Return to Culture

The analysis of Polynesian cultural practices in this volume reassesses the importance of theoretical understanding of culture which enables an analytic understanding of social action, political structure, narrative practices and thus the culturally constituted life-world of the people. Pacific oral tradition is not a free-floating and easily circulating "folklore", but an integral part of social life with direct political consequences. It has not been detached from social life and therefore it is not easily interpretable without a thorough knowledge of the whole cultural system. By analysing a wide range of cultural materials this volume argues strongly for the notion of culture as ordering order which systematically determines the significance of differences.