Masi

House and cloth of the vanua

Bibliographic Data

ID2391074
AuthorsJara Hulkenberg (0000-0002-2605-1514, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume21
Issue2
Pages187-204
Publication date2016-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1359183515610136
OpenAlexW2408009359
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

Based on a combination of literary research and fieldwork this article examines the material and immaterial qualities of Fijian barkcloth, known as masi, to explain the reasons for its continued use in Fijian society from pre-Christian times to the present. It is argued masi embodies all the aspects of the vanua and is therefore referred to as 'cloth of the vanua'. As cloth of the vanua, masi is a mediating agent between the sacred and profane, and has an important strengthening and protective function when used during life cycle rituals as a wrap. To explain the manners in which masi is used, masi is interpreted as a house for and point of access to the powers of the ancestor gods. An analysis of the overall design structure of a type of masi called gatu taunamu ni viti (Fijian mosquito net) illustrates that the association with a house is metonymic instead of metaphorical

Ancestor · Archaeology · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphor · Metonymy · Sociology · Anthropology · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy

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