An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia

An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia PDF Author: William H. Alkire
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Acculturation
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description

An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia

An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia PDF Author: William H. Alkire
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Acculturation
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description


Making Sense of Micronesia

Making Sense of Micronesia PDF Author: Francis X. Hezel
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824836610
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Why are islanders so lavishly generous with food and material possessions but so guarded with information? Why do these people, unfailingly polite for the most part, laugh openly when others embarrass themselves? What does a smile mean to an islander? What might a sudden lapse into silence signify? These questions are common in encounters with an unfamiliar Pacific Island culture. Making Sense of Micronesia is intended for westerners who find themselves in contact with Micronesians—as teachers, social workers, health-care providers, or simply as friends—and are puzzled by their island ways. It is for anyone struggling to make sense of cultural exchanges they don’t quite understand. The author focuses on the guts of island culture: the importance of the social map, the tension between the individual and social identity, the ways in which wealth and knowledge are used, the huge importance of respect, emotional expression and its restraints, island ways of handling both conflict and intimacy, the real but indirect power of women. Far from a theoretical exposition, the book begins and ends with the real-life behavior of islanders. Each section of every chapter is introduced by a vignette that illustrates the theme discussed. The book attempts to explain island behavior, as curious as it may seem to outsiders at times, against the over-riding pattern of values and attitudes that have always guided island life. Even as the author maps the cultural terrain of Micronesia, he identifies those areas where island logic and the demands of the modern world conflict: the “dilemmas of development.” In some cases, changes are being made; in others, the very features of island culture that were highly functional in the past may remain so even today. Overall, he advocates restraint—in our judgments on island practices, in our assumption that many of these are dysfunctional, and in leading the charge for “development” before understanding the broader context of the culture we are trying to convert.

The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia

The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia PDF Author: Adrienne L. Kaeppler
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0192842382
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
With more than one hundred illustrations--most in full color--this volume offers a stimulating and insightful account of two dynamic artistic cultures, traditions that have had a considerable impact on modern western art through the influence of artists such as Gauguin. After an introduction to Polynesian and Micronesian art separately, the book focuses on the artistic types, styles, and concepts shared by the two island groups, thereby placing each in its wider cultural context. From the textiles of Tonga to the canoes of Tahiti, Adrienne Kaeppler sheds light on religious and sacred rituals and objects, carving, architecture, tattooing, and much more.

Traditional Micronesian Societies

Traditional Micronesian Societies PDF Author: Glenn Petersen
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824865286
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Traditional Micronesian Societies explores the extraordinary successes of the ancient voyaging peoples who first settled the Central Pacific islands some two thousand years ago. They and their descendants devised social and cultural adaptations that have enabled them to survive—and thrive—under the most demanding environmental conditions. The dispersed matrilineal clans so typical of Micronesian societies ensure that every individual, every local family and lineage, and every community maintain close relations with the peoples of many other islands. When hurricanes and droughts or political struggles force a group to move, they are sure of being taken in by kin residing elsewhere. Out of this common theme, shared patterns of land tenure, political rule, philosophy, and even personal character have flowed. To describe and explain Micronesian societies, the author begins with an overview of the region, including a brief consideration of the scholarly debate about whether Micronesia actually exists as a genuine and meaningful region. This is followed by an account of how Micronesia was originally settled, how its peoples adapted to conditions there, and how several basic adaptations diffused throughout the islands. He then considers the fundamental matters of descent (ideas about how individuals and groups are bound together through ties of kinship) and descent groups and the closely interlinked subjects of households, families, land, and labor. Because women form the core of the clans, their roles are particularly respected and their contributions to social life honored. Socio-political life, art, religion, and values are discussed in detail. Finally, the author examines a number of exceptions to these common Micronesian patterns of social life. Traditional Micronesian Societies illustrates the idiosyncrasies of individual Micronesian communities and celebrates the Micronesians’ shared ability to adapt, survive, and thrive over millennia. At a time when global climate change has seized our imaginations, the Micronesians’ historical ability to cope with their watery environment is of the greatest relevance.

The Federated States of Micronesia’s Engagement with the Outside World

The Federated States of Micronesia’s Engagement with the Outside World PDF Author: Gonzaga Puas
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1760464651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This study addresses the neglected history of the people of the Federated States of Micronesia’s (FSM) engagement with the outside world. Situated in the northwest Pacific, FSM’s strategic location has led to four colonial rulers. Histories of FSM to date have been largely written by sympathetic outsiders. Indigenous perspectives of FSM history have been largely absent from the main corpus of historical literature. A new generation of Micronesian scholars are starting to write their own history from Micronesian perspectives and using Micronesian forms of history. This book argues that Micronesians have been dealing successfully with the outside world throughout the colonial era in ways colonial authorities were often unaware of. This argument is sustained by examination of oral histories, secondary sources, interviews, field research and the personal experience of a person raised in the Mortlock Islands of Chuuk State. It reconstructs how Micronesian internal processes for social stability and mutual support endured, rather than succumbing to the different waves of colonisation. This study argues that colonisation did not destroy Micronesian cultures and identities, but that Micronesians recontextualised the changing conditions to suit their own circumstances. Their success rested on the indigenous doctrines of adaptation, assimilation and accommodation deeply rooted in the kinship doctrine of eaea fengen (sharing) and alilis fengen (assisting each other). These values pervade the Constitution of the FSM, which formally defines the modern identity of its indigenous peoples, reasserting and perpetuating Micronesian values and future continuity.

Stories of Culture and Place

Stories of Culture and Place PDF Author: Michael G. Kenny
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487593716
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Stories of Culture and Place makes use of one of anthropology's most enduring elements—storytelling—to introduce students to the excitement of the discipline. The authors invite students to think of anthropology as a series of stories that emerge from cultural encounters in particular times and places. References to classic and contemporary ethnographic examples—from Coming of Age in Samoa to Coming of Age in Second Life—allow students to grasp anthropology's sometimes problematic past, while still capturing the potential of the discipline. This new edition has been significantly reorganized and includes two new chapters—one on health and one on economic change—as well as fresh ethnographic examples. The result is a more streamlined introductory text that offers thorough coverage but is still manageable to teach.

Summoning the Powers Beyond

Summoning the Powers Beyond PDF Author: Jay Dobbin
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 082486011X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Summoning the Powers Beyond collects and reconstructs the old religions of preindustrial Micronesia. It draws mostly from written sources from the turn of the nineteenth century and the period immediately after World War II: reports of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition of 1908–1910, articles by German Roman Catholic missionaries in Micronesia included in the journal Anthropos, and reports by the Coordinated Investigation of Micronesian Anthropology (CIMA) and the American Board of Commissioners of the Foreign Missions (ABCFM). A detailed introduction and an overview of Micronesian religion are followed by separate chapters detailing religion in the Chuukic-speaking islands, Pohnpei, Kosrae, the Marshall Islands, Yap, Palau, Kiribati, and Nauru. The Chamorro-speaking group of the Marianas is omitted because lengthy periods of intense military and missionary activity eradicated most of the local religion. The Polynesian outliers Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi are discussed at the end primarily to underscore the contrasts between Polynesian and Micronesian religion. In a concluding chapter, the author highlights the similarities and differences between the areas within Micronesia and then attempts an appreciation or evaluation of Micronesia religion. Finally, he addresses the evidence of a tentative hypothesis that Micronesian religion is sufficiently different from that of Polynesia and Melanesia to justify the continued claim of a separate Micronesian religion.

Unnatural Emotions

Unnatural Emotions PDF Author: Catherine A. Lutz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022621978X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
"An outstanding contribution to psychological anthropology. Its excellent ethnography and its provocative theory make it essential reading for all those concerned with the understanding of human emotions."—Karl G. Heider, American Anthropologist

Measuring Culture

Measuring Culture PDF Author: John W. Mohr
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231542585
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Social scientists seek to develop systematic ways to understand how people make meaning and how the meanings they make shape them and the world in which they live. But how do we measure such processes? Measuring Culture is an essential point of entry for both those new to the field and those who are deeply immersed in the measurement of meaning. Written collectively by a team of leading qualitative and quantitative sociologists of culture, the book considers three common subjects of measurement—people, objects, and relationships—and then discusses how to pivot effectively between subjects and methods. Measuring Culture takes the reader on a tour of the state of the art in measuring meaning, from discussions of neuroscience to computational social science. It provides both the definitive introduction to the sociological literature on culture as well as a critical set of case studies for methods courses across the social sciences.

Steadfast Movement around Micronesia

Steadfast Movement around Micronesia PDF Author: Lola Quan Bautista
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739134795
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Steadfast Movement examines how people from Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) move about and their cultural interpretations of movement itself. Special consideration is made of movement on the atoll of Satowan in Chuuk State as intimately associated with clan, lineage, and locality, as well as the influence of a system of local beliefs and attitudes based on combinations of age, marital status, and childbirth. Lola Quan Bautista also investigates the ways in which the current movement of citizens from Chuuk State and others from FSM to Guam fits within larger contexts that emphasize historical circumstances and more current political-economic considerations. Considering movement as being steadfast makes this study one of the few undertaken in the Pacific to self-consciously attempt to provide a sense of agency and interconnectivity between transnationalism and circular mobility.