The affective subject and French colonial policy in new caledonia1

Becoming savage? The first step toward civilization and the practices of intransigence in New Caledonia

“…Such reluctance (or inability) to perceive Kanak subjectivity has been discussed in other contexts (Dousset-Leenhardt 1978;Douglas 1995;Bullard 1997). Scholars have argued convincingly that the Kanak clans operated strategically toward the missionaries; keeping one or several missionaries in a village was a means of empowerment, or perhaps a status symbol (Douglas 1995;Angleviel 1994;Ta Unga 1965).…”

“…In this way, cannibalism functioned as the distinguishing mark of the "savagery" of the Kanak which resonated in French accounts with other qualities the French found disagreeable: Kanak reluctance to trade with the French, their "ugliness", and the way their women refused to satisfy the sexual hunger of the French sailors. These are the germ-seeds of the racial stereotype of Melanesians as degraded "ignoble savages", in contrast to the more courted and ennobled Polynesians (Guiart 1983: 23;Hau'ofa 1974: 283-89;Thomas 1989: 27-41;Campbell 1980: 45-59;Bullard 1997). In the studies cited here, the sexual parsimony of the Melanesians, in contrast with the sexual openness of Polynesian culture, is credited with earning them a low racial rank in French perception.…”

“…Rougeyron demonstrated some uneasiness in this respect, for, after describing the provisions brought by the Rhin, he launched, in a seemingly disconnected way, into a discussion of the misguided "hospitality" of Oceanic people, "which dictates that everything be held in common" (1846: 406). This primitive communism, according to Rougeyron, coincided with deep flaws in Kanak conduct and character, leading them to laziness, and insincere affection (Rougeyron 1846: 406;Bullard 1997). This passage reveals guilty feelings on the part of Rougeyron, desperate to dissociate himself from his indebtedness to the Kanak.…”

“…Although not as widely disseminated as the image of nubile Polynesian maidens, the renowned "ugliness" of the Kanak, especially of Kanak women, expressed the inferiority the French ascribed to the Melanesians. At least since Diderofs social fable of the Tahitian land of peace and sexual plenitude, Supplement to Bougaineville's Voyage, the image of the Polynesians has approached that of the noble savage (Hau'ofa 1974;Guiart 1983: 23;Campbell 1980;Bensa 1988;Thomas 1989;Bullard 1997). Their sexual license, as commonly represented, only demonstrated an innocence and lack of guile or guilty shame.…”

War and Other Means: Power and violence in Houaïlou (New Caledonia)

“…In the article on 'Wenena' [wênénââ] (heart): 58 Sahlins 2003. 59 See also Bullard 1998. 60 Dauphiné 1998.…”