Cultural dynamics of religious change in Oceania

Developed from papers presented at the first European Colloquium on Pacific Studies this volume addresses the dynamics of contemporary Oceanic religions. In particular, the contributors investigate how indigenous populations have come to terms with the enormous impact of colonization and missionization while maintaining a distinct cultural and religious identity. Contents: Ad Borsboom and Ton Otto: Introduction; Transformation and tradition in Oceanic religions/ Thomas Widlock: Traditions of transformation; Travelling rituals in Australia/ Elisabetta Gnecchi-Ruscone: Changing feasts; Church day as transformation of Vasài/ Holger Jebens: Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists and the impact of tradition in Pairudu (Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea)/ Gunter Senft: Magic, missionaries and religion; Some observations from the Trobriand Islands/ Michel Panoff: A cargo cult among the Maenge/ Sjoerd R. Jaarsma: Ethnographic perceptions of cargo; Fragments of an intermittent discourse/ Elfriede Hermann: Kastom versus cargo cult; Emotional discourse on the Yali movement in Madang province, Papua New Guinea/ Ton Otto and Ad Borsboom: Epilogue; Cultural dynamics of religious change.