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The Place of the Culture of the Atoni in the Indonesian Culture Province

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The Political System of the Atoni of Timor

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Abstract

The question which remains to be answered is where to place the culture of the Atoni as it has taken shape in his political system as a system of life. A system of life is a totality which has its own individuality, and as such is in a sense unique. We may compare it with a building. It is located in a particular environment in which its members have to provide for their livelihood; so it has an economic substratum. The structures of the kinship and political systems are as it were the materials, which are arranged in accordance with a number of structural principles. In addition the general categories which further shape man’s thinking and activities are the determinants of the style of the house. However, this image falls short for our purposes, as it is too static. In reality the structural principles are to some extent mutually contradictory and the general categories do not cover one another, so that dynamism, tension and constant change are possible within a particular system of life. The house is constantly being rebuilt, for the greater part in the same style, but the result is always different.

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Authors
  1. H. G. Schulte Nordholt
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© 1971 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Nordholt, H.G.S. (1971). The Place of the Culture of the Atoni in the Indonesian Culture Province. In: The Political System of the Atoni of Timor. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1013-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1013-4_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-015-0404-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-1013-4

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