Being a Village Court Magistrate in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Wondering what kind of job you want? This book offers fourteen imagined job manuals written by scholars in response to a 'what if' thought exercise. There are chapters about occupations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and the Unites States. The authors all focus on how culturally specific every job is. The fictional magistrate speaking in this chapter is imagined to be from lowland Papua New Guinea. The eulogy he gives is in keeping with the style of funeral speeches on the Papuan (southern) coast, where presenting actual details of a deceased person's life would be the height of disrespect, but it is considered entirely appropriate to use a recent death as an opportunity for moral instruction Show more