Bodily Becomings: An Ethnographic Exploration from the Top of the Coconut Tree

This thesis explores how bodies are configured in Wawonii, Indonesia. The potentialities of the body during birth, illness and death are discussed using Deleuzean theories of 'becoming'. Bodies are understood as Deleuzean 'events' which evolve through interactions with other 'events' such as illness, aging, circumcision, pregnancy, menstruation and death The effects of temperature, wind, and language on bodies are discussed. I argue that within social bodies, myth and 'the real' are linked. Within both physical and social bodies, 'the real' is constantly 'becoming'. My work also explores circumcision, merarane (post- birth roasting), healing, mortuary rituals, dreams and soul loss.