Our wealth is loving each other : self and society in Fiji / Karen J. Brison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brison, Karen J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fijians--Psychology.

Fijians.

Fijians--Ethnic identity.

Fijians--Social life and customs.

Ethnicity.

Psychology.

Physical Description:

xix, 151 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2007]

Summary:

Our Wealth Is Loving Each Other explores the fluid and context-bound nature of cultural and personal identity among indigenous Fijians. National identity in Fiji often emphasizes a romantic, premodern tradition based on a chiefly hierarchy contrasted to the "individualistic" cultures of Westerners and of Indo-Fijians. But indigenous Fijian villagers are generally more concerned with defining their identity vis-a-vis other community members, urban and overseas relatives, and other regions of the country. When people craft self-accounts to justify their position within the indigenous Fijian community, they question and redefine both tradition and modernity. Modernity on the margins is an experience of anxiety-provoking contradictions between competing ideologies-that of international ideologies versus local experiences. indigenous Fijians have been exposed to global ideas and government programs extolling the virtues of "premodern" communities that place communal good and time-honored tradition over individual gain. But other waves of policy and rhetoric have stressed individual achievement and the need to "shake" individuals out of community bonds to foster economic development. Individuals feel contradictory pressures to be autonomous, achieving individuals and to subordinate self to community and tradition. Karen J. Brison examines traditional kava ceremonies, evangelical church rhetoric, and individual life history narratives to show how individuals draw on a repertoire of narratives from local and international culture to define their identity and sense of self. Our Wealth Is Loving Each Other is appropriate for upper-level students and anyone with an interest in Fiji or anthropology.

Contents:

Introduction: Self and society in Fiji

Defining the community through ceremony

Constructing self and community through religious discourse

Re-imagining sociocentrism

Imagining modernity in Rakiraki

Crafting a community

Imagining identity among Rakiraki children

Conclusion: Identity in a "postcultural" world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 141-146) and index.

ISBN:

9780739114889

0739114883

OCLC:

77572863