Round two in an academic fistfight concerning interpretations of
the Hawaiian perception of Captain Cook (1728-79). In The
Apotheosis of Captain Cook (not reviewed), Gananath Obeyesekere
claimed that the notion that Hawaiian natives mistook Captain Cook
for their god Lono was a cultural myth perpetuated by "Western"
scholars - Sahlins in particular. In this openly hostile response,
Sahlins (Anahula, not reviewed, etc.) contends that it is ludicrous
to assume, as Obeyesekere does, that native Hawaiians were endowed
with a "practical rationality" that would have made it impossible
for them to mistake a European man for a Hawaiian god, and points
out that the notion of practical rationality is itself a Western
concept. He next attacks the premise that Obeyesekere, as a native
Sri Lankan, has a "privileged insight" into Hawaiian culture.
Sahlins asserts that Polynesian culture and the culture of South
Asia share little in common except a vaguely similar experience of
Western domination. One of Sahlins's main criticisms is that, by
dismissing their testimony as tainted by Western influences,
Obeyesekere systematically silences the voices of Hawaiian
informants. (Since Hawaii had no written language at the time of
first contact, information was recorded by Europeans.) He also
undermines Obeyesekere's argument by uncovering numerous errors of
omission, inaccuracy, and misinterpretation. After addressing these
flaws in Obeyesekere's book, Sahlins launches into a point-by-point
defense of his own analysis of the Makahiki ritual (which concerns
the cyclical return of Lono) and its resonance with the
interactions between Cook and the natives as noted in the diaries
of several crew members. The larger debate between "Western
imperialist" anthropologists and their younger deconstructionist
cousins is left unsettled, but there can be no doubt the Sahlins
defends his own work persuasively. Virtually no appeal to the
general reader, but essential reading to anthropologists caught up
in the general theoretical upheaval affecting the discipline.
(Kirkus Reviews)
When Western scholars write about non-Western societies, do they
inevitably perpetuate the myths of European imperialism? Can they
ever articulate the meanings and logics of non-Western peoples? Who
has the right to speak for whom? Questions such as these are
debated in this text. Marshall Sahlins addresses these issues head
on, while building a case for the ability of anthropologists
working in the Western tradition to understand other cultures. In
recent years, these questions have arisen in debates over the death
and deification of Captain James Cook on Hawaii Island in 1779. Did
the Hawaiians truly receive Cook as a manifestation of their own
god Lono? Or were they too pragmatic, too worldly-wise to accept
the foreigner as a god? Moreover, can a "non-native" scholar give
voice to a "native" point of view? This volume seeks to go far
beyond specialized debates about the alleged superiority of Western
traditions. The culmination of Sahlins's ethnohistorical research
on Hawaii, is a reaffirmation for understanding difference.
General
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