People of the Sea: Identity and Descent among the Vezo of Madagascar (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 95)

The Vezo are fishing people of western Madagascar. The identity of the Vezo is not fixed by descent; rather, it is established by what they do. They are people of the sea, distinguished from the farmers around them by their economic specialism. Ethnicity is usually thought to be a consequence of inborn qualities acquired by descent, and Astuti explores the consequences of ascribing ethnic identity with reference to economic activity. Her analysis reveals that only in the cult of the dead does descent become critical, and her argument in this innovative analysis of Vezo kinship is that the people distinguish two models of the person: one determined by the past, and the other defined contextually, in the present.

a Study Of The Vezo Fishing People Which Examines Their Definition Of Their Own Identity.

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the Vezo Of Western Madagascar Are Known As The People Who Struggle With The Sea. In Their Society, Individual Identity Is Established Through What People Do Rather Than Being Determined By Descent Or Ethnicity, Astuti Says--a Way Of Doing Rather Than A State Of Being. But Her Analysis Of Vezo Kinship Also Reveals An Opposite Form Of Identity Based On Descent, Which She Argues Is The Identity Of The Dead. By Looking At Mortuary Rituals That Engage The Relationship Between The Living And The Dead, She Develops A Dual Model Of The Vezo Person: One Defined In The Present, The Other Determined By The Past. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com)

4e de couv.: The Vezo, a fishing people of western Madagascar, are known as 'the people who struggle with the sea'. Dr Astuti explores their identity showing that it is established through what people do rather than being determined by descent. Vezo identity is a 'way of doing' rather than a 'state of being', performative rather than ethnic. However, her innovative analysis of Vezo kinship also uncovers an opposite form of identity based on descent, which she argues is the identity of the dead. By looking at key mortuary rituals that engage the relationship between the living and the dead, Dr Astuti develops a dual model of the Vezo person: the one defined contextually in the present, the other determined by the past This is the study of two different forms of identity, one which is achieved through activities performed in the present, the other which is given as an essence inherited from the past; one which is of a recognizable Austronesian character, for it is transformative, non--primordialist and non-essentialist, the other which bears instead a clear African imprint, for it is rooted in, and determined by, the unchangeable order of descent. Ethnicity is usually thought to be a consequence of inborn qualities acquired by descent, but in this innovative study of the Vezo, who are fishing people of Madagascar, Rita Astuti explores the consequences of ascribing ethnic identity with reference to economic activity.