SESSION ABSTRACT - Vienna Anthropology Days

SESSION ABSTRACT
More than a cliché and the dream of the South Seas? Young research in and
about the South Pacific
Dittmer, Hannah (Austrian South Pacific Society, Vienna, AUT) Worliczek,
Elisabeth (Austrian South Pacific Society, Vienna, AUT)
Contact: hannah.dittmer@aon.at, ospg@univie.ac.at
The South Pacific has been a focal area of research at the Department of Social and
Cultural Anthropology for over a hundred years. This VANDA session is dedicated to
Oceania, convened by “The Austrian South Pacific Society” (OSPG), whose board
mainly consists of anthropology alumni. The OSPG is an association of people with a
high interest in the South Pacific, providing knowledge about this vast region for more
than 20 years. One of the OSPG’s goals is the promotion of young researchers who
focus their work on Oceania.
This vast region is extremely diverse in topography, natural habitats and cultures with
more than 7.500 islands spread across approximately 70 million square kilometers of
ocean. The exterior and interior shifts, affected by environmental influences and
temporal modification, not only shapes day to day lives but also oceanic identities.
Driven through this change the dichotomy of the way this region represents itself, in
opposition to how it is perceived, is in a constant and persistent imbalance. This
immense broadness of possible research topics is what makes Oceania so intriguing
for a variety of different researchers from various scientific backgrounds.
At the VANDA Conference, we aim for a diverse panel of participants of this “Oceania
Session”. We welcome not only contributions from Masters or Bachelor thesis, but
also other student research projects or seminar papers. Do not limit your scientific
imagination or creativity, the only condition is that the focus of your work is on
oceanic identities.
Paper submissions and questions: Hannah Dittmer BA & Dr. Elisabeth Worliczek
(ospg@univie.ac.at).
If you want to learn more about the Austrian South Pacific Society (OSPG) visit
www.univie.ac.at/ospg

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SESSION SCHEDULE
Tuesday, September 29, 2020 | Slot 3 | Room 3

Introduction and Input: by Session Organizers Elisabeth Worliczek & Hannah Dittmer

Rebekka Wörner: Empire in the Garden of Eden? - British Imperialism and the South
Seas in Victorian Literature

Thibaut Aussant: The oceanic culture in Ancient Society Islands and its evolution

Hannah Dittmer: “Moana made waves across the Pacific”: Representation of oceanic
identities in the Disney movie Moana

Magdalena Kittelmann: Reflection on identities of indigenous and missionary cultures
in Papua New Guinea during the German colonial period

Tuesday, September 29, 2020 | Slot 4 | Room 3

Philipp Schadner: Reciprocal effects between the 'South Sea' and the 'West' using
the example of tatauing and tattooing

Julia Hazar: Historical image-analysis of Sir Bob Jones responding to anti-tour
demonstrators in New Zealand 1981

Wolfgang Kiss: "Ariki meets Tangata manu" Tapati Rapa Nui, a festival of indigenous
identity or expression of constructed authenticity?

Claudia Ledderucci: Océanitude and Pacific regionalism in the wake of climate
change

SESSION PAPERS

Empire in the Garden of Eden? - British Imperialism and the South Seas in
Victorian Literature
Wörner, Rebekka (University of Vienna, Vienna, AUT)

This paper looks into the way British imperialism and the South Pacific are depicted
in Victorian Literature. Based on concepts of othering and stereotyping and on
Edward Said’s concept of orientalism it considers three 19th-century novels – Harriet
Martineau’s Dawn Island, R. M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island and H. G. Wells’ The
Island of Doctor Moreau – in their historical context. The paper argues that there is a
certain image of the south pacific to be found in 19th-century literature that is
informed not only by literary tradition and by travel reports, like those of Cook’s
pacific voyages, but also by anthropological theory about “race” and “civilisation”.
This image is based on European literary traditions and on constructions of the South
Sea Islanders as “colonial other”, and is closely connected to the development of
British imperialism in the 19th century. The novels transmit thus not only a certain
image of the South Pacific, but also actively support imperialist ideals and Christian
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mission. This paper also tries to show, following Brantlinger, that there is a shift in
attitude in the late nineteenth century that caused the arguments for imperialism to
change away from the ideal of a civilising mission and traces this shift in attitude in
the discussed novels.

