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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2001
Anthropology's language of society, which is one of the discipline's major achievements, did not arise by taking into account the possibility that other societies might have their own language of society. In the example of the Cubeo mourning ceremony, a traditional interpretation argues that its instrumental value is to resolve the emotional rupture brought on by death. Viewed in its own terms, however, the ritual is an elaborate contemplation of death and of the conditions of adultery, violence and sorcery, which the Cubeo understand give rise to death. This paper elucidates the Cubeo language of society, which is expressed in ritual terms, and their consciousness of sociality.