Anthropology of Global Pentecostalism & Christianity, Conflicts and Renewal (2 publications)

Deux livres sont parus récemment, auquel j'ai contribué : The Anthropology of Global Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, dirigé par Simon Coleman et Rosalind Hackett (New York University Press) et Christianity, Conflict, and Renewal in Australia and the Pacific, sous la direction de Fiona Magowan et Carolyn Schwarz (Brill).

Le sommaire du livre de S. Coleman et R. Hackett est accessible en cliquant ici. Ci-dessous,  le sommaire du second livre et ma contribution, téléchargeable au format pdf.

 

Christianity, Conflict, and Renewal in Australia and the Pacific

Part 1- Christian Transcendence and the Politics of Renewal

Comments John Barker

A dispute at the Lord’s Supper : Theology and Culture in the Mâ’ohi Protestant Church (French Polynesia) –  Gwendoline Malogne-Fer

Pentecostal Churches in Honiara : The Charismatic Schism in the Anglican Chruch of Melanesia – Rodolfo Maggio

Youh with a Mission in the Pacific Islands : From Charismatic Global Culture to the Reshaping of Local Cultural Identites – Yannick Fer. (pour télécharger ce chapitre, cliquez ici)

Valuing Spiritual Intimacy : Convergences and Counterpoints of Christianity in an Economy of Yolngu Performance- Fiona Magowan

Part 2 Christian Renewal and the Transformation of Persons

Comments Diane Austin-Broos

Two Baskets Worn At One : Christianity, Sorcery, and Sacred Power in Vanuatu –John Patrick Taylor

In Search of Wellness : Christinanity and Life Itself in Northern Aboriginal Australia- Carolyn Schwarz

Go dis Your Health : Healing Metabolic Disorders in Samoa- Jessica Hardin

Part 3 Christian renewal and Change in regional Development

Comments Joel Robbins

« We Will Not Sit Down » : Exploring Agency through Christian Music at Lake Kopiago, Papua New Guinea- Kirsty Gillespie

« Christ was for Papuans » Gogodala Pastors and the Circulation of Evangeical Christianity in South Western Papua- Alison Dundon

Saving States, Saving Souls : Australian Interventions in Solomon Islands- Debra McDougall

Christianismes en Océanie - Changing Christianity in Oceania (publication)

Le numéro 157 des Archives de sciences sociales des religions, que j'ai coordonné, vient de paraître. Intitulé "Christianismes en Océanie - Changing Christianity in Oceania", il rassemble 8 contributions et marque l'aboutissement d'un travail collectif entamé en 2008 à l'occasion de journées d'études dont j'avais alors parlé ici.

The issue #157 of the Archives de sciences sociales des religions has just been released. This publication that I've coordinated includes 8 contributions and is the main outcome of a collective work which began in 2008 with a two-day workshop held in Paris (see here).

Vous trouverez ci-dessous le texte de présentation de ce numéro, ainsi que le sommaire. Pour lire le résumé de chaque article, il suffit de cliquer après les titres.

You will find below a short presentation of this issue and the table of contents. To read the abstract of each article, just click after the title.

Bonne lecture.

Présentation. Au cours des trente dernières années, le christianisme a changé en Océanie, dans un contexte de profond changement social marqué notamment par l’urbanisation et l’intensification des migrations et sous l’effet d’une confrontation croissante entre des églises héritières des missions du 19^ème siècle et les formes concurrentes du christianisme mondial – en particulier les plus récentes, évangéliques et charismatiques.
L’anthropologie du christianisme a changé, elle aussi. Les auteurs de ce numéro cherchent à prendre la mesure de cette double évolution, en associant l’exploration des christianismes d’Océanie et une réflexion collective sur les méthodes et les approches théoriques par lesquels nous en rendons compte. Ils mettent ainsi en lumière l’intérêt que représentent ces terrains océaniens dans la perspective d’une anthropologie du christianisme et pour une compréhension approfondie des rapports entre christianisme et cultures.
Des montagnes de Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée jusqu’aux communautés polynésiennes des banlieues urbaines de Nouvelle-Zélande, en passant par la Polynésie française ou Fidji, l’analyse des transformations contemporaines du christianisme océanien invite à dépasser une compréhension trop univoque en termes d’acculturation ou de domination culturelle occidentale, pour prêter davantage attention aux conditions de la rencontre entre une histoire chrétienne locale et les dynamiques actuelles de la globalisation religieuse.

