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Madness and colonisation: The embodiment of power in Pangia
Author(s) -
Clark Jeffrey
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1834-4461
pISSN - 0029-8077
DOI - 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1992.tb00365.x
Subject(s) - colonialism , ethnohistory , power (physics) , ethnography , perspective (graphical) , inscribed figure , subject (documents) , history , style (visual arts) , sociology , anthropology , ethnology , gender studies , aesthetics , art , archaeology , visual arts , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , library science , computer science
The article considers two examples of ‘madness’ which occurred during the colonial era in Pangia district, Southern Highlands Province, PNG. The first, immediately prior to pacification, concerned outbreaks of madness among young Wiru men which were similar to the ‘wildman’ behaviour described in the Highlands ethnography. The second style of madness was associated with the so‐called ‘hysteria’ accompanying revival activity by Christian missions. The two styles are compared using a Foucauldian perspective, primarily for the ways in which colonial technologies of power were inscribed on the bodies of Pangia people. The article presents an anatomy of colonial power, and suggests an ethnohistory of the body is possible. It examines the ways in which this power was created through discourses and practices involving concepts of the ‘primitive’ and ‘heathen,’ resulting in a transformation of the Wiru subject.