Matt Tomlinson
Tel: +61 3 990 58754
Fax: +61 3 990 52410
Email: Matt.Tomlinson@arts.monash.edu.au
Room W11.11 11th Floor
Building 11 (Menzies) Clayton Campus
I am a cultural anthropologist who studies religion, language, and performance in Oceania. My research focuses on Fiji, where the Methodist Church is a prominent and powerful political force at local and national levels. My fieldwork has focused largely on rituals, including church services, "chain prayers" held outside of church, and kava-drinking sessions. By examining the articulation of ritual with everyday life, I argue, we can understand the distinct and consequential ways that Christianity culturally shapes local ideologies and practices.
Much of my fieldwork has been conducted in Kadavu Island and you can hear some music recorded there in the biography section below.
Matt teaches
- ANY2110 /ANY3120 Magic, Science and Religion
- ANY3520 /ANY4520 Theorising Culture
- ANY2140 /ANY3140 Polynesia: Great Anthropological Debates
- INT2150 / INT3150 Global Indigeneity
Biography
I received my Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of Pennsylvania, and taught at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, from 2002 to 2005. I have been at Monash since July 2005, and am the postgraduate research coordinator for anthropology.
Most of my fieldwork between 1996 and 2006 was conducted in Tavuki village, Kadavu Island, Fiji. I am now conducting new research on Christian institutions, ecumenism, and politics in Suva, Fiji’s capital. To date, I have spent 26 months doing research in Fiji.
I have recently joined the editorial board of The Australian Journal of Anthropology as coeditor for reviews (with Tamara Kohn).
Here are two songs from the Baidamudamu Choir, Baidamudamu village, Kadavu Island. The group is led by Kemueli Koro, who gave me permission to make these recordings available. They were recorded in July 2003.
"Marau Ena Siga Oqo" (Rejoice This Day)
click to play the Marau Ena Siga Oqo mp3 or download it (2.3Mb) by right-clicking on this link and saving the file."Mai Reki Edaidai" (O Come All Ye Faithful)
click to play the Mai Reki Edaidai mp3 or download it (3.8Mb) it by right-clicking on this link and saving the file.Research
Areas of Research
- Religion and ritual
- Culture theory
- Language and culture
- Language and politics
- Discourse analysis
- Performance
- Christianity
- Pacific Islands
Further details will be forthcoming when they are made available
Publications
Books and Edited Volumes
- 2009. In God's Image: The Metaculture of Fijian Christianity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- 2006, The Limits of Meaning: Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity, coedited with Matthew Engelke, New York: Berghahn.
New! Paperback edition now available.
Articles and Chapters
- 2009. Efficacy, Truth, and Silence: Language Ideologies in Fijian Christian Conversions. Comparative Studies in Society and History 51(1): 64-90.
- 2009. New Paths in the Linguistic Anthropology of Oceania. Coauthored with Miki Makihara. Annual Review of Anthropology 38: 17-31.
- 2007. Publicity, Privacy, and "Happy Deaths" in Fiji. American Ethnologist 34(4): 706-720.
- 2007. Mana in Christian Fiji: The Interconversion of Intelligibility and Palpability. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 75(3): 524-553.
- 2007. Everything and Its Opposite: Kava Drinking in Fiji. Anthropological Quarterly 80(4): 1065-1081.
- 2006. Reflexivity, Tradition, and Power: The Work of R.R. Nayacakalou. Ethnos; 71(4): 489-506, part of a special issue, "Reflexivity in Others" Contexts," ed. Ilana Gershon.
- 2006. A Consuming Tradition: Kava Drinking in Fiji. Expedition; 48(3): 8-17.
- 2006. Retheorizing Mana: Bible Translation and Discourse of Loss in Fiji. Oceania 76(2): 173-185.
- 2006. Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity. Coauthored with Matthew Engelke; in Engelke and Tomlinson, The Limits of Meaning: Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity, pp. 1-37.
- 2006. The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons. In Engelke and Tomlinson, The Limits of Meaning: Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity, pp. 128-146
- 2004. Ritual, Risk and Danger: Chain Prayers in Fiji. American Anthropologist 106(1): 6-16.
- 2004. Perpetual Lament: Christianity and Sensations of Historical Decline in Fiji. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10: 653-673.
- 2004. Memes and Metaculture: The Politics of Discourse Circulation in Fiji. The Australian Journal of Anthropology 15(2): 185-197.
- 2002. Sacred Soil in Kadavu, Fiji. Oceania 72(4): 237-257.
- 2002. Speaking of Coups Before They Happen: Kadavu, May-June 1999. Pacific Studies 25(4): 9-28.
- 2002. Religious Discourse as Metaculture. European Journal of Cultural Studies 5(1): 25-47.
- In press. Sinews of Divine Design: The Life Story of a Fijian Methodist Catechist. To appear in Managing Modernities, eds. Martha Macintyre and Mary Patterson, University of Queensland Press.
Reviews
- 2009. Review of Adam Seligman et al.'s Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity. American Ethnologist 36(3): 610-611.
- 2008. Review of Karen J. Brison's Our Wealth Is Loving Each Other: Self and Society in Fiji. The Contemporary Pacific 20(2): 495-497.
- 2008. Review of Roger D. Abrahams' Everyday Life: A Poetics of Vernacular Practices. Anthropological Forum 18(1): 107-109.
- 2007. Review of Stuart Kirsch's Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea. Expedition 49(2): 45.
- 2006. What difference does Christianity Make? Review of Fenella Cannell, ed., The Anthropology of Christianity. Anthropological Quarterly 79(4): 749-754.
- 2006. Review of Andrew Thornley, A Shaking of the Land / Na Yavalati ni Vanua: William Cross and the Origins of Christianity in Fiji / Ko Wiliame Korosi kei na i Tekitekivu ni Lotu Vakarisito e Viti. Pacific Journal of Theology 35: 112-114.
- 2005 Review of Hirokazu Miyazaki, The Method of Hope: Anthropology, Philosophy, and Fijian Knowledge. Anthropological Forum 16(2): 209-211.
- 2005 Review of Joel Robbins, Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society. American Anthropologist 107(3).
- 2005 Review of Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History. American Anthropologist 107(1): 158-159.
- 2003 Review of Brij V. Lal, ed., Fiji Before the Storm. Oceania 74(1-2): 150-151.
- 2003 Review of John F.A. Sawyer and J.M.Y. Simpson, eds., Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion. Language in Society 32(3): 425-428.
- 2002 Review of John Kelly and Martha Kaplan, Represented Communities: Fiji and World Decolonization. American Ethnologist 29(2): 423-424.
Recent Academic Awards and Honours
Faculty of Arts Teaching Award, Monash University, June 2007, given for student reviews of ANY2160, "Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination".Australian Research Council (ARC) Grants
2008-2010, Discovery Project Award for "God, Blood, Country: An Ethnographic Study of Christian Institutions and Political Processes in Fiji".