe participants. hisopensa fruitful ew direction or

investigation.Kapferermoves beyond Bloch'slinguistic ocus withoutlosingsightof the importance f

semantics o arguethat rituals ffecttransformationsn symbolicmeaning hrougheffectingtransformationsn theorganization f theirperformance1979a:3).Ina remarkablenalysisofanexorcismrite nSriLanka1979b),he shows thatalthoughhemovementoward ureof the

patient s outlinedin the logicof the symbolicenactments, t is throughhe performativema-

nipulation f ritual rames,aestheticdistance,audience/participantocus,attitude,and com-mitment o the performance eality hatthe ritualactuallyworks.Kapfererirectsattention nthestudyof performancen ritual o (1)the arrangementf spaceandtheorganization f au-dienceandparticipantsnthe performanceetting,and(2)the media(song,dance,and so on)in which the symbolicaction is carriedout (1979a:7-9). It is through hangesin the organi-zationof the performancehatchangesin the roles andrelationshipsf the participantsandaudience)maybe effected.Fromhisperspective,whileformalized peechandspecialmodesofperformancemaypresent ymbolicmaterialnspecificrestrictive ays,theydo not,as Blochwould have it, render hat materialmeaningless. nstead hey serve to imposethatmeaninguponthe social eventby bringing ymbolsandcontexts nto relationwithone anotherwithin

the orderof the performance.This, however,is notmerelya matter f communication f in-formation.Performance oes not constructa symbolicreality nthe mannerof presenting n

argument, escription, rcommentary.Rather,tdoes so bysociallyconstructing situation nwhich the participantsxperiencesymbolicmeaningsas partof the processof whattheyare

alreadydoing.








Theproblemofwhatsuch a performativeealitys,how itorganizes ymbolicmaterials, ndhow it is sociallyconstructedand maintaineds the subject o which Iwill now turn. I will

explorethe issuethroughan examination f the nondiscursive spectsof the performancef

spirit eancesamongthe Kalulipeopleof PapuaNew Guinea.For hepurposes f thispaperIwill use the term"performance"roadly followingKapferer979b) o include he actionand

interaction f both the medium thecentralperformer)nd theaudience participantsndon-lookers) t theseancegathering.

the Kaluli setting

The Kalulipeople live inabout20 longhousecommunities catteredhroughouthetropicalforeston theGreatPapuanPlateauustnorthofMt.Bosavi nthe SouthernHighlandsProvinceof PapuaNew Guinea.Among hepopulation fapproximately200peopleintheearly1970stherewere about 15 spiritmediums.A medium s a manwho hasmarried spiritwoman in a

dreamorvisionexperienceoften associatedwitha severeillness.Thereafter e is capableof

leavinghisbodyin seanceandtravelingnthe invisible pirit ide of reality.At the sametime,

spiritpeople from he invisiblemayenter hisbodyand conversewiththe audiencegatheredaround.

Kaluli ppealto mediumsprimarilyorcuring llnessand forhelp in locating ostpigs.But

seances alwaysinvolve much morethanthis, providinghe setting orgeneralconversation

with the deadand with other orestspiritsandservingas a kindof entertainment. heexperi-ence of seanceperformanceor Kaluli annotbe appreciated yanoutsiderwithout ome un-

derstandingf the natureof Kaluli piritbeliefsandawarenessof spiritpresence,norwithout

understandinghatseances forma familiar itual enre nwhichKaluli articipatendthat heyknow how to evaluate.

Kalulibecome awareof thespiritpresences ntheeverydayworldof their oresthomeland.

ThePapuanPlateau s a vastexpanseof tropicalvegetationextendingoverseveral hundred

squaremiles. The interior f the forest s bewilderingo anoutsider,but o a Kalulinhis home

territory,hedetailsof thetracksandwatercourses, idgesandsago places, gardens ndhouse

sitesare as familiar sthefaces of his relatives. n he dense forestvegetationKaluliend to relyon soundsasmuchas,or more han,on sight.A rustle n theundergrowth,he callsof thebirds,thethudof a sagobeater,all alert hemto activitieshidden romview. The calls and voices of

birdsareespeciallyprominent, ivingeven an outsider hesense of hiddenconversations:n-

gryscoldings,raucous aughter, ooinginvitations. his mpressions not loston the Kaluli.To

them hesesounds mplynotonlythepresenceof birdshidden nthecanopy,butalsothemoretrulyhiddenpresenceof the spirits anemama,Schieffelin1976; Feld1982).Manykindsof

bird alls arealso the voices ofspiritpeople.Kaluli elieve heworldhasa visibleaspect,which

is thecontextof everyday ife,and an invisible ide(largely oextensivewiththeeveryday,but

hiddenfromit),which is the abode of the spiritsand the dead.The inhabitantsf each side

"showthrough"o someextent into theworldof the other.Spirits ppear o humanbeingsas

certainkindsof birdsand animals Schieffelin 976; Feld1982),andeveryhumanhas an in-

visibleaspectthatappears o thespirits s a wild pigora cassowary.Wherepeoplearecontinually eminded f andattuned o thepresenceof the unseenbythe

calls ofthe birds n theforest, pirit eancescan be seenasyetanotherwaythisrealitymanifests

itself.At the sametime,as we shall see later, eancesthemselves laborateKaluli wareness fthespirits s personalities ndgive newdepthof significanceo the calls of the birds.

Seancesmaybe calledfora variety f reasons, ncluding ntertainment,utmostcommonlyarecalledto cure illnessand to find lostpigs.One of theprinciple ausesof illness, rom he

Kalulipointof view, is thata person's nvisiblewild pig(orcassowary) spect maybe trapped








or injuredby hunters f the spiritworld,resultingn painanddisabilityor the visibleperson.If heanimal s taken rom hetrapand eatenbythespiritsbefore t canbe rescued, hepersonwill die. An even more seriouscause of illness(whichmayor maynot be involvedwiththe

trapping f the wild pig aspect)results roman invisibleattackon the victim'sbody bya witch

(sei).Asei isa livingmanor womanwithan evilaspect nhisorherheart.Thisevilthingcreeps

out of the sei's bodywhile heor shesleepsand attackshe invisibleaspectof the victim'sbody(notthe wild pig aspect),dismemberingt and hidingthe pieces for laterconsumption.Thevictimsuffers severeillness,whose symptoms orrespondo theparts f his or herbodythathavebeen (invisibly)njured.Thus,a personwhose legshavebeen cut off cannotwalk;a per-son whose headhas been removed sdelirious;a personwhose hearthas been cut outdies. Itis the job of the mediumand his spirithelpers o seekthroughouthe invisible o remove he

patient'swild pigfrom hespirit rap,orto locatehismissingbody parts ndrestore hem o his

body.

the seance performance

Ifsomeone becomes ill, his or her relativesoftenseek out a medium a:stih'nankalu,lit.