The oceanic culture in Ancient Society Islands and its evolution
Aussant, Thibaut (Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Falais, FRA)

My name is Thibaut and I'm in MA degree (end of the 1st year).
My researches are about oceanian identities, and more precisely about oceanic
identities and culture in the Society Islands.
My work first consists in highlighting the fact that Tahitians identities in ancient times
(before European arrival) were shaped by the ocean. For Society Islands inhabitants,
sea was both a highway, a nutritive entity (with fishing) also extremely important for
the material culture, and a recreational place (with horue/surf and va'a/outrigger).
Ocean was in the center of the maohi culture, and its deep influence in tahitian
cosmogony proves it. Some academic studies have already brought this to light.
The second time of my work, more innovative I'd say, is to try to know what
happened to this « oceanic culture » with the European arrival and establishment,
from late XVIIIth to the beginning of the XXth century. Few have been said about the
tahitian acculturation, often only shown as a decline process all along the XIXth
century. One of my study's goals is to demonstrate that if there were indeed a loss of
this tahitian oceanic culture (navigation interdiction, fewer swim and surf practices for
example) with the impact of the european presence (missionaries, colonization,
trade, depopulation, new materials), this is not the only side of tahitian acculturation.
There were also resistance/persistence patterns but especially adaptation
phenomenons, with incorporation of some european materials and skills, as iron or
shipbuilding for example.
This study, influenced by ethnohistory sources and methodologies, has for goal to
highlight the fact that tahitians culture and identities were shaped by the ocean,
through the centuries and despite european presence. It shows the strength of the
link between islanders people and their oceanic environment.

Historical image-analysis of Sir Bob Jones responding to anti-tour
demonstrators in New Zealand 1981
Hazar, Julia (OSPG, Vienna, AUT)

“Wealthy property speculator and developer Bob Jones responds to anti-tour
demonstrators”

Analogue photography taken at any given moment, always has a touch of uncertainty
to it, never knowing for sure what the results will turn out to be. The picture of Sir Bob
Jones responding to an anti-tour demonstration in Auckland 1981 is one of these
moments. This picture taken, captures a pivotal moment in New Zealand’s history. At
first glance it might not seem so, but through extensive research, the depths of what
this picture represents, will be revealed. The late fifties up until the eighties were
turbulent years for New Zealand, marked by many demonstrations, and from that, a
resultant social change. Not only were those the years where the Waitangi Tribunal
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was established but also where Dawn Raids came to an end and Te Reo Maori
became official. The methodical approach for the analysis of this photography was to
first have an overview and description of the surface. What’s immediately visible to
the eye is a gateway to approach the background and thus the deeper layers of this
picture. It is also significant to know who took that picture, how they utilized and
distributed it. Historically embedded, the circumstances of why it was taken and the
purpose of it become clearer. This, within less of a second captured moment
represents a multitude of movements coming together at this very moment clashing
with the “upper class”. As well as understanding who took the picture, it is of
equivalent notability to understand who the picture was taken of. As a man with a
title, Sir Bob Jones has a very prominent position not only in the debate pictured, but
also in the entirety of the political climate and conflict at the time. Through detailed
examination of every symbol and extensive research, by the end of it, it paints a
multilayered picture of not only this moment, but also the significance and meaning of
every inch of this photography. From the make of the car to the micro-expression of
Bob Jones face to his posture, everything is connected.

Reflection on identities of indigenous and missionary cultures in Papua New
Guinea during the German colonial period
Kittelmann, Magdalena (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Glarus, CH)

The German colonial period in PNG (1884-1919) that coincides with the era of early
proselytization is a very interesting period to reflect on identities in Papua New
Guinea. The first contacts of two very different cultures and perceptions led to mutual
profound changes of culture and identity – for indigenous peoples as well as for
missionaries.
In 1886, the first Lutheran missionaries arrived at Finschhafen (Neuendettelsau
Missionary Society) in Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (today Morobe Province in Papua New
Guinea). Missionary societies played an important role in establishing medical
infrastructures, as they often were responsible for the first contacts between
indigenous communities and European medicine. The use of medical care for
missionary purposes is a good example to show identity and cultural changes that
occurred. In indigenous cultures, medical topics as illness and healing were linked to
a spiritual context, which opened a religious dialogue. The cliché exists that medical
work carried out by missionaries is solely seen as positive. But did especially medical
work not interfere with indigenous beliefs and identities?
This leads to the question to what extent medical work was instrumentalised for the
evangelization of local communities? Moreover, I ask how medical work carried out
by missionaries was adapted to (indigenous) spirituality and spiritual conceptions of
illness – which means that also missionaries had to adapt their views and their
behaviour. Certain diseases could not be treated by potent medication so that the
only medication remaining was praying. The present paper thus questions similarities
between traditional spirituality and spirituality used by missionaries. Did the two
cultural identities evolve and change to meet each other at some point?
Based on literature review and source research in the frame of my doctoral thesis in
medical history, this paper refers to the medical work implemented by the
Neuendettelsau Missionary Society and its spiritual implications on indigenous
communities in the timeframe of 1886-1919.

