LES POLITIQUES DE LA TRADITION
Identites culturelles et identites nationales
dans le PacifiqueJournal de la Societe des Oceanistes
(vol. 109, 1999-2, 147 p.)
Special issue edited by Alain Babadzan
THE POLITICS OF TRADITION : CULTURAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN THE PACIFIC
This special issue of the Journal focuses on the political uses of "culture" in the South Pacific, and investigates some of the current aspects of the symbolic production of collective identities in the region.
The apology of tradition and kastom has now become a dominant discourse in the region, and also, in many cases, a discourse of domination. Oddly enough, it has sometimes been described by Western scholars as an "anti-hegemonic" discourse, perhaps because of its anti-Western and romantic overtones. Most of the papers in this collection show that far from being a form of resurgence or resistance of a primordial culture, the emergence of a culturalist and nationalist discourse is better understood as the expression of a process of political modernization and ideological globalization.
Each chapter deals with a particular aspect of the question.Alain Babadzan, in an introductory theoretical chapter, reappraises the general debate on the "invention of tradition", and underlines its numerous similarities with the controversy among anthropologists about the politics of culture in Oceania. He addresses the question of the ruptures and continuities between pre-modern cultural productions and invented traditions from a contructivist point of view, and draws attention on the parallel between the main themes of 19th century European ethno-cultural nationalism and the current culturalist and nationalist ideologies in the Pacific. He advocates a renewed anthropological approach taking into account the recent scholarship about nations and nationalism emanating from the political sciences, sociology and history, in order to produce an adequate analysis of an ensemble of representations and practices which some anthropologists tend to interpret as the expression of a specificity and the affirmation of a difference.
Stephanie Lawson analyses the political uses of traditionalist ideologies in the Asia-Pacific region, from her point of view as a political scientist. She shows that the theme of the defense of cultural authenticity is always put forward by the new political elites of the region when confronted with claims for justice and democracy.
Toon van Meijl studies the identity formation of Maori youngsters, who identify themselves as Maori, but who simultaneously experience a crisis of identity when confronted with the formal teaching of Maori traditional culture as part of educational programmes.
Brigitte Derlon studies the role of the national cultural policies in the development of the folklorization of culture in New Ireland (Papua New Guinea).
Patrick Pillon notes, in conclusion of his study of some traditional representations of place and social organization in New Caledonia, that the modern forms of collective identification no longer refer to kinship or ancestral figures, but to an abstract and undifferentiated social entity.
Caroline Graille analyses the complex conditions under which "la coutume" (kastom) has become a political symbol in New Caledonia, and the progressive emergence of an indigenous middle class and intelligentsia.
Marc Tabani deals with the confrontation on the island of Tanna (Vanuatu) of (at least) two conflicting definitions of cultural identity : a local (Jon Frum) kastom, and a national kastom.
Robert Tonkinson, one of the main protagonists of the debate on the politics of identity in Oceania, investigates the diversity of the uses of "tradition" by indigenous Australians in a changing socio-political context marked by a new land legislation, and the close involvement of many anthropologists in the land claims process, especially the gathering of data on Aboriginal traditions in order to meet legislative requirements.
SUMMARY
Avant-propos. Culture, coutume, nation : les enjeux d’un debat
A.B.
Le nationalisme et l’invention des traditions
Alain BABADZAN, Professor of Anthropology, Univeristy of Montpellier (France), and Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative (CNRS, University of Paris X-Nanterre)Le traditionalisme et les politiques de l'identite culturelle en Asie et dans le Pacifique
Stephanie LAWSON, Professor of Political Sciences and International Relations, University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK.).Fractures culturelles et identites fragmentées : la confrontation avec la culture traditionnelle dans la société maorie post-coloniale
Toon VAN MEIJL, Center for Pacific Studies, University of Nijmegen (NL).Traditions et politiques de l’Etat en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinee : le cas de la province de Nouvelle-Irlande
Brigitte DERLON, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative (CNRS, University of Paris X-Nanterre)Identite, culture et categories de l’action : autour des fondements ideels du territoire et de l’organisation sociale en pays Mèa et Houaïlou (Nouvelle-Caledonie) Patrick PILLON, senior research fellow, director of Laboratoire d’études agraires, IRD, Montpellier.
Coutume et changement social en Nouvelle-Caledonie Caroline GRAILLE, lecturer in anthropology, University of Montpellier
Kastom et traditionalisme : l’invention multiple des traditions à Tanna, Vanuatu.
Marc TABANI, National Library, Paris.The Pragmatics and Politics of Aboriginal Tradition and Identity in Australia
Robert TONKINSON, Professor of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Perth._____________________________________________________________________________________________
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