Abstract

For the first time in over 30 years, a new ethnographic study emerges on the Bugkalot tribe, more widely known as the Ilongot of the northern Philippines. Exploring the notion of masculinity among the Bugkalot, Cutting Cosmos is not only an experimental, anthropological study of the paradoxes around which Bugkalot society revolves, but also a reflection on anthropological theory and writing. Focusing on the transgressive acts through which masculinity is performed, this book explores the idea of the cosmic cut, the ritual act that enables the Bugkalot man to momentarily hold still the chaotic flows of his world.

”The ethnographic data are valuable and the theoretical discussion is well-set within a series of intellectually rigorous, philosophically informed anthropological frames.” · Maria D. Vesperi, New College of Florida

”Mikkelsen’s compelling writing and excellent fieldwork research adds effectively to the classic literature in social/cultural anthropology, renewing and extending the famous monographs of Michelle and Renato Rosaldo.” · George Marcus, University of California, Irvine

Henrik Hvenegaard Mikkelsen holds a PhD from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He has carried out fieldworks in Denmark, Canada (Montreal) and the Philippines, focusing in particular on aging, sexuality, loneliness, violence and politics. He is currently a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen.