Roy Rappaport Papers, 1961-1985

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Abstract:
Papers of Roy A. Rappaport, an ethnographic anthropologist. The collection includes research papers and materials generated from his fieldwork with the Tsembaga Maring of the Simbai Valley in Papua New Guinea during two field trips (1962-1963 and 1981-1982). Rappaport's first field trip was in conjunction with Columbia University for his dissertation, and the second trip served as a follow-up study. Rappaport's research was concerned with the means by which religious ritual mediates the relationships of a congregation, or population, to external entities. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, and local Papua New Guinea officials; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic data collected in field notebooks; typescript summaries; field notes and maps; diaries; photographs and sound recordings.
Extent:
19.2 Linear feet (41 archives boxes, 5 card file boxes, 3 oversize folders, 4 map case folders)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Roy Rappaport Papers, MSS 516. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers of Roy A. Rappaport, an ethnographic anthropologist. The collection includes research papers and materials generated from his fieldwork with the Tsembaga Maring of the Simbai Valley in Papua New Guinea during two field trips (1962-1963 and 1981-1982). Rappaport's research was concerned with the means by which religious ritual mediates the relationships of a congregation, or population, to external entities. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, and local Papua New Guinea officials; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic data collected in field notebooks; typescript summaries; field notes and maps; diaries; photographs and sound recordings.

The fieldwork from 1962-1963 represents Rappaport's research for his dissertation. The second trip (1981-1982) served as a follow-up study that reflected similar interests, but ultimately demonstrated how the Tsembaga Maring have acculturated in the face of increasing pressure from Western culture. There is a greater breadth and depth of research material from the first trip; however, the research from the second trip evidences some comparative studies. Rappaport's wife, Ann, compiled extensive Tsembaga Maring linguistic material, which is also included in the papers. The collection was processed in two accessions.

ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 2005

Arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE; 2) FIELD NOTES, 1962-1963; 3) FIELD NOTES, 1981-1982; 4) WRITINGS; 5) TEACHING MATERIALS; 6) PHOTOGRAPHS; 7) SOUND RECORDINGS and 8) WRITINGS BY OTHERS.

ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 2015

Arranged in four series: 9) CORRESPONDENCE; 10) FIELD NOTES AND MAPS; 11) PHOTOGRAPHS; AND 12) AUDIOCASSETTE.

Biographical / historical:

Roy A. "Skip" Rappaport (1926-1997) was born in New York City. He earned his B.S. in hotel administration from Cornell University (1949) and his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University (1966).

From October 1962 to December 1963, Rappaport spent fourteen months in the Simbai Valley of the Madang Territory in Papua New Guinea researching the Tsembaga Maring for his dissertation. The Tsembaga Maring, shifting swidden horticulturists, occupied approximately three square miles of the southern wall of the Simbai Valley, a region that had been contacted (1958) and "controlled" (1962) by the Australian government. Rappaport collected extensive information on Tsembaga demography, ritual, animal husbandry, gardening, linguistics, and nutrition. His research was supplemented by contact with other researchers in the Simbai Valley working with neighboring tribes, including Andrew and Cherry Vayda and Allison and Marek Jablonko, who were associated with the Columbia University Expedition along with Rappaport. In addition, Ann Rappaport, who accompanied her husband in the field, was primarily responsible for Tsembaga Maring linguistic research.

Rappaport's dissertation, "Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People: An Anthropological Study of the Tsembaga Maring" (1966), was later expanded to Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People (1967). It became a landmark study of human ecology in a New Guinea central highland tribal society.

Just prior to defending his dissertation, Rappaport accepted a position in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan where he was a faculty member from 1965 until 1997, eventually distinguishing himself as the Walgreen Professor for the Study of Human Understanding. In addition, he served as the chair (1975-1980) of the Department of Anthropology and was the president of the American Anthropological Association from 1987-1989.

A grant from the National Science Foundation enabled Rappaport to take a second trip to the Simbai Valley from October 1981 to August 1982. This trip served as a follow-up study designed to analyze the change and acculturation of the Tsembaga Maring under increasing pressure from Western culture.

Rappaport authored two additional books: Ecology, Meaning, and Religion (1984) and, Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (1999), published posthumously. He also authored over 60 journal articles.

Acquisition information:
Acquired 2000, 2015.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Original sound recordings in Series 7 and 12 are restricted. Researchers may request a listening copy be produced in advance. Original negatives in Series 6C are restricted, but have been fully digitized.

Terms of access:

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

Preferred citation:

Roy Rappaport Papers, MSS 516. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

Location of this collection:
9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0175
La Jolla, CA 92093-0175, US
Contact:
(858) 534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Website