..., or that they are involved in nefarious secret plots. In this way, individuals try to influence others but avoid the appearance of ordering them around. It has been clear since Bronisław Malinowski's work on the Trobriand Islands that there is a close link between sorcery, magic, and leadership in many areas of lowland...

... constitute much of their knowledge about their social world. Rumors are one such type of story; stories told in public meetings can have similar careers. The chapter argues that sorcery talk among the Kwanga is an instance of a much more pervasive kind of behavior which occurs everywhere. Sorcery deaths...

...Examining Kwanga politics has revealed something else about the political implications of gossip. In Inakor and Asanakor, initiated men bolster their position in society by spreading rumors of sorcery, but gossip can also defeat leaders. Perhaps gossip, instead of being associated with any...

...This book examines the often overlooked role of gossip and rumor in creating power in small Melanesian communities. The Kwanga of the East Sepik Province of Papua, New Guinea think that malicious gossip is almost as dangerous as sorcery, and spend hours in community meetings, looking into rumors...

.... Coming to terms with a world in which everyday events and materials are composed of the dead, the author of this book discovers in Palo unexpected resources for understanding the relationship between matter and spirit, for rethinking anthropology's rendering of sorcery, and for representing the play...

...This chapter argues that it is by spreading rumors and dropping hints about sorcery that initiated men maintain their authority over their fellow villagers. Furthermore, talking about sorcery allows people to influence events in ways for which they cannot be held accountable. The chapter argues...