The Sound of a Person

Abstract

Abstract Konggap, sung melodic motifs that last only a few seconds embody the acoustic representation of a person among theYupno people ofPapuaNewGuinea and are a unique phenomenon in thePacific. Thekonggapforms a very complex system of personal identification and expression of social relationships; at the same time it connects the singer to the ancestral world. Every person inYupno society possesses his or her ownkonggap,andYupno people are able to identify a large number ofkonggap, some men even up to three hundred. Nobody would sing his or her ownkonggapduring the day. When crossingYupno land, a person has to sing thekonggapof the respective landowner to identify himself as an insider, a local person − unlike strangers (and possible enemies) who remain silent. But at nightly dances each dancer sings his ownkonggapand during mourning at funerals groups of women simultaneously sing thekonggapof the deceased person. An interdisciplinary ethnographic‐musicological‐cognitive fieldwork study was conducted in order to find out how it is possible that theYupno are able to identify and distinguish between this staggering amount of very short sung motifs.

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