Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse
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Carsten Levisen
Abstract
In postcolonial Melanesia, cultural discourses are increasingly organised around creole words, i.e. keywords of Bislama (Vanuatu) and Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea). These words constitute (or represent) important emerging ethnolinguistic worldviews, which are partly borne out of the colonial era, and partly out of postcolonial ethno-rhetoric. This chapter explores the word kastom ‘traditional culture’ in Bislama and pasin bilong tumbuna ‘the ways of the ancestors’ in Tok Pisin. Specific attention is paid to the shift from “negative “ to “positive” semantics, following from the re-evaluation of ancestral practices in postcolonial discourse. Social keywords in postcolonial discourse form a fertile ground for understanding how speakers in Melanesia conceptualise the past as a vital part of the present.
Abstract
In postcolonial Melanesia, cultural discourses are increasingly organised around creole words, i.e. keywords of Bislama (Vanuatu) and Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea). These words constitute (or represent) important emerging ethnolinguistic worldviews, which are partly borne out of the colonial era, and partly out of postcolonial ethno-rhetoric. This chapter explores the word kastom ‘traditional culture’ in Bislama and pasin bilong tumbuna ‘the ways of the ancestors’ in Tok Pisin. Specific attention is paid to the shift from “negative “ to “positive” semantics, following from the re-evaluation of ancestral practices in postcolonial discourse. Social keywords in postcolonial discourse form a fertile ground for understanding how speakers in Melanesia conceptualise the past as a vital part of the present.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Typographical conventions and symbols ix
- Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
- Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
- Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
- Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
- Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
- Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
- Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
- Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
- Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
- Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
- Index 243
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Typographical conventions and symbols ix
- Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
- Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
- Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
- Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
- Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
- Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
- Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
- Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
- Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
- Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
- Index 243