"goesout to the spiritsman")and ask him to go into the invisible o see what is the matter.A

seancealwaystakesplaceat nightand has a characteristicorm.Themedium ies on hisback

on a sleepingplatformnthe men'ssectionof thelonghouse.Heissurrounded ythemenand

youthsof the community,who sit nearbyon the floor.Thesemen arecalledthekegel,whichhas the meaningmore of "chorus" han of "audience."They orm he core of those who ac-

tively participaten respondingo the performance. hewomen,mainlyonlookers, eanoverthe nearbypartitionso the women's section or sit on the floor at some distancebehindthemen.

Whenall isready, he firesof thelonghousearebanked oprovide lmost ompletedarkness.

Aftera while there is a long hissingbreath rom he medium,which indicates hat his soul is

leavinghisbody.This sfollowedby gasping oundsandbirdcallsas the first pirit usuallyhe

medium's pirit hildbyhisspiritwife)arisesandsoftlybegins o sing.Thesong, nostalgicand

moving, s invariably bout hehillsand streamsnearwherethespirit ives.Thekegel,chorus-

ingthespirit,are drawn nto hesame mood.Whenthesongends,thespirit dentifies tselfand

peopleaskhimto go and takea look at the invisibleaspectof thesickperson.Thespirit hildthendepartsandsearches he spiritrealm o see ifthe patient'swild pigaspectis caught n a

trap.If t is, he will release t,and if the pigrunsaway,thepersonwill recover.

Ifall is well with the spiritpig, the mediumand hisspirit hildwill lookat the patient'sn-visiblebodyform o see if it has been injuredbya sei. If thas,themediumandhischild mustlocatethedismembered ortions f the victim'sbodyhiddenbythe sei and stick hembackonthebody.If heyaresuccessful nthis,thepatientwill recover.

Inthe meantime,while the mediumandhisspirit hild are off on their invisible) rrands f

healing,otherspiritpeoplearisethroughhe medium'sbodyto singandto givethepeopleatthes6ancea chance to talkto theirdeadorto other nvisiblepersonalities f the locality,andtoenjoythemselves.Seances,oftenquiteengrossingperformances,ange romdeeplymovingaspeople weep whiletalkingwiththeirdead,tofearsome ndthrilling sfierceandbelligerentspirits iseupwithgrowlingvoices, smacking ipsandthumping ndbangingon thesleeping

platform.The seance mayalso be hilariouslyalaciousas an unmarriedpiritwomanandtheyoungmen ofthe longhouse ewdly easeandprovoke ach other.In hiscontext,spiritpeopleof the localitybecomewell-known,even beloved,personalities s Kalulidevelopa closer re-

lationshipbetweenthemselvesand the invisible ide of theirworld.

All,during he performancehe kegelseated around he mediummaintain ctiveparticipa-








tion by servingas a chorus,askingquestionsandengaging n conversationwith the spirits-andby making ommentsandspeculations mong hemselvesabout hemeaningandqualityof the performancetself.Often this discussion s led by one or two self-appointedommen-tatorswho, while not in collusionwith the medium,are familiarwith hisstyleand know how

to anticipatewhat he is likely o do next.Theyoftengivea running ommentary ndinterpre-

tationof theperformances itgoes along.During he course of the night, he medium's pirit hild continueshisattemptso helpthe

patient. notherpublicationsSchieffelin 976, 1977)I haveexamined hisseancehealingpro-cess througha meaning-centerednalysis.I haveargued hatin everyday ife Kaluli end to

interpretnddealwithmanydifferent indsof situations sthough heywere situations f op-

positionorconfrontationhatcouldbesolvedbyreciprocity.llnesssassimilatedothismodel.

That s, illness s interpretedin seance)intermsof theoppositionbetween hepatientandthe

sei (orinvisiblespirithunters)who have stolen(orimmobilized)partof his orherbody.The

opposition s mediatedand resolved n a quasi-reciprocalransaction erformed y the me-dium'sspiritchildwhen he findsandreturnshe patient'smissingbody parts. Thereleaseof

the wild pigsoul from he spirit rapdiscontinues he oppositionratherhanresolving t by areciprocal ction.)Thebasicthrust f theargument,ollowingLevi-Strauss1967)citedabove,was thatby assimilatinghe patient's ufferingo a metaphoric ersionof a widelysignificantcultural cenarioof resolution,heseanceprovided means o make enseof,andto orderand

resolvehis problematic odilyexperience.Subsequent esearchn Bosavihasshownthatthis

cannotbe whathappens,at leastnotinthewayoutlinedbymostmeaning-centeredrgumentsof this sort.Iwill return o thispointlateron. Inanyevent,the seanceusuallycontinueswell

into the middleof the night,untilall of the various pirit askshave beensuccessfully orun-

successfully) ccomplished.Themedium henreturnso hisbodyand sitsup.Thisbriefdescriptionprovidesan outlineof the basic eventsin a Kaluli uring eance. Un-

derstanding hat ishappeninghere,however, smore hana matter f showing hat he seanceprovidesa logicallyandsymbolicallyplausibleresolution ora problematicituation. t salso

necessary o show why the Kaluliacceptwhattheysee in the seance as a convincing,even

compelling,reality.That s,thequestionaddressedheredoes not concern he contentof Kaluli

spiritbeliefs,but howthesebeliefsarebroughto lifeandgalvanize ocialreality.

playing the urgency of the social situation

Thecompellingqualityof the seance beginslong before he performancetself.Although

peoplesometimesrequest seancejust or he amusement ftalkingothespirits,mosts6ancesarecalledto dealwith someproblematic ircumstance.Thepeoplewho gatherabout he me-

dium in the longhouseare not excitedmerelybytheprospect f theperformance utare wor-

riedorangryaboutsomethingandhopeto obtainsome answers.Thisanxietyandexpectancy

charges he atmospherewith a certain ension before he seancebegins,andit is this tension

that he seancemustpickupanddealwith,ifit istohave an effect-and intheprocessbecome

real.Somemediumshave a keensenseof thispreliminary rgencyandplayon itto create he

proper peningmood.Waliaof Anasi,one well-knownmedium,was a master tbuilding he

tensionof communityworryandexpectation o an agonizingpitch.Whenaskedto go outto

thespirits,he wouldrespondwithdiffidence, omplaininghathe wastired, hathe didn't eel

well, or thatthe children n the longhouseweretoo noisyand woulddisrupthe seance.Thepeoplewho wantedthe seance would pleadwithhim,offerhimfood,promise o monitor he

children,and cleartheirsleepingplatformsorhimto lie on.Waliawouldcontinue o grumbleandthreaten o leave rightup untilthe momentwhen he laydownfor the seance, bywhich

timeaudiencetensionwas highandpeoplewereeagerfortheperformanceo begin.








the seance setting When the medium lies down on one of the sleeping platformsto begin

the seance, there is an atmosphere of hushed excitement. The kegel and other onlookers settle

themselves in the darkness, waiting for the arrivalof the firstspirit.Now, although this situation

is reminiscent of a Western theater audience quieting down before the curtainrises, the resem-

blance is superficial. The cultural assumptions that shape the internal structure of the seance

performance space are very different from those aroused by a proscenium stage. As a result,the implications for the relationships among the audience, actor, and charactersare also very

different. The stage in a proscenium theater defines a special space to house an imaginative

reality. It excludes the audience; that is, the audience may accept, for the period of the perfor-

mance, that they are in the presence of the court of RichardII,but not that they are partof that

court. Indeed they cannot be partof it for the performanceto retain its integrity.A member of

the audience who mounts the stage because he believes what he sees is real finds himself

among actors, not kings, disruptsthe imaginative space, and spoils the show.

