Encountering Agency: Islanders, European Voyagers, and the Production of Race in Oceania. In Changing Contexts, Shifting Meanings: Transformations of Cultural Traditions in Oceania, ed. Elfriede Hermann, 74-92. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press in association with Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2011 (original) (raw)
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This chapter explores the complex interactions between Pacific Islanders and European voyagers, emphasizing the nuanced agency displayed by both indigenous people and foreign observers. It examines how racial terminology used by voyagers reflected their experiences and perceptions and how these representations were not merely reflections of dominant discourses but rather complex productions influenced by the dynamics of encounters. The paper also traces the historical shifts in the understanding of race from the eighteenth century to the development of racial science in the nineteenth century, highlighting the contradictions and misinterpretations that arose from these encounters.
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