[PDF] Tenir les mondes à distance choses à son sujet. Philibert Commerson é

u -9STR-)T -ND KEYWORDS 9etween é,»» and é,»jà on the ƒtoile and the 9oudeuseà more than three hundred men Ð and one woman dressed up as a man Ð sailed around the worlda It was one of the first Ç discovery voyages Èa Six of the sailors held logbooksa This thesis offers a study of these logbooksà in order to analyse the discursive processes at work in the descriptions and narrations of the first contacts between the sailors and the people they had met during their stopoversa I begin with a study of the na rratives of the stopovers i n the Strait of Ma gellanà and continue w ith the narratives of the stopover at Tahitia Thereà Tahitian men and women welcomed the sailors in a particular way x they offered them food and drink in abundanceà invited them into their housesà and suggested to the sailors that they were e xpected to make love with Tahitian womenÉ The irruption of women and bodies at the foreground of the encounter disrupts the navigatorsà disrupts their narratives and allows for a better understanding of certain aspects of the Ç discovering È project Ð thanks to this disorderà thanks to these intrusions that disrupt the scientific programma I also analyse the interpretations of theses narratives of the stopover at Tahitià from the savants of the épth century until the anthropologists of the qé centurya Ç Discovery È Ð navigatorsÕ logbooks Ð gender relationsà historiography of these relations Ð epistemology of anthropology

é»j )omparŽe avec les c onsŽquences ravageuses de ces perturbationsà lÕinfluenc e des Žcrits de Jean Jacques Rousseau està certesà int Žressante ˆ remarquerà ma is reste plus superficielle x pour lÕescale ˆ Tahiti aussi bien que pour un paradigme plus gŽnŽralà le souci de virilitŽ des hommes Ð et son corollaireà le tabou du dŽsir fŽminin Ð semble tre un moteur de lÕhistoire du savoir occidental bien plus dŽterminant que le prŽtendu Ç mythe È du bon sauvagea

qSu éa Paralogismes dans les argumentations de Freeman et de TcherkŽzoff Voici un extrait du livre de Freeman Ð suivi de ma traduction de cet extraita Ç For MeadÕs readers in North -merica and elsewhere in the Western worldà there could be no more plausible location for the idyllic society of wich she wrote than in the South Seasà a region that since the days of 9ougainville has figured in the fantasies of Europeans and -mericans as a place of preternatural contentment and sensual delighta [É] Westerners with such yearnings readily succumb to the unfamiliar lushness of a tropical islandà and there have been those who have described Samoa in tones of unconcealed rapturea Rupert 9rookeà for exampleà who visited both -merican and Western Samoa in November éjéuà wrote of experiencing there a Ôsheer beautyà so pure that itÕs difficult to breathe in it Ð like living in a Keats worldà onlyÉ less syrupyÕa While the Samoans in this heaven on earth were Ôthe loveliest people in the worldà moving and running and dancing like gods and goddessesà very quietly and mysteriouslyà and utterly contentàÕ with Ôperfect manners and immense kindlinessÕa It was in comparably euphoric terms that Tahiti had been described to Europeans readers after 9ougainvilleÕs visit of é,»pà as though the Isles of the 9lestà of wich Horace and Plutarch had written so alluringlyà had materialized in the far away South Seasa The New )ytheraà they were toldà was an earthly paradiseà with no other god but loveà and with inhabitants who lived in peace among themselvesà knowing neither hatredà quarrelsà dissensionà nor civil warà constituing Ôperhaps the happiest society which the world knowsaÕ This account is so strikingly similar to MeadÕs depiction of Samoa as to make it evident that in constructing her negative instanceà she wasà in fundamental waysà influenced by the romantic vision that had possessed the imagination of Westerners from the eighteenth century onwarda The Samoansà she told her readersà among who free lovetmaking was he pastime par excellenceà never hate enough to want to kill anyone and are Ôone of the most amiableà least contentiousà and most peaceful peoples in the worldÕa - romantic beguiling visionà like those of 9ougainville and 9rooke Yetà as I have shown in )hapters j to épà these and numerous other components of MeadÕs depiction of Samoa as a negative instanceà on wich she based her claims about Samoan adolescence and about the absolute sovereignty of nurture over natureà are fundamentally in errorà so that her negative instance is no negative instance at allà and her con clusions ar e demonstr ably invalida Ho w did young M argaret Me ad come so to misconstrue the ethos and ethnography of Samoa 7 The fervency of her belief in cultural determinism and her tendency to view the South Seas as an earthly paradise go some way in accounting for what happenedà but manifestly more was involveda [É] 9oasÕs principal instruction was that she should concentrate on the problem he has set her and not waste time doing ethnographya -ccordinglyà when in the second week of november éjqv Mead reached ManuÕaà she at once launched into the study of adolescence without first acquiringà either by observation or from inquiry with adult informantsà a thorough understanding of the traditional values and customs of the ManuÕansa Thisà without doubtà was an illtadvised way to proceedà for it meant that

