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REDEFINING GENDERED SPACES: THE CASE OF THE INDOFIJIAN FEMALE QAWWAL
Full text linkQawwali, an IndoFijian musical performance, links directly to first generation Indian indentured laborers brought to Fiji by British colonizers between 1874 and 1916. The form of qawwali considered in this paper is performed as a challenge between two vocalists both assisted by musical ensembles, respectively. Firstly, this paper describes IndoFijian qawwali and its connections to South Asia and then pays attention to IndoFijian identity because the female qawwal’s ethnic identity precedes her performance-based identity. Through Qawwali female performers created a new public identity, that of a female qawwal. This transpired through the inclusion of females on a stage traditionally exclusive to male performers. In the process, a highly gendered space was deconstructed and reconstructed to include the female voice. The article concludes that qawwali performances, particularly those that feature an intersex singing competition are sites of gender rebellion and performativity through which at least one nonnormative gender identity is articulated
LOVE OF PLACE: TOWARD A CRITICAL PACIFIC STUDIES PEDAGOGY
Full text linkGrowing up in Hawaiʻi, I was raised with aloha ʻāina. Loosely defined as “love of place,” aloha ʻāina is a way of being in and with the world. It is built on relationship and stewardship. In this article, I will use aloha ʻāina to reflect on my role as a Pacific studies teacher and on what responsibilities educators may have to confront our common challenge and most dire threat: the destruction of the natural environment. I will articulate “love of place” to a critical Pacific studies pedagogy, one that addresses environmental issues, contributes to the well-being of the Pacific (people, land, and sea), and harnesses the power of Indigenous ways of knowing to do so. Reflecting on past teaching experiences and on previous articulations of Pacific studies, I will then argue that we must cultivate “love of place” to help students turn unfamiliar Pacific spaces into places of meaning
“TAIWAN’S ALLY TUVALU TO SOON BECOME A WATER WORLD”: LANGUAGE, PLACE, AND TAIWAN’S POPULAR DISCOURSE ON TUVALU
Full text linkCarol Farbotko has argued that the “islands of Tuvalu, largely absent from Eurocentric imaginings of the Pacific region, have become meaningful spaces in cosmopolitan discourses only as they disappear” (Farbotko 2010, Wishful Sinking: Disappearing Islands, Climate Refugees and Cosmopolitan Experimentation; Asia Pacific Viewpoint 51 (1): 47–60). Similarly, although Tuvalu is more present in Taiwan because it is one of Taiwan’s few diplomatic allies, Tuvalu has also become more significant in Taiwanese discourse with increased coverage of climate change. However, whereas in the West, Tuvalu and climate change are mainly linked to (often self-serving) environmentalist narratives, in Taiwan, Tuvalu and climate change are tied instead to anxiety concerning Taiwan’s contested sovereignty. In this article, I outline how Taiwan’s diplomatic ethnocentrism and its media’s fixation on climate change have filtered into popular discourse that connects Tuvalu to Taiwan’s sovereignty concerns. I also consider how examining Taiwan’s popular discourse on Tuvalu further engages themes of language/translation and love of place critical to the field of Pacific Studies
NAMING THE COOK ISLANDS: ARTICULATION THEORY AND ‘AKAPAPA‘ANGA
Full text linkThe Cook Islands has existed as a formal polity for roughly one hundred years. There is no antecedent Māori name for this nation. Referencing the explorer Captain James Cook, it has been the nation’s primary identifier since the late nineteenth century despite the nation comprising fifteen islands and various and distinct cultural genealogies prior to European arrival. In this article, I ask how might we effectively describe the formation of the Cook Islands’ national identity and understand its name given its underlying genealogical and cultural diversity. In asking this question, I consider the utility of cultural studies’ articulation theory for contextualizing the development of the Cook Islands name and the culture it denotes. I then discuss how the Cook Islands (Māori) concepts of ‘akapapa‘anga (genealogy making) and the Māori practice of naming extend articulation theory’s proposition that culture is a series of articulated parts
Vol. 43 No. 2 (2020): Pacific Studies Front Matter
Full text linkFront Matter for the Vol. 43, No 2-Dec 2020 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal
WOMEN, POWER, AND PLACE IN POLYNESIA: ARTICULATIONS FROM SAMOA AND AOTEAROA, NEW ZEALAND
Full text linkIntroduction for the Vol. 43, No 1-Jun 2020 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal
FRIENDS IN THE MAKING: THE CONTEXTUAL FRAMING OF JERĀ- RELATIONSHIPS AMONG MARSHALL ISLANDERS
Full text linkAMERICAN SĀMOAN LAND TENURE—APPORTIONMENT OF COMMUNAL LANDS AND THE ROAD TO INDIVIDUALLY OWNED LAND RIGHTS
Full text linkWhen a village was established, the land in that village belonged to the people of that village. A mātai could claim land for his family or clan by clearing and then working it. Any land that was not under the direct “pule” of a mātai remained belonging to the people of the village. Paramount chiefs would have a more general control of larger areas. It is important to keep in mind that the power of a mātai was really defined not by title name, but by the land which he had control. Through this system, ownership of land from the mountain peak to the reef was defined among the various families, villages, and districts. Leuma v. Willis, LT 047-79, slip op. at 4 (Land and Titles Div. Dec. 16, 1980
LAND GROUPS, LAND REGISTRATION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ON GUADALCANAL, SOLOMON ISLANDS
Full text linkNeoliberal economic development requires that land boundaries and land groups be identified and registered, creating property rights and titles that can be bought, sold, and transferred. Registration makes land and land groups legible, thereby allowing states to exercise control and make land accessible to potential investors. This process of commodification creates changes that are often socially traumatic. In many Melanesian societies, individual and group rights to land are traditionally fluid and dynamic. Registration, however, freezes them. This paper examines how the process of land registration not only identify but also create land groups and influences how they respond to economic development projects. Two case studies on Guadalcanal illustrate this and highlight that land groups are not always passive victims. However, their agency can only be exercised within the limits established by the state. This paper locates Guadalcanal’s experiences within broader discussions of land and economic development in Oceania