Identity Work : Constructing Pacific Lives

Traditionally, life-story narratives have held a significant place in anthropological writings.

Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern strive to broaden and deepen this tradition by explicitly linking biography, history, and the concepts of personhood.

Each contributing author traces a set of themes in the life of the subject represented, showing how persons can be both linked to and alienated from their social worlds through their own developing experiences.

These studies contribute to the understanding of how Pacific Islanders creatively negotiate with changes in their lives over time, and how their ongoing construction of their identities relates to the wider processes of history in which they are involved.

The authors' studies are drawn from across the Pacific -- Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Zealand, and the Marianas (Saipan) -- and represent a comprehensive and valuable study for scholars and those interested in Pacific culture.