Category: Pacific

New in the Writing Past Colonialism Series

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Sustainable CommunitiesPapua New Guinea is going through a crisis: A concentration on conventional approaches to development, including an unsustainable reliance on mining, forestry, and foreign aid, has contributed to the country’s slow decline since independence in 1975. Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Development: Other Paths for Papua New Guinea, by Paul James, Yaso Nadarajah, Karen Haive, and Victoria Stead, attempts to address problems and gaps in the literature on development and develop a new qualitative conception of community sustainability informed by substantial and innovative research in Papua New Guinea.

“Sustainable Communities is an excellent work; remarkable. It manages to combine a sense of the complexity of its subject while remaining highly readable. I found it deeply probing, sustaining a sense of complexity across a multitude of terrains. Importantly, the book displays a belief in the possibilities of the village and displaced communities while retaining a sense of relevant problems.” —Dr. Nonie Sharo, author of Stars of Tagai: The Torres Strait Islanders

Writing Past Colonialism
July 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3640-5 / $27.00 (PAPER)

UH Press Around the Web

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Jim Tranquada, co-author of this month’s The ‘Ukulele: A History, had a few things to say about Kevin Roderick’s post “In praise of Hawaii’s ukulele (via Portugal)” in LA Observed. Read Tranquada’s comments in Roderick’s follow-up post here. In his response, Tranquada specifically mentions errors in The Daily’s recent “Uke Can Do It Too.” Read The ‘Ukulele to get the real story!

Aborigial Art & Culture: An American Eye calls Minoru Hokari’s Gurindji Journey: A Japanese Historian in the Outback, a “wonderful, iconoclastic study.” Reviewer Will Owen recalls Hokari’s discussion of a Gurindji historical event, John F. Kennedy’s visit to Wave Hill Station in 1966, three years after Kennedy’s assassination: “[This] was better than picking up the latest Swedish crime thriller: I had to keep reading until I understood how Hokari was going to resolve this problem.” Owen concludes his review with:

“In writing this short review of Gurindji Journey, I have used the entertaining and perplexing instance of President Kennedy’s visit to Wave Hill to organize some aspects of Hokari’s story telling and analysis. In doing so, I have not done justice to the complexity and subtlety of his arguments, nor the richness of his immersion in Gurindji culture. But I hope that what I have written will entice you to pick up this unlikely entry in the literature of Indigenous studies written by a Japanese historian in the Outback.”

A History of the Ukulele

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The UkuleleSince its introduction to Hawai‘i in 1879, the ‘ukulele has been many things: a symbol of an island paradise; a tool of political protest; an instrument central to a rich musical culture; a musical joke; a highly sought-after collectible; a cheap airport souvenir; a lucrative industry; and the product of a remarkable synthesis of western and Pacific cultures. The ‘Ukulele: A History, by Jim Tranquada and John King, explores all of these facets, placing the instrument for the first time in a broad historical, cultural, and musical context.

“Here, at last, is the complete story of the ‘ukulele. Thanks to the authors’ years of tireless research, the instrument’s incredible journey is brought vividly to life. This book is a labor of love and a gift of enduring scholarship.” —Jim Beloff, author of The ‘Ukulele: A Visual History

May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3634-4 / $20.99 (PAPER)

History of New Caledonia’s Great War, 1917-1918

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Specters of ViolenceDuring 1917–1918, war ravaged the hill country north of New Caledonia’s main island, the Grande terre. Occurring sixty-four years after France’s 1853 annexation of New Caledonia and in the midst of the Great War of 1914–1918, the conflict was known by the mid-twentieth century as “the last of the kanak revolts.” It represented to many—until the “events” of the 1980s—the final pacification of Kanak (the indigenous people of New Caledonia). Specters of Violence in a Colonial Context: New Caledonia, 1917, by Adrian Muckle, is the first comprehensive history of the 1917–1918 war, which involved the French army, European settlers, and Kanak. In three parts, it addresses the events leading to the outbreak of war, how those involved explained their role in the fighting, and how the war has since been represented.

May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3509-5 / $55.00 (CLOTH)

Cultures of Commemoration Wins Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize

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Native Paths to Volunteer TrailsCultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands, by Keith L Camacho, was recently awarded the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. The prize is awarded to works that contribute to the development of “the Pacific Basin Community Concept” and to regional studies of the Pacific Basin region. Cultures of Commemoration is part of the Pacific Islands Monograph Series (PIMS), published in association with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i.

Another PIMS title, The Pacific Theater: Island Representations of World War II, edited by Geoffrey M. White and Lamont Lindstrom, received the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize in 1990.

On the Human and Divine

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Almost HeavenEach of the stories, poems, and essays in Almost Heaven: On the Human and Divine, edited by Frank Stewart, is about the appearance of a divine moment or presence—which may take many forms and names. One such presence is depicted here in the play Damien, by Aldyth Morris, based on the Belgian priest who cared for victims of leprosy on the island of Moloka‘i. Some moments of goodness are large and celebrated, as in the lives of saints such as Father Damien. Some occur in the seemingly modest works of people who choose to regard those around them with extraordinary compassion. Sometimes goodness can seem inexpicably courageous and even miraculous.

Also included are extraordinary images reproduced from glass-plate negatives made at Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i, in the early twentieth century, from the collection of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts United States Province.

