Cultural Change And Tradition In The Indigenous Architecture Of Oceania

Abstract

Within the study of cultural change, anthropologists have identified a range of change processes, although this field of study is by no means coherent or unified. The current paper makes a theoretical contribution to this task from the sub-field of `architectural anthropology'. Case study material is drawn mainly from research on indigenous architecture in the South Pacific or Oceania in order to analyse (a) the transformations of traditions through deterritorialisation, (b) several types of biculturalism that combine cross-cultural architectural attributes, and (c) the significance of the social engagement process in the reproduction of architectural tradition. By way of a contribution to theory building, a set of categories are generated for particular types of architectural processes of cultural change. The conclusion makes comparisons between the various identified change processes and summarizes the variable transformational properties involved.