Lambert-Brétière, Renée2023-11-292023-11-292018-07-15Renée Lambert-Brétière, "Savoir culturel et langue en danger: l’exemple du rituel de l’igname chez les Kwoma," Journal de la Société des Océanistes [En ligne] 146 (2018): 73–83. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/jso/8624 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/jso.8624https://doi.org/10.4000/jso.8624http://hdl.handle.net/11603/30915The purpose of this article is to illustrate the intrinsic relationship among the Kwoma between the practice of the yam ritual and the linguistic knowledge associated with the songs and formulas invoked during its performance. The yam ritual is composed of three distinct ceremonies, Yena, Mija and Nowkwi, and includes songs and dances to honor these spirits. Ritual songs are a source of knowledge about history and the socio-cultural values and standards expected in this community. After an overview of the social structure of the Kwoma society, a presentation of the yam ritual, and an analysis of two ritual songs – sawo howkwa and magwiy howkwa –, this article demonstrates that the preservation of the Kwoma cultural heritage cannot be done at the expense of its intangible cultural heritage.12 pagesfrThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED)Text