Nemesis, Speaking, and Tauhi Vaha'a

Interdisciplinarity and the Truth of "Mental Illness" in Vava'u, Tonga

Bibliographic Data

ID5800547
AuthorsMichael Poltorak (corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume19
Issue1
Pages1-35
Publication date2007-01-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Contemporary Pacific/ The contemporary Pacific (Online (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1043-898X • E-ISSN: 1527-9464
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/cp.2007.0031
OpenAlexW1992293459
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited23

The people of Vava'u, Tonga, manage to deal with most incidences of "mental illness" without resorting to institutionalization or overt stigmatization. The terms used to describe unusual behavior, though pejorative in the eyes of psychiatrist Dr Mapa Puloka, are contestable and negotiable. Through the creative use of a multiplicity of explanations, people have inï¬uence over the potential stigma to suffering relatives. People's sensitivity to attributions of "mental illness" is born of Vavauan use of language to tauhi vaha'a (evoke and intensify relatedness). This socially constitutive use of language contrasts with the referential language in much of the social science and medical literature that informs mental health policy. Revealing its origin in the experience of vä (relatedness) is key to creating an interdisciplinary space to discuss the late presentation of Tongans to mental health services in Tonga and New Zealand. This paper answers the widely recognized need for more qualitative, epistemologically sensitive, and interdisciplinary work on Tongan experience of mental illness through focusing on the particular case of an eccentric in Vava'u known as 'Ahiohio. As this man shares remarkable similarities with Manu (Epeli Hau'ofa's subversive mouthpiece of anti-absolutism), the responses to and theories of 'Ahiohio's behavior enable discussion on the contrast and effects of Vavauan and, more broadly, medical and positivist ideas of truth

Pejorative · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

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