Francis X. Hezel
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836610
- eISBN:
- 9780824870652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836610.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses one of the most basic themes in Micronesian culture: personalization. It describes life in a Micronesian island as the sum total of a series of interpersonal encounters with ...
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This chapter discusses one of the most basic themes in Micronesian culture: personalization. It describes life in a Micronesian island as the sum total of a series of interpersonal encounters with people who know one another. It considers the importance of a social map to Micronesians, who use it to fix individuals based on whether they are kin or non-kin, whether they are older or younger than oneself, what their social status is. It shows that the social map and the pattern of personal relationships plotted on it are a prerequisite for any meaningful exchange with island people. It also examines a dilemma faced by Micronesians: whether they continue to use their social map or jettison it in order to conform to the demands of a democracy that treats everyone equally. It argues that island societies are handicapped by personalization, from telephone courtesy to the procedures associated with good government.Less
This chapter discusses one of the most basic themes in Micronesian culture: personalization. It describes life in a Micronesian island as the sum total of a series of interpersonal encounters with people who know one another. It considers the importance of a social map to Micronesians, who use it to fix individuals based on whether they are kin or non-kin, whether they are older or younger than oneself, what their social status is. It shows that the social map and the pattern of personal relationships plotted on it are a prerequisite for any meaningful exchange with island people. It also examines a dilemma faced by Micronesians: whether they continue to use their social map or jettison it in order to conform to the demands of a democracy that treats everyone equally. It argues that island societies are handicapped by personalization, from telephone courtesy to the procedures associated with good government.
Francis X. S.J. Hezel
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836610
- eISBN:
- 9780824870652
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836610.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
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 ...
More
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? These questions are common in encounters with an unfamiliar Pacific Island culture. This book is intended for westerners who find themselves in contact with Micronesians and are puzzled by their island ways. It is for anyone struggling to make sense of cultural exchanges they don't quite understand. The book focuses on the 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. The book begins and ends with the real-life behavior of islanders. It attempts to explain island behavior, as curious as it may seem to outsiders at times, against the overriding pattern of values and attitudes that have always guided island life. The book identifies those areas where island logic and the demands of the modern world conflict: the “dilemmas of development.” Overall, the book advocates restraint—in judgments on island practices, in assumptions 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.Less
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? These questions are common in encounters with an unfamiliar Pacific Island culture. This book is intended for westerners who find themselves in contact with Micronesians and are puzzled by their island ways. It is for anyone struggling to make sense of cultural exchanges they don't quite understand. The book focuses on the 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. The book begins and ends with the real-life behavior of islanders. It attempts to explain island behavior, as curious as it may seem to outsiders at times, against the overriding pattern of values and attitudes that have always guided island life. The book identifies those areas where island logic and the demands of the modern world conflict: the “dilemmas of development.” Overall, the book advocates restraint—in judgments on island practices, in assumptions 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.
