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- Convenor:
-
Grant McCall
(University of Sydney)
Send message to Convenor
- Stream:
- Ethnographic theory and practice
- Location:
- Babel 204
- Start time:
- 4 December, 2015 at
Time zone: Australia/Melbourne
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
The focus of this panel is areal: The Islands of Oceania. Topical and theoretical approaches of the presenter's choosing are sought. People may wish to reflect on the "moral horizons" of their own or other's fieldwork experiences as well as what they discovered from their research.
Long Abstract:
Since the earliest days of anthropology, either as four fields or one, the peoples and cultures of the Pacific Islands have been a venue for asking abiding questions of what it is to be human and the varieties of the ways that people have responded to this question. These "experiments in living" have evolved on little land and much water over millennia as populations have moved about the vast area that is Oceania, a term preferred as it is more inclusive in extent and less restrictive in concept. The peoples and cultures have continued their evolution as has the discipline of anthropology itself, with the expansion of "moral horizons" in conduct and research disclosure. The panel is intended to take up both historical and contemporary approaches; personal and critical experiences; general and particular instances.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
As Malinowski noted, public rituals in the Trobriands are initiated with ‘oblations’ to ancestral baloma spirits. This paper describes how the offerings as ‘sacrifices’ (bwekasa) critically regulate reciprocal relations between the living and the dead.
Paper long abstract:
Malinowski observed that in the Trobriands virtually all public ceremonials performed by chiefs, leaders and ritual experts were formally initiated by the presentation of specific 'oblations' (ula'ula) donated in the first instance by community members at large to the officiating magician, portions of which (termed bwekasa) are then given by him sacrificially to those baloma ancestral and other spirits of Tuma, the land of the dead, with whom he is personally connected through dala lineage and other ties. Unfortunately, neither Malinowski nor his numerous ethnographer successors has presented an interpretation or analysis of ula'ula or bwekasa offerings other than to suggest that such rites serve to maintain generally harmonious relations between the living and the dead. This is puzzling insofar as Malinowski staunchly maintained that the spirit recipients of those oblations, which are mandatory preliminaries to virtually all magico-ritual acts, are not considered to be the effective agents of those activities. In this paper, based on recent field studies at Omarakana, I attempt such an analysis, describing how, through ula'ula and bwekasa sacrifices humans and spirits give mutual substance and form to the life upon which both are dependent and in so doing animate the reciprocal relations between the visible material world (Boyowa) and invisible realm of the dead (Tuma).
Paper short abstract:
Most young Tongans grow up in fragmented environments marked by contradictory moral expectations. Their identity performances often result in social judgement and misunderstandings. This paper discusses how Tongans negotiate and understand morality in regards to individual and cultural identity performances
Paper long abstract:
Most young Tongans grow up in fragmented environments that are often marked by contradictory moral expectations. Their identity performances differ from their parents', often resulting in social judgement and misunderstandings on both sides. Drawing on existential theory to analyse the experiences of Tongan young people in Tonga, New Zealand and Australia, this paper discusses what it means to be Tongan today and how ways of 'being' become socially acceptable within conflicting environments. The paper further discusses how morality is negotiated and understood in regards to individual and cultural identity performances. Young Tongans are increasingly enabled to actively transform themselves, or as sociologist Philip Wexler (1992:10) calls it, "work on their identity production". Some conservatively-oriented Tongans resist such new ways of being, often learned through non-Tongan interactions. They call westernised Tongans fie pālangi or 'wanna-be white'; statements that link such forms of existence to 'fakeness', being 'plastic' or 'unreal'. However, older Tongans seem to be unwilling to articulate what proper behaviour actually is, leaving the younger generation without an explanation of how to meet their expected behavioural standards. This paper combines customary forms of Tongan identification (relatedness) with western notions of autonomy (individualism) through Heidegger's (1967) existential phenomenology to illustrate the existential experiences of Tongan young people. Looking at cultural values, social relationships and demonstrations of power, it is argued that some Tongan youth are criticised and socially excluded for their identity performances. This paper illustrates such existential challenges.
Paper short abstract:
While Pacific peoples have long embraced researchers’ needs with generosity and openness, there is contention as to whether these relationships are exploitative or mutually beneficial. This paper advocates for the use of ethical collaborative methods that embody indigenous epistemologies and values.
Paper long abstract:
In recent years, there has been a growing movement within a variety of disciplines (including indigenous studies, cultural studies, engaged anthropology and applied ethnomusicology) towards utilising more ethical research methods and approaches. This has involved engaging with indigenous peoples in collaborative research projects that consider human rights as well as indigenous perspectives, values and practices, and that are egalitarian in principle. As a bicultural scholar (Solomon Islands, New Zealand), knowledge of this movement has encouraged me to explore the complexities of indigenous philosophies and cultures that have been previously overlooked in North Malaita, Solomon Islands.
I am an ethnomusicologist working with my own North Malaitan Lau-Baelelea peoples. Working within my own communities requires great care, diplomacy and negotiation. However, this opportunity to explore the depths of our music cultures, our ways of thinking and our heritage, emerges from solid trust relationships built over lifetimes. As a blood relative, I will maintain many of these relationships for the rest of my life. Therefore, actively seeking ethical ways to conduct research is a necessity for me. This paper will explore how we have navigated fieldwork to engage, communicate and work in communal and community-oriented ways that benefit everyone involved.
Paper short abstract:
This paper focuses on the methodological dynamics of "insider" anthropology conducted within Pacific Islander communities and examines the circumstances under which insider anthropologists must negotiate a path that balances their personal identities and their professional identities as anthropologists.
Paper long abstract:
In conducting anthropology as a member of the community that is the focus of the study, questions of personal and professional identity often arise. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this positioning and I draw on my experiences as an anthropologist of New Zealand and New Guinea Islander descent to explain this point. This paper explores the boundaries of insider and outsiderness; examines the postcolonial sociopolitics of "insider" anthropology in the Pacific region; and analyses the broad intersections between race, family, culture and anthropological practice. These themes highlight the moral decisions some anthropologists must navigate in order to strike a balance between entwined personal and professional identities.
In this paper, I define "Pacific Islander" as any person of Melanesian, Micronesian or Polynesian descent. I use this term (rather than a more concise national of ethnic category e.g. Fijian, Ngati Whatua, ni-Vanuatu) because this paper stems largely from my recent postdoctoral research on diasporic, panethnic Pacific Islander identity, and this term's encompassing nature enables me to draw on the spectrum of encounters I experienced during my fieldwork in Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.