Transformations of the Meeting-House in Tuvalu
Transformations of the meeting-house in Tuvalu Michael Goldsmith My problem is this: the Tuvaluan meeting-house is displayed as a symbol of indigenous culture in many different contexts. It is therefore often assumed, by both outside commentators and Tuvaluans themselves, to be of long standing in the history of that culture. Yet the word maneapa, by which the meeting-house is generically known, is of Gilbertese origin.1 Moreover, the weight of evidence suggests that not only the word but probably even the type of building itself is a post-colonial borrowing or implantation. If, indeed, there were no maneapa as such in Tuvalu before British hegemony was es tablished, then questions arise as to what, if anything, existed in its place; why the maneapa was introduced or borrowed; why it has achieved its current importance and, further, why it has become a symbol of national identity. In this connection, the concept of “transformation” calls out for a strong measure of historical attention. Yet the meaning of history is not as self-evident as the traditional definitions imply, with their references to narrative, sequences of events and so on (Braudel 1980:27). Another avenue, almost a new orthodoxy, has been explored under the influence of structuralism. Bather than using sequences of events to explain structure, some anthropologists use the delineation of structure to explain events. While Lêvi-Strauss’ name is the most closely linked to this programme (1966-.passim), even historical materialists find it beguiling. Godelier, for example, reverses the con ventional Marxist understanding of history with his contention that it explains nothing but is the category which itself needs to be explained, once structure has been revealed (Godelier 1977:49).
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