Pathways as Metaphors of Movement: a Study of Place, Mobility and Embodiment in Fiji

Abstract

Migration research in Oceania has produced a highly problematic literary genre in which the dominant focus has been on movement as displacement or disjuncture. This is particularly the case in studies which emphasis economic dimensions of migration over social and cultural conceptions of movement. While recent studies suggest a significant shift away from past approaches as more emphasis is given to local epistemologies, absent from recent research is a concern with the social and cultural body in movement. This dissertation argues that the embodied experience of movement is central to Oceanic identities. As people move they construct a sense of belonging and place that is grounded in a complex of places, pathways and relationships. Rather than construct conceptions of movement and identity around places rural and urban, local cultural metaphors expand and redefine people's relationships with one another as they move. This dissertation focuses on the experience of Lakeban people on-island (Lau group) and in Suva, Fiji's largest urban centre and capital city. My intention at the beginning of field work was to critically examine the rural-urban dichotomy as it had been applied to studies of movement in Fiji. Field work among both village and urban communities was designed to avoid the locality-based work of earlier scholars where the experience of both communities and scholars at only one end had been emphasised. During field work it was the cultural metaphor or idiom of wakolo, or pathways, that most clearly expressed identity and conceptions of movement and place in Lakeban social worlds. Questions about people's movements led to a more detailed inquiry into how people talked about relationships and the way that pathways expressed continuity in relations with others. The possibility of conflict was also present. As accounts of past movements and traditions were recorded, and personal narratives of movement, it became clear that people's sense of place was often subject to contestation and change. Through a detailed examination of oral histories, personal narratives and household studies, this dissertation places movement experience at the core of Lakeban social worlds. Field material indicates significant changes and continuities in the experience of Lakebans. It is argued that one of the most significant transformations of Lakeban households has been the growing importance of sibling relationships. Detailed statements recorded during field research emphasise the role of female siblings. This study suggests that women's knowledge of relationships and their role in inter-household relationships is a significant part of maintaining, activating and reactivating relationships in urban place. More generally, it is suggested that Lakebans construct a sense of belonging and legitimacy through their relationships with others. It is this sense of legitimacy that is at the core of Lakeban social worlds.