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Reciprocal effects between the 'South Sea' and the 'West' using the example of
tatauing and tattooing
Schadner, Philipp (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Vienna, AUT)

The mythologisation of the so-called 'South Sea' dates back to the foray by European
explorers and seafarers, who began to penetrate the Pacific Ocean in the first
decades of the 16th century and started to colonise its cultural areas – including the
inhabitants of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia – two centuries later.
Since the early contact with Polynesian islanders different aspects of their 'exotic'
culture were used by the invading 'Westerners' to legitimate an entitlement to rule
over the 'barbarians' and ostensibly enabled them to evolve from 'primitive
communities' to 'civilized societies'; this cultural transfer predominantly was and – in
some cases – still is depicted as an exchange, within pre-eminently 'barbarous'
elements were imported into the 'advanced Western civilisations' whereas the
oceanic 'savages' seemingly benefited in many ways. This paper will emphasize the
ethnocentric perspectives of 'Western' scholars on Polynesian islanders and how
their pseudo scientific views are still present in the public consciousness: ideological
aspects of 'Western' academics pervaded their ways of argumentation and were –
respectively are – instrumentalised for various cultural historical theories and socio-
scientific approaches. Illustrated with the example of tatauing and tattooing not only
erroneous assumptions by 'Western' scholars will be described in this contribution but
also the many-faceted mutual influence between the main focused cultural areas.
Furthermore, on the basis of a five-month-long fieldwork [including participant
observation, qualitative interviews and literature researches in several archives of
private collectors, museums and universities] in Polynesia, and a source-critical
analysis of written documents, an alternative point of view will be provided on the
following pages; likewise this inquiry of various resources allows the perceptions of
indigenous perspectives on continuous elements, lost and retrieved components of
cultural identity.
The aim of this paper is to show that since the colonisation of Polynesia by
'Westerners' specific cultural patterns were exchanged in a reciprocal way, which can
be particularly recognised by using the social practice nowadays called tatauing and
tattooing [in the matter of terms, techniques as well as motifs] in both cultural areas.

“Moana made waves across the Pacific”: Representation of oceanic identities
in the Disney movie Moana
Dittmer, Hannah (Austrian South Pacific Society, Vienna, AUT)

„Moana made waves across the Pacific”, cites the Hawaiian Anthropologist Mārata
Ketekiri Tamaira whilst discussing the debate the Disney movie “Moana” sparked in
Oceania. Moana tells the story of a young Polynesian girl, living on the fictive Island
“Motunui” who sets sail to cross the avoided, dangerous Reef to find demi-god Maui
and safe her Island from darkness. Disney seemed to put a lot of effort in prior
research for the movie and included pacific voices in the production by establishing a
“Disney Ocean Trust” with experts from Oceania and almost all the roles were filled
with oceanian actors. Despite those efforts the movie caused mixed reactions among
pacific islanders ranging from satisfaction over the representation of Oceania by a
Polynesian Disney princess that embodies “girl power pasifika style” to worried
reactions and debates about inappropriate disneyfied representation of Oceania.
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Exactly this debate is going to be discussed in my short presentation, using various
articles from pacific researchers like Mārata Ketekiri Tamaira, Vicente Diaz, Dionne
Fonoti and Tēvita O. Kaʻili to answer the question:
How are Oceania and pacific Identities represented in the popular Disney movie
“Moana” and how do pacific Islanders feel about this representation?
Taking this question into account my presentation aims to show various indigenous
opinions about the movie, discussing the problematic of a western movie empire like
Disney narrating and commodifying indigenous pacific stories and consider, despite
all the critique, what advantages could evolve from such cooperation’s for pacific
islanders. It is not the goal of this presentation to give a final answer to the question if
Moana is an appropriate and successful representation of Oceania or if this
cooperation is a failed project tainted by clichés and stereotypes – this is a question
that can only be answered by pacific Islanders themselves.
In the future it will become clear whether film producers are willing to take further
steps towards the narrators of these indigenous pacific stories, or whether it would be
possible to produce these stories without global players such as Disney and leave it
to pacific islanders to tell their stories by themselves.