Manoa 23:2
March 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3675-7 / $20.00 (PAPER)

Of related interest: Leper Priest of Molokai: The Father Damien Story (Richard Stewart); Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai (Gavan Daws); Damien (Aldyth Morris).

Inaugural Volume in Topics in the Contemporary Pacific Series

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Interpreting CorruptionCorruption is a popular topic in the Pacific Islands. Politicians are accused of it and campaign against it. Fiji’s coup leaders vowed to clean it up. Several countries have “leadership codes” designed to reduce corruption, and others have created specialized anti-corruption agencies. But what counts as corruption in the Pacific and what causes it? How much is really going on? How can we measure it? What types are present? Are gifts really bribes? Is “culture” an excuse for corruption? Is politics—in particular, democracy—intrinsically corrupt? In clear and concise language, Interpreting Corruption: Culture and Politics in the Pacific Islands, by Peter Larmour, attempts to answer these questions.

“This book performs a hat trick (for those unfamiliar with upper-latitude sports, three goals by an ice hockey player is a hat trick) by explaining the meaning of corruption in the Pacific Islands, clarifying the central concepts in the study of public integrity, and deftly guiding the reader on a journey through coups, scams, and a plethora of ideas about an age old problem.” —Frank Anechiarico, Hamilton College

Topics in the Contemporary Pacific
March 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3514-9 / $49.00 (CLOTH)

UH Press Authors Presenting at ASAO Annual Meeting

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Jan Rensel at ASAO 2011UH Press authors Elfriede Hermann, Niko Besnier, Margeret Jolly, Susanne Kuehling, Glenn Petersen, Julianna Flinn, and Jan Rensel, among others, will be among the scholars presenting at this year’s ASAO (Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania) meeting in Portland, February 7–11. The Press will have on display about two dozen titles, order forms, book flyers, and a new PIMS (Pacific Islands Monograph Series) brochure.

Mahalo to Jan Rensel, shown here at last year’s meeting, for lending a hand at the book exhibit.

Cultures of Commemoration Now Available in Paperback

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Cultures of Commemoration
Cultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands, by Keith L Camacho, is now available in paperback.

“There is no other work that examines the complex interplay and layering of colonialisms in the twentieth-century Marianas with such detail, sensitivity, and intelligence.”—Takashi Fujitani, University of California at San Diego

“Camacho‘s study shows us that the critique of indigenous memory is not only crucial to the field of memory studies but also provides a key framework through which the politics of memory will be rethought.” —Marita Sturken, New York University, author of Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero

Pacific Islands Monograph Series #25
Published in association with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i
December 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3670-2 / $25.00 (PAPER)

A Cultural History of Kanaky-New Calendonia

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Nights of StorytellingNights of Storytelling: A Cultural History of New Caledonia, edited by Raylene Ramsay, is the first book to present and contextualize the founding texts of New Caledonia, a country sui generis in the relatively little-known French Pacific. Extracts from literary, ethnographic, and historical works in English translation introduce the many voices of a diverse culture as it moves toward “independence” or the “common destiny” framed by the 1998 Noumea Agreements. These texts reflect the coexistence of two major cultures, indigenous and European, shaped by the energies and shadows of empire and significantly influenced by one another.

Nights of Storytelling is a collaborative work complemented by La nuit des contes, a subtitled DVD of images and text, which features key works read or spoken, generally in the original French. It provides visual and aural access for the book’s Anglophone readers to the specific cultural, linguistic, and geographic contexts of these historical and literary works.

November 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3222-3 / $49.00 (CLOTH + DVD)

An Oceanic Grammar of Vanuatu

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A Grammar of MaveaSpoken on Mavea Island by approximately 32 people, Mavea is an endangered Oceanic language of Vanuatu. A Grammar of Mavea: An Oceanic Language of Vanuatu, by Valérie Guérin, provides grammatical descriptions of this hitherto undescribed language. Fourteen chapters, containing more than 1,400 examples, cover topics in the phonology and morphosyntax of Mavea, with an emphasis on the latter. Of particular interest are examples of individual speaker variation presented throughout the grammar; the presence of three linguo-labials (still used today by a single speaker) that were unexpectedly found before the rounded vowel /o/; and a chapter on numerals and the counting system, which have long been replaced by Bislama’s but are remembered by a handful of speakers.

November 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3639-9 / $40.00 (PAPER)
Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, No. 39

Traditional and Contemporary Hawaiian Beliefs and Practices

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No Na MamoNo Nā Mamo: Traditional and Contemporary Hawaiian Beliefs and Practices, by Malcolm Nāea Chun, is an updated and enlarged compilation of books in the acclaimed Ka Wana series, published in 2005–2010. The books, revised and presented as individual chapters, offer invaluable insights into the philosophy and way of life of Native Hawaiian culture.

“The transformation of the Ka Wana Series represents a personal triumph for the author who, convinced of the necessity for greater public understanding of Hawaiian culture, devoted many years of research to rediscovering essential elements of the traditional world view of the native Hawaiian people and the cultural practices that gave form to that view. A key message in the book is this: To learn is to understand and to understand is to know how to navigate one’s way through the intricate cultural pathways of the moment.” —Dr. Sir Sidney Hirini Moko Mead, DCNZM, FRSNZ, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Whakatane, Aotearoa

ISBN 978-0-8248-3624-5 / $40.00 (CLOTH)
Published in association with the Curriculum Research and Development Group (CRDG), University of Hawai‘i

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