2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The Pacific War and a Melanesian Town: A Study of a Camp Town Made by American Army.
| Project/Area Number |
15520518
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Cultural anthropology/Folklore
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| Research Institution | Kobe University |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIOKA Masanori Kobe University, Faculty of Cross-Cultural Studies, Professor, 国際文化学部, 教授 (40128583)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2006
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| Keywords | Melanesia / Vanuatu / Luganville / Pacific War / colonial town / urban anthropology / historical anthropology |
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| Research Abstract |
In Oceania there was no urban area before colonization. After colonization, however, in the center of the colony the population was increased and the urban area began to be formed. The town formed in such a process is called "colonial town". Although most of the urban areas in Oceania were colonial towns, there was one place which had different origin. This is Luganville of the Republic of Vanuatu which is an object of this study. This town is originated in the camp town which was built by American Army during the Pacific War. America built a big camp which had the population of 100,000 in order to take a stand against Japanese Army. After the Pacific War, Luganville had continued to be an urban area in which most residents have changed to Melanesians. Luganville is now called "Melanesian town".
In this study, first of all I discussed the formative process of Luganville as a camp town by the documents of the colonial government, the records of the American Navy and the data collected during my field researches. Then I explained from the viewpoint of historical anthropology how such an artificial camp town changed to Melanesian town. Next I discussed how the urban culture was created from the viewpoint of urban anthropology. It is generally said that in the urban area in Oceania many island's traditional cultures become mixed and a kind of hybrid culture is created. However I elucidated in the study that in Melanesia, such a hybrid culture, that is an urban culture, is regarded as a fake or non-authentic one in comparison with an island traditional culture and as a culture which should be denied, which I named "Pidgin Culture" taking account of the position of Pidgin againt a mother tongue..
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Research Products
(9 results)
