The Polynesian Iconoclasm Religious Revolution and the Seasonality of Power [Hardcover]

Within little more than ten years in the early nineteenth century, inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen other closely related societies destroyed or desecrated all of their temples and most of their god-images. In the aftermath of the explosive event, which Sissons terms the Polynesian Iconoclasm, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches  one the size of two football fields  were constructed. At the same time, Christian leaders introduced oppressive laws and courts, which the youth resisted through seasonal displays of revelry and tattooing. Seeking an answer to why this event occurred in the way that it did, this book introduces and demonstrates an alternative practice history that draws on the work of Marshall Sahlins and employs Bourdieus concepts ofhabitus, improvisation and practical logic.

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

Introduction:Exploding History

Chapter 1.The Seasonality of Life
Chapter 2.The Mo?orean Iconoclasm
Chapter 3.Pomares Iconoclasm as Seasonal Sacrifice
Chapter 4.More Distant Emulations
Chapter 5.Re-consecrating the World
Chapter 6.Re-binding Societies
Chapter 7.New Tabus and Ancient Pleasures
Chapter 8.History,Habitusand Seasonality

Appendix

References

This is an enormously rewarding book, marshalling an abundance of historical and ethnographic evidence in support of a compelling argument that the Polynesian iconoclasm, despite outward appearances, was a very traditional type of rupture in which missionaries and their god initially played supporting roles.? Asia Pacific Viewpoint

Sissonss argument about the seasonality of power, and his use of Hocart to think about ritual and centralisation, are lã(