Roger M. Keesing Papers

http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7z09q827 Online items available Register of the Roger M. Keesing Papers MSS 0427 Finding aid prepared by Finding aid prepared by Mandeville Special Collections Library Mandeville Special Collections Library 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 858-534-2533 [email protected] Copyright 2005 Register of the Roger M. Keesing MSS 0427 1 Papers MSS 0427 Title: Roger M. Keesing Papers, Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0427 Contributing Institution: Mandeville Special Collections Library Language of Material: English Physical Description: 36.7 Linear feet(45 archives boxes, 21 card file boxes, 12 records cartons, 17 oversize folders)2,982 online items Date (inclusive): 1962-1993 Abstract: Papers of Roger M. Keesing, a cultural and linguistic anthropologist whose area of specialization was the culture history and language of the Kwaio people of the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands. The Keesing Papers represent the research and materials generated from his fieldwork with the Kwaio of Malaita, and to a lesser extent, his research in Himalayan villages of India. The papers reflect Keesing's particular interest in Melanesian languages and the cultural conflict caused by colonialism. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, friends, family, and associates; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic and linguistic data collected in field notebooks, journals, typescripts, diaries, photographs, and recorded interviews; teaching material; writings of others related to his research interests; and computer analysis of genealogical data from Kwaio. The papers span the period 1962 to 1993. The papers are arranged in thirteen series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS BY KEESING, 4) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 5) SOLOMON ISLANDS - FIELD RESEARCH, 6) SOLOMON ISLANDS - PHOTOGRAPHS, 7) SOLOMON ISLANDS - AUDIORECORDINGS, 8) SUBJECT FILES, 9) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 10) TEACHING MATERIAL, 11) COMPUTER ANALYSIS MATERIAL, 12) INDIA - FIELD RESEARCH, and 13) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. creator: Keesing, Roger M., 1935-1993 Access Letters of recommendation in Box 2, Folder 23 are restricted according to state and federal law until 2050. Transcriptions located in Box 42, Folders 37 and 58 are restricted by the donor until 2010. Cassette audiotape #82 and #83 are restricted by the donor until 2010. Cassette audiotape #71 is restricted by the donor until 2050. Acquisition Information Not Available Preferred Citation Roger M. Keesing Papers, MSS 0427. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Biography Roger Martin Keesing, anthropologist and linguist, was born in Hawaii on May 16, 1935, the second child of two anthropologists who had immigrated to the United States from New Zealand in 1928. Keesing received a B.A. degree in social anthropology from Stanford in 1956. He then spent two years with the U. S. Air Force, taking advantage of a posting to Turkey to conduct fieldwork. Deciding to continue his study of anthropology, he began graduate work at Harvard University, obtaining an M.A. in 1963 and a doctoral degree in 1965. His dissertation, Kwaio Marriage and Society, was based on ethnographic fieldwork with the Kwaio, a native people of Malaita in the Solomon Islands. He remained both professionally and personally engaged with the Kwaio throughout his career. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1965, becoming head of the anthropology department in 1971. His interest in the peoples of the Pacific region continued, and he served as Acting Director of the Center for South Pacific Studies at U.C. Santa Cruz, 1972-1974. In 1974 Keesing accepted the chair of the anthropology department at the Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. He was there until 1990, when he returned to North America to teach anthropology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Keesing did fieldwork in the Solomon Islands in the early 1960s, working on his dissertation. He made regular visits over the next two decades, recording ethnographic and linguistic data that would form the basis for numerous publications on the Oceanic languages of the Solomon Islands. His book, Melanisian Pidgen and the Oceanic Substrate (1988), made an important contribution to creole studies, building on his previous work, a Kwaio Dictionary (1975) and Kwaio Grammar (1985). He also carried out field research in Himalayan villages in India in 1978 and 1980-1981, but his most extensive contributions to anthropology are his studies of the language and customs of the Kwaio people. Keesing was able to pose broad theoretical questions and respond to them with detailed research results that