Forthe Kaluli seance, the situation is reversed. In the s6ance the imaginative space of the

proscenium stage is exchanged for the liminal realm of the medium's trance, the actor (thatis,

the medium) is excluded from the performance (since his soul has left his body), and the char-acters (the spirits)then enter reality.This is accomplished by a double transferacross the break

between the visible and invisible. The medium ascends to the invisible realm while the spirits

descend to the human plane. Thus theater becomes reality,where spiritswho are birds con-

verse with men in human voices. The interactions with the characters (spirits)also have real

consequences. The thrill of fear at the appearance of a fierce and belligerent spiritis not, there-

fore, vicarious. Ifthe spirit becomes angry and causes the medium's body to thrash about on

the sleeping platform,the audience may flee the longhouse.

This structureof the performance space-where "the characters enter reality"-is one of the

shared assumptions that everyone brings to the occasion. But it must also be continually re-

confirmed during the course of the performance. Kalulinearly always approach a s6ance with

curiosity and anticipation rather than skepticism about its reality. But if their assumptions are

not sustained, they are perfectly capable of calling the medium a fraud,disruptingthe perfor-

mance, and leaving in anger and disgust. Sustaining the performance space means that the

medium must draw the audience into the task of participatingin its construction, and this is

accomplished in partthrough the songs.

the strategy of the songs

performance unity and integrity The spiritscome up one by one, and each sings a songthat is chorused by the audience. Eachsong may be followed immediately by another song, or

by a period of conversation between the spiritand the audience.

Although mediums3 did not speak about the artistic skills requiredto performa good seance

(indeed, they would deny thatthey were even present),itwas evident to an observerthatcertain

requirements had to be fulfilled if the structureof the seance was to be sustained and if the

performance was to work. One of the most importantskills was the ability of the medium to

control the focus of everyone's attention and maintain the rightunity of mood throughout the

performance.This was accomplished mainly by the medium's adept management of the songs.It is through the people's participation in chorusing the songs that their divided attention is

brought together and focused, and it is through the content of the songs (as we shall see) that

the mood of pathos and nostalgia appropriateto speaking with the spiritsof the dead (orof the

land)can be evoked and intensified.








performance momentum Most of the power and energy of the seance comes not fromcon-

versationswith the spiritsbutfromthe songs. A successful trance medium must have the abilityto compose, during performance, in trance, as many as 30 new songs, each one with a different

set of underlying implications.

These songs sung by the spiritsare gisalo songs (the same type of songs sung at gisalo cere-

monies, Schieffelin 1976), complex and layered in meaning. For our purposes, it will beenough to summarize one or two points to provide an understandingof how they can be used

as a powerful rhetorical device.

Superficially, gisalo songs seem simple enough. Their lines refer to various named places,

hills, streams, garden spots, old longhouse sites, and the like in the local forest region. These

places are framed in poetic images that evoke nostalgia, longing, and loneliness. Often the

places are referredto in such a way thatthey markout a definite path(tok)througha particular

area of forest, naming landmarksand singingthe calls of birds as though one were passing alongthere. People at the seance who are familiar with these places are led to think of people, now

dead, whom they used to know and live with.

When a spiritfirst startssinging, the people present recognize the places referred o and ea-gerly try to determine who (which spirit)is singing. As the song progresses, one can hear ex-

clamations of "There'sDogon hill! That must be my mother's brother,old so-and-so. He used

to garden there." "No, no, he also sang the Galinti pool; it's somebody furtherdownstream."

Tension mounts while people search their minds to figureout the riddle of the singer until the

song ends and the spirit announces itself. If the song has built up the rightmood, the spirit's

living relatives break down at this point and weep. Alternatively, if the spiritthat comes up is a

local place spirit,not one of the dead, there will be exclamations of welcome. Often people do

not know whether or not they will be weeping until the very last minute.

In a deeper strategy of the same kind, the song may not contain place names, but simply

mentions trees and riverpools and sago stands as though they were passed on a track withoutany indication of their actual location (Feld 1982:152). Those present are led to search their

memories for an area that would match, and the tension and speculation mount until the men-

tion of one or two place names near the end of the songs suddenly precipitates recognition of

the locality, the identity of the spirit, and is often accompanied by a flood of weeping. These

mystifications and ambiguities within the song tantalize members of the audience and force

them to turn reflectively inward, invoking the places thatthey know and love.

The focusing of attention in nostalgia and pathos is further ntensified and given momentum

by the medium's strategyin performance. To some degree the strategiesseem to be a matter of

personal style. Two contrasting examples will serve to illustratethis point.

Aiba of Kokonesi was a socially dynamic man of considerable presence. Intense and some-what intrusive, he had a disconcerting habit of suddenly being present when least expected.4

He had an extraordinary knowledge of the forest geography over most of the Kaluliregion and

was known in nearly every village. In my experience he was an opportunistic, persistent, and

manipulative individual in everyday life. Inseance, Aiba projected his spirit songs in a stronglyfocused and carefully constructed manner. He seemed to create a style aimed at centering the

seance participants'attentionon himself and what he was doing, drawingthem onto his groundof performancewhere he could control them and make them, in effect, dance to his tune. Once

those at the seance were fully engaged they were driven by his energy. His carefully pointed

songs were often deeply affecting, moving some people to tears. However, because the energy

of his performance derived mainly from himself, there was a tendency for its intensity to col-lapse between songs unless the level of tension was sustained by someone weeping.

By contrast, another medium, Walia of Anasai, was a rathermarginal character. Scruffy,

wheedling, and unreliable, he was a responder rather han an initiatorof any significantsocial

action. Yet he was a powerful trance performer.Inseance, Walia did not focus people's atten-








tion on himself.Theopeningsectionsof hissongswere insteadhighly tylizedandredundant,

providinghe opportunityo developa cohesivegroupsynchrony Feld,personalcommuni-

cation).Walia was finelyattuned o his audience'sresponseand the predictable egularityfhissongsseemed aimedatgettinghischorus o singtogether,o synchronizehemselves othesamerhythm.Once theywereunified,he did notmanipulatehem.He acted rather s an or-

chestrator ndcatalyst orgroupprocess.Itusually ookWalialonger han Aibato buildtherightmomentum,butonce he did,he tendedto sweep upthegreaterpartofthosepresentand

carry hem forwardwitha forcethat maintained ts impetus hrough pirit onversations ntilthe nextsong.