Presentation. Christianity has changed in Oceania in the last 30 years, in a context of deep social change marked by the impact of migrations and urbanisation, and under the influence of a growing competition between the churches stemming from the 19th Century missions and the new forms of global Christianity - especially Evangelicals and Charismatics.
Anthropology of Christianity has changed too. The authors of this issue aim to measure the effects of this double evolution, by articulating an exploration of Pacific Christianities with a collective reflection on the methods and theoretical tools we use to analyse them. Thus they point out the interest of Pacific fields of research in the perspective of an anthropology of Christianity and for a deeper understanding of the relationships between Christianity and local cultures.
From the mountains of Papua New Guinea to the Pacific Peoples communities of New Zealand suburbs, in French Polynesia or in Fiji, the observation of Pacific Christianities invites us to move beyond a too simplistic description in terms of acculturation or Western cultural domination, and to give more attention to the circumstances of the encounter between Pacific Christian local histories and the contemporary dynamics of religious globalisation.

Sommaire / Table of Contents 

Yannick Fer — Introduction
Simon Coleman — Christianities in Oceania: “Historical Genealogies and Anthropological Insularities” (résumé - abstract)
Manfred Ernst — Changing Christianity in Oceania: a Regional Overview (résumé - abstract)
Yannick Fer — Le protestantisme polynésien, de l’Église locale aux réseaux évangéliques (résumé - abstract)
John Barker — Secondary Conversion and the Anthropology of Christianity in Melanesia (résumé - abstract)
Jacqueline Ryle — Burying the Past-Healing the Land: Ritualising Reconciliation in Fiji (résumé - abstract)
Joel Robbins — Spirit Women, Church Women, and Passenger Women: Christianity, Gender, and Cultural Change in Melanesia (résumé - abstract)
Gwendoline Malogne-Fer — Les protestantismes polynésiens à l’épreuve du genre. L’exemple de l’Église presbytérienne de Nouvelle-Zélande  (résumé - abstract)
Gilles Vidal — La contextualisation de la théologie protestante comme lieu de changement du christianisme en Océanie (résumé - abstract)

Illustrations: église de la roche à Maré (P-J. Noël) ; culte samoan à la Wellington Methodist Parish (G. Malogne-Fer)

Nuku: Cook Islanders re-enact History

In most of the Polynesian islands, an annual event commemorates the arrival of the first (generally Protestant) missionaries. People dance, sing and re-enact the original scene, when European missionaries or Polynesian “teachers” – notably those from the Society Islands – on one side, and the local populations on the other side, met together. Thus in French Polynesia, March 5 – a public holiday – is officially the day of “Gospel’s arrival”, commemorating the arrival in 1797 of the Duff, a sailing ship chartered by the London Missionary Society. In addition to this Tahitian date, many islands celebrate the landing of Christianity on their own shores. The performance often includes many comic relieves, with actors dressed in Western 19st century suits and wearing top-hats miming wild-eyed British missionaries facing new languages and customs.
It may be in the Cook Islands, a tiny Polynesian State (in free association with New Zealand) located west of French Polynesia, that this annual performance is the more high-colored. Here too, each island used to have its own commemoration day, for example July 25 on the main island, Rarotonga. But on this island, the biggest event is now hold on October 26 and commemorates the arrival of missionaries led by the Rev. John Williams in the island of Aitutaki on October 26th 1821.  It's a national celebration:  “the National Gospel Day”. At this occasion, the six parishes of the Cook Island Christian Church (the Protestant Church stemming from this missionary history) prepare religious dramas – Nuku in local tongue. These nuku not only re-enact the October 26 event, but also show some significant events of recent history: in 2007, spectators could even watch a local version of the suicide aircraft attacks on The World Trade Center! Until the 1990s, it was a competition between the parishes, then the competitive side of things was dropped. Today, even if this no more a matter of official competition, parishes still compete on imagination. The website Rarolens, which regularly posts video chronicles of daily life in Rarotonga, had the great idea to post video extracts of the 2007 and 2008 Rarotongan Nuku. So here is the 2007 edition, introduced by a brief historical overview of Christianity in the Cook Islands. If you want to watch the 2008 edition too, just click here.

 

* This note was revised and completed on February 15th 2009 thanks to the precisions given by Wendy Evans.