Product Review

RONALD WRIGHT'S EXPLORATION OF THE FIJI ISLANDS BEGINS IN THE FIJI MUSEUM WHERE A CAPTION IDENTIFIES THE OBJECT DISPLAYED AS THE "FORK USED IN EATING MR BAKER". PERHAPS NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD IS THERE A CULTURE THAT HAS COME THROUGH THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE WITHOUT BEING DEEPLY SCARRED BY IT:IN ONLY A HUNDRED YEARS SINCE THE WESLEYAN MISSIONARY BAKER WAS EATEN BY NATIVES,FIJI HAS BECOME A CIVILIZATION THAT HAS ADAPTED,EVEN EMBRACED WITH 20TH CENTURY. WRIGHT BELIEVES THAT THIS ABSENCE OF TRAUMA IS IN PART DUE TO THE INSULARITY OF THE MANY COEXISTENT BUT INTROVERTED COMMUNITIES THAT EXIST ON THE ISLANDS IN THE FIJI GROUP - THE SEPARATION ALLOWS A "UNITY" THAT IS HARMONIOUS IN COMPARISON TO OTHER COUNTRIES WITH PARALLEL HISTORIES. WRIGHT WILL EXAMINE THIS THEME AND ITS RELATED TOPIC OF THE INSULARITY OF MODERN TRAVELLERS AGAINST THE HISTORICAL,POLITICAL,AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL BACKDROP OF THE FIJI ISLANDS - SEEMINGLY ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXOTIC LOCALES. AS IN THE AUTHOR'S HIGHLY-PRAISED "CUT STONES AND CROSSROADS",WRIGHT WILL DRAW THESE STRAINS TOGETHER SKILLFULLY,ALLOWING THE READER BOTH A VIVID PORTRAIT (18/3/87). OF THE ISLANDS AND A RARE EXPOSURE OF THE NUANCES OF A FOREIGN CULTURE.