Thesongs,then,provideseveraldimensions o the performance. hesingingof them,withthe kegelchorusing he spirit,providesunityof purpose,concentration, nd rhythmo those

presentat the seance, and buildsa compellingmusical momentumhatsuppliesa sense of

energyand forwardmotion.Thementionof landsandwaters, specially n anambiguousway,provides mounting uspenseandexpectancyamong helisteners,who are ryingodeterminewho theyaresingingwith. By song'send, steepedin nostalgiaortheir andsand longing or

theirdead,theyareinthe rightmoodof emotionalexpectancy o conversewith thespirits.

the spirits Thespiritsare the centralcharactersnthe seance andprovideboth itsedifyingand itsentertaining spects.Itis in the audience'sengagementwith the spirits hatthe spiritsbecome living personalities, nd at the sametime the work of the seance gets done. Inthe

darkness,hepresenceof a spirit s markedbya changeinthe medium's oicequality.Ingen-eral,spirit oices sound rather inchedandsmaller han he medium'snormal oice,andspeakin a somewhathigherregister.Some mediumsuse the samespiritvoice for mostspiritmani-

festations,but the best,or at leastthe mostdramatic,performers ada different oice qualityforeverydifferentpirit.

Experiencedmediumswere ableto presenta cast of 20 or morespirit haracters, otcount-ingthespirits f thedead. Somespirits f a medium'socalityhad hadtraditionalelationshipswith the local community hrougha seriesof mediumsovera periodof yearsand were wellknown or even beloved by the audience.(Iwas able to trace the historyof the relationshipbetweenone such spiritand a nearbycommunityback over80 yearsto the turnof the last

century Schieffelin 977]).Other pirits ppeared nlythrough particularmediumandmightnotreappearhrough thermediumsafterhis death.Aswiththedead,theseplacespiritswereassociatedwith particularocalities,and seance participantsould oftenguess by the songswhich one was appearing.

TheKalulidistinguishourtypesof spirits hatcan appear hrougha medium.First re the

spiritsof the dead, who can precipitate greatdeal of weeping iftheirrelativesare present.Conversations ith the deadgenerally oncernsuchthingsas wherethespiritwas now resid-

ing,andwhat hadhappened ntheway of familynewssince hisdeath.Informer imestherewasfrequently lsoadiscussion o determine heidentity f the witchresponsibleor hedeath.

Mostof thespiritswho arise hrough medium,however,areplacespirits ssociatedwith a

locality.Thesespirits ftenhad distinctivepersonalities ndgainedreputationsmongseance-

goersfor theirdifferentdiosyncracies nd abilities.Forexample,one of Walia's avorite piritpersonalitiesinheritedromhismother'sbrother,who wasalso a medium)was a spiritnamed

Kidel,who lived ata placecalled Bolekini.Kidelhad a deep,friendly oice andwas known obe fondof tobacco. He wouldfrequently sksomeoneto passa smoking ube in his (theme-

dium's)direction.Whenhe cameup throughWalia,he projectedhecharacter f a tough, ar-traveledperson,who could predictwhen the governmentpatrolswouldvisit the area.Beinganolderspirit,he wouldsometimes alkabout hewayhischildrenweregrowingorcommenton recentchangesinthespiritworld.

Anotherof Walia'splace spiritswas a youngunmarried oman namedDaluami.She, like








other emalespirits,had acoy falsettovoice. Daluamiwas ratherorward ndprovocative, nd

conversationswith the youngbachelorsof the communityoftenevokedlewd and ribaldre-

partee,accompaniedby howlsof laughter hroughouthe longhouse.5Bycontrast,hercoun-

terpart, spiritwoman namedWabelei,wasshyanddemure.Shewouldbecomeupsetbymale

teasingand leave iftheyoungmenatthe seance becametoo obstreperous.

Thesespirits f thegroundusuallyperformedhemostdramatic eancetricks. none famousperformance,orexample,a spirit nvited he people attendingo briefly lluminate he me-

dium. Whentheydid so theysaw a hornbill'sbeak(from he spirit'sbirdmanifestation)roj-

ectingfromthe medium'smouth.Another piritaskedto borrowa shellnecklacein order o

dance in a Gisaroceremony n thespiritworld.A necklaceplacedon the medium's hest dis-

appeared.Some timelater,atanother eance,thespirit eturnedhenecklacestainedwiththe

fragrant egetableresinsused to anointa ceremonialdancer.

A third ypeof spiritwas calleda Newelesu.Aweedy littlemanwithanoversizedhead and

an enormouspenis, he was said to live in the top of smallwani palms(a decidedlyinferior

dwellingcompared o thegiganticbuttressedrees nhabitedbymostspirits).A Newelesuwas

a clownish,trickster-likeigurealwayslewdandmischievous. n a squeakyvoice and with ashrillhigh-pitchedaugh,he usuallydemanded o be givena woman. Hilarious onversation

wouldfollow. The Newelesuwas knownto be a witch on the spirit ide, responsibleor the

demise of animalsoccasionally ound deadanddecaying n the forest.Men in the audience

wouldfrequently skhimto "ripen" wildpigorcassowary o it would fallprey o their rapsorhunting rrows.Newelesuhadanangry treak ndwould sendthe mediumback ohisbody,

terminatingheseance ifpeopleteasedhim too much.

Finally herewere fiercespiritsknownas kaluhungo:,ordangerous,orbiddenmen.These

spiritswereknown o be roughand short empered.Theyusuallyappearedn seancesmackingtheir ipshungrily r uttering attlecries,andspokeindeep spookyvoices. Kaluhungo:were

known o strikepeopledown iftheybecameangry,andtheycouldfrightenhe audienceoutof the longhouse.Conversations ith kaluhungo:weregenerally xcessivelypoliteandcon-

ciliatory,and Kaluli ppeared o enjoythe thrillof danger hat hesespiritsprovided.Inthe courseof a seance (anddependingon the medium)a wide rangeof different pirit

characterswould arise.Somewould revealonly theirnamesbeforedeparting.Otherswould

stayto converse,arguewith,or teasepeoplefor a considerableime.Theconversationswith

thespirits, iventheir ivelyvariety,break heflow and accumulatedntensity f thesongsand

give Kaluli eances theirepisodiccharacter.Fromime to timeduring he night he medium's

spirit hildwould return o reporthis progressn releasing invisible)wild pigsorfindingdis-

membered imbs or the patienton whosebehalf he seancewas called.Apartrom his,there

isusually ittleapparent ontinuitybetweenone spirit onversationndanother.Occasionally,however,a mediumwill linkthe successionof spiritconversationswith an underlying ra-

maturgicaltrategyhat eaveseveryonesurprised nd disconcerted. none seance,forexam-

ple, Daluame,a provocativeunmarriedemalespirit, ppeared ndengaged heyoungmen of

the community n extended,racyrepartee.When she departed he was followedby another

femaleof demureandtimidcharacter. till n a ribaldmood from heirconversationwith Dal-

uame,the youngmenteasedthe secondspirituntilshe departednembarrassment.heper-formance henchanged again.A cooing high-pitched oice arose,heraldinghe appearanceof a thirdwoman. As the youngmen preparedo launch heirusual lasciviousprovocations,thespirituttered everalsalaciousremarkso outrageoushat hebachelorswere takenaback.

