Sorcerers of Dobu: the Social Anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific
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Abstract
DR. FORTUNE has given us a remarkably interesting and valuable account of the natives of the islands of Tewara, Dobu, and of the village of Basema, all in the D'Entrecasteaux group, which lies off the south-east end of New Guinea. Previously we had only the general observations of government officials in the Annual Reports of Papua, the useful little book “The Northern D'Entrecasteaux”, by Jenness and Ballantyne (Oxford, 1920), and a few notes by various travellers. The great merit of this book is that it describes the functioning of society and of social activities: it is thus a dynamic survey and not merely an account of social structure, as has usually been the case in previous ethnological studies—and, indeed, it is a good illustration of the modern method of field-work. Sorcerers of Dobu: the Social Anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific. By Dr. R. F. Fortune. Pp. xxviii + 318 + 8 plates. (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1932.) 15s. net.