Rascal Rain: a Year in Papua New Guinea
Works such as Rascal Rain are often labelled with the cultural imperialism tag, critics quick to point out the basic bias of the Euro-centric view of tribal cultures. Baranay for her part dismisses these notions, offering the alternate view that male bias and violence is a pervasive influence on the Engan tradition which is only amplified by the clash of cultures. Why does tradition imply changelessness in a world in constant flux, she asks? And why is an evolutionary model the only one used to distinguish cultural change? Are cultures only going to develop along present lines - in other words like us?
-Townsville Bulletin August 6, 1994