Kunaypa historicity: conceptual specificity of temporal reciprocity in the Sepik, Papua New GuineaTelban, Borut (Avtor) regime of historicityreciprocitylanguage and temporality(in)commensurabilitykunaypaPapua New GuineaIf we accept that anthropology of history transforms history into asubject of investigation rather than just a form of knowledge andsocial practice, then the ethnography of history must delve intolocal ways of thinking, living, and acting. The language of thepeople is key to gaining insight into the relational and temporalmodes of existence of society. Among the Karawari people ofPapua New Guinea, these modes play an important role invarious aspects of cosmological and social life, all of which areintimately connected to land. The Karawari term kunaypa (debt,obligation, duty; moral value and law) underscores the viewthat relationships at all levels – cosmological, social, national,international – should be based on generosity and reciprocity. Itis the undeniable quality of human and non-human agency.Kunaypa refers to the specific past (event, being, practice) and atthe same time to the specific future. The multiple instances ofkunaypi (plural of kunaypa) lead to multiple intergenerationalcommitments, as various emplaced historical experiences liedormant. When these experiences are recalled and concreteactions are taken, they emphasize the interconnectedness, indeedequation, of past and future.20262026-08-13 15:21:59Neznano31871UDK: 39:115(954)ISSN pri članku: 0275-7206DOI: 10.1080/02757206.2026.2687544COBISS_ID: 286264835sl© 2026 The Author(s).