« Payer les mots, acheter la moisson ». Réflexion sur des formes d’échange en Indonésie orientale (Lamaholot, Flores)

Abstract

On the eastern tip of the island of Flores in Indonesia, the ritual tutu marin (“to speak to say”), is a major mode of exchange between humans and the invisible. The performing of ritual poetry is combined with bloody offerings. This oratory act can sometimes be considered as a “purchase”, sometimes as a “payment”, sometimes as a gift of food. Two ethnographic cases are presented: in the first one, humans “buy” the harvest; in the second, they “pay for the words”. What do these verses do, ordered in a neat form and pronounced in a fast flow? How can they pay for something and to whom? The synthesis of the two cases reveals a mode of relationship between humans and spirits that involves an “expensive” exchange without any money circulating.

Keywords

• Flores
• Lamaholot
• Ritual speech
• Religion
• Spirits