The Tree and the Canoe

Bonnemaison, Joël

doi:10.1515/9780824847227

Cited by 138 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Geography certainly plays an important role here. Bonnemaison's pioneering work in the Pacific (1989, 1992, 1994) shows that Oceanians have a conception of space that is very different from that of Western societies. He believes that the Western “geographical ideology”, which reduces space to a geometric plane in which the idea of spatial enclosure is materialized through sharp boundaries, is overrated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moorea lagoon fishers’ mental maps: An exploratory analysis of Polynesian spatial knowledge

Quesnot,

Schmitter,

Wencélius

et al. 2023

Ethos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This empirical study builds upon prior research concerning cultural influences on spatial mental representations in Oceania. A comprehensive examination of 93 mental maps sourced from 59 lagoon fishers of Moorea (French Polynesia) reveals interesting facts about the way they organize and share their spatial knowledge. Firstly, consistent with previous studies across Oceania, Polynesian fishers exhibit a preference for the allocentric perspective when representing their environment. Secondly, they generally rely on marine landmarks for navigation, with a particular emphasis on four entities: the reef barrier, maritime beacons, coral outcrops, and a key chromatic marker — Moana (blue in Tahitian) — indicating the depth of the lagoon. Finally, the factor analysis we conducted highlights two significant facts: (1) a geographical self‐censorship, demonstrated by the low presence or even the absence of landmarks useful for locating their fishing spots; (2) a continuum between the surface and the depths of the lagoon, showing that surface fishers (line, net, troll, etc.) have a proven knowledge of seabed topography, whereas underwater speargun fishers also rely on landmarks located above the water.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moorea lagoon fishers’ mental maps: An exploratory analysis of Polynesian spatial knowledge

Quesnot,

Schmitter,

Wencélius

et al. 2023

Ethos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ni-Vanuatu magic also enjoyed renown among neighboring cultures, such as the Polynesian outlier of Tikopia, in the Solomon Islands. As Firth (1966:476) writes: "The Tikopia believe that in the New Hebrides the natives possess magic of a very powerful kind which operates through the medium of leaves…" Bonnemaison (1994) describes Tannese sun and rain rituals involving plants. The close ties between weather magic and the spirit or ancestor world are another key part of this system (Codrington 1981;Firth 1970;Malinowski 1935;Robertson 1903).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather Magic as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

Balick

Harrison

Kelso

et al. 2022

Journal of Ethnobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents weather magic practices from the islands of Tanna and Aneityum, in southern Vanuatu, and highlights how this phenomenon is a critical domain of Indigenous environmental knowledge, particularly knowledge involving plants. Recent literature suggests that diverse cultural systems, such as music, can be viewed as domains of environmental knowledge, and we propose that magical systems should be afforded the same recognition. Although anthropological work in Melanesia has historically featured various magical practices, relatively little has been said about how these have been used to influence or understand the weather, and even less has been presented directly by Indigenous weather magic practitioners, who are co-authors on this paper. In this contribution, we intersperse anthropological and ethnobotanical commentary with verbatim narratives provided by three local experts in weather magic from southern Vanuatu, including oral histories, contemporary narratives, and the results of ethnobotanical surveys. The detailed knowledge that weather magic practitioners on these islands hold regarding their local environment represents an important means of transmitting not only cultural heritage, but also botanical knowledge, the maintenance of which may be critical for current and future conservation efforts. This research documents rich cultural traditions of local and global significance which are worthy of the attention and preservation afforded to other forms of Indigenous environmental knowledge. The goals of magic and those of science are not necessarily inherently opposed, and we show that magical practice can indeed involve and even preserve a detailed and powerful mode of knowing the environment.

show abstract

“…É da majestática imponência dos promontórios que alongamos o alcance de nossa vista; dos mirantes, expandimos os horizontes, proporcionando o enquadramento paisagístico de determinado ângulo que nos converte em juízes da valoração estética. Por meio de nossa experiência espacial reticular 1 (Bonnemaison, 1994) e espacialmente fendida 2 (Bhabha, 2003), desenvolvemos noções aplicadas ao espaço que nos ensinam a separar o apreço da ojeriza, a afetividade da repulsa e o medo da esperança. As polaridades não se estruturam de maneira simples em nosso arbítrio: entre topofilias (Tuan, 1980) e topofobias (Tuan, 2004), existe um terreno intermediário e gradativo de valoração, cujo arranjo garante a excepcionalidade do 1 Joel Bonnemaison (1994) destaca esse fato argumentando que nossa experiência espacial é mais bem representada reticularmente do que em áreas contínuas que formam polígonos.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Por meio de nossa experiência espacial reticular 1 (Bonnemaison, 1994) e espacialmente fendida 2 (Bhabha, 2003), desenvolvemos noções aplicadas ao espaço que nos ensinam a separar o apreço da ojeriza, a afetividade da repulsa e o medo da esperança. As polaridades não se estruturam de maneira simples em nosso arbítrio: entre topofilias (Tuan, 1980) e topofobias (Tuan, 2004), existe um terreno intermediário e gradativo de valoração, cujo arranjo garante a excepcionalidade do 1 Joel Bonnemaison (1994) destaca esse fato argumentando que nossa experiência espacial é mais bem representada reticularmente do que em áreas contínuas que formam polígonos. 2 Aplicada à experiência humana, a expressão quer dizer que nossas relações com o espaço não se dão num vasto continuum, mas em fragmentos interrompidos.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

A presença da ausência: um paradoxo geográfico

Silva,

Costa

2022

GEOUSP (Online)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A partir de uma abordagem que trata mente e matéria como planos indissociáveis, defendemos a hipótese de que, em qualquer avaliação de caráter espacial, o espaço ausente é parte do espaço presente. A presença da ausência se manifesta tanto no deslocamento de materialidades heterotópicas quanto na experiência humana, que nos permite carregar valores e impressões de paisagens e lugares que vivenciamos outrora. Assim, construímos a ideia de que a presença da ausência é um paradoxo verificado na análise geográfica. Por meio de uma abordagem epistemológica, mostramos que nossa percepção é sempre enviesada pelas experiências situadas no espaço-tempo, que ensejam alterações nos gostos e preferências que desenvolvemos acerca do espaço. A reflexão deste artigo nos permite considerar a flexibilização de nossas manifestações etnocêntricas à medida que defendemos o fato de que cada um de nós porta uma excepcionalidade mundana.

show abstract

The Tree and the Canoe

Cited by 138 publications

References 0 publications

Moorea lagoon fishers’ mental maps: An exploratory analysis of Polynesian spatial knowledge

Moorea lagoon fishers’ mental maps: An exploratory analysis of Polynesian spatial knowledge

Weather Magic as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

A presença da ausência: um paradoxo geográfico

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About