Big man

The Big Man is defined in ethnology (ethnology) and anthropology as an informal leader within a horde or tribe in Melanesia . The anthropologist Marshall Sahlins was one of the first to research and describe this position from 1958 onwards. The Big Man is the leader of a horde or a tribe. His leadership role is based on his skills and abilities such as eloquence, charisma , organizational talent and martial skills. This social status as a leader can be lost if someone else is deemed more valuable to the tribe. The decisive factor is whether someone can perform better than the leader. For example, in the case of two men, their age can play a decisive role in terms of their ability to hunt, if the younger one can hunt better thanks to his strength and endurance. Should this factor be important to the survival of the tribe, the office of Big Man will pass from the older to the younger man.

Sahlins also pointed out the importance of the relationship between the Big Man and his fellow human beings as well as the necessary sense of duty of the Big Man (analogously): “When striving for the office, it is important to increase your following by establishing loyal and obliging relationships as large a part of the group as possible: the more followers, the greater the reputation ”.

The German ethnologist Martin Rössler referred to Marshall Sahlin's doctoral thesis in relation to social- evolutionist ideas within the formation of society: “The big man is precisely typical for 'tribal societies' based on clans […], the i. d. R. yes, several hundred to several thousand people [...] and is seen in evolutionary political ethnology as the necessary immediate preliminary stage for an 'office' in the sense of the chief in chiefdoms - as an indication of the [sic!] Requirement for centralized authority growing political complexity, pol. Stress and population size or density. See also Sahlins' diss. From 1958 - his early standard work. "

literature

Marshall Sahlins : Social Stratification in Polynesia (= Monographs of the American Ethnological Society. Volume 29). PhD thesis. Seattle University of Washington Press, Washington 1958 (English).
Marshall Sahlins: Poor Man, Rich Man, Big Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia. In: Comparative Studies in Society and History. Volume 5, No. 3, April 1963, pp. 285-303 (English; JSTOR 177650 ).

Individual evidence

^ Marshall Sahlins : Poor Man, Rich Man, Big Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia. In: Comparative Studies in Society and History. Volume 5, No. 3, April 1963, pp. 285-303, here p. 291 (English; JSTOR 177650 ); Quote: “ The making of the faction, however, is the true making of the Melanesian big-man. It is essential to establish relations of loyalty and obligation on the part of a number of people [...]. The bigger the faction the greater the renown ”.

[1] Marshall Sahlins : Poor Man, Rich Man, Big Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia. In: Comparative Studies in Society and History. Volume 5, No. 3, April 1963, pp. 285-303, here p. 291 (English; JSTOR 177650 ); Quote: “ The making of the faction, however, is the true making of the Melanesian big-man. It is essential to establish relations of loyalty and obligation on the part of a number of people [...]. The bigger the faction the greater the renown ”.