Cited by 232Anthropological Studies and InsightsNew Caledonia Indigenous StudiesMedia, Communication, and Education

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Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll

Besnier, Niko·1995·Cambridge University Press eBooks

DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511519864

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Abstract

Literacy continues to be a central issue in anthropology, but methods of perceiving and examining it have changed in recent years. In this 1995 study Niko Besnier analyses the transformation of Nukulaelae from a non-literate into a literate society using a contemporary perspective which emphasizes literacy as a social practice embedded in a socio-cultural context. He shows how a small and isolated Polynesian community, with no access to print technology, can become deeply steeped in literacy in little more than a century, and how literacy can take on radically divergent forms depending on the social and cultural needs and characteristics of the society in which it develops. His case study, which has implications for understanding literacy in other societies, illuminates the relationship between norm and practice, between structure and agency, and between group and individual.

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“Literacy research that adopts a sociocultural approach, following the ideological model (Baynham, 1995; Besnier, 1995; Street, 1993), has put the focus on events and practices—that is, on actions and ideological constructs—in relation to written language.”
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“This is seen, for instance, through emotionally charged letter-writing practices in Polynesia (Besnier 1995), or ‘tin trunk’ practices of preserving valued documents in Africa (Barber 2007, 176).”
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Knowledge, literacy and media among the Iban of Sarawak. A reply to Maurice Bloch An earlier version of this article was published in the Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Conference of the Borneo Research Council. University of Malaysia, Kuching, 1014 July 2000. The article follows from research I carried out in Sarawak for some 17 months in 19968 was part of a PhD thesis with the Anthropology Department at University College London, supervised by Dr Simon Strickland and Professor Chris Tilley. I was officially attached to both the Majlis Adat Istiadat (Council for Customary Law) and the Sarawak Museum in Kuching. My doctoral research was supported by the Anthropology Department and Graduate School at University College London, the Evans Fund of Cambridge University and the Central Research Fund of London University. I am most grateful to these institutions and to the Iban Service at RTM, Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan, Tun Jugah Foundation, Betong District Office, State Planning Unit, as well as to countless individuals and families in the Saribas, Skrang and Kuching areas for their generous support. I also wish to thank two anonymous readers and Carlos Pinas for their helpful comments.
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History and process
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“…observation in the social practice paradigm, where reading and writing appear highly socially and culturally contextual, interwoven into local ways of life, and sensitive to ideological complexities of time and place (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Besnier, 1995; Heath, 1983; Scribner & Cole, 1981).”
Background
Introduction
Blommaert, J. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511610295.002 · Cited by 1
Graves of Malakula: Anthropological History and Indigenous Christian Historiography
de Lannoy, J. (2005) · History and Anthropology · doi:10.1080/02757200500219586 · Cited by 1
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Douglas Biber, Dimensions of register variation: A cross-linguistic comparison. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. xvii, 428. Hb $59.95.
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Literacy Practices in Sociocultural Perspective
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Roman tablets and related forms in the Roman provinces (30 BC – AD 260)
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THE EVOLUTION OF PRACTICE
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Conclusion: literacy lessons – beginnings, ends, and implications
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Roman perceptions of Roman tablets: aspects and associations
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Insiders or outsiders? : the rhetoric of compromise in post-Reconstruction institutionally-sponsored African American literacy.
Heintzman, A. (2010) · doi:10.18297/etd/598
References
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.014
Preface
Collins, J., & Blot, R. K. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486661.002
Introduction
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.001
The Roman tablet: style and language
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.005
Roman tablets in Italy ( AD 15–79)
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THE WORLD OF BELIEF
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.002
Tablets and other documents in court to AD 400
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.011
Appendix: English translations of the documents in chapter 5
Blommaert, J. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511610295.012
Documents, jurists, the emperor, and the law ( AD 200– AD 535)
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Literacies and identity formation: American cases
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Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language
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Recitation from tablets
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.006
Literacies and power in modern nation states: Euro-American lessons
Collins, J., & Blot, R. K. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486661.006
Tablets and efficacy
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.007
Desire in Young Men’s Courtship Stories
Lipset, D. M. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51076-7_2
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Simanu-Klutz, L., & Glenn, A. S. (2017) · Amerasia Journal · doi:10.17953/aj.43.1.ix-xxiii
The Cheke Holo: a case study from Solomon Islands on language and religion
Boswell, F. A. (2019) · WORD · doi:10.1080/00437956.2019.1611401
Pragmatics of script
Choksi, N. (2019) · Handbook of pragmatics online/Handbook of pragmatics · doi:10.1075/hop.22.pra6
Writing and Writing Systems: Introduction
Stanlaw, J. M. (2020) · The International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology · doi:10.1002/9781118786093.iela0411
L’esthétique du don polynésien
Condevaux, A. (2021) · Anthropologie et Sociétés · doi:10.7202/1078173ar
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Connell, J. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-5285-1_8
RETHINKING SYNCRETISM:
(2009) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822390961-005 · Cited by 1
References
Errington, J. (2007) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470690765.refs
From Khipu to Narrative
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-003
Power over Writing
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-006
SCENES FROM A NATIVIST REFORMATION
(2013) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822391890-005
Writing and the Rehearsal of the Past
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-007
Conclusion
(2013) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822391890-008
Conclusions
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-009
REVIVAL IN THE “LAND OF THE MAGIC MUSHROOM”
(2013) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822391890-003
Introduction
(2009) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822390961-001
Preface
Blommaert, J. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511610295.001
References
Collins, J., & Blot, R. K. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486661.011
Meeting at the Family Crypt
(2013) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822391890-006
DIVINATION AND MADNESS:
(2009) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822390961-006
A Tale of Two Lettered Cities
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-004
References
Ahearn, L. M. (2011) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781444340563.refs
An Andean Community Writes Itself
(2011) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822394341-002
Conclusion
Meyer, E. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511482861.013
Glossary
Blommaert, J. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511610295.013

Authors: Besnier, N.
Affiliations: University of Amsterdam (NL)
Corresponding author: Besnier, Niko
ORCID: Besnier, Niko
Venue: Cambridge University Press eBooks
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995-08-24
DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511519864
OpenAlex: W998167931
Cited by: 232
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 4
FWCI: 17.37
Type: book
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 5104 d)
Locations: Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Anthropology › Anthropological Studies and Insights
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › New Caledonia Indigenous Studies
Social Sciences › Communication › Media, Communication, and Education
Keywords: literacy, Polynesian society, social practices, emotions, authority, structure and agency, norm and practice, individual and group, printing technology, social change

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Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll

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