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Pacific Islands Monograph Series
Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma
"An imaginative and thought-provoking study of clowning in Rotuma, especially of ritual clowning in contexts of marriage ceremonies and the weaving of fine mats.... Completely fascinating." --Canberra Anthropology
"A challenge to readers both in its form and content.... This book conveys the lively, complex and often hilarious elements, both of daily life and celebratory rituals, as they are expressed in contemporary culture." --Journal of Intercultural Studies
"A challenge to readers both in its form and content.... This book conveys the lively, complex and often hilarious elements, both of daily life and celebratory rituals, as they are expressed in contemporary culture." --Journal of Intercultural Studies
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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March 25, 2011
Vilsoni Hereniko, as a Western educated Rotuman, has made an excellent contribution to Pacific Island Studies with this publication. According to the author, Woven Gods are embodied in the fine mats that the Rotuman women weave (also according to the author, Rotuman fine mats surpass even Tongan and Samoan fine mats).
In Pacific cultures, the community interest overrides personal interests. There the opportunities for resentment arises and to air them publicly would only cause further problems. This is where ritual clowning of females (woven gods) help defuse problems. This work is a masterful blend of ethnography, folklore, cultural anthropology, and literary arts. Hereniko has combined both scholarly analysis and the imagination of a creative writer (with which he takes as much license as the female clowns do) to acquaint us with life on Rotuma. But in the end, there is a power structure in all things.
In Pacific cultures, the community interest overrides personal interests. There the opportunities for resentment arises and to air them publicly would only cause further problems. This is where ritual clowning of females (woven gods) help defuse problems. This work is a masterful blend of ethnography, folklore, cultural anthropology, and literary arts. Hereniko has combined both scholarly analysis and the imagination of a creative writer (with which he takes as much license as the female clowns do) to acquaint us with life on Rotuma. But in the end, there is a power structure in all things.
Displaying 1 of 1 review