reflected the range of his interests: cultural theory, language, social structure, gender relations and the impact of colonial history and Register of the Roger M. Keesing MSS 0427 2 Papers MSS 0427 development. He published widely, writing more than one hundred articles and ten books. He completely reworked the introductory textbook his father had written, as reflected in the subtitle, Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective, which became a successful introductory text. Keesing died in Toronto, May 7, 1993. [Sources: Jolly. M. Roger Martin Keesing: 1935-1993. Australian Journal of Anthropology, v4, n2 (Spring, 1993), 157-161; Macintyre, M. Roger Martin Keesing (1935-93). Oceania, v65, n3 (March, 1995), 193-194. Scope and Content of Collection The Roger M. Keesing Papers document the research and material generated from Keesing's interest in the Solomon Islands, and to a lesser extent, India. Keesing was a cultural and linguistic anthropologist whose primary research interest involved the culture, history and language of the Kwaio people of the Solomon Islands. The materials represented in the Keesing Papers include correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, and local officials; manuscripts and typescripts of published and unpublished works, ethnographic data collected in field journals, notebooks, diaries, photographs, slides, and audio recordings; academic and teaching material; writings by others related to his area of research; and computer analyses of ethnographic data. The collection occupies 36.7 linear feet, spans the years 1962 to 1993 and is arranged in thirteen series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS BY KEESING, 4) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 5) SOLOMON ISLANDS - FIELD RESEARCH, 6) SOLOMON ISLANDS - PHOTOGRAPHS, 7) SOLOMON ISLANDS - AUDIORECORDINGS, 8) SUBJECT FILES, 9) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 10) TEACHING MATERIAL, 11) COMPUTER ANALYSIS MATERIAL, 12) INDIA - FIELD RESEARCH, and 13) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS This series contains the following: annual reports from 1986 to 1992 describing Keesing's research activities, calendar pages from 1963 to 1964, a certificate of alien registration to the Solomon Islands, Keesing's curriculum vitae, newspaper clippings, and photographs of Keesing. SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE This series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically thereunder. It contains correspondence with Keesing's colleagues, friends, family, and associates spanning the years 1962 to 1993. David Akin and Jonathan Fifi'i are two of the extensively represented correspondents. There is substantial correspondence with various Solomon Island Ministries relating to Keesing's research efforts in the area, and there is a folder titled "Kwaio Correspondents" containing letters from Malaita denizens written in the Kwaio language. SERIES 3: WRITINGS BY KEESING The WRITINGS BY KEESING series is arranged in five subseries: A) Published and Unpublished Writings, B) Talks and Lectures, C) Reviews, D) School Papers, and E) Untitled Material. A) The Published and Unpublished Writings subseries is arranged alphabetically by title and contains abstracts, comments, correspondence, drafts, manuscripts, notes, reviews, and typescripts of published and unpublished writings by Keesing. The published material represented in this subseries includes: Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective; Custom and Confrontation: The Kwaio Struggle for Cultural Autonomy; 'Elota's Story; Kwaio Dictionary; Kwaio Grammar; Kwaio Marriage and Society (Keesing's dissertation); Kwaio Religion; Lightning Meets the West Wing; Melanesian Pidgen and Oceanic Substrate; and New Perspectives in Cultural Anthropology (co-authored with his father, Felix Keesing). B) The Talks and Lectures subseries is arranged alphabetically by title and reflects the breadth of Keesing's research interests such as ethnography, kinship, linguistics, religion, ritual, and theory. C) The Reviews subseries is arranged alphabetically by the reviewed author's last name. D) The School Papers subseries contains assignments, notes and examinations relating to Keesing's undergraduate and graduate education. The subseries is arranged alphabetically by title. E) The Untitled Material subseries contains bibliographic note cards, manuscripts, notes, outlines, and typescripts of projects otherwise unidentified. SERIES 4: WRITINGS BY OTHERS The WRITINGS BY OTHERS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Authors and B) Archival Material. A) The Authors subseries contains correspondence, lectures, notes, and published and unpublished material by other authors. These writings date from 1954 to 1993 and are arranged alphabetically

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