qq» Ç Her findingsà Ôthat adolescence is not necessarily a time of stress and strain but that cultural conditions make it soàÕ rested on the Samoan evidenceà where growing up was Ôso easyà so simple a matterÕ because of the Ôgeneral casual ness of the whole societyÕa Her data were eagerly acceptedà passing beyond anthropological into popular traditiona Samoa became known as a paradise of adolescent free lovea Ever sinceà Mead has always appeared rather larger than lifea -nd she did more than anyone to make anthropology speak to general concerns of oursa She was passionate about the moral necessity of that involvementa [É] Why should an emeritus professor [Freeman ] at the end of a long career wish with equal passion to dismantle MeadÕs Samoa7 [É] There is no sustained attempt in this book to retadress the questions Mead asked about the nature of adolescence x he does not replace her version of an easy development with an account of the social and biological causes of strain and stressa In so far as he is not centrally concerned with demonstration of the nature of biological inputà the book is a fortui tous theoretical vehicle for t he significant methodological issue x falsificationa [É] Freeman suggests that Mead has depicted a ÔmindtbogglingÕ contradictionà not psychologically and thus not humanly possiblea Meadà he saysà Ôdescribes the Samoans as making the ÔdemandÕ that a female should be Ôboth receptive to the advances of many lovers and yet capable of showing the tokens of virginity at marriageÕa SomethingÉ Ôis emphatically amissà for surely no human population could be so cognitively disoriented as to conduct their lives in such a schizophrenic wayÕa He arguesà not that Mead was lying about the promiscuity wich Samoans find so distateful in her accountà but that she was led astray by teasing from her immature female informantsa Unfortunatelyà what Freeman takes as a devastating indictment Ð that Mead has described a physically impossible contortionÐ has been put into ethnographic context by othersa [É] Freeman concludes tha t MeadÕs restricted circle of juvenile girl informants and her o wn restricted public life were no basis from which to generalise about ÔSamoaÕa )ertainly she was at fault hereà one cause lying in her having to construe ÔaÕ Samoan ethos x it is a fault Freeman compounds The ÔSamoaÕ he describes is maletdominatedà competitiveà ranktconsciousa His informants were often highttranking chiefs or educated personsà very frequently mena ÔMead was not in position to check the statement of the girls she was studying againstÉ welltinformed knowledgeÉ Many educated Samoansà especially those who had attended college in NewtZealandÉ entreated meà as an anthropologistà to correct her mistaken depictionaÕ He sees no ideological intent here x in factà he was no more insight into social rhetoric and ideological production than Mead doesa [É] He sees his sources as authoritiesà delivering a verdict on the character of traditional Samoa x he does not see them as social actorsa Hence he can speak of an almost exclusively male political arenaà the chiefly ÔfonoÕ as a prime locus of the ethos of Samoan societya He says Ôthe SamoansÕ are a ÔpeopleÕ of exceptionnal punctilio and grità where he clearly

q», enfinÉ trouverait un moyen dÕindiquer quÕil est pas forcŽment nŽcessaire de rŽpondre favorablementà enfin je nÕsais pas È Les hŽritiers de 9ougainville acceptent dÕautoriser la consultation ˆ tout le monde sauf si cÕest Ç burlesque Èa 9urlesque signifie Ç Qui dŽveloppe de s idŽes extravagante s ˆ llaide dlexpressions bouffonnesà voire trivialesà en vue de divertir È"éqa Lˆ encoreà il faut comprendre entre les motsà car en rŽalitŽ il y a vraiment peu de chances que quelquÕunTe effectue les dŽmarches pour consulter les archives de la famille 9ougainville en vue de sÕen inspirer pour un spectacle de clowns ou un onetmantshow comiquea Lˆ encoreà ce que lÕutilisation du mot Ç burlesque È tente de signifierà cÕest la distinction entre les Žtudes pondŽrŽesà respectablesà et les histoires amusantes qui ne respecteraient pas cette respectabilitŽa -insià lÕanalyse de ces extraits dÕentretiens nous montre non seulement ce que valorise cet hŽritierà mais aussi son Žventuel pouvoir ˆ influencer les recherches sur le sujet Ð il peut interdire la consultation Ð età en outreà l a confiance quÕil manifeste que lÕinstit ution des -rchives Nationales a les mmes avisà les mmes valeurs et les mmes estimations que luia "éq Idema

