WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME

WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME

$8.95
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WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME
  • WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME
  • WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME
WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME

WHEN MY NAME BECAME MY FATHER'S NAME

$8.95

Why would a Motuan mother call her husband by the name of their first-born child?

In this personal cultural reflection, Mea Vai returns to a childhood expression that once seemed completely ordinary: his mother calling his father “Mea Tamana” - Mea's father. Similar memories of “Dai Tamana” and “Konio Tamana” reveal a wider pattern and lead to the anthropological concept of teknonymy - identifying a parent through a child.

The story explores the possibility that, in Motuan life, the first-born child did more than receive a name. That child created a new relationship and, in doing so, gave the parents a new social identity.

Drawing together family memory, first-born responsibility, respect, Hiri traditions and the deeply relational character of Motuan society, this Sene story reflects on the quiet ways culture survives in everyday speech and behaviour.

A thoughtful read for Motu-Koitabu families, Papua New Guineans, students of culture and anyone interested in how identity is shaped through family and relationships.

Digital download. For cultural and educational reading.

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