stone men of malekula on malakula: an ethnography of an ethnography

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Stone Men of Malekula on Malakula: An Ethnographyof an EthnographyHaidy Geismar aa New York University , USAPublished online: 15 Jun 2009.

To cite this article: Haidy Geismar (2009) Stone Men of Malekula on Malakula: An Ethnography of an Ethnography, Ethnos:Journal of Anthropology, 74:2, 199-228, DOI: 10.1080/00141840902940468

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ethnos, vol. 74:2, june 2009 (pp. 199–228)

Stone Men of Malekula on Malakula:

An Ethnography of an Ethnography

Haidy GeismarNew York University, USA

abstract This article examines the resonances of the voluminous ethnography,

‘Stone Men of Malekula’ (SMM) in contemporary Vanuatu. Anthropological research

is politically charged in Vanuatu, in part because of how the weighty materiality of

archival forms exercise significant local authority. However, alongside respect for this

‘evidential’ material is a healthy scepticism of anthropological authority. SMM, written

by the maverick anthropologist John Layard in 1942 (based on fieldwork in 1914 –15),

has returned to Vanuatu in many guises over the years. It is used as formal evidence in

land disputes and as a bone of contention within competing claims. Tracing the ways in

which culture is written, read and materialized, exposes the paradoxes of knowledge

and politics not only within anthropological critique but in Vanuatu villages.

keywords Ethnographic representation, text, materiality, evidence, Vanuatu

TStone Men of Malekula SMM

smm

lingua franca

© Routledge Journals, Taylor and Francisissn 0014-1844 print/issn 1469-588x online. doi: 10.1080/00141840902940468

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haidy geismar

kastom polisi

smm

kastom

Writing Culture

Fig. 1. ‘Stone Men of Malekula’. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

Fig. 2. Vianney Atpatoun holding a photocopy of ‘Stone Men of Malekula’ that he has stitched and bound

himself. Mainland Vao, July 2006. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

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201Stone Men of Malekula on Malakula


forms

An Ethnography of Paper

Fig. 3. Firmin Teileimb, from Vao, holds a rotting copy of Osa Johnson’s ‘Bride of the Solomons’.

This book has important photographs of his family in it, but has not lasted well in the humid climate.

Photo: Haidy Geismar, July 2006.

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Fig. 4. Looking at a travelling exhibition to accompany our research into Layard’s photographs, and our

draft manuscript, mainland Atchin, July 2006, with descendants of Lawak, one of Layard’s best friends in

1914–15. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

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vcc andvcc

vcc

cd dvd

vcc

vcc

mks vcc

Fig. 5. Detail. Vianney Atpatun’s reference library on Mainland Vao in 2006. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

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Stone Men of Malekula Malekula: a Vanishing People of the New Hebrides

in situ

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Malekula: a Vanishing People of the New Hebrides mvp

smm mvp

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unesco

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Fieldwork as Paperwork

malanggan

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oeuvre

Stone Men of Malekula and British Social Anthropology

Maki

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Stone Men of Malekula

Stone Men

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The Material Qualities of the Book

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and

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.

MakiMaki

Maki Stone Men

smm

The Efficacy of Stone Men Today

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Fig. 6. Atchin. Emil Marur. Monolith, Dolmen and part of stone platform. Malunum [standing behind

connecting his identity to the stones]. CUMAA N.98458. Photo: John Layard 1914. Reproduced with kind

permission of the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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Fig. 7. The aged Pelur, of Togh-vanu, holds forth on tribal history which the ethnographer John Layard

records with the help of Ma-taru of Tolamp, whose son Na-sum sits listening too. The scene is the court-

yard of Pelur’s lodge, Vao, Malakula, Vanuatu. 1914. P.3768.ACH1. Reproduced with permission of the

Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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Almost everything

kastom polisi —


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ol kastom blong wan saed

wetem tu man nomo. From wanem oli kaveramap ful aelan

Fig. 8. Men of Vao looking at Layard’s photographs with MKS curator Numa Fred Longga, and fieldworkers

Caesar Sami and Vianney Atpatun. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

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hemi isi blong criticisem wan man be mo mekem i gud i tru i had lelebit vcc

vcc

Fig. 9. Doubt and suspicion about Layard rising to the surface. Photo: Haidy Geismar.

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Writing and Reading Culture

Writing Culture

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Writing Culture

read

et al.

Writing Culturequa

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and

Do Kamo: Person and Myth in the Melanesian World

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Conclusion


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writing culture

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materially

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smm

kastomapplication

definition

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Acknowledgments

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Notes

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mss


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kastomvcc

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stone men of malekula on malakula: an ethnography of an ethnography

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