uS» Il nÕa pas pu rejoindre le motu Papaa Il est restŽ bloquŽà il a la forme dÕun immense aileron de requina Maintenant leur histoire est finie x mme la nuit les motu ne bougent plusa Ë lՎpoque des lŽgendes il y avait beaucoup de dieux qui bougeaient g maintenant il y a seulement le soleilà la lune et le vent qui bougenta TSeulement troisa Tous les autresà bloquŽsaT

u"q -NNEXE u x Le nouveau Ç cabinet de rŽalitŽ virtuelle È du MusŽum National dÕHistoire Naturelle Illustration sur le site internet du MNHN x Le rŽel Ç cabinet de rŽalitŽ virtuelle È o lÕon Ç dŽcouvre la biodiversitŽ ÈÉ sPhoto en ligne sur le site internet du MNHNm x

u"p INDEX - admiration éS,tééSà éq»téuSà qSvà quStquéà q," amour ééutéuSà é"utévuà qéjà qvutqvvà q,qtq,»à qj,à uS, androcentrisme ,»à qS,à qévtqqS anecdote qu»tqp" anxiŽtŽ ujt"Sà ,,t,pà puà éépà éqjà é»été»q -otourou é,uté,"à épqtépvà q»"à qpS archive pjà j»tjjà éu,à q"jtqvpà q»»tq»,à qpvà qpptqj"à uSjà uéqtué" attachement qSà é»pà qvvà q,uà uéuà uévtué» 9 9aret éqà éuvtéujà é"»à quptqvpà q»qà q,pà qpvtqp»à qppà qju Ç bon sauvage È ééSà éé"à éuétéuqà é»jà éjvà quSà qu"à q»qà q,jà qpS bonheur éq,à éuéà éjqà éj,tqSSà quvà qu»à q"v ) )aro éqà vétvuà vjà qpp cartographie jptjjà éSuà éé"à q,,à uéuà uép catŽgorisation uqtu"à "uà "pà »éà éS,à é»u )ommerson éqà ujt"Sà v"à éSptéSjà éuété"éà é""té"và é,vté,»à épuà éjSà qupà q"qtqvpà qpptqju D dŽsir pjtjéà éé»à éqvà éuéà éu"à é""à é",tévuà év»tévpà é,,tépéà qéutqqvà q,»à q,jà qpuà ué»tué,à uéjà uuvtu"Sà u", deuil j,à uu» E Žcriture ééà éutévà ,pà pqà pvà éépà éqvà é»Sté»pà qu,à qpj F

u"j Fesche éqà q,t"qà éSpà éévtéq"à é"»té",à é»Sà éjutéj"à qéptqqéà qp»à qppà uuutuu» H Histoire putpvà éuSà qu,à qvuà q»éà q,qà uéq I imitation ,ptpS M masculinitŽ quà ,và éépà é"éà é"»à é"jtévéà év,tévpà é»pà é,jà qSjà qéuà qévà qquà q»éà q»ptq,,à qpqtqp,à ué»tué, mŽtaphores ééutéq"à évéà évvtév»à é»éà é»"à é»pà éj»à q,,tq,p mythe péà p"tpvà éSqà ééSà éqétéquà é»éà é»jà é,Sà épjtéjSà éjvà qSétqéqà qqjtqué N NassautSiegen éuà "qà v»à »éà éSpà éSjà é,jtépSà q»éà qppà uuptuujà u"utu", R rŽŽcriture v"tv»à é,»tépS rituel ,qà ,pà pétpuà é""té"»à é»été»qà qqq rire véà ,jà péà é»Sà q,và qpS T tabou é"été"»à évuà é»jà épqà qéutqévà qq"à q»pà qpéà uSvà ué»tué, U utopie éuuà é"Sà é,Sté,éà épvà épptéjv V Vivez éuà v"tv»à éSvà éSjà évjà qujtq"éà q"và qppà uu»tuup