ABSTRACT
The Trobriand Islanders have become famous, even outside of anthropology, because of the ethnographic masterpieces on their culture published by Bronislaw Malinowski, who did field research there between 1916 and 1920. The ritualization of communication (RC) can contribute to relieving tension in critical social situations and to regulating social differences and dissension by increasing the harmonizing functions of speech, by creating and stabilizing social relations, and by distancing emotions, impulses, and intentions. The importance of the wosi mttamala as a complex form of RC in Trobriand society becomes even more evident when one considers that they are also sung, without accompanying drumming, after the death of a Trobriander and during the first mourning ceremonies. The power of magical words bequeathed by the ancestors to following generations helps strengthen the belief that Trobrianders can master their environment no matter how dangerous and hostile it might be at times.
