Partial texts: Representation,colonialism and agency in pacific history ∗

Abstract

The great ruling and sacred families of Polynesia were the senior representatives of tribal groupings or clans claiming a common homeland, or cult, and sometimes canoe tradition. Using the traditional framework of Polynesian history the inter‐island links and marriage patterns are examined in the four traditional periods, the age of the gods, the legendary period of the national or tribal ancestors, the semi‐legendary first genealogical period and the fourth period which commences with an ancestor from whom living chiefs can trace their descent without contradiction. A fifth period dealing with the great families since European contact and the rise of independent monarchies is also introduced. Particular emphasis is given to the interdependent yet dichotomous nature of tribal culture, the principal example being the relationship between Tonga and Samoa which originally appeared to be culturally distinct but socially one unit made up of two moieties. While modern political boundaries are largely artificial the great families continue to be mutually interdependent forming exogamous alliances and sharing a sense of pan‐Polynesian identity. The great sacred families, in contrast, tend to favour endogamous unions, a pattern emerging in modern Tonga indicative of a process of sacralisation.     

Archaeology,Ethno‐history and Oral Traditions: Approaches to the Indigenous Past

Indigenous groups across the world are actively looking to maintain or rediscover their past. Many historians and archaeologists are sympathetic to their quest. As a result different ways of narrating the past are in action: oral tradition, ethno‐history and archaeology.

In the following the potential of each approach is discussed. In particular the possibility for collaboration between indigenous approaches and academic disciplines is evaluated. The focus is on the interpretative narrative, rather than on cultural heritage management. It is argued that we need multivocality as well as collaboration and integration of narratives.     

Collective memory and its images: Popular urban painting in Zaire — a source of “present past”∗

Based on the example of Zaïre's popular urban painting, the author analyzes the relationship between the collective memory and the social imaginary. The pictorial dissertation on the past and the present of the population of a mining town — Lubumbashi — is an autonomous historical account mostly intended for the petite bourgeoisie. The analysis focusses on two levels of the discourse: (1) the images of the past, in relation to the present, which reflects the collective memory of the group, and (2) the discourse on the balance of power between the state and the civil society. The author compares this urban painting to urban song and to some life stories.     

Pacific Island history at the Australian national university: The place and the people ∗

Abstract

This article describes the context in which Pacific Island history developed at ANU. It suggests ways in which its agenda and methods were influenced by its loction in the Australian capital in 1946, by a budget which expanded until 1975 and has contracted ever since, and by ANU's evolving management structures. The Department of Pacific History expanded to include Southeast Asia, and (in 1991) merged into a Division of Pacific and Asian History, reflecting altered priorities. The original intimacy fostered collegiality between Fellows and Scholars, which has largely survived the growth of the School and the elaboration of procedures. The article describes the resources which have been created, and the non‐print media which many scholars pioneered. It ends by surveying the diverse backgrounds and later careers of its scholars.     

Progress and Populism in Tongan Politics∗

Media fascination with and misrepresentation of Tongan politics continues, but there is better reason than usual for taking a close look at 2005. The government had suffered a series of reverses and embarrassments in the previous few years, including the dismissal of five ministers. Public controversy had arisen over attempts to control the media, over royalty's business interests, and finally over the price of electricity. These matters were bound to be exploited in the 2005 election, but the manner in which that happened was unexpected because of the new roles in politics for an old radical and one of the dismissed ministers. Moreover, the government had announced a minor but significant reform involving popular representation in cabinet. The general election of March 2005 confirmed the grip that critics of the government have on popular politics but the events of the next few months showed the government's run of bad luck continuing, so much so that it suffered a serious loss of respect. The government has had to make concessions unprecedented in constitutional times.     

Being and nothingness in Chinese kinship: Three meta‐studies

Baker, Hugh D. R., Chinese Family and Kinship. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979. xii + 243 pp. including chapter references, index, appendices, and glossary. $17.50 cloth.

Wolf, Arthur P. and Chieh‐shan Huang, Marriage and Adoption in China, 1845–1945. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980. xx + 426 pp. including chapter references, index, appendices, and glossary. $18.95 cloth.

Chao, Paul, Chinese Kinship. London: Kegan Paul International, 1983. xiii + 243 pp. including chapter references, index, and glossary. £15 cloth.     

Hospitals and physicians in socio‐historical context: Three studies

Romanucci‐Ross, Lola. Mead's Other Manus: Phenomenology of the Encounter. Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey, 1985. xxii + 230 pp. including maps, pictures, appendices, references and selected bibliography, and index. $24.95 cloth.