Inthe bewildered ilence that ollowed,a shrillgaleof familiar igglesrevealed hat hespiritwas nota womanbut a (trickster) ewelesu.

These conversationswiththe spirits nthe darkness f the longhousecreatea livelyscene.

Thewails of grieving elatives,he matching f wits inoutrageous epartee,he thrillofdangerfrom iercekaluhungo:are allengrossing ndenjoyable nteractionsuiteapart rom hepar-








ticularpurposesorwhich theseancewas called.Ifat times he conversationstrike noutsider

as havingthe qualityof play, it is not like the playof make-believe; t is the playof jokingrelations,playingwith fire, playingin an arena of forces thatcan have dangerousconse-

quences. Ifpeople'sattentionbeginsto falter,new songsreestablish he mood, rebuildmo-

mentumandintensity, nd maintain ontinuity.

the "audience" Thekegelgatheredmmediately round he medium orm heprinciple ore

of seance participation.Theydo the chorusingof the spiritsongsand generatemost of the

jokingandbanter.Other,usuallyolder,men sit as spectators tthe periphery f thisgrouporinotherpartsof the men'ssection,talking mong hemselves,occasionally oining hesinging,butalwaysalert o what isgoingon. Women, oo, mainlyobservebut make heirpresence elt

through ommentsandexclamations rbyoccasionallyprompting question o thespirits.Itshould be obviousby now that the people gathered o attend he seance are an integral

part f theperformance,ndthat he term"audience,"with itsimplication fpassiveattention,is probablynot the rightword forthisgroup.I have used it, sparingly,o refer o both active

participantskegel)and morepassiveonlookers aken ogether.Therealityof the spiritworldas it is embodied in the seance is not a resultof the performance f the mediumalone, but

emerges nthe interaction etweenall the people presentand thespirits. f hepeopleare un-

responsive,or unwilling o participate,he energyof the performance rainsaway,and theseancecollapsesandcomes to anend.

While the mediumdependson the people's response o keepthe performanceoing,he isalsosubject o their udgment.Seance audiencesaresophisticated.Mostof thosepresenthaveseen otherseances beforeand know how to evaluate hem. Peoplenotonly singalongandconversewith the spirits, hey also make audible commentsabout the spirits' haracter nd

style, comparinghemto otherperformances,r to theirappearancenanothermedium.Thus

information bout theadequacyof the performancend thecharacterss madeavailabledur-ingthe performancetself,where itmaybe consideredbyotherspresent ract as feedback othemedium, fhe hears hemwhile in trance.During performance, eopleexclaim npraiseorapproval or a particularly ell-donesongorenjoyableconversation.Theyhave also beenknown o walkout of a seance indisgust ftheybelievethat hespiritsdo not knowwhattheyaretalkingaboutor iftheyfeel theyarebeingtricked.Theaudience husbecomesthe arbiteroftheauthenticity f thespirit eance, and,at leastas muchasthemedium, heguardian f the

rigorof itstradition.

the ostensible workof the seance

dialogic modes of constructing reality It is inthe midstof audienceengagementhat hework of the seance getsdone. Thequestionis: What does it actuallyaccomplishand how?From he Kalulipointof view the two tasksmostimportantly ccomplished n seanceare the

curingof illnessand the recoveryof runawaypigs. Despite his,the proportionf seanceper-formance ime devotedto such matters ariesa greatdeal,sometimesbeinga rathernsignifi-cantand perfunctory artof the performance, nd sometimesbeing lengthyanddramatic. n

regardo curing,Ihavealreadydiscussed hesymbolicprocess n theseancecuring cenariowhere the illness is construedas a loss (onthe invisibleplane),resolved hrougha symbolic

analogueof social reciprocity arriedout by the mediumand the spirits see also Schieffelin1976: Chapter5). Itwould seem reasonable o argue, ollowing he outlinesof Levi-Strauss's

argument ited earlier, hat the powerful ymbolicprocessembodied in the curingscenario,delivered o andbya deeply engagedaudience,mightactuallyhavethe effectof transformingthe experienceof the patient.However,unless we postulate he operationof paranormalf-

Kaluliperformanceand reality 717







fects, this cannot be the case because usually the patient is not present at the seance. In addi-

tion, Kaluli believe that patients must be asleep for the medium to have properaccess to them

in the invisible realm. Thus, despite the powerful symbolic scenario embodied in the curing

process, it cannot affect the patient in any normally understood way. Nevertheless, Kalulilay-

men and mediums alike insist that the reputationof a medium rests on the success of his cures.

Returningto the seance context, if the power of the curing sequence cannot affect the illnessprocess of the patient, it can perhaps shape the expectations of the patient'scommunity. That

is, duringthe performance, the medium may form an assessment about the patient'scondition

and gear the level of success of his invisible curing efforts to correspond with his notion of the

most probable outcome. Inthis way if he thinks the patient will not recover, he will have dif-

ficulty in locating the dismembered legs or find the patient'swild-pig soul so injuredthat itcan

barely crawl when released from the spirit trap. He thereby preparesthe people of the com-

munity for what to expect-making a prediction in the guise of an attemptto cure. Be this as it

may-and the evidence is not very clear on the matter-the curing scenario can be seen as a

very important partof another aspect of the seance, namely, the aspect dealing with witchcraft

to which we shall return a little later. Inthe meantime, some of what the medium is doing inthe cure will be clarified by turningto a more minor matter-the findingof runaway pigs.

In listening to mediums (or rather,spirits)discuss lost pigs with the audience, it seems to an

observer that they show great subtlety in negotiating information with which to construct an

appropriate response. During one seance Iobserved, the medium's spiritchild was sent to lo-

cate a missing pig described as a female with cropped ears and a white patch on the chest.

Returning o the seance, the spirit later declared: "Isaw the pig but Ido not know the name of

the ground." He went on to describe a place where a small brook ran into a largercreek with

a particularkind of sago palm nearby. Irecorded the discussion in my fieldnotes:

There s also a Wo:lu[river]bananagardennearby"he said. The[audience] aid:"No, it is the Gulu

[river] ou aretalkingabout"[Theparticularypeof sagoatthe confluenceof twowatersallowed theaudience o recognize hestandofsagoatthe confluenceofthe GuluandGudep treams.] heaudiencethenconcluded hat hebanana arden eferredowas the one atMosogosaso.Thespirithendescribedanold fish-damdiversionditchand an abandoned arden.Theaudienceagreed ndiscussion hat hisdescribed hegeneralareaaroundhe mouthoftheGudep tream.Onemanprematurelydentified heareaas a placecalledGwabidano,which is nearby,butwasoverruled yothers nfavorof theGudepagainwhen thespiritmentioned pandanus ardenwhichtheyidentified s belongingo one ofthem-selves.Bynow even thewriter ould recognize he area rom hedescription.Thatwas wherethe pigwassupposed o be.Onlyone manremainedkeptical.Hebelieved hespiritmusthavethewrongpig,because he thought he pigtheywere looking orshouldhave been at a placecloserto the Wolu river(author'sieldnotes).

