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...medium power was an invention of Europeans, drawing on their own folk metaphors of power and the theories of nineteenth-century physics' (Keesing 1984: 148; see also Keesing 1985). Mana, he argued, is a quality, not a medium; a stative verb, not a noun of substance. In making this argument, he echoed mid-century anthropologists such as Raymond Firth, who observed the tendency for mana to become 'a specialized abstraction of the theoretical anthropologist' (Firth 1940: 487), and E.E. Evans-Pritchard, who complained about 'the speculations of such influential writers as Marett and Durkheim, who conceived of [mana] as a vague, impersonal force' (Evans-Pritchard 1965:110).
Despite the clarity and persuasivness of the argument, however, a new scholarly theorization of mana has yet to take place. This may partly be the result of intellectual conservatism and partly the result of English grammar. It is difficult to jettison the idea of mana as substantive power, especially when such an idea fits well with intellectualist definitions of 'religion' which have been so prominent and influential in anthropology for the past several decades (e.g. Geertz 1973). Moreover, as Whorf observed about English, 'We are constantly reading into nature fictional acting entities, simply because our verbs must have substantives in front of them' (Whorf 1956: 243). The task of retheorizing mana should be a central one for scholars of Oceanic religions, however, and this article is an attempt to rise to the challenge that Keesing posed: to '[trace] out the development of mana as a concept in time and space, anchoring it in social systems rather than disembodied philosophies' (1984: 153). However the term is translated--I will discuss the Fijian translations at length--its grammar, poetics, and pragmatics can inform debates about power, authority, agency, and responsibility.
I will examine the changing use of the term 'mana' in indigenous Fijian discourse, and make three interrelated arguments. First, the grammatical and semantic transformation of mana that Keesing observed between Oceanic languages and English has also occurred within Fijian itself. That is, in contemporary Fijian discourse, the term 'mana' is often used in its nominalized form, and is sometimes substantivized. Second, I will argue that the most influential social force shaping new meanings of mana in Fiji is institutional Christianity, specifically the Methodist Church and its translation projects. Finally, I will show how the sociopolitical context in which Fijian mana has been transformed is one in which human agency and the potential for effective action is often understood as something being diminished or lost. In other words, mana is now often configured negatively.
MANA IN FIJIAN (1)
Published Fijian-English dictionaries treat 'mana' as a substantivized noun and an adjective. In the mid-1840s, the ethnologist for the United States Exploring Expedition reported that Fijian 'mana' meant 'a miracle' (Hale 1846: 399; but see below). In 1850, the missionary David Hazlewood gave 'mana' several distinct definitions, including 'a sign, or omen; a wonder, or miracle' and 'effectual; efficient, as a remedy; wonder working' (cited in Keesing 1984: 143). Arthur Capell, who revised Hazlewood's work and is credited as the compiler of the current standard Fijian-English dictionary, defined 'mana' primarily as 'supernatural power; a sign, a token, omen; as adj., possessing supernatural qualities' (Capell 1991: 135).
In certain ethnographic texts, however, 'mana's' role as a verb becomes evident. For example, A.M. Hocart's translation of a Lauan chief's statement is revealing for its grammatical awkwardness: 'In the Solomon Islands,' Hocart records the Tui Tubou saying, 'things mana because they were from the beginning. In Fiji they don't mana; they do mana once, but if another man uses them they don't mana' (Hocart 1929: 186). The chief was evidently using 'mana' as a verb in these instances, not a noun, and to his credit Hocart attempted to preserve this role in English.
In his unpublished Fijian language dictionary, the linguist Paul Geraghty defines 'mana' as 'yaco dina na kena inaki,' meaning 'achieving its intended purpose' (Qereti n.d.). In personal communication (2002), he affirms that 'mana' is canonically a verb in Fijian:
This is not just the original but also the current meaning--mana is never a noun (though it can, like any verb, be nominalised). It does not have the same meaning as it does in anthropology--where the meaning of 'mana' is derived from Eastern Polynesia. [The meaning of] 'exercising spiritual power' ... is usually rendered in Fijian by 'sau'.
Accordingly, 'mana' in Fijian is often best translated into English as 'work,' 'succeed,' 'achieve,' or the like--that is, as a verb denoting effective action. (2) Like 'work,' 'mana' is a verb that can be used nominally or adjectivally without altering its form. It can also be reduplicated and given affixes (e.g., 'vakamanamanataka,' meaning 'make mana' or 'make effective') and used in conjunction with certain other words, as I will describe below in regard to Bible translation.
MANA AND TRUTH, POETICS AND PERFORMANCE
An equation of mana with dina ('true') has persistently caught the attention of observers of Fijian society. In a well-known encounter in 1837, the Tui Cakau (high chief of Cakaudrove) and his sons tried to convince the Methodist missionary David Cargill to come to their region. At first they tried to convince Cargill by appealing to the new religion's possible truthfulness, saying:
If you come to us, we will allow our children to be taught to read on your first arrival, & we will listen to your doctrine, that we may know if it is true or false, beneficial or useless. (Cargill 1977: 95).
Note how, in the last phrase, the chief's sons glided from truth to effect: If Christianity were 'true,' presumably, it would be useful or effective. If it made sense, it would work. Cargill then asked the Tui Cakau 'about the truth of Christianity,' and the chief answered: 'True--everything is true that comes from the white man's country; muskets & gunpowder are true, & your religion must be true' (ibid.: 95). In 1914, Hocart quoted an informant as saying, 'If it is true [dina] ... it is mana; if it is not true, it is not mana,' and he concluded that 'The fundamental meaning [of mana] appears to be "to come true"' (Hocart 1914: 98, 100). This definition is useful for combining 'mana's' role as a verb with its associations with truth and effectiveness, resonating with Geraghty's 'yaco dina na kena inaki.' (3)
One of the first ethnographic surveys of Fiji, undertaken as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in the late 1830s and early 1840s, recorded the conjoined use of 'mana' and 'dina' in ritual performance. The expedition's published account described a Fijian wedding as follows:
During this ceremony, the girls are engaged in chewing the [k]ava, (4) on which the priest directs the water to be poured, and cries out, 'Ai sevu [The offering].' He then calls upon all the gods of the town or island. He takes care to make no omission, lest the neglected deity should inflict injury on the couple he has united. He concludes the ceremony by calling out 'mana' (it is finished); to which the people respond 'ndina' (it is true). (Wilkes 1845: 209) (5)
This source also describes a warrior chief (vunivalu) leading men to fight by telling his soldiers, '"Attend!" On this the whole clap their hands. He then tells them to prepare for battle, to which they answer, "Mana ndina" (it is true)' (ibid.: 205). Similarly, a Methodist missionary in Kadavu Island in the 1860s, Jesse Carey, recorded an example of a Prechristian Fijian prayer...
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