Ethnological Tourism in the Solomon Islands: An Experience in Applied Anthropology

Authors

  • Jean Michaud Université Laval
  • Pierre Maranda Université Laval
  • Luc Lafrenière Université Laval
  • Ginette Coté Université Laval

Abstract

This paper relates the story of an experiment in tourism in Lau in the Solomon Islands. Whereas tourism is usually seen as a manifestation of globalization, part of a movement toward the eradication of cultural difference, the Lau Cultural Preservation and Tourism Project was conceived to achieve a different goal, the defence of a way of life threatened by Christianity and various economic and political forces.

The project involved co-operation between enterprising traditionalists in Lau, an anthropological team based in Quebec and a private travel company. The intent has been to immerse tourists in the traditional culture. Although very few tourists have visited Lau, preparation for tourism has resulted in a revival of traditional ceremonial, the fostering of an entrepreneurial spirit and other changes of a socio-economic and socio-political nature. The authors suggest that such schemes cannot fully succeed if they are dependent on foreign private enterprise.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Jean Michaud, Université Laval

Jean Michaud completed his Ph.D. at Laval. His thesis dealt with the anthropology of tourism in the context of development. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa and the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex in England. His current research concerns social change among highland minorities in Southeast Asia. He has published articles in The Annals of Tourism Research, The International Journal of Comparative Studies on Asia and Africa and the Internationalisch Asienforum.

Pierre Maranda, Université Laval

Pierre Maranda received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is Professor of Anthropology at Laval University. He has made fieldwork trips to Malaita. The many volumes he has written and edited include the following: Echanges et communications: Melanges offerts a Claude Levi-Strauss (co-edited with Jean Pouillon [Mouton, 1970]); The Structural Analysis of Oral Traditions (with Elli Kongas-Maranda [University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971]); Mythology (Penguin Books, 1972); and French Kinship: Structure and History (Mouton, 1974)

Downloads

Published

2022-06-02

How to Cite

Michaud, J., Maranda, P., Lafrenière, L., & Coté, G. (2022). Ethnological Tourism in the Solomon Islands: An Experience in Applied Anthropology. Anthropologica, 36(1), 35–56. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/1968

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (1994)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to Anthropologica agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported license. This licence allows anyone to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.