On the following day when the pig owner visited the place designated by the spirithe did in

fact find a female pig with cropped ears and a white patch on its chest. But it was the wrongpig. The pig he was looking forwas much largerand he returneddisgruntledto the longhouse.

Returning o the seance, the spirit'sinformationis markedly ambiguous. There are dozens of

places in the tropical forest thatwould fit his initialdescription. However, by "not knowing the

name" of the ground, he avoided pinpointing a specific location.6 This allowed the people

present to specify the location by drawing implicitly on their knowledge of local lands and the

behavior of pigs. The area the people actually considered was restricted to a region on the

Gudep streamnot too farfrom the lost pig's normal range.Thus, they took issue almost at once

with the spirit's suggestion thatthe pig was somewhere near the Wolu river.Fromthen on, the

variousdetails suggested by the spiritwere sufficientfor the audience to piece togethera picture

and reach a consensus about where the pig was located. When the location of the pig wasfinally determined, the seance participantsdoubtless felt that they had received it on spiritual

authority,whereas to a Western observer, itappearedthatthey had constructed most of it them-

selves.

This event in which the spirit communicates the whereabouts of a lost pig epitomizes the








processofthe social construction f realityn the seance. Thespiritmpartsnformationtonce

clear and ambiguousand the audienceis induced o determine xact locations.Theeffect is

reminiscent f the speculativemental earchpeople employin pinpointinghe identityof the

spirit hat is singing.Thedecipheringof the spirit'smessageis a cooperative onstruction f

realityntheguiseof a search orhiddenmeaning.That s,as thepeoplesearch orclarification

of thespirit'smessage heycreate hemeaning heydiscover.

dramaturgicalmeans of constructing reality Notallof the seancerealityderives rom he

dialogicinteraction etweentheseance-goers nd thespirits.Directlydramaturgicallements

incorporated nd/orutilizedby the performance hapethe significanceof the dialogueandserve as a majormeansby which seance andeverydayrealitiesoverflowandspill into eachother.This is particularlylear in the way the seances articulate he darkside of Kaluli ife,witchcraft nd death.Witches seis)area frequent opicof seanceconversation.Whenthere s

sicknessin the area,conversationsn seancesmaybe dominatedby discussionof seis, their

habitsandwhereabouts.Fearanddismayovertheiractivities rearoused hrough engthyand

oftenharrowing iscussionsbetweenthe audienceandthe spirits oncerning fforts o locate

the dismemberedpieces of the victim'ssei-tornbody.At suchtimes,the ambianceof angerandanxietycoupledwith a jumpyalertness o smallnoisesof thenightcangenerateanaware-

ness of evil presencethatprickles he scalp of even an observer. n the middle of one such

seanceIattended,while theparticipants eredeeplyinvolved nchorusinghesong,therewasan odd noiseoutsidethe longhouse.Thespiritvoice suddenly ell silentandthe peoplewereleftstranded t theedgeof response. n heensuingmoments fconsternationnthe longhousedarkness veryonewaspoisedto listen.Thestrangenoise and thesuddendisappearancef the

spiritvoice meantthata sei was creeping ustoutside.Therecould hardlybe a morejarringinterruptionf the performance. hroughheabrupt ilence,the thrillof fear,andthe sudden

alertness f theaudience, hepresenceof the invisible ei creaturewas rendered irtually alp-able, itspresencerealizednotby anything hatwas saidbutthroughhe dramaticmoment t

evoked.Thedramadid not end there:the mediumwas paralyzed,his soul blockedfrom re-

turningrom he spiritworldbythe presenceof the sei. Inthis case ittook 20 minutesof con-certedactivity, ncludingprayerso JesusbyChristian onvertsandtheeffortsof anotherme-dium who called down the mouth of his stricken olleagueto his own helpers n the spiritworld,before hespiritpathwas clearedof thesei's presenceand theseance could continue.

In hishighlychargedcontext,discussionsof seis takeon adisturbingmmediacy.Again, he

spirits arelygive the namesof theseis theysee, butprovide aswithsongsandpigs)enoughinformationorthe membersof the audience to constructheirown conclusions.Once theseareconstructed,he audience remains ommitted o them. Intraditionalimes, if the sei was

judgedresponsibleor someone'sdeath, he resultmighthave beena retaliatorymurder.Therealityof seis, markedbythe interruptionf theseance(or,atother imes,by mysterious

whistles nthe night)provides he context nwhich the instrumentalctivitiesof freeing nvis-iblewild pigsandstickingdismembered imbsbackon bodiesappearas urgent,meaningful,and effectivebehavior. tmakessense becausethe seancedoes notsimplydiscussseis, itpre-sents hemconcretelyas real.Here, heaterbecomesreality:he characters renoton thestage,theyare out inthe world.

seance performance and the construction of cosmological context

implications for the notion of "belief system" While seances construct ealitieson the

ground,heyalsoarticulateveryday ndcosmologicalrealities. eancesare,ofcourse,under-stoodby Kaluli ntermsof culturalbeliefs andassumptions bout he natureof the worldand








the relationship between spiritsand human beings. It is customary in anthropological analysis

to approach the understandingof culturalperformancesby graspingthem within such a context

of the larger system of belief, and that was the apparent strategyin outlining Kalulispiritbeliefs

at the beginning of this paper. However, a case could also be made for pursuingthe matterthe

other way around. Kalulispiritbeliefs do not forma thoroughgoing and consistent system. Sys-

tematic inquiryreveals that beyond a basic set of common understandings(outlined at the be-ginning of our discussion of seance), there is a great deal of variation in what people know

about the invisible realm and many lacunae and inconsistencies in the content of this knowl-

edge. The piecemeal and miscellaneous nature of people's knowledge of the invisible reflects

to some extent the piecemeal and miscellaneous nature of the contexts in which they acquire

it. There is little formal instructionin the lore. What one learns is picked up informallyin every-

day context fromcasual remarksand conversations, from accounts told by knowledgeable peo-

ple about spirit-or witchcraft-related events, from alertness to sounds of the forest, and from

attending and discussing seances. Kaluli laymen are generally not aware of the variation and

inconsistency in their knowledge of the invisible. When it is pointed out, they are as puzzled

by it as the ethnographer. Usually they suggest he go and talk with a medium. Mediums are thefinalauthorities on the invisible, not because they are in possession of greater raditionalknowl-

edge, but because they have been to the spiritside and seen it for themselves.

Mediums' accounts of the invisible are visually detailed and systematic, lending credence to

their claim to having actually visited there during trance. However, while a common set of

cultural themes seems to underly their accounts, various mediums' versions of the invisible

differconsiderably from each other (as well as from the laymen's). Mediums, however, do not

discuss their trance experiences much among themselves and are largelyunaware of the degree

to which they vary.Moreover, theirdifferences do not affect the way they perform heir seances

and are rarely significant in the details of performancecontent. The inconsistencies of the sys-

tem rarelysurface and thus do not pose difficulties for the Kaluli,only for the ethnographer.One interestingconsequence of this situation is the difficulty it poses for conventional ways

of talking about a "belief system." A common approach would be to look for unifyingthemes

and cultural assumptions that underlie the individual versions, but to give an account of this

system by reducing it to its common denominators would clearly distort it. The best way to

preserve its ethnographic integrity is to look at it in terms of the way that it is socially con-

structed, that is, as a system that consists in the continuing interaction between what people

already know of spirits from oral tradition, everyday conversation, and remembered (or re-

ported)past seances, and whatever new experience occurs in the presentseance performance.

What people know serves as a general backgroundand constraint on what they will accept in

a seance performance, but the performanceconfirmsthe presence of the spiritsthemselves andprovides continuing informationto the audience on the state of their relationswith them. Any

innovative information is then incorporated by those present into their stock of knowledge. It

may be communicated to others who did not attend a particularseance, held as information

for futureuse, or conveniently forgotten. Mediums themselves sometimes contributefurtherby

describing to others in their longhouse some of the things they have seen in trance journeys

that did not emerge in seance. In this way knowledge of the spiritworld is, within certain gen-

eral limits, continually in flux, being constantly generated and renewed and irregularlydistrib-

uted throughout the social field-where it forms partof the context for understandingnew se-

ance performances and spirit-relatedevents. Heterogeneity is partof the system no less than its

underlyingshared culturalassumptions. Inthis sense it is more the performanceof seances thataccounts for the nature and content of Kalulibelief than the other way around. The accumu-

lated knowledge of the spirit world clearly takes second place to the presence of the spirits

themselves in performance, and the spiritworld, however well known, like the identities of the

singers of the songs, or the locations of lost pigs, seems at once familiar and justout of reach.








When Kalulireach out to the spiritsin seance, they become most clearly aware of the larger,

cosmological scheme of things that the spirits represent. It is in the seance that they are most

likely to experience the direct articulation of that order in their own lives. This articulation is,

of course, implicit in the conversations with the spiritsand the participationin chorusing the

songs. But to take a more explicit example, it is in seance conversations that people enter into

relationshipswith the spiritsthat individualize, consolidate, and legitimize their relationshiptothe land. One informanttold me the storyof a tabooed area near his longhouse where no one

was permittedto hunt or fish. Yearsbefore, he explained, a fierce kalu hungo: spirithad arisen

in a seance and declared that he was the owner of the area: "Don't cut the trees or the arrow-

cane there," he had told them, "or I will cut off your clan." Commenting on the story, my

informantremarked,"He made the arrowcane like our soul." Thismeant, inone sense, simply:

"We die if we cut it." But, on another level what looks simply like a lethal threat is regarded

by the Kalulias a convenant. The taboo is a mutual agreement between the community and

the spiritand ratherthan distancing the two, it bringsthe people into close and familiartouch

with the forces that animate their locality.

conclusion

While some symbolic analyses might tend to look at the Kaluli seance as a text or structure

of meanings, Ihave tried to move beyond this to see it as an emergent social construction. The

realityevoked in the performance does not derive directly from its following a coherent ritual

structure(though it does follow one), but from the process of dialogic interaction between the

medium and the participants.What renders the performance compelling is not primarilythe

meanings embodied in symbolic materials themselves (the spirit characters and their pron-

ouncements) but the way the symbolic material emerges in the interaction. Startingwith the

people's expectations and anxieties over problems in everyday life, the seance develops its

force by weaving over and around these concerns its own theatrically generated tensions and

ambiguities. The songs tease and provoke the listeners, drawing them into the performance.

The seance makes sense not so much by providing information as by getting the audience into

motion, bearing down on curiosity and nostalgia to force out dramaticand emotional as much

as cognitive significance. It entices, arouses, and intrigues so that the participantconstantly

strives to get hold of something that always seems just out of his or her grasp.The performance

is gripping not because of the vivid display of symbolic materials but because the symbolic

material is incomplete. Realityand conviction reside not in the spirit'smessage but in the ten-

sion produced when some importantcommunication seems at once clear and ambiguous. Thisexperience of inconclusiveness and imbalance gives people little choice but to make their own

moves of creative imagination if they are to make sense of the performance and arrive at a

meaningful account of what is happening. In so doing, however, they complete the construc-

tion of its reality.

Inthis way the people reach fundamental symbolic understandingsand arrive at solutions to

their problems, not in a cognitive or intellectual way so much as in a participantone whose

cognitive shape may not be well worked out for a given individual, but which is assumed to

make sense because the realities it represents are so vivid. Once this seance reality is con-

structed, it may spill over into everyday life. The performance, in effect, becomes life, no less

than life is reflected in the performance, and the vehicle forconstructingsocial realityand per-sonal conviction appears more as drama than as rationalthought.

Itis evident that it is impossible to separate the dramaticaspects of ritualsymbols from their

meanings if we want to know their significance or why they are compelling. This is not just a

matter of presentation: many things are cognitively accepted in performanceprecisely because








they are dramatic, impressive, or mysterious ratherthan because their rational significance is

understood, provided, of course, they do not straytoo farbeyond the limits of cultural common

sense. The presence and realityof the sei, for instance, was made palpable by the jarring nter-

ruptionof the seance, but the interruption tself would have had no meaning if it were not for

the existence, for the Kaluli,of the sei.

The socially emergent dimension of performance,constructed throughthe interactionof theperformersand participantsbut not reducible to them, constitutes the realityinwhich the actual

work of the seance gets done. This emergent dimension stands beyond the text or structure of

the performance itself (while at the same time embodying it) so that the seance confronts the

participantsas an event in which they are involved and that can have consequences for them

and their particularsituation. This being so, the work of a performance,what itdoes, and how

it does it, can never be discovered only by examining the text, or the script, or the symbolic

meanings embodied in the ritualalone. It must be sought further in the emerging relation be-

tween the performerand the other participants(and the participantsamong themselves) while

the performance is in progress.

Because ritual in performance is a realityapartfrom its participants, he participants may notall experience the same significance or efficacy. Indeed, unless there is some kind of exegetical

supervision of both performance and interpretation by guardians of orthodoxy, the perfor-mance is bound to mean differentthings to differentpeople. Inthe absence of any exegeticalcanon one might even argue there was no single "correct" or "right" meaning for a ritual at

all. The performance is objectively (and socially) validated by the participantswhen they share

its action and intensity no matter what each person may individually thinkabout it. It follows

that the meaning of ritualperformance isonly partlyresident inthe symbols and symbolic struc-

tures of which it is constructed. To a large degree (particularly n events like the Kaluliseance)

the meanings of the symbols and of the rite itself are created duringthe performance, evoked

in the participants' imagination in the negotiation between the principal performersand theparticipants.

This being the case, rituals(certainly Kaluliseances) do not exist in a vacuum of structural

scripts and frames. Insofar as they are performed, they have historicity. However much a

genre-a conventional, structured,symbolic enactment with a limited rangeof meanings-theseance is also for the participantsan event that they helped construct and to which they con-

tributedpartof the ambience, action, and final significance that it evoked from them.

notes

Acknowledgments.Manypeoplehavecontributedo the richness f thispaper. would likeespeciallyto thankStevenFeld,SherryOrtner,MarthaMaclntyre,DebboraBattaglia, ruceKnauft,RoyWagner,LeeSchlesinger,BillMurphy, nd DeVerneSmith ormanyusefulcomments nd criticisms f earlierdrafts fthispaper.Theresearchorthispaperwas undertakenn PapuaNew Guinea n 1966-68 and 1975-77with grantsfrom the National Institutesof Mental Health and the National Science Foundation. Assistancein administeringthese grantswas provided by the Institute orthe Studyof Human Issues,and the ResearchInstitute or the Study of Man. Theirhelp is gratefully acknowledged here.

'The basic questions and general orientation to the issues of most of these studies are similar to thoseoutlined in Clifford Geertz's influential essay "Religion as a CulturalSystem" (1973). Indeed, a generalstatement of the problem for much recent analysis of ritualmight be outlined by rephrasingone of his mostwell-known passages:

How do rituals,as systems of symbols, operate to establish or transformpowerful and pervasive un-

derstandings, moods and motivations in people through formulating conceptions of their place in a gen-eral order of existence and giving these conceptions such an aura of factuality that they seem uniquelyrealistic [rephrasedfrom Geertz 1973:90]?

2Levi-Strauss, n a classic early paperon the shamanistic treatmentof difficult childbirthamong the Cuna(1967), argued that the shaman's lengthy recitation of an imaginary journey to the abode of the childbirthgoddess paralleled (metaphorically) the painful experience of the woman in difficult labor:








Theshamanprovideshe sick womanwitha language,bymeansof whichunexpressedndotherwiseinexpressible sychicstatesmaybe immediately xpressed.And t is thetransitionothisverbal xpres-sion-at the same imemakingtpossible oundergon anordered nd ntelligibleorma realexperiencethatwould otherwisebe chaoticandinexpressible-which nduces he releaseofthephysiological ro-cess, thatis, the reorganization,n a favorabledirectionof the process[that s, difficult hildbirth]owhich the sick woman is subjected Levi-Strauss967:193-1941.

Asimilar ccountof shamanisticuring nthepsychoanalyticraditionsutilizedby GeorgeDevereux.Devereux akes he olderanthropologicaliewthat hamans repsychologicallyroubledndividualswhohavegainedat leastpartial ontrolover theirpsychotic ymptoms nd livemostof the time in remission.Theshaman'spsychological onflicts,however,areculturally enerated nd hence strike chordwith,oraresharedby,a greatmanyothers nthesociety.Duringheshamanistic erformancewhich or Devereuxisdirected olelyat psychologicalproblems)he shamanreleaseshisown psychotic ymptomsn a con-trolledmanner.Thepatient, ecognizing isownproblemsnthe shaman's ehavior, ndvicariouslywork-ingthemthrough, s providedwith "a corrective motionalexperience"anda "whole set of ethnopsy-chologically uitableandcongenial,andculturally ecognizeddefensesagainsthe conflicts hat ormenthim"which leadsto a repatterningf his modesof coping(Devereux1956:30-31).

Thematerial he shamanpresentssnotregarded yDevereux sculturalymbolicmaterialo muchascontrolledpsychoticor neurotic ymptomatology,et, inprinciple,hewaythesymbolicprocessworks sanalogous o what Levi-Straussescribes.Inbothexamples he shaman'sperformanceecapitulatesndrestructureshepatient's xperience,givinghimor hera waytodealwithproblems nd husrenderingheritualperformanceffective.

VictorTurner1967)focusesnoton the narrative rogression f symbols n ritual o much as on thepowerof a few "dominantymbols" hemselves hat erveatonce as themajor ehicles or ransformativemeaningsand as the meansof groundinghese culturalmeaningsn individualxperience.Themeaningof the ritual s discoveredby unpackinghe denselyinterwovenmessageshiddenwithinthe dominantsymbolsandshowinghow theirpresentationn symbolic ormobscures,combines,or mediates unda-mentalsocial andculturalssues,andthusopensthe participantso new perspectives n their ife situa-tions. Thesymbolsarecompellingbecausetheyarepresentednemotionally rousingmagery nd con-texts.

3TheKalulimediumshatIknewdid notexhibitanyunusual routstandingharacteristicss individualsin ordinaryife.Quitethe contrary,he six mediumswhom Iworkedwithrepresented wide rangeofpersonal tyles,degreesof extensionof socialconnections, ndgeneral ocial influence.Theyrangedrom

one manof considerablenfluence,who waswidelytraveled ntheregion, hroughesswidelyconnectedindividuals f moreaverage tanding ndlimitedrange, o twosociallymarginalmen.

4Thishabitwasdisconcertingo the Kaluli s well as to theethnographerndmayhavebeenpartof thereason hat, naddition o being respected sa medium,he wasalso fearedas a sei.

51tsworthremarkinghat hisraucous, asciviousokingandteasingbetween heyoungmen andspiritwomen occurred arelybetweenmen and women in real ife,andcertainlynever npublic.Kaluliwouldbe too embarrassed r afraid o do such a thing.The socialrepercussionsshouldrelatives f the womanfindout)would be serious,since it would imply he youngmanwas takingmarital/sexualiberties hatwere thewoman's amily's lone todisposeof,and hence wouldbeactingas if he were"stealing" er afadi). Becausemarriage-sexualctivitywith a spiritwoman is impossibleneveryday ontext,suchsexualjoking s harmless un.Itnever eadsto a spiritmarriage hichresultsn a manbecominga medium.

61 should mention hat he medium n thisperformance as not from he longhousewherethe perfor-mancewas beingheld and was not himselfvery amiliarwiththe localgrounds.

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Feld,Steven1982 SoundandSentiment:Birds,Weeping,PoeticsandSong n KaluliExpression.hiladelphia: ni-versityof Pennsylvania ress.

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Kapferer,Bruce1979a Introduction: Ritual Process and the Transformationof Context. Social Analysis 1:3-19.1979b EntertainingDemons: Comedy, Interaction and Meaning in a Sinhalese Healing Ritual. Social

Analysis 1:108-152.Levi-Strauss,Claude

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Submitted 1 December 1984Accepted 15 March 1985Final version received 25 July 1985


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Schieffelin.PerformanceCulturalConstructionReality