"Ariki meets Tangata manu" Tapati Rapa Nui, a festival of indigenous identity
or expression of constructed authenticity?
Kiss, Wolfgang (University of Vienna, Vienna, AUT)
Rapa Nui, Easter Island, has had a great fascination for research since its discovery
in 1722. The focus of interest was and is on the huge stone monuments, the moai,
sculptures with a human face, the existence of which raises a multitude of questions
to this day. The uniqueness of the stone evidence of Polynesian culture led to its
recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
Central elements of cultural identity of minorities often do not find enough
reverberation in nation states, all the more if the affiliation to this is repeatedly
questioned. In the case of Rapa Nui, the island in the South Pacific that has been
part of the South American country since its annexation by Chile in September 1888,
the rebellion against the ruling powers has manifested itself not only in political
protests, but also in cultural terms, particularly in recent decades. This return to
tradition and indigenous identity is particularly evident at the annual Tapati Rapa Nui
Festival. The origins go back to the late 1960s and are interpreted both as a copy of
the Chilean Spring Festival or the Tiura’i Festival in Papeete (Tahiti). However, the
correlation between tourist growth and the increasing expansion of the festival also
allows an economic interpretation. However, the inhabitants of the island, which
currently has around 7,000 inhabitants, point to the primary identity-enhancing
function and the space for an active negotiation of ethnicity and cultural identity of the
sporting-cultural-folkloristic activities taking place in the two weeks.
Based on this problem formulation, the work would like to devote itself to answering
the following questions:
"Can the Tapati Rapa Nui Festival be viewed as a representation of indigenous
identity (tradition) or is it the expression of a constructed authenticity
(traditionalism)?"
"What importance do the actors involved (contributors, audience, tourists, institutions)
attach to the festival?"

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"What references to historical rituals and traditions can be derived from the activities
during the festival?"
“Which connections be drawn between the Tapati Rapa Nui Festival and the political
aspirations for independence of the local population?

Océanitude and Pacific regionalism in the wake of climate change
Ledderucci, Claudia (University of Turin, Turin, AUT)
Is it possible to rethink a new Pacific grassroots regionalism in the wake of climate
change and its impacts in Oceania?
It is not wrong to say that Pacific identities have one principal element in common
that renders them unique: the ocean (Hau’ofa 1998). The ocean is the shared yard of
all Pacific Islands States. National borders (established during the colonial time and
reinforced with the independence movements) do not always confine Pacific
islanders. Indeed, it is argued that a different kind of “nationalism” can be at stake
here. Instead of precise borders, the ocean that washes Pacific shores could be
considered as a blurry and inclusive boundary. Therefore, Pacific identities are
shaped by a network of relations unfurling across the ocean. This echoes the
regional identity proposed by Epeli Hau’ofa (1998), considered to be a useful means
to unite Pacific Islanders and to make Oceania prosperous and able to act when
necessary as a united body, bound by cultural ties: the same as the concept of
‘grassroots regionalism’ as proposed by Titifanue et al. (2017). Moreover, the idea of
Océanitude, as explained by Maurer (2019), could be defined as the valorization of
mobility as a source of cultural rootedness.
Other than just contesting the Western narrative and raising awareness among local
communities, the Pacific Climate Warriors - a grassroots organization fighting climate
change in Oceania - are trying to reconnect traditional inter-island links through a
transnational network, renewing the economic, political, and kinship relations which
suddenly disappeared because of the ‘divide and conquer’ politics of the colonial era,
later replaced by the creation of new national boundaries and through the
establishment of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). The Pacific Climate Warriors
seek to reconnect Pacific communities through their campaigns and initiatives,
overcoming the previous colonial borders of the Nation-State and making mobility
useful as a local resource instead of seeing it as a negative quality.
References:
       ⁃ Hau’ofa E., 1998. The Ocean inUs, TheContemporaryPacific 10(2):392-410
       ⁃ Maurer A., 2019. Océanitude, Francosphères 8(2):109-125
       ⁃ Titifanue J., Kant R., Finau G., and Tarai J., 2017. Climate Advocacy in the
        Pacific, PacificJournalismReview 23(1):133-149

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