In many parts of the world the "white man" is perceived to be an
instigator of globalization and an embodiment of modernity. However, so
far anthropologists have paid little attention to the actual
heterogeneity and complexity of "whiteness" in specific ethnographic
contexts. This study examines cultural perceptions of other and self as
expressed in cargo cults and masked dances in Papua New Guinea.
Indigenous terms, images, and concepts are being contrasted with their
western counterparts, the latter partly deriving from the publications
and field notes of Charles Valentine. After having done his first
fieldwork more than fifty years ago, this "anthropological ancestor" has
now become part of the local tradition and has thus turned into a kind
of mythical figure. Based on anthropological fieldwork as well as on
archival studies, this book addresses the relation between western and
indigenous perceptions of self and other, between "tradition" and
"modernity," and between anthropological "ancestors" and "descendants."
In this way the work contributes to the study of "whiteness," "cargo
cults" and masked dances in